Crossfit and Running

This may come as a surprise...but I hate working out.

No, let me rephrase that: I enjoy working out, but hate taking the time to do so. Does that make sense? It's like I have to psych myself up and think 'okay, you're not allowed to do anything else until this is done'. Once I get started, though, I enjoy it...so I guess it's just a discipline issue.

Considering that whole mental hurdle, I think I've done rather well over the past month or two. I'm able to go to the gym every day (or stake out in my room for when it's too cold to go outside to said gym), and while I've said in the past that I hate to run, I'm actually starting to enjoy that too. Having a program to follow helps a LOT. 

In regards to running: on Wednesday, I ran a total of 16 minutes! (This was sprinkled throughout intervals of walking, but still) There's been no shin-splints, no undue soreness (aside from the hip flexors being a bit tight), and I actually feel good after running instead of feeling like I'm going to die. It must be those happy endorphins kicking in.

I haven't lost any weight, though...time to clean up ye olde diet again. Sigh. On the other hand I can do more various exercises more often. So I guess it's a worthy tradeoff. 

In other news, I just finished this book:

(I can't say enough good things about it--I knew little to nothing about the leaders of the Reformation, and it's given me a desire to learn more about these guys)

And I've started re-reading Les Miserables. There was a quote I came across today that reminded me of some stuff a friend of mine has been going through:

"Some people are malicious from the mere necessity of talking. Their conversation, chatter in the drawing room, gossip in the antechamber, is like those fireplaces that rapidly burn up wood; they need a great deal of fuel; the fuel is their neighbor." 

This is in regards to Fantine and her position being exploited by busybodies and her co-workers and neighbors. But in this present situation, the more I consider the people involved and the methods by which they seem to determined to tear each other down, it seems to have some interesting parallels. Do we tear each other down so that we might appear more knowledgeable, holy, righteous, or any other various 'reasons'? Is it for satisfaction? Appearing 'right' about something? Revenge? Who knows? It varies from person to person. But I'm finding that the common denominator is an exercising of the self over others--or, in other words, love of self instead of love for others. 

It's an interesting thought. I may take this idea farther at a later date, but for now I'll just stew over it. 

Sunday Morning Study: Week 1

Today was the third week for a young ladies' study that I've been leading at church. I've been taking copious amounts of notes and steeping my mind in the book and the verses listed in the teacher's study guide each week before teaching a chapter...and just 3 classes have gotten me thinking a LOT.

The book in question is Preparing to Be A Help Meet, by Debi Pearl.

I would like to point out that I don't agree with EVERYTHING the Pearls teach. There's a lot of people out there who are convinced that the Pearls are harsh and rigid and unyielding people because of unfavorable reviews, especially concerning their book To Train Up A Child. However, I can disagree with some things a person says and not totally throw away everything about them. Part of the fun of teaching from these books is researching as I go along, sifting through the information, picking out the gems and throwing away the chaff.

With that said, I do agree with quite a bit of what they say. Most of their knowledge is very down-to-earth, and the abusing of said knowledge comes from taking it out of context or to extremes (funny thing, people do the same thing with the Bible all the time....hmmm....maybe we should start reading the source and stop just going by what people say all the time, yes?).

But I digress. Back to the subject on hand!

Preparing to Be A Help Meet is a book to help girls to get a head start on marriage. Most people will get married someday, and not only does it not hurt to have a head start, it can make the difference between making or breaking a new marriage. 

The book itself is very attractive, easy to read, replete with footnotes throughout from different guys' perspectives, and has a complete teacher's guide in the back. This has proven extremely helpful to me, since I've never taught a class on anything before. *gulp* Fortunately I have a group of girls attending that I know quite well and am good friends with them. Camaraderie covers up a multitude of teaching mistakes.

Without any further ado, here are my notes for week 1. As each Sunday goes by I'll post the corresponding notes from that week, and hopefully I won't get behind like this again. Each chapter has an overall theme, a word study, Bible verses, and questions.

Chapter 1 is really heavy. For a book that looks like it'll just deal with 'relationship stuff', it kicks off with prayer and the command and need for prayer. God doesn't force us to do things, and that includes not forcing us to take the blessings that are available if we just ask for them. Prayer is needed in order to grant God permission to work in our lives. (Poor description, but it's the only way I can think of how to say it)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Week 1, Chapter 1: The Kid

Focus: Prayer

Prayer: 1. A reverent petition made to God

2. The act of making such a petition

3. Any act of communion with God, such as a confession, praise, or thanksgiving

4. Any fervent request

Communion: 1. A possessing or sharing in common; participation

2. A sharing of thoughts or feelings, intimate talk

3a. A religious or spiritual fellowship

3b. A body of Christians with a common religious faith who practice the same rites; denomination

Reverent/Reverence: 1. A feeling of profound awe and respect and often of love; veneration

2. An act of showing respect

Petition: 1. A solemn supplication or request  to a superior authority; an entreaty

Antonyms: answer, command, demand

Synonyms: appeal, implore, entreaty, supplication

A prayer can be as simple as a thought and inward speech to God, or big enough to lead an assembly.

Read aloud: Matthew 9:38, Luke 10:2, John 15:7, 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2

"Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." -- Matthew 9:38

"He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." -- Luke 10:2

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." --John 15:7

"As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you.  And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith." -- 2 Thess. 3:1-2

Why does God want us to pray? "He tells us to pray that the word they are preaching will have free course. The devils that would otherwise hinder them with sickness, strife, or worldliness will not be able to slow down the gospel message!" -- Preparing To Be A Help Meet

"In summary: One of the most important commands God gives us in His word is to pray for laborers for the fields, men and women who will go forth to give the gospel. Yet who obeys His command to pray for laborers?

~We have a command to pray.

~We have a responsibility to pray.

~Do you pray for laborers to give the gospel?" -- Preparing

 

The Hobbit: A Review

GUYS. HAY U GAIZ.

I finally got to see The Hobbit tonight! I'm now sleep-deprived and exhausted but I HAVE to write something of a review because, well, that's what I do. However, being the sensitive person that I am I'll save the review for after the break, and if you haven't seen it yet and don't want to be disappointed in any way by 'spoilers' then don't read any further. Please and thank you.

Now, on to the review!

Moar Saddles

But no pictures, because they're still on my camera and waiting to be edited.

I cleaned and oiled the two old saddles in preparation for selling them--I'm going to try Craigslist and the local paper for about a month, and if that doesn't work I have someone who will take them to a market-type thing for me. If I get a hundred bucks for both I'll be happy, though. The oldest one is in good shape but the leather is crackled from much use, and the newer one is for a narrow horse. Here's to success!

Riding has been strongly attempted over the past few days, but having no time in the mornings equals trying to fit it in at night, and it's dang HOT out there. I only rode for about half an hour yesterday and it was so breathless outside that I went home instead of trying to go around the lake (it's about 3 miles starting from my house, going around the lake, and coming back home with some great hills along the way). On the way home we grazed for a few minutes across the fence from a bull. It was pretty funny watching him and Colletta touch noses and go back to eating.

I'm still loving my saddle, but it still kills my left knee if I go for any longer than 30-45 minutes. I'm debating whether I should invest in some stirrup swivels or not...I've heard that they help with knee problems while riding. Or I could get a rhythm of 30 minutes riding, 10 minutes walking and see how that works...I dunno. At this point it's just aggravating. I'm going to ask the farrier when he comes to trim the horse this week.

Speaking of trimming, the horse hasn't had shoes in years. I'm alternately pleased (because she has the feet to go without shoes, and thus it's much less expensive) and concerned (because I don't know how well she would do barefoot on LONG rides). I suppose that's another thing to ask the farrier. 

And on a completely different note, both of my brothers are leaving (one for China to teach English for a year, one for college 5 hours away) within a month. I guess I'll find out what it's like to be a single child...or is that a single adult who just happens to live at home? I dunno. 

I leave you with this quote:

“Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise.”--Margaret Atwood

An Early Birthday Present

A VERY early one at that. *peers off at October*

For the uninformed, I've been noodling around on guitar for a couple of years. I picked it up ages ago, learned a handful of chords, lost interest, and picked it up again a few months ago. This time, I CAN'T lose interest because (1) my brother is going to college and I'm going to have to start playing rhythm guitar for church, and (2) my brother is going to college and I need to learn as much guitar from him as I possibly can in the next 6 weeks. O.o

So can you guess what my present is?

Ta-daaa! Isn't she purty? The top is spruce, with rosewood for the fretboard, sides, back, and head. And it plays like a dream. 

Mom and Dad got it in Georgia during their drive back from Florida a few weeks ago. And the reason I got it now instead of later is twofold: since mein brochters are leaving in 4-6 weeks, we all won't be together to celebrate our respective birthdays. So we all 'celebrated' last week.

And I don't think my dad could have handled waiting another 3 months to actually give it to me. ;)

I love how the sides have a glossy finish, and the neck has a matte-style finish.

So yes. There's the big birthday present...I've been playing quite a bit lately because of it. *holds up aching fingers*

(The next birthday present to me from me will hopefully be a saddle. An Aussie saddle. Because they're stinkin cool.)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

And here's a picture from yesterday while grazing the horse. I liked the sunflare. XD

Concerning the last post, I've decided that this quote explains what I have to do rather well:

"Go back?" he thought. "No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!" So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held up in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter.

The Hobbit, 'Riddles in the Dark'

Bilbo is my hero. Just sayin'.

Swimming....

...in butter! And sugar. And cinnamon. Guess what I was making tonight?

Man, these things are rich. So much sugar.... *twitches*

I have 7 pans of these things in the house. And none of them are for us...four are for the nurse that helped with my grandma's recent stay in the hospital, and the other three are for Farmer's Market. But there was lots of finger-licking going on tonight. ;) Plus I have to make another double batch later this week! More stickiness!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

This week I got a pair of roller blades (after pining after a pair for months), and I stinking LOVE them.

And when by 'love' I mean 'they make me want to skate to the point of collapse'. I wish we had more/better pavement in town. Sigh. 

The only bad part (aside from the poor pavement) is that I have terrible stamina, and while skating I feel amazing. Then after stopping I feel like absolute crap and have to go lie down for a while. XD Stamina shall be gotten though...eventually. 

Speaking of stamina, I started the year off rather well with exercising/keeping to a relatively clean (mostly) Paleo diet and feeling great. Then in February those efforts completely crashed and burned, but not until I had lost about 10 lbs. And now, as time goes on and I don't exercise and the diet backslides the weight has been creeping very, very slowly back on. I've gained about 4 lbs back in the past 4 months (a pound a month? Maybe that's not as slow as I thought. >.<)--which may not sound horrible, but the new clothes I've bought that used to be comfortable and somewhat loose are getting tighter. I HATE that feeling.

So for the past few weeks I've been riding my bike to work (only about 5 minutes one way, but hey, it's better than driving) and today worked out for the first time in months. It hurts, and I'm one of those people who feels like absolute crap after working out (endorphins, where are you?). But I don't want to keep that creeping gain going and going--shifting to a Paleo diet again should help too.

Plus, if I do fun stuff like skating and riding the horse, it'll be more enjoyable. :D

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Today I got a book in the mail called Practical Herbalism. I'm loving it already--by the second chapter it covers the evolution of herbal medicine (from sometime around 1500 BC to 1945 AD) and 'Practical Herbalism 101' (which covers how to make teas, decoctions, tinctures, etc and how to gather stuff). The cover looks a bit schmaltzy and New-Agey, but the inside is very scientific and pragmatic in nature. I like it.

I love this one line from the gathering section:

"Clothing appropriate to the quest"..."Knife"..."Pruning saw". That makes herbalism sound like an adventure...heh. :3

Though sometimes it CAN be a bit of an adventure--or at least a detour. Yesterday I was walking home and took a shortcut across an empty lot to check 'my' patch of mullein and gather red clover. I don't think normal people do that...do they?

Reflections Upon The Chronicles of Narnia

(Spoilers and quotes abound within--if you haven't read the Narnian books and don't wish to have them spoiled for you, go no further.)

I was one of those kids who sort of grew up with the Narnia books (my older brothers loved them and we have a well-worn boxed set to prove it), but never actually read them until I was a pre-teen. Then I made the mistake of reading The Last Battle first (because it had the picture of a unicorn on the cover), and read the rest of the series out of order before coming to my senses and reading them from the beginning.

Since then--well over 10 years ago--I've read them several times from beginning to end. Each time I see something else or remember parts that I've forgotten about, and start wanting to use words like 'delicious' and 'beastly' and 'thrilling' more often and call people 'a brick'. (That's a good thing, apparently, to be a brick.) Recently I got an omnibus version of the series that's about the size of my omnibus of Lord of the Rings, and have been remembering why I love these books so much.

Not for the faint of heart...

I have two videos I would like to share. The first one is a testimony by Dr. Anthony Levatino concerning the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 3803) that was given last week before a U.S. House subcommittee. This is not for the faint of heart or squeamish, as Dr. Levatino is a former abortionist and part of his testimony covers the 'suction dilation and evacuation method' (or suction D&E) for abortion. For a transcription of his testimony, visit this link.

The second video is an undercover video taken by a woman who went into a Planned Parenthood clinic to find out if they would encourage a sex-selection abortion.

I don't think it'd be spoiling anything to let you know that not only does the employee encourage a sex-selection abortion, she gives advice on what OB-GYNs to contact for abortions and how to get around the Medicaid loopholes (fraud, anyone?).

I'm sorry, but the more I see of this organization, the less I'm willing to buy that they're all about 'women's healthcare'. And the more that people try to tell me that this is a sign of 'liberation' and 'women's rights', the more I think that the 'right' to slaughter one's offspring should be taken away. Just sayin'. 

Related, but on a side note: I have a quote from Dr. Levitano's testimony concerning the claim that abortions 'save women's lives'. Here it is in full.

"Before I close, I want to make a comment on the claims that I often hear that we must keep abortion legal in order to save women’s lives, or prevent grave physical health damage, in cases of acute conditions that can and do arise in pregnancy. Albany Medical Center, where I worked for over seven years, is a tertiary referral center that accepts patients with life-threatening conditions related to or caused by pregnancy. I personally treated hundreds of women with such conditions in my tenure there. There are several conditions that can arise or worsen, typically during the late second or third trimester of pregnancy, that require immediate care. In many of those cases, ending or “terminating” the pregnancy, if you prefer, can be life saving, but “terminating a pregnancy” does not necessarily mean “abortion.” I maintain that abortion is seldom if ever a useful intervention in these cases.

Here is why: Before a Suction D&E procedure can be performed, the cervix must first be sufficiently dilated. In my practice, this was accomplished with serial placement of laminaria. Laminaria is a type of sterilized seaweed that absorbs water over several hours and swells to several times its original diameter. Multiple placements of several laminaria at a time are absolutely required prior to attempting a suction D&E. In the mid-second trimester, this requires approximately 36 hours to accomplish. If one were to use the alternate method defined in federal law as Partial-Birth Abortion (but now generally banned), this process requires three days, as explained by Dr. Martin Haskell in his 1992 paper that first described this type of abortion. 

In cases where a pregnancy places a woman in danger of death or grave physical injury, a doctor more often than not doesn’t have 36 hours, much less 72 hours, to resolve the problem. Let me illustrate with a real-life case that I managed while at the Albany Medical Center. A patient arrived one night at 28 weeks gestation with severe pre-eclampsia or toxemia. Her blood pressure on admission was 220/160. A normal blood pressure is approximately 120/80. This patient’s pregnancy was a threat to her life and the life of her unborn child. She could very well be minutes or hours away from a major stroke. This case was managed successfully by rapidly stabilizing the patient’s blood pressure and “terminating” her pregnancy by Cesarean section. She and her baby did well. This is a typical case in the world of high-risk obstetrics. In most such cases, any attempt to perform an abortion “to save the mother’s life” would entail undue and dangerous delay in providing appropriate, truly life-saving care. During my time at Albany Medical Center I managed hundreds of such cases by “terminating” pregnancies to save mother’s lives. In all those cases, the number of unborn children that I had to deliberately kill was zero."

Screwtape Letters Quotes

I was looking for a quote today from The Screwtape Letters to illustrate a point I wanted to make in a conversation. I didn't find the quote I was looking for, but here's a plethora of others that are just as good.

(For the uninformed, The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is a collection of 'letters' between a demon named Screwtape and his 'nephew' (lower demon, I guess) named Wormwood. The book covers the human condition and spiritual warfare as seen from a demon's POV. They refer to the humans in the book as a 'patient', the devil as 'Our Father', and God as 'The Enemy'. It's a very chilling way to look at humanity.)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
 

“It should be (but it is not) unnecessary to add that a belief in angels, whether good or evil, does not mean a belief in either as they are represented in art and literature. Devils are depicted with bats’ wings and good angels with birds’ wings not because anyone holds that moral deterioration would be likely to turn feathers into membrane, but because most men like birds better than bats. They are given wings at all in order to suggest the swiftness of unimpeded intellectual energy. They are given human form because man is the only rational creature we know. Creatures higher in the natural order than ourselves, either incorporeal or animating bodies of a sort we cannot experience, must be represented symbolically if they are to be represented at all.” — VIII (Preface)

“Do what you will, there is going to be some benevolence, as well as some malice, in your patient’s soul. The great thing is to direct the malice to his immediate neighbours whom he meets every day and to thrust his benevolence out to the remote circumference, to people he does not know. The malice thus become wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary.” — P.31

“Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy’s ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made all the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden. Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable.” — P.41-42

“Talk to him about ‘moderation in all things.’ If you can once get him to the point of thinking that ‘religion is all very well up to a point,’ you can feel quite happy about his soul.” — P.43

“Humour is for them the all-consoling and (mark this) the all-excusing, grace of life. Hence, it is invaluable as a means of destroying shame. If a man simply lets others pay for him, he is ‘mean,’ but if he boasts of it in a jocular manner and twits his fellows with having been scored off, he is no longer ‘mean’ but a comical fellow. Mere cowardice is shameful; cowardice boasted of with humourous exaggerations and grotesque gestures can be passed off as funny. Cruelty is shameful — unless the cruel man can represent it as a practical joke. A thousand bawdy, or even blasphemous, jokes do not help towards a man’s damnation so much as his discovery that almost anything he wants to do can be done, not only without the disapproval but with the admiration of his fellows, if only it can get itself treated as a Joke.” — P.51-52

“I would make it a rule to eradicate from my patient any strong personal taste which is not actually a sin, even if it is something quite trivial such as a fondness for country cricket or collecting stamps or drinking cocoa. Such things, I grant you, have nothing of virtue in them, but there is a sort of innocence and humility and self-forgetfulness about them which I distrust. The man who truly and disinterestedly enjoys any one thing in the world, for its own sake, and without caring twopence what other people say about it, by that very fact forearmed against some of our subtlest modes of attack. You should always try to make the patient abandon the people or food or books he really likes in favour of the ‘best’ people, the ‘right’ food, the ‘important’ books. I have known a human defended from strong temptations to social ambition by a still stronger taste for tripe and onions.” — P.60

“My dear Wormwood, the most alarming thing in your last account of the patient is that he is making none of those confident resolutions which marked his original conversion. No more lavish promises of perpetual virtue, I gather; not even the expectation of an endowment of ‘grace’ for life, but only a hope for the daily and hourly pittance to meet the daily and hourly temptation! This is very bad.” — P.62

“The Enemy’s demand on humans takes the form of a dilemma; either complete abstinence or unmitigated monogamy. Every since Our Father’s first great victory, we have rendered the former very difficult to them. The latter, for the last few centuries, we have been closing up as a way of escape. We have done this through the poets and novelists by persuading the humans that a curious, and usually short-lived, experience which they call ‘being in love’ is the only respectable ground for marriage; that marriage can, and ought to, render this excitement permanent; and that a marriage which does not do so is no longer binding.” — P.81

“The sense of ownership in general is always to be encouraged. The humans are always putting up claims to ownership which sound equally funny in Heaven and in Hell, and we must keep them doing so. Much of the modern resistance to chastity comes from men’s belief that they ‘own’ their bodies — those vast and perilous estates, pulsating with the energy that made the worlds, in which they find themselves without their consent and from which they are ejected at the pleasure of Another! It is as if a royal child whom his father has placed, for love’s sake, in titular command of some great province, under the real rule of wise counselors, should come to fancy that he really owns the cities, the forests, and the corn, in the same way as he owns the bricks on the nursery floor.” — P.97-98

“There are things for humans to do all day long without His minding in the least — sleeping, washing, eating, drinking, making love, playing, praying, working. Everything has to be twisted before it’s any use to us. We fight under cruel disadvantages. Nothing is naturally on our side…” — P.102

“We must first make (Jesus) solely a teacher, and then conceal the very substantial agreement between his teachings and those of all other great moral teachers. For humans must not be allowed to notice that all great moralists are sent by the Enemy, not to inform men, but to remind them, to restate the primeval moral platitudes against our continual concealment of them.” — P.107

“On the other hand we do want, and want very much, to make men treat Christianity as a means; preferably, of course, as a means of their own advancement, but, failing that, as a means to do anything — even to social justice. The thing to do is to get a man at first to value social justice as a thing which the Enemy demands, and then work him on to the stage at which he values Christianity because it may produce social justice. For the Enemy will not be used as a convenience.” — P.108-109

“The Enemy loves platitudes. Of a proposed course of action He wants men, so far as I can see, to ask very simple questions: Is it righteous? Is it prudent? Is it possible? Now, if we can keep men asking: ‘Is it in accordance with the general movement of our time? Is it progressive or reactionary? Is this the way that History is going?’ They will neglect the relevant questions. And the questions they do ask are, of course, unanswerable; for they do not know the future, and what the future will be depends very largely on just those choices which they now invoke the future to help make.” — P.118

“This, indeed, is probably on the Enemy’s motives for creating a dangerous world — a world in which moral issues really come to the point. He sees as well as you do that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means, at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful until it became risky.” — P.138

“No man who says I’m as good as you believes it. He would not say it if he did. The St. Bernard never says it to the toy dog, nor the scholar to the dunce, nor the employable to the bum, nor the pretty woman to the plain. The claim to equality, outside the strictly political field, is made only by those who feel themselves to be in some way inferior. What it expresses is precisely the itching, smarting, writhing awareness of an inferiority that the patient refuses to accept. And therefore resents.” — P.163

“You remember how one of the Greek Dictators (they called them ‘tyrants’ then) sent an envoy to another Dictator to ask his advice about the principles of government. The second Dictator led the envoy to a field of grain, and then snicked off with his cane the top of every stalk that rose an inch or so above the general level. The moral was plain. Allow no preeminence among your subjects. Let no man live who is wiser or better or more famous or even handsomer than the mass. Cut them all down to a level: all slaves, all ciphers, all nobodies. All equals. Thus Tyrants could practise, in a sense, ‘democracy.’ But now ‘democracy’ can do the same work without any tyranny other than her own. No one need now go through the field with a cane. The little stalks will now of themselves bite the tops off the big ones.” — P.165