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My goal for May:

Bike 56 miles
Swim 1.2 miles
Walk 13.1 miles

My reality:

Biked 80 miles
Swam 1.3 miles
Walked 13.3 + miles (I only count the distances that are easy to measure, and when in doubt, I round down.  Oh, and if you're interested, I ran 0.6 of those miles.)

My goal for June:

Go swimming every week, and average 11 laps (550 yards) each time.
I anticipate biking just as much, without setting a specific goal.

Now, do I dare sign up for a sprint triathlon at the end of July?  Or a 5k at the beginning of July--in which case I would have to set a running goal for June?  Not sure yet . . .

550 m

Last October, David and I signed up for a triathlon challenge, where we had to run (or walk) bike, and swim the distances of an Ironman Triathlon.  We got sick and didn't get too far.  We said we would try again in the spring.  It's spring.

I adjusted my challenge, and decided to do half of each distance.  So, my goal for the month of May is to:
Swim 1.2 miles
Walk 13.1 miles
Bike 56 miles
(Maybe I'll be able to keep up the exercise and try the real triathlon challenge again in October; then I can get a t-shirt!)

From October's experience, I knew that I would have to start swimming right away, and go every week.  On the first week, I told myself I had to swim at least 4 laps (200 yards); I made it to 5.  On the second week, I told myself I had to swim at least 5 laps; I made it to 8.  Last Thursday, I told myself I had to do at least 8 laps, and wanted to do 10.  Then I got to the pool.  The lanes were set up the long way.  I've gotten used to taking a breathing break every 25 yards, and now I would have to swim 50 meters--more than twice the distance--without a break.  Not to mention the fact that I would be sharing a lane with 3 other people, who were, no doubt, much faster swimmers than I am.  (David, for instance, swims more than twice as many laps as I do in the same amount of time.)

Not having a breathing break every 25 yards was actually really good.  I was able to push myself to do better, and I swam a total of 11 lengths, or 550 meters.  That felt awesome!  And that was when I realized that I could really swim the entire 1.2 miles.  I was anticipating needing to supplement with a water aerobics class, like I did in October.  So, I'm feeling pretty strong right now.

Speaking of feeling strong, when we biked home from the library last, I made it all the way up the hill to our apartment, and wasn't out of breath.

Love is . . . Chocolate

Well, I haven't done too well on my 2 posts per month goal, so I'll see if I can come up with some stuff now.  For starters, here's a post I thought I had already written:

For Valentine’s Day, I decided to make David Snickers Bar Cookies.  [Last time I made them, I had corn syrup but not caramels, so I decided to make caramels.  But then, since I was just going to melt them again, I figured that once I got the ingredients up to temperature, I might as well add the peanuts and pour the layer on the cookie bars.  That didn’t go over so well; the caramel layer was more like hard toffee.]

First, I made caramels.  Mmm.  Real butter, real vanilla, brown sugar, corn syrup, and all sorts of yumminess, ready to be melted.  [This time I let the caramels set before re-melting them.]

Then, I made peanut butter cookie dough, and spread it out as a bar, and baked it.

Then, I let it cool.

Then, I made peanut butter frosting, and spread it on top.

Then, I let it set.

Then, I melted the delicious homemade caramels, added peanuts, and spread that on top.

Then, I let it cool.

Then I melted the highest quality chocolate chips—Ghiradelli—and spread those on top.

Then, I chilled it.

Finally, we ate some, and boy, was it good!

So, why did I title this post “Love is . . . Chocolate”?  Because David also had the perfect Valentine’s gift for me: Extreme Maximum Fudge Moose Tracks Ice Cream.

Yes, in our home, love is shown through chocolate.

Feeling Blessed

This semester I'm teaching an undergraduate statics class.  Since there are so many students, I get to hire a grader.  In a timespan of about 4 days, I had 9 grad students contact me, wanting to be my grader.  Grading isn't that fun.  Grading doesn't pay that well.  And yet, I had 9 students contacting me (without any advertising on my part), wanting to grade for me?

Here's what I realized: these students who are applying to be graders aren't doing it to get extra cash on the side; they're applying because they don't have TA or RA funding.  First off, that means they're earning less than half of a grad student TA or RA stipend--and those aren't that large to begin with!  Secondly, they don't have their tuition paid for.  And I'm not sure that they get the in-state tuition discount. So here they are, paying to go to school, paying for housing, and any trips home they take cost over $1000.  (Yes, these were all international students, too.)

It makes my life seem cushy.  I have my tuition paid for; I get a monthly stipend; I don't track the hours I work on a timecard; and I don't have to search for new funding every single semester.  Yes, I feel blessed.

Organizing

For Christmas, David and I got a whole slew of new spice blends to try out.  There was only one problem: our cupboard was already pretty crowded, and it was already a hassle trying to find the seasonings we wanted.  Or, when we left the seasonings at the front, it was a hassle moving them to get to the flour, sugar, and other staples.  The shelves weren't tall enough to stack spices 2 high, so a double layer turntable wouldn't work.  I didn't want to get one of those organizers that could only fit certain spice bottles, either, because I didn't want to transfer all the spices to new containers.  I took some careful measurements, and then headed over to Bed Bath and Beyond to see what the options were.  And I found the perfect solution!

It's designed to fit 18 spice bottles, and since 10 of our new spices are half-height, we fit 23.  It has 3 racks that pull out and tilt down, so you can see exactly what you have.  And do you see how perfect the height is for my cabinet?  Here's the full-on view:

I did have to transfer the white flour and white sugar into smaller canisters to make everything fit, but I'm really happy with the result.  (Yes, we do have over 30 bottles of various spices.)

My next source of frustration, which had been a frustration for awhile, was the freezer.  It had no shelf.  I asked my landlord about getting a shelf for the freezer, and he said there isn't a shelf to fit it.  I don't know about you, but those holes placed mid-height of the freezer, at the front and back of the left and right sides sure make it look like there should be a shelf to fit the freezer.  I copied down the model number and looked it up online: no freezer shelf.  Then I decided to measure it and see if I could just pick a shelf that would fit--how many varieties can there be?  A lot.  And, when you search for a freezer shelf, you can't just search by the dimensions, you have to search by the manufacturer and model number.  And when you select a shelf to fit a model number, they don't give you the dimensions.  So basically, no luck.

Then I had looked at Bed Bath and Beyond, to see what I could come up with for just a basic wire shelf like people use in their cabinets.  I wasn't that happy with what I found, so I forgot about it for awhile.  Then, the freezer started bugging me again.  So, I went back, and bought 2 shelves which weren't going to be a great fit, but then again, nothing was going to be a great fit.  I was pretty impressed with what I did.  The shelves leave a gap of about 3 inches in between each other, and a gap of about 2 inches from the back of the freezer.  But, I found a decent solution for that: place things that won't bend or slip over the gap.  See?

Why yes, we do have about 15 lbs of cheese in our freezer.  And at least 5 lbs of frozen strawberries.  And we're running low on meat.  But focus on the organization.  This makes the freezer so much easier to deal with!  Food doesn't fall out and attack us!  Hopefully, we'll also keep better tabs on what we have, so we don't have as many times where we unknowingly run out of ground beef.  (Right now we are knowingly out of ground beef.  It just hasn't been on sale.)

Speaking of sales, we were running dangerously low on brownie mix.  And by dangerously low, I mean that we only had a few of the super fancy brownie mixes that we save for sort of special occasions, and none of the regular brownie mixes.  This is a problem, because brownies are a key source of chocolate consumption in our home.  We go through about 3 mixes a month.  And we were out.  And they weren't on sale, at least, not on sale for the price that I will pay for them.  For 2 months.  It was very sad.  Then, last week, they went on sale.  We bought 12.  Then I though about it again and went back for more.  We are, happily, now stocked (for at least the next 2 months).

5 Years Ago Today . . .

I was studying late on campus, working on an acoustics lab report. I wasn't getting too much done, so I took a break by downloading and printing a reading assignment for another class I was taking. I kept doing stuff on my computer while I waited for it to print. Then, a guy came up to me, holding my printout, and asked if I was in Prof Chadwick's Judaism class. I didn't hear him. After deciding that I wasn't ignoring him, but actually didn't hear, he asked again. I turned around, and that was the first time I saw David.

At least, I think that was the first time I saw him. David and I also took a New Testament class from the same teacher Winter semester of 2005, but neither of us can remember if we were in the 8 am or 9 am section, so we could have been in the same class at the same time . . .

5 years ago today, I also received my first grad school acceptance letter, along with an invitation for an all-expense paid visit to the school. But that event kind of pales in comparison.

The Tell Me About Yourself Award

For quite awhile, I was safe from Blog Chain Letters.  For one thing, only a few people read my blog.  And for another, I didn't blog enough to give anyone the idea that I would respond.  I guess more people read my blog now--I do have 20 subscribers on Google Reader.  But anyway, this blog chain letter is pretty basic: tell 7 things about myself.  And, the title of the chain letter / award is

If it says "Your blog is great!" in it, I'm a little more inclined to respond.

So, seven things about me.

1.  I have the music to almost all of Les Miserables memorized.  I could pretty much sing the entire thing, including much of the orchestral part.  When my high school put it on, I could tell you exactly what was changed and what was cut.  (That's also when I began to notice a lot more of the nuances of the orchestral part.  I guess playing the music adds to my appreciation for it.)

2.  I've read all the Jane Austen books, and have watched a majority of the film adaptations.  I've gradually gotten into books from other authors in the 1800s, and have watched and read (in that order) some of the adaptations and books from Elizabeth Gaskell, Charlotte Bronte, Anne Bronte, and Charles Dickens.
[Fun fact: The Bronte sisters' father changed his last name from Brunty to Bronte.  It was out of admiration for Lord Nelson, who had the title of the Duke of Bronte.]

3.  I've dabbled in a lot of different kinds of things: I've done some cool stuff with photography, have been learning a bit more about photo editing, have learned a lot about computers in the past few years, am now getting into jewelry-making, and have done some cake-decorating kinds of things in the past.

4.  I met my husband in a physics computer lab.  It was about 8 pm on a Wednesday night, and we sent something to the printer at the same time.  He recognized what I printed as a reading assignment for a class he was taking as well, and that started us talking.
[Aside: That morning, I had written in my grateful journal that I was really grateful to not be in a relationship--the previous day I had listened to two friends share the drama of their current dating situations, and I was glad to be avoiding that.]

5.  I'm working on a PhD in Mechanical Engineering.  (Yes, I am slightly crazy.)  I just passed my preliminary exam on December 7, which means I'm now in the stage of all but dissertation.

6.  Besides when I was one year old, my hair has only been cut above my shoulders once.  And that was only because the beauty school student cut it too short: I said 10 inches; she cut 14.

7.  My favorite color is green.  I think I have something like 12 green shirts, between the short sleeved tees, the long sleeved tees, the button-down shirts, the cardigans, and the sweaters.  I also have a plethora of green earrings to coordinate.

[Yes, I am supposed to pass this award along.  But I'm not going to.]