Out with the Old, In with the New

Quick summary of the holidays:


• I took a week off from work. I came back to work on Monday (12/31) and it was so strange. Very quiet since the office was shut down and only a few people in but even stranger, I had to get back into the swing of working at my desk. By mid-day, I finally gave up on all my grandiose plans and just worked on email management. I’m almost done. A good way to start off the new year with an empty email box.

• I went up to Vermont this year and celebrated Christmas with my dad, step-mum, brother and cousins from Connecticut. We cut down a tree, decorated, cooked, played rummy, hearts, BS, and a bunch of other games, ate, opened gifts, ate some more, hiked, and ended with shoveling new snow. I was shopping up to the last minute which isn’t like me and stressed me out a bit. Others were also stressed out about the holidays too which I think is normal, only this year I wasn’t in my calm state (due to being stressed out), so their stress, stressed me out even more. I did fairly well though and in the end all was good.

• I had done some planning ahead of time to help reduce the family stress and had volunteered to take on the cooking for breakfasts and lunches. I spent a lot of time cooking and trying out new recipes from things I had pinned on Pinterest. I remember pinning the recipes way back and thinking, I shouldn’t look at Pinterest when I’m hungry, I’ll end up with a lot of random pins I won’t use. Boy was I wrong. I’ve cooked almost everything I pinned on my Breakfast board (Spinach/Gruyere Quiche, Sugar Crusted Vanilla French Toast, Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce, Breakfast bites, oven baked bacon) and even made a bunch of desserts (homemade fudge and Almond Joys) for last minute gifts. I’ve kept up with the cooking and just last night made a chicken/chorizo/potato dinner dish that was delicious. The one annoying thing is reading the recipe off the ipad - it would keep going to sleep on me!

• For Christmas I got a bunch of cool gifts*. *The note being that I am now at the age where people like to get a list from me and I get what I put on the list, so not much of surprise that I liked what I got. One of the big gifts was a Fitbit. I first heard of it this summer from a colleague who had one. I almost went out and bought one, but I was good and waited to see if it was something I really would use. As you recall, I had adjusted my daily routine to exclude elevators and escalators (mostly). It’s amazing how this little thing had made me noticeably more healthy - nothing on the weight loss side, but my endurance has gone up 100 fold (mainly since it was at barely anything). I started running up the escalator stairs at one of the deeper subway stations - constantly trying to break my record of how many steps it took me to get to the top. I think I realized that they run the escalator at different speeds since one day I was at 65 steps and then the next day I was at over a 100 and could have sworn I did better. Anyways, point being that positive targets seem to work for me. Fitbit works on letting you know how close you are to your target and then increasing the target. The app also lets you track your food and water intake- which I just started. We’ll see how it goes, but I do love the eye candy graphics that keep you checking your numbers and seeing how you do. I may have to go run up and down the stairs at lunch to get my numbers up. Luckily I get a lot of activity on my commute to work - another advantage to not driving.

• The other cool gift I got was this book on Infographics. It’s my new thing, that I’ve been mulling on for years. Basically, I realize that one of the issues in my profession is communication. The information is there (or almost there), but it’s not being engaged with properly. I think a lot of it has to do with how you present the information. Enter infographics. My department deals with a lot of hard data and the reports can be dense and usually, at best, are skimmed. I’m excited to apply my interest in graphic design with my interest in number crunching/analysis with my interest with sustainability and saving the world.

• And of course, I had to go see Les Miserables when I was in Vermont. When I was a kid, I had been listening to the radio one afternoon (public radio of course) and heard this amazing music I loved, so I grabbed a tape and recorded it. I then proceeded to sit and draw, listening to this tape over and over for hours and hours. Turns out it was Les Mis. Of course, I knew it all by heart, except the first half hour - the part I didn’t get recorded in time. Well, a year later, the musical went on tour and for my birthday present I got two tickets to see it up in Montreal. Dad took me and I remember being so excited. It was amazing - thank goodness for exuberant youth and bringing the opera glasses since our seats were row ZZ (practically the last row) and I really couldn’t see much of what was happening on the stage. It was quite a memorable moment from my youth. For the movie, I don’t know what I was expecting. I hadn’t heard much about the movie since I was spending late nights at work, forgoing NPR until the fiscal cliff had passed, and spending the rest of my time getting ready for the holidays. It was very different and I enjoyed the cinematography of it all, hearing all my favorite songs, and shedding tears throughout. As we walked out afterwards, I wasn’t giving it rave reviews though. It seemed like the pacing was off in the second half, some of the casting was wrong (Javier and Maurice) and the grand songs didn’t sound so grand. There was even one song I didn’t recognize. But since then, it’s really grown on me. You know how you read a book and you’re not that impressed, but then it sits with you for a long time after which, in a way redeems itself and makes you change your opinion. Same with this film. I’m sure some of it has to do with the movie triggering my memory of all the songs (I haven’t been able to stop singing songs in my head for a week!), but I also realized I never fully new all the details of the plot (I’m the type of person who listens to the tune not the lyrics), and by acting the singing (which takes away from the grandeur of the performances), the characters became all the more real and memorable. I’m in love with Jean Val Jean who was not a character I had noticed much previously. Jackman was unrecognizable at the beginning of the film and did an amazing job (I hope he wins best actor). I’m so enthralled with the story now, I picked up the book to read it. Something I never was that tempted to do before and highly recommend - it’s an easy read. I only wish my copy wasn’t a delicate 1800s copy so I could bring it on my commute - I may have to look into buying a digital version. Long story short, this movie isn’t a movie showcasing an amazing score (which the Les Mis score is - amazing), it’s a movie that tells a story through song. My copy of the Les Miserable soundtrack is on an old audio cassette which I can’t play (no more tape players in the house). I’ll buy the CD, but not from this movie. This movie wasn’t about the musical performances, it was about the story telling, something movies allow much better than musicals. Case in point, the song I didn’t recognize, Suddenly - it was new. Written specifically to capture the moment that the movie could show but not the musical - a beautiful moment that anchors a relationship.

• I was smart and had scheduled a few days off between returning from Vermont and going into work. What did I do? Absolutely nothing. I’m slowly learning what works best for me. I’m an introvert, so need time to recharge, but not too much time, because then I’m “out of shape” socially. There’s a sweet balance that I’m finding. The biggest thing is letting go of the Catholic guilt full of “shoulds”. I should be doing this or that and just enjoying the stuff I enjoy, even though I should be doing laundry, or a million other things. I’m getting there, and I can’t even guess how much worse it must be for folks who are actually catholic. One afternoon, I spent hours on youtube watching random things and discovered this interview of Ricky Gervais talking about religion: “It’s true. I wish there was a God. I wish there was. It would be great. From what I’ve heard, he’s brilliant, you know. But… You can’t believe in something you don’t. Also, if there is a god, why did he make me an atheist? That was his first mistake, well, the talking snake was his first mistake…”


So not that quick a summary, apparently I’m in a verbose state right now. Now for my targets (hate to call them resolutions) for the new year - correlating with each of the items above.

• Keep focused on the big picture at work, partly by staying organized on the little things.

• Start buying/planning Christmas presents at the beginning of this year so I don’t get stressed out at the holidays.

• Keep trying out new recipes and organize them into something I can use in the future. I’m thinking my own annual Blurb cookbook, that way I don’t need/lose digital copies. Nick’s in town which helps me with trying out recipes. No matter how good the recipe, after the fourth serving, you’re getting tired of it!

• Use fitbit to get me into tip top shape, sans gym.

• Carve some time at work to finally take my infographics idea into reality.

• Go see Les Mis again and buy the book.

• Schedule time to do nothing - guilt free!