Cremes

I finally bit the bullet and ordered myself a coffee maker. I spent several days thinking it over and finally picked a Keurig B40 1-Cup maker. I also purchased some Gloria Jean flavored coffees and one of those reuseable pod filters, where you can just stick store bought coffee in and make it not so pricey. The flavored coffees I ordered were 50 for $17, so that equals out to about $3 per cup, and is not really a whole lot better than Starbucks when you think about it [edit: It turns out that I really suck at math and they are actually 34 cents a cup…. I’m so toasted on the GRE…]. So those are special treats, and I’ll stick to regular coffee most of the time. My coffees won’t get here until Monday, but luckily the maker came with an 18 pack variety so I had a coffee this morning (French Roast!) and a tea (Mandarin Orange Spice) tonight while I was finishing up Wicked. I’m really liking the coffee maker, it’s so easy to use and quick. It’s a little noisy (Mike compared the sound to a jet taking off) but I’m happy with it, and liked the taste of the coffee, so that is the most important thing. Of course, now my personal money is sorta low, but it’s a small price to pay for some good coffee at the touch of a button.

As for my resolutions, I’m still going good on my book one (up to 9!) and doing miserably on the weight/exercise one. I had considered picking up a copy of DDR, thinking that if exercise seemed fun then I might do it more, but after purchasing the coffee maker that is sort of out of the picture for now. I didn’t realize the game was so expensive. About $100 after the game and the pad. I’ve been gorging on chocolates lately too, leftovers from Christmas. Once those are gone though, I should be back to healthy snacks. I’m drinking a lot of water and a little less Pepsi, but still not doing fabulous. And I haven’t been counting calories either. All the chocolate makes it a little depressing.

Last year I read “Mindless Eating” by Brian Wansink, and there was a lot of helpful information about tricking yourself into eating less and healthier. One of his suggestions was to set little rules for yourself that you could easily follow. So I set one for myself; don’t buy any chocolate. Also, don’t keep any Pepsi on hand. Because I will drink it. Of course, whenever we go out to a restaurant I often order it, or I’ll get a can from the vending machine at work. But I drink a lot less knowing that it’s going to cost me a little bit of money to get to it. Same for the chocolate, but I got a bunch for Christmas. I finished the Godivas last weekend, and now I just have a box of seashells to go, and a few fun size Smarties. After that, my sweets will have to be found elsewhere because I’m not stocking them up here. I’m trying to stick to fruits, veggies, and nuts at work. And those 100 calorie packs. They seem to soothe my sweet tooth without going overboard.

I would really like to blog more, but it just seems like I have so little time for much of anything. I need to get on track somehow, and keep up with the things I enjoy. Lots of people work 40 hours a week and still seem to have lives, but I find it so difficult. Anyways, I’m really working hard on the reading thing, not to mention I’ve been studying math like the Dickens in preparation for my GRE, which will be February 23. Prayers and best wishes will be needed for that. It’s really hard not to get frustrated with myself over that, but Mike’s helping me as best as he can and I’m trying to learn. Things for my grad school application are starting to come together. I’ve just gotta get all my papers together and write up my letter of intent. Soon I’ll be grad school bound, I hope!

For my reading resolution - or mission, really - I’ve decided that the month of June I’ll only be reading books that people recommend. So please leave comments of a particular book that you think I should read. It can be something you’ve read and enjoyed, or something you’ve always wanted to read but never got around to it. I’m going to take all the recommendations that I possibly can, but no reference materials please - I’m not about to spend the month of June reading Webster’s Dictionary or the phone book. I just need to figure out a way to get my hands on the books before June! So, what should I read?

So I’ve been musing about New Years’ Resolutions ever since our wine-soaked, top-hat-wearing, conversation filled (and don’t forget the lobster-shaped puff pasty) New Years’ Eve party (pictures to follow!), and I think I’ve finally come up with a few. I read this article this morning and so I’m going to write them down. I’ll probably keep adding to it, but for now, this is what I’ve got.

1. Lose 10lbs - Now I know most people are going to look at me and think “Now, why the heck does she need to lose any weight?” My pants are a little tight, to be honest. I know that I’m a healthy weight, but I would like to be a little slimmer. For health reasons… oh, ok, and for vanity too, but it’s just ten pounds. After I get old and fat I’ll wish I had taken the opportunity! What I’m doing to achieve this goal: I’ve started using Sparkpeople.com again to count calories (and keep track of my cholesterol while I’m at it), and I plan to start exercising once a week. It’s not much, but it’s a start. So far I’ve counted calories 3 days in a row and have not yet exercised. :(
2. Read as many books as humanly possible - I’ve been going through a “sponge” phase lately where I just can’t learn enough! So I’ve decided to read as many books as I can get my hands on this year. That includes nonfiction and fiction, in a variety of genres. I’d like to get to a couple hundred, but we’ll see. The rules are that all books apply, whether audio, hardcover, paperback, whatever. What I’m doing to achieve this goal: Well, I went to the library on Saturday and picked up a huge handful of audio books. So far my totals for the year are 5. I would say that’s pretty good considering I only started thinking I would read a lot of books a few days ago. I also have a huge load of books in my reading “queue”. I’ll probably keep tabs on here of how many books I’ve read so far.

That’s all I have so far. Any resolutions out there?