What I am listening to right now: The Black Keys - Tighten Up

FTFT #1: The Passage by Justin Cronin

I stumbled across  The Passage on the new release shelves of the public library.  Normally I am not drawn to science fiction or mystery, but I was drawn to this book.  I picked it up a couple of times before deciding to take it.  The story deals with a post-apocolyptic America after a virus seemingly wipes out humanity.  The basic premise is similiar to that of  "I am Legend", but it views the "vampire virus infecting all of mankind until there is only one left" and examines it from a different angle.    The book uses several different literary devices to tell it story allowing us to become invested in the lives of the different people living these experiences.  My favorite line from the cover flap says, "an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger".   The human endurance part of the book was the most compelling.  The largest section of the book tells about a colony of people who have managed to live through this epidemic and how they fight to find an answer once they realize that the walls keeping them safe are starting to crumble.  The Passage is book one of a proposed trilogy.  The next book is slated to be released in 2012 and the third in 2014.   I will definitely be picking up the sequels as well.

Find it on Amazon here...

Fifty Two Fifty Two

Fifty Two Fifty Two is a project where you aim to read 52 books in 52 weeks.   I came across the blog sometime last fall and thought it was an incredible idea.  I wanted to wait until the beginning of the year to start.  I like the symmetry of January through December.  I guess that is either me being anal-retentive or just a factor of my birthday being December 31st.

I am a little behind already, but that is because the first book I picked out for the new year was a 750-page science fiction that I got off the of the New Release section of the library.    My first FTFT post will be coming shortly.

To find out more about Fifty Two Fifty Two, check out this link or click on the button to the right.

Weekly Weigh-In

After surviving one of the longest swim meets of the year without completely sabotaging myself, I weighed-in this morning.   Debs and I are both weighing ourselves on Tuesdays, so I have been getting Facebook messages at 6am or earlier telling me her result.  It took two weeks for me to remember that she now lives in Ohio and is in another time zone.  Ooooops!  I guess 7am isn't that early to be on the scale.  I am proud to say that I have lost another 4 pounds.  And I am going to eat an apple today.  I am so freakin' excited about that apple.

What I am listening to right now: Mumford and Sons - Little Lion Man

I am just a little bit obsessed with these guys right now.

Lessons Learned

1) Vegetables taste good when you are not allowed anything made with flour, sugar, or fat.

2) Sometimes I feel outrageously unqualified to do my job.

3) Dieting is easier when you start to see the results. 2lbs in week #1. I am hoping for another 2 lbs at my next weigh-in on Tuesday. If I can lose 2lbs a week, I will reach my goal weigh in just over 3 months.

4) I have decided that if I reach my goal weight, I am going to get my navel pierced.

Seize the Day (Chorale) to Bad Romance

Just because I needed a pick-me-up this morning. You are welcome.

2011: Goals are just dreams with deadlines....

I normally do not make resolutions. I am horrendously bad at keeping them. My follow-through track record is abysmal. So instead of resolutions, I am going to set "intents". That way I won't feel as bad if I do not follow through. My first intent is to not feel bad about myself if I fail. As a fellow blogger wrote....2011 will be a year of unbridled optimism.

1: Blogging. My intent is to write at least twice a week if not more and to not feel blocked because I do not think anyone else has any interest in what I have to say. I also want to try to write about something other than myself. I'm boring. But my kids are funny. Be prepared for lots more about swimming and my swimmers.

2: Swimming. USMS has a on-line program called Go The Distance. Last year, when I signed up in May, I just picked an random number of miles to complete for the year. I picked 100 miles. That was stupid. I finished the year with just about 66 miles. I felt like a failure. In reality, 66 miles of swimming in 7 months is pretty awesome. I would have even hit 100 if I had kept swimming after September. So I am going to try for 100 again this year, but starting in January instead. You see, setting myself up to succeed.

3: Running. I will never run a marathon. I don't want to. I will not be some crazy ultra-distance runner. I don't care that much. But much love and light to those who do and are. This is what I do want. I want to jump on the treadmill and run a couple of miles, a couple times a week. I do want to do a 5K a couple times a year. I want to be physically able to complete a triathlon. It is my intent to rebuild my running endurance (was destroyed by Christmas bout of bronchitis) and run 2-3 times a week for at least 20 minutes, until I can get back up to 3 miles.

4: Losing Weight. Though I do not like the way I look, I am used to it. My body and I have been fighting for a long 29 years, with my body winning the entire time. I just want to be skinny once before I have babies. My friend and Health Enhancement Director or the "Food Nazi", decided in December that she was going to put me on a diet. She is doing it with me of course, but she just wants to lose 10 pounds. My 30 pound goal is a little more daunting. We started this past Monday. We are essentially doing a modified South Beach. I was OK with that because I tried South Beach one summer in college and it worked. And then I went back to school and it all went down the drain. Today is Day 5. When I eat, I am not hungry but I am not nearly satisfied. Telling an emotional eater that she can't have bread or sugar is bad, but it is worse when she is single and very unhappy about it. It turns out that carbs contribute to serotonin production. I told SPD about that and laughed saying, "Oh Tammy, you are hungry and depressed!" I weigh myself for the first time on Tuesday. Don't hurt yourself stressing over the anticipation.

5: My job. My intent is to continue doing the best job I possibly can, keep my swimmers injury free, and make the best decisions I can. And to make it through the year without someone trying to get me fired.

If there is anyone still out there, share your intents for the new year, and I will intend to help keep you accountable!

2010: Lessons Learned

1: Blogging is hard.

2: Swimming is hard.

3: Running is hard.

4: Losing weight is hard.

5: Being a swim coach is always interesting.

I've achieved a lot in the last year, but not much that I think people would find interesting. I started 2010 saying that it was going to be the "Year of Tammy". Part of me thinks I accomplished that and the other part thinks that I utterly failed. The swimming, for example, I did solely for myself, but I did not accomplish my goal of swimming in a meet. I loved the blogging, but I eventually fell out of habit and thinking that I had nothing to say. I exercised like a demon this year and I still look the same. I was able to run two 5Ks this fall, but then I got bronchitis and now I can't run for more than 5 minutes with out stopping (on the treadmill!) My job was alternately wonderful and horrible. Literally something great would happen, and the next day the sky would fall down.

In 2011, I would like to actually achieve something.

There was a high point to the year. I did see one of my all-time dreams come true.










Yeah, that's right. I met Ian Crocker. Suck on that 2010!