This and That Part 2

The winter weather here continues, with no end in sight.  I think that this is officially the snowiest winter on record in this area.  I haven't seen grass since December.  (Actually, that is not totally true; we have had a bit of a melt in the last few days and I can start seeing the muddy edges next to sidewalks that were overplowed.)  There has been a good foot of now covering everything all winter.  The plow piles are well over 10 feet tall, and the campus eventually had to bring in dump trucks to carry out the snow because it was taking over the parking lots.  I seriously have never seen so much snow.  The good news is that I seem to have adapted to the cold much better this year.  Temperatures in the thirties are pleasant now, and forty is downright warm.  I have been wanting to get back to walking to work again, but I am maintaining a rule that if the forecast for my walk home is in the teens or single digits then I won't do it; without sunlight that is just too cold.

To make up for my lack of walking exercise and the holiday weight I have started Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.  I've been doing it for 5 days now and I already feel better about my body.  I was really out of shape, and the first day killed me, but the workout has quickly become much easier as I get back into exercise.  I always feel so skinny after a workout and it is somewhat of a letdown when I am actually the same size when I get dressed afterward.  Oh well.  One new facet of this exercising is that I have been doing it in the morning.  I am so not a morning person, so morning exercise has never been a consideration for me.  But the 30 Day Shred is only 25 minutes, so I figured that I could squeeze it in (that decision was mostly as a result of being too lazy to do it after work for a week straight).  I also haven't done morning exercise because exercise typically gives me a migraine, until I get used to it over a few days.  This is a real thing, it has to do with expanding and dilating blood vessels.  I've been drinking caffeinated tea after working out to help counteract that, and I guess it worked or Jillian really is a genius because I haven't had any migraines, woot woot.  So I am very reluctant to say it, but morning exercise is actually quite pleasant and makes me feel much better for the rest of the day.  Gah, I can't believe I'm one of those people!

I have continued with playing in the music ensembles.  I chose to join the community college group that I was able to commit to (not interfering with the public telescope night and trivia night).  It seems like that group is a lot of actual community college students, though there were more community members than the original youth band.  I think that the group I can't go to would have the most grown-ups.  So it doesn't look like I will be meeting any bosom buddies or future husbands, but it is still a fun thing to do.