Summer Wrap Up

Eek, new blogger interface. Poor brain being challenged by all this online newness.

Today summer is officially over* so it seems like a good time to get around to writing a post that I already wrote in my head over the last two weeks. I find that happens a lot. If only you guys could see all of the clever blog entries I have written in my head. (Actually one day you might get to.)

I had a few goals for the summer, so I thought I should do a run down of them to see how well I fared.

Goal 1. Be healthier, lose weight, join a gym, exercise more, etc. I'm not sure how to score myself on this one. I did finally do the research about my options and joined a local gym. I even was good about going for most of the summer, and got to the point where I could increase my weights and such. I also was just a lot more active in general, going swimming and walking around and basically not sitting on my couch. I suppose I wasn't particularly good about eating well, but then again I wasn't bad either. In general I think I eat way less unhealthy stuff than most people (no fast food, not much sugary stuff or cracker snack type things or fatty things). Then again, I don't habitually eat a ton of fruits and vegetables so I don't eat particularly well either. Anyway, somehow despite all of the activity I somehow managed to actually gain weight this summer. I find that rather frustrating. It seems that the times in my life when I have weighed the least have been the times when I have payed the least attention to that stuff. Apparently trying hard to lose weight doesn't work very well for me. (I have tried not paying attention as a strategy, but apparently the inverse relationship does not always hold.)

Unfortunately once the school year started my schedule exploded (see previous post) and things have been even tougher. I now have to remember how to pack healthy lunches (tips would be appreciated) and how to make quick dinners when I am starving after working late. It is also nearly impossible for me to make it to the gym (see previous post about all of my after work activities). And on top of it all I have developed a delightful soda habit. I just need caffeine in the afternoons and I don't like coffee, so soda it is. Plus, something about the sugar combines with the caffeine to make a magical energy burst.

Starting yesterday I decided that I need to really refocus on this goal. I made some iced tea at home to bring in so that I can have a healthier caffeine alternative. I have been bringing in some healthy food, including fruits and veggies to snack on. And I am hoping to make it to the gym every day that I can, which is probably Saturday and Sunday and one or two of Wed, Thurs, Fri. Yesterday didn't happen because my friend called me at the end of the work day and said that she really needed to vent over tea and dessert at our Village Tea Room. Well I can't say no to that can I? I did walk there and back at least.

Goal 2. Get research done. That was an abysmal failure. No excuses really except for complete lack of motivation. It was weird, at the end of the school year I had so many great ideas that I wanted to follow through on as soon as I had free time. Once I had free time my brain just turned off. I don't really remember this being as much of a problem in grad school. Perhaps the semester work load is just that much worse now. (It is.) The only work I managed to get done was related to classes and teaching, which wasn't really necessary but I did it because I like it. I am really going to have to figure out how to balance research with teaching during the school year so that I can get stuff done, and soon.

Goal 3. Give online dating a try. I did in fact do this and give it a try. Unfortunately pretty much nothing came of it. I chatted with a few guys that seemed fine and went on one date, but that was it. There are still a few guys that I could follow up with, but I got busy with school year stuff. I figure if I'm not into them enough to make the time then it probably isn't my guy. It turns out that online dating is very time consuming; I was definitely right to get started with it over the summer. I'll have to think about if/how I want to continue. I let my eHarmony subscription expire, so now I just have the free OkCupid. I was thinking of joining Match after eHarmony, but now I think I probably won't bother. I basically have learned that there are no matches for me in a 60 mile radius. I guess I will have to meet the man of my dreams another way.

So by most accounts my summer was a bit of a flop. The thing is that I pretty much feel exactly the opposite. As I wrote before, I had a ton of fun this summer. I was just so happy and so enjoying the weather and the social activities and exploring and hanging out with new people and everything that summer entails. I had/have a nagging guilt about research, but thanks to many years of grad school I am pretty good at keeping that guilt at bay. I'm not really sure what I did during summer last year (probably slept a lot after the first year of professorship), and the summer before I was in dissertation hibernation, so this has been my best summer in a few years. Yay!

And now I return to the dreary rainy depressing non-summer months stretching ahead of me.


*Actually, since I brought it up I have never understood why the seasons start at the relevant equinox or solstice. It seems to me that autumn should be centered around the autumnal equinox, winter should be centered around the winter solstice, etc. It doesn't make any sense the way we do it. Why was yesterday summer when the sun was almost exactly halfway between its high and low points?