I have been home for 4 days and I love it. Hiking, camping, drinking, meeting all the people that I love and have longed to see for a whole year. I am tired, but in a wonderfully fulfilling way. I am on vacation mode, and so is my blog. I will, though, try to keep you posted.
Today, I had a great trip to a beautiful place with the best boys in the world. And I collected proof that boys will always be just boys. I took a photo of my dear friends + brother, ages 9 to 27, all of whom behave and seem to think identically

I need to pack, take care of one million errands, and clean the apartment before I go. I am excited to be going on vacation, but not looking forward to the packing, erranding, and cleaning aspects of the travel.
And just for fun:

One more thing that makes me special - my veins are deeper than yours

I have alsways had very tiny and deep veins, which it turns out is a physiological trait that is inherited genetically. This means that I every time I go to a medical lab to have blood drawn, it never takes less than 40 minutes, 4 lab nurses and at least one supervising doctor. This morning, they had to do 8, really, 8 different pricks until they finally found a vein that worked. They tried both arms, then both hands (the top part, right above the fingers), then the ankles and even one thigh! The entire time I felt really bad, although it was not my fault, and so did the nurses, because they know full well that this stuff hurts. They said about 1 in 20 patients they see is like me. Oh well, I guess I am not quite unique.

All the sites hurt as hell now. It does not really hurt when you get it done, but it hurts later and all the spots are really blue. I hate this. Hopefully, all my blood work will be non-problematic at least.

It seems like everyone else is in great shape and does not need to form a motivational group. By the way, I hate such new age-y motivational craps, but seriously I could use a kick right now in order to leave my air conditioned apartment and go outside to work out. Well then, I still love you, skinny athletic fit readers, but at least try to be supportive
On another front, the boy is flying tonight, in freaking business class because they oversold the flight and just called to say that they are about to take off, but he has been served a cheese platter and champaigne already. That was nice to hear, as I was draining the water from some tuna. Actually, even though it sounds like I am complaining, the last week has not been bad. Today, I had the best lunch and I will share this really yummy recipe with you, in case you care to try it. I grilled one chicken breast, and while still hot, cut it up in bite-size cubes. Then I tossed in about 1/4 cup of chopped basil and 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and mixed well, letting it marinade for about 3 minutes. Sprinkled it with salt and pepper and ate it. It was good.

I was talking to my brother today about my weight loss attempts and get-in-excellent-running shape efforts today. He looks amazing, and manages to stay in this shape despite his intellectually exhausting job. His six pack abs also shatter all my excuses that I carry fat genes and a slow metabolism from our parents. I mean, come on - it is obvious that I don’t.

I was hoping to hear some magic recipe, some way to lose 100 pounds in my sleep and never gain them back. Instead, his recipe includes things like oatmeal with water, egg-white omelettes, and canned tuna - all of which sound as appealing to me as a shoe sole. Oh, and running every morning at 5.30 for an hour. But he is right that unless being physically fit becomes your priority, it is not going to happen. Just work for it and it will happen, he said. It sounds logical and easy, right? Then why is it so hard for me to resists the temptations of sleeping in instead of getting up to exercise and eating a whole sweet honeydew melon for lunch instead of grilled chicken with steamed brown rice? WHY??? Because truly, I am not desperate yet. I feel loved and appreciated the way I am, I am healthy, and active enough. Yes, I thought it would be nice to be thinner, but I did not really put serious effort into the self-improvement project. I need to set my priorities right.

Obviously, finishing the Ph.D. comes first right now because I am tired of living on a student budget and I just want to be a non-student for a change. But then nothing prevents me from setting a fitness goal as a second priority, and I think it is high time I did. I am not going to sabotage myself this time. I need the strenght to stay true to my priority. Can it happen? Sure. Will it happen? I guess we’ll see. If you’d like to join me, drop me a line - it’s always easy to do something together, rather than alone. And wish me luck.

P.S. Since I wrote this post I ran 8 km (it finally cooled down outside at 9 pm), drank 2 more liters of water for a total of 5 today, and had a grilled chicken breast with spinach. I at least feel like I am trying, as opposed to the feelings of doom/eternal fat curse/lack of willpower that had overtaken me in the past month. This will be a long journey.

Why on earth does it take 5 minutes to consume 800 calories worth of pleasure and 62 minutes to burn it off running? Even if I did enjoy the running, it is still absolutely unfair. And I haven’t even had cheesecake for at least a month.
On the bright side of exercise, this little running mate is the best investment I have ever made in a fitness product. Not only does it time you, but it also displays our heart rate and measures the burnt calories based on the weight, height, and age you program. The best part for me is the beeping sound it makes when my heart rate falls below 128, so that I know to move my butt faster and not slack off. It’s really motivating. And if it can motivate me, then it can probably motivate the laziest person in the world too
For now, I am going to enjoy some ice tea and pretend that chalky-textured whey protein shake tastes like a slice of chocolate cheesecake, and not like an ass.

Happy Birthday to me.

If this conference can be real, then logically there must be a place for me in academia. Somewhere. My favorite: “Comrade Potter: A Marxist Reading of Harry Potter.” …. The political ideology in Harry Potter is firmly rooted in the Socialist political tradition and Marxist literary theory. What? I might need to read these books.
Thanks Jonah for the educational link.

I went running today. I had forgotten how good it feels to raise my hearbeat to the rhytm of “So Pure,” then to quench my thirst with iced green tea, and take a very long and very cold shower. It was a lovely evening - crisp and quiet. The track was all mine. Incidentally, a quote came to mind: “The butterfly counts not months, but moments, and has time enough.”

Happy July!