Twilight - 4 Chapters In

I started Twilight yesterday! I'm 4 chapters in (about 80 pages). It's not terrible. Ok I'm not giving it enough credit. It's definitely engaging. Lots of aspects of the movie that made no sense to me make sense in the book. I appreciate the attention to detail. Fiction books are few and far between in my life. Enjoying the fantasy while I can. It's a busy week so pleasure reading is likely on hold until the weekend. I'll keep you all posted on my progress.

First they came...

One of my favorite quotes at the USHMM is German pastor Martin Niemöller's 'First they came..." I remember hearing this quote from my father or grandparents years ago, but it's been a while since I've heard/seen it. Reading it now I realize how true it is to all of mankind regardless of race, religion, sex, nationality, etc. The concept resonates no matter how big or small the scope or scale.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.

                                                       ~Martin Niemöller (1892-1984)

Visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

One of the first items I added to my '30 by 30' Project was to spend a day a day at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  I visited Yad Vashem during my Birthright trip to Israel in 2008, but I haven't been to the US Holocaust Memorial since, I believe, 1995 (year of my Bat Mitzvah). I wanted to make a USHMM visit an early list item. I've been meaning to go for quite some time. I had a feeling the experience at 29 would not be the same as the experience at 13.

We decided to "go green" yesterday (at least, sorta). Drove to New Carrollton and metro'd to the Smithsonian. Easy ride. Arrived to the Memorial (1 block from Metro) around 1pm.  It took us about 4 hours to get through the entire museum. I read as much as I could this time around. I think I skipped alot at 13. I also watched as many and as much of the films as time permitted, especially the films and audio recordings of Holocaust survivors. I do believe that it's the stories from witnesses and survivors that is the greatest gift and educational tool for future generations.

The USHMM is an excellent experience. It's so well managed and visitors are very respectful (no one is loud, running around, being obnoxious like you quite often find at other museum). I hate to sound cliche, but a visit to the Memorial absolutely puts life in perspective.

After the Memorial we metro'd over to Dupont and had dinner at the Palm.  I won a $100 gift card at our office holiday party. I'm not usually the fancy restaurant type.  It was absolutely delicious. We were back in the metro by 7:30pm and home by 9pm.

Week 2 Weigh In: 3 Lbs Down Amid Thundersnow

I'm down 3 lbs this week. I'm happy with that number, especially considering it was a rough week between car troubles, thunderstorm issues, and feeling under the weather (pun not intended). I was careful about the amount/calories of food I ate this week, but not so conscientious about what I was eating. Calories - Acceptable. Type of Food - Could be better. Let's put it this way... I ate a good share of grilled chicken, fish and veges this week. Really cut out all snacking and sugar/random carbs.  However, I also may have had some chicken parm with spaghetti twice, a couple slices of pizza, and a small slice of celebratory cake (see below). It was all in moderation though so I guess it just goes to show that yep, it's all about the calories, at least where the weight loss is concerned. That being said, I will monitor the health level of my foods more and more in the next week or so. I gave myself a pass this week because of the various unforeseen minor chaos factors. This week was basically a big wash with the '30 by 30'. Haven't even cracked open Twilight. Too bad I didn't put 'Watch an Entire Season of 24' on my list. That I did. 


Week 2: -3 lbs. Total: -4.6 lbs. To Go: 45.4 lbs.

Mmmm... Cake!

What I Learned In The Past 36 Hours

1. Parents are sometimes always right. You (as in, I) should keep an overnight/emergency bag with essentials in your car at all times. Especially if you live 38 miles from your office. And extra especially if there's a snowpocolypse in the forecast.

2. People in MD/DC/VA absolutely cannot drive in the snow. People are morons. I exclude myself from this because my 3 1/2 years at Syracuse obviously made me a snow driving expert. So says the girl who's car got stuck next to the Nissan dealership...

3. There are definitely worse places to be "stranded" overnight in a snowstorm than in a nice hotel next to your office, paid for by your generous employer, across the street from a 24 hour CVS.

4. If you've committed to reading Twilight as part of your '30 by 30' Project you should keep the book in your car, especially if the aforementioned snowpocolypse is in the forecast. An evening alone in a hotel room with the cable and power flickering would be a perfect time to read a book. Having the book on the coffee table at home... not as convenient.

As they say, I guess hindsight is 20-20.

The week I discovered Netflix & Blu-ray

Let's start with the bad and good of this week's '30 by 30' before we get to the titled business...

THE BAD: Weight loss (a day later than promised, sorry). I lost 1.6 lbs this week. BAD. No surprise because I got a bit off track. I wrote down everything I ate this week and when I went back and looked at it, I was like, ugh, really, 3 Clif bars in one day? Bad Manda! Usually during Week 1 of a diet (esp w/ major carb reduction) I'll be down 5 lbs. That 1.6 could easily be strictly water (or, more likely in my case, diet coke). At least I was down and not up, even if that's a trivial loss.

THE GOOD: I've teamed up with my cousin Mara (Opera Singer/Professor at NYU) and my Aunt Jackie (Pharmacist in Kansas) on a weight loss plan. Yep, this thing has gone national!  Basically they're doing the leg work and I'm following their awesome plan. Mostly diet related, a little exercise related. Got lots of great food ideas already from them and I'm ready to go (again). We're officially starting re-starting the diet this Monday (1st day of Mara's NYU semester). Their initial plan was to do a 28-day total body cleanse (I think it was similar to Oprah's 21-day Vegan Cleanse) then start Weight Watchers. I'm still waiting on details of the cleanse. I'm not thrilled about the idea of going Vegan (I love love love fish and chicken as protein) but I'd be willing to try it. Mara is aiming to meet her goal (she has lots less to lose than me) by the time her new Opera debuts in April. That should (hopefully) really help me stay on track the next couple months. We'll see, I'll keep ya posted.

As far as this week's '30 by 30' agenda item... I've decided on Twilight. I borrowed the book from my friend Terry at breakfast club this morning. (More on breakfast club in a future post, for those who don't know about my Saturday morning tradition). Terry opened her sealed 3-book set in order to give me the book so now even if I am kinda "blah" about reading it I'm sorta guilted into doing so ;-) Kidding, mostly! My mom and sister both warned that it'll take a good 50+ pages to get into. I'm hoping I have enough willpower to make it through that first 50 and enough willpower to tear me away from the TV, which, conveniently brings me to the root of the title...

This has nothing to do with the '30 by 30' other than that it may derail some of my plans. It all started with Redbox. I love Redbox! $1 for a brand new movie is fantastic. However, when you rent the movie over the weekend, then forget about it for the week, and before you know it you've spent $7 on the dumbest movies in recent history, Redbox isn't so awesome.  So I decided to sign up for the Netflix 30-Day Trial. I understand I'm really late to the party here, but I didn't realize that the instant streaming option streams HD quickly and it actually looks like HD. I thought since it looks just blah on my 4 year old Mac it would look just blah on my 50" Panasonic plasma.  After a little internet/friend research on streaming devices (I don't own a video game systems made after 1990) I decided to invest/ test out this whole instant streaming business on a Blu-ray player. $95 bucks later (HDMI cable included, I LOVE Costco) and... OH MY GAWD! I'm fairly certain that since I brought this baby home on Thursday either me or my sister (who lives with me) have been parked in front of the TV at all times. First I watched Amadeus. Now we're onto Season 2 of Dexter and Season 1 of 24 (which I've never seen). The videos load so quickly! And they're all just on the screen waiting for me to play. Knock on wood I haven't even noticed any jumps from internet connectivity. [Insert Shameless Employer Plug Here] Thanks Xfinity super fast connection! It's amazing. Yes, I realize this technology has been around for a while, but I'm giddy excited nonetheless at my new-to-me discovery. A few friends have mentioned that once you go through the instant catalog you run out of stuff, but for someone who barely watches TV (other than sports and news) it's gonna take a while for me to get bored. 

Now if only I can tear myself away from this Blu-ray and start Twilight...

Managing Goals... 30 of 'em...

If you know me at all, you know I'm a planner. I'm not opposed to spontaneity, I just enjoy order, organization and advanced planning. It alleviates alot of unnecessary stress down the road. While it's impossible to completely plan the '30 by 30', I did come up with a short term goal to make the somewhat massive list manageable. My goal is to complete 1 item every week. Seems easy enough, right? Easy-ish for now since I have the entire list (sans Snowboarding) left. Will get difficult once I'm down to Vegas, 5k, hiking Acadia and Syracuse football game ;-). Some weeks I'll get multiple done, some weeks I'll get nada, but I'll do my best to keep crusin'. For the next couple weeks I already have plans to visit the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, learn to drive stick, go to Synagogue, read Twilight and paint a room of my house. Feelin good!

Turns Out I'm No Shaun White

Ski Socks... $15

Waterproof Gloves... $35

Beginner Snowboarder Package... $84

Spending an hour on my butt/back/stomach on the bunny slope to cross the 1st item off my '30 by 30' list... PRICELESS.

Let me preface this by saying that SNOWBOARDING is the first item to be officially crossed of my '30 by 30'.

Now let me say this... Remember how my friends, coworkers, family, everyone I know told me that it was really really hard and the first time was gonna be a disaster? And remember how I said if I could survive 4 Syracuse winters intact I could surely get down a slope intact? Well... Yeah... Perhaps I should have listened to my friends. Perhaps I should have done this after I lost 50 lbs. Perhaps I should have gone on a weekday not a Saturday of a holiday weekend when there were 5 people per square yard on the bunny slope.

Here's how it went down...

We (Sue, Jackie, Me) got to Ski Liberty around 1pm on Saturday. I was super pumped! Adrenaline racing, decked out in my spiffy cold weather gear, psyched to hit the slopes. I wasn't even nervous! That is, until I checked in, actually got my snowboard and boots, and went to my 2pm group lesson. 

This is me waiting for my lesson. See the smile? Ahh, life was good back then...

In an instant it all changed. It was all downhill from there. Literally. For the next 45 minutes I "glided", fell, toppled, collided, had to be helped up, flopped around on my stomach and back like a beached whale, whined, wondered how the 8 yr old kids around me were cruisin down easy as pie. Sure I said I wanted to hit the slopes, but I should have been more specific. I didn't mean it literally, over and over again. My snowboard instructor, let's call him Shaun White, was very helpful although he musta been totally annoyed at my inability to keep up with the 3 other folks in my group (who were super cool despite my inferior skills). It didn't help that it was so packed that every time I kinda got goin (as in, made it 5 feet) at the 6th foot of my "ride" I'd collide into someone. It was a nightmare... for me and for those in my way!

After a 15+ minute descent from half way up the bunny slope, I called it quits. Yep, I'm a quitter. 45ish minutes into my 90ish lesson I had enough, mostly because I was too exhausted to glide (do splits) on over to the magic carpet to get back up the slope only to topple back down. This was around 3pm and I was supposed to meet my friends over at the bar at 3:30. I just called it a day. And the adventure (at least on the slopes) ended there... for now... because I got a free package to go back. I think Shaun White and his boss felt bad for me. Turns out I'm not as unathletic and klutzy as I thought. I'm actually even more unathletic than I thought!!!

So yes, I get to cross snowboarding off my list on a technicality. I'm gonna go back and try again, but this time during mid-week and not during a holiday weekend. This is for me and for all the other patrons of Ski Liberty. If you were one of the 15 or so folks I collided into yesterday, please accept my apologies.

On a bright note... I made awesome new friends who made the rest of the day (ie the drinking and watching football) fantastic. Shout out to Laura, Jill, Jess & Chris. And of course my BFFs Sue and Jackie for the support and tourguidyness. I dedicate my 1st of the '30 by 30' to them!

Who's coming with me next time? Not you? Yeah yeah yeah...

Snowboarding... TOMORROW!

Looks like snowboarding will be the first of the '30' to get crossed off, fingers crossed, tomorrow! This comes on the heels of my snowboarding company (Sue the snowboarding queen & Jackie the recent first timer) making a last ditch effort to try and convince me to ski instead. This involved a series of Facebook messages about how 'you' (transl: you uncoordinated klutz) can get very 'discouraged' (transl: cry, scream, whine, pout, etc) due to the difficult nature of the first snowboarding lesson (transl: your a$$ will be black and blue and we don't want to hear you b**** about it during the car ride home). However, after some insistence that 'snowboarding', not 'skiing', is on my '30 by 30', I got this message:
  

 
EXACTLY. I love my friends.

The Diet - Overview

After much consideration about which diet (or type of diet) to take up to drop 50 lbs... I'm going with the Weight Watchers point system and portion control.  I've attempted a myriad of diets over the past many years. In 2009 I lost 30 lbs in 2 months on Medifast. That was manageable and I felt great, but it wasn't realistic in the long term (at least for me). And of course I gained it all back. I know a bunch of folks who have done Weight Watchers and had tremendous long term success, which is important to me.  Also, it's ideal for someone constantly busy and on the go. Lots of options and if Jennifer Hudson can do it, so can I.

The diet begins tomorrow (Friday the 14th) morning. Right now I'm going off an "old" points book online. This weekend I'm going to figure out how to get the new Points Plus guide and carry it will me at all times. I'm not doing the meetings, weigh ins, etc at WW centers. It's just not practical with my schedule. In lieu of being held accountable by official meetings & weigh-ins, I'm going to do a blog post every Friday with my total weight loss for that week and any notes, tips, thoughts, complaints, etc etc. I chose Friday as a weigh in day because I feel like it's the weekend where I may be a little looser with my diet, so Friday will prob be my lowest weight of the week, thus obviously a great choice.

I have 357 days to get down 50 lbs. Sounds reasonable to me!

Plans Get Underway...

I know I'm only 24 hours into this thing, but since time is a tickin', I've already started making some plans to cross items off my list!

Ravens road game - My dad suggested we go to the Ravens @ Jaguars game (my folks live on the each coast of FL but we have family in Jacksonville making it a relatively easy/sensible trip, and quick/cheap Southwest flight!). Some quality father/daughter time. Will of course have to wait until the Ravens (and Redskins for that matter) schedules come out so I can see if it'll work out. If not we'll go to (TBD) plan B. Thanks, Dad!

Caps road game - This one's already set for 3/6. I'm ready to rock my Ovie jersey in the Bank Atlantic Center. Thanks, Dad!

Camping - Much thanks to Amy up in Boston (and Megan, the original inspiration for this project, who is doing 40 in 40) for the invite to her family's lobster bake in August. I've been hearing about this lobster bake (which includes a weekend camping on Amy's family's property in Maine) for years from our mutual friend, my bestest, Jen. It's on the calendar for this summer! Thanks, Amy!

Play Ice hockey - My friend Greg suggested we rent out some space on the ice rink in Patterson Park. Greg is Mr. Hockey -- he drives from BMore to Mahwah (NJ) on Sundays to play in his men's league -- so he's the perfect person for this and I appreciate the offer. I'll even forgive him for being a Rangers fan. Thanks, Greg!

Snowboarding - May do this next weekend with my bff Sue. She's the resident snowboard expert. I've passed on a few snowboarding trips/lessons (including one tomorrow) but I'll def get to it in the next month. I have a feeling she will also be the one to teach me to change a tire. And maybe cook a turkey... after all she is the expert.  Thanks, Sue!

Acadia - This will be a spring trip... I was up there over the summer on a road trip with my bestest Jen (who is an Assistant AD/SID at Husson U in Bangor) and I refused to do any trail where "iron rungs" were in the description. I'm thinking next go around I'm gonna have to suck it up and do it. The Beehive is the one everyone talks about as being the difficult but most beautiful hike. Thanks, Jen!

Revealed... My '30 by 30' Project

It's a simple concept inspired by awesome friends. What started as a few items on a New Years Resolution list is now this public '30' blog. I'll be 30 in exactly 1 year.  That gives me 365 days to accomplish my '30'. Some are more personal, some are just fun, some are about finally learning to do things I've always wanted to do. Some are things I've done but want to do again. Others are brand new. It's time to stop saying I'm gonna do it and just do it.  Though some of the '30' are more lofty than others, I'm optimistic they're all doable.  Along the way I'll blog, post pictures (y'all know I love to take pictures!), and update the status of each item on the list. You can check out the right column of this page to keep track of my '30' and whether (or not) they've been attained. For each goal not attained by 1/6/2012, I'll donate $30 to one of the Baltimore area animal shelters (BARCS or Defenders of Animal Rights). Below is my 30 with short comments. The "quick" 30 is to the right. Enjoy, comment, laugh, cry, tell me how awesome I am. It's all fair game!

• Attend a Ravens road game - None of the road opponents on next year's schedule look particularly easy so this will take some thinking.
• Attend a Capitals road game - Already have my sweet seats for 3/6, thanks to my father the Panthers season ticket holder!
• Attend a Syracuse hoops game - 2/26 @ Verizon Center is the easy option, we shall see
• Attend a Syracuse football game - Now that we're not the worst team in D1...
• Attend synagogue at least twice - Simple, but something I've been thinking about
• Avoid an anxiety attack - No comments necessary
• Be more patient - Work/Personal
• Better manage money - Hey who knew the mortgage/car/gas/insurance/bills would add up so fast?
• Eat at Dinosaur BBQ - I need to do this at least once in the next year. Either in NYC, or up in Syracuse.  I miss Dino!!!
• Cook a turkey - My mother won't believe this one
• Drive/Photograph Skyline Drive at Shenandoah - Perhaps pair this with the camping?
• Go camping - Speaking of which, my idea of "roughing it" is the Holiday Inn, but I've been told I need to go camping, should be fun...
• Go to Las Vegas - Been a few times, but haven't been since I turned 21. Enough said.
• Hike one of the "difficult" trails at Acadia - Partially an inside joke (Great Head This Way), partially because I wanna do it. Helps that my best friend lives there.
• Jet Ski - Need pure fun!
• Learn to change a flat tire - This would have come in handy a couple weeks ago... Not giving up my AAA membership though.
• Learn to drive stick - Another one that would have come in handy a couple weeks ago. It's time to learn. Sue - If you try and teach me, again, I promise this time I won't stall out your Jeep 10 times at 1am on city streets! Maybe we should try a parking lot this time?
• Lose 50 lbs - Enough said.
• Paint a room in my house - 4 years with all "builder grade white" walls needs to go.
• Read 'Twilight' - I really don't get what the fuss is all about, but never say never.
• Road trip for a weekend with my girls - We haven't done this in a few years. I'd love to get in another one this year.
• Run a 5k - As in RUN, not walk or run/walk. Gotta start somewhere.
• Snowboard - Tried skiing twice. I was awful. This will probably be a disaster, but so what?!
• Spend a day at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum - Went twice around my 13th birthday/Bat Mitzvah. Haven't been since.
• Take piano lessons - Took lessons when I was in elem/middle school but quit after a few years. Haven't touched a piano since my folks moved to Florida and sold our piano. I'd like to take a lesson or two this year.
• Try playing ice hockey - Last time I was on ice I was playing broomball and I got a concussion. I think I'd do better w/ skates on...
• Visit 1 of the 10 states i haven't been to (AK, AR, HI, IA, LA, MI, MS, OK, NE, ND) - Maybe a New Orleans trip?
• Visit the National Zoo - I love pandas!
• Visit the Jewish Museum of Maryland/Lloyd Street Synagogue - I live 3 blocks away. I need to go already.
• Volunteer at a Baltimore area animal shelter - I love dogs, but I don't feel like I have time to care for a dog. Next best thing is to volunteer, right?
• Write at least 1 blog entry every week - This blog or work blog. Don't be a slacker, Manda!