The Five Things I Am Loving Right Now

1. Stephen Colbert's "Charlene (I'm Right Behind You)" on Rock Band II. This has been one of my favorites for some time now, but the fact that it is a free download on Rock Band II is the best.


2. The new Belle & Sebastian BBC Sessions CD is making me very happy. It is a great selection of songs, including four rare tracks.

3. This time of year always makes me feel crafty. Last year I made my own Christmas cards. This year I ordered a few embroidery patterns from Sublime Stitching and got to work. So far I have embroidered a cute little hedgehog on a dish towel. Boy oh boy is it cute. Next: zombies and pirates. And a squirrel.

4. I have new hair! It's dark with a little red. Also, say hello to bangs. (I love it.)

5. I finally bought tickets for our flight home for Christmas. Oh jeez, they were expensive. But it is worth it! We have not been in Salt Lake since last Christmas, and I have only seen my family for a few days all year. I'll drop a grand or two every year if that is what it takes.

Bundling Up In Winter Clothes

I am not doing great at keeping this blog up... fortunately I have been doing much better at continuing my running regimen. Judging from my first post, I started running at the beginning of July. My first time out I ran .7 miles straight without stopping. Not bad for a beginner. Now I am up to over two miles without stopping, and I am faster. I like to alternate between that and sprinting/running/walking for 35-40 minutes, and weight training in between. That seems to be a good routine for me.

It is fun to see how much looser my clothes are and how much stronger my arms and legs are. The tape measure usually gives me good news, but lately the scale has been stuck or something. Levi tells me that I should not pay so much attention to my weight since I am obviously gaining muscle, but it is hard not to be discouraged when I stay at the same weight for a whole month. At least I haven't gained any, I guess. And I have managed to lose 15 pounds this year, which is awesome. But none in the past month. Hmmm...

Here is my plan: Now that it is winter and the sun dresses are a few months off, I will bundle up in layers and coats and concentrate on getting my run time down and my endurance up. I will also work on my weight lifting goals. When the sun comes out in the spring, the smaller, cuter clothes will be a perk!

I Feel Like This Kid When I Watch the News

Fear definitely played a huge part in this election. Be afraid of Obama because of his name, because he is different, because he hates white people, because he won't know how to make big decisions, because he wants to give your money to poor people, because he is a Muslim, because he is pro-abortion, because he will take your guns, because his friends are terrorists. The list of things you should be afraid of was endless.

Be afraid of gays getting married. If society gives homosexuals equal rights, your marriage will be less sacred, your kids might decide to be gay, churches will lose their rights and next we'll be seeing people marrying their pets or house plants!

Most of the things that we should be afraid of don't even make sense. Can you tell me why churches would not be able to marry people anymore if homosexual marriage was legal? What law says that churches cannot refuse to marry people? I'm pretty sure that the whole separation-of-church-and-state thing protects churches from things like that.

Many people are terrified of this "change" that Obama is going to bring to us. I can't tell you how many emails I have received with a picture of Obama photoshopped over Bin Laden's face, that said, "You wanted change, you got it," or something similar. REALLY?!?

I am 115% confident that Obama is not a terrorist or a communist or the anti-Christ or any of those terrifying things that I have heard. I look around and see that we obviously need to do something different, and that is his plan. Sure, different can be scary, but at this point, going down the same path is far scarier.

To the people who buy into this fear business, I guess the point I am trying to make is, give the guy a chance. God knows Bush and the Republican-majority congress got several years of chances. We even gave them a couple before we started bitching. It is someone else's turn now! Let him try out a few things before you start yelling that he hasn't found Bin Laden yet, or that people are still losing their houses and jobs, or that the stock market is still down, or that the Sunnis are still fighting the Shias. Stuff like this does not change overnight, but at least we voted to start heading in the right direction.