I lifted weights on Monday after I did my 30 minutes of cardio, and my arms are still incredibly sore.

Yesterday I did an hour of cardio, 30 minutes on the elliptical (2.5 miles) and 30 minutes on the bike (5 miles). I kept the intensity/resistance varied between 8 and 12. At about 17 minutes on the elliptical I thought I was going to tip over, but I kept going.

My goal is to hit the gym every day this week. Then to do the same thing next week. If I can do that, then I will do the same thing the week after that. And so on. And so on.

*One of the biggest keyword hits for this site is “I Can’t Straighten My Arms” - a lot of people have elbow injuries and want to know what’s up. Sadly, the post that comes up in Google is just me talking about my old personal trainer and not really helpful to them. Sorry!

Reasons not to go to the Gym:
- Email
- Laundry
- Dirty dishes
- Vacuuming
- Knitting
- Blogging
- Crafting
- Cooking & eating
- Watching TV
- Reading comics
- Reading books
- Reading magazines

I’ve been slacking on my fitness regime since I moved to the desert, and it’s time to get over the transition and get back into the swing of things. I work part time, I have gym memberships, and all of my other hobbies and career aspirations will become more doable if I stop letting myself down on this one thing. It restarts today.

I will be seeing this movie whe nit comes out August 22nd - but until then, I will be singing the same four lines of “Rock me, Sexy Jesus!” over and over again.

I have just been informed by a technician that our AC unit is not properly installed or vented, but the unit works just fine, so there’s really nothing they can do about it.

Did I mention that it’s going to be 120 degrees this summer?

In other news, my parents have been here visiting for the last six days (OMG, I missed them!) and left this morning. I got a text from them about an hour ago that they saw Erik Estrada driving on the freeway. Our lives are so exciting!

So Neil made this post over at Citizen of the Month (an excellent blog full of neuroses) and that reminded me that I slept for TWELVE hours yesterday evening/last night.

I slept hard. I woke up a few times sweating and feeling like someone was sitting on my head, but I never felt like getting up.

I didn’t do half the things I wanted to last night: I missed inaugural Knit Night (but so did everyone else), I didn’t do any laundry, put new bedding on the guest bed, or do the dishes.

I SLEPT. It was awesome.

Then I woke up late this morning and didn’t have time for a proper breakfast. But I did manage to wash two loads of laundry and put one in the dryer, so WHATEVER, morning!

Also, WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE! OVERTHROW THE BOURGEOISIE THAT STRAINS THE BACKS OF THE PROLETARIAT!

I’m getting ready for my parents visit this weekend, and I’m busy slacking and taking naps instead of doing laundry, uploading photos, blogging, and cleaning. So expect light posting until next week.

My brother arrived safely in Seattle last night and we had a blast hanging out this weekend - I feel much more settled after his visit. Having him around makes my house feel more like home. We spent a lot of time by the pool, but we did a big outing to Joshua Tree on Saturday and I’ll post some pictures over the next few days.

In other news, I’m back at the Temple, right now, doing Yahrzeit notices. These are notes that we send out to surviving family members about when their deceased family members died and wouldn’t they like to donate some money to the Temple?

Also, if one more Very Old Person calls me and asks for someone who HAS NEVER WORKED HERE and then calls me stupid for telling them so, I’m going to replace their fiber drinks with powdered Immodium AD.

My skin has been breaking out lately. It’s hormonal, so it will get better shortly, but the thing that always happens when I’m putting on concealer to cover the little red bumps and the bright pink owies the inevitably appear is that I flash back to an episode of MTV’s House of Style hosted by Cindy Crawford.

In this particular episode, they did a segment with Naomi Campbell in which they follow her around for day: waking up at the crack of noon, backstage at a runway show, her fabulous clothes, and her bedtime ritual.

I flash back on two things: her putting on her “base” at the runway show and putting zit cream on her spots before she goes to bed.

The thing is, when she’s putting on her base, she makes it sound like a the most difficult fucking thing she has ever done. As she is dabbing the cosmetic sponge onto the foundation bottle and spreading over her magnificent bone structure, she is saying things like, “Most girls can’t do this, have to have the makeup artist do this, but I made one of them show me how to do it properly.”

I put makeup on my face without incident ALL THE TIME. At age 14, I felt retarded for watching it.

Little did I know then, that I had Reality TV to look forward to.

And now whenever I’m covering up my zits, I think about Naomi Campbell and all the miscellanea associated with her in my brain. Remember she had a book and a cd? She threw a phone at someone! Then she did community service. And all with properly applied base.

The Seder was a lot of fun - the food was not very good, but when it’s free, who’s complaining?

I’m really excited - P.Nathan is coming to visit this week! To get ready, we’re finally putting a lot of things away and putting together the guest room.

I have some photos I need to upload… and share.

And I think I’m going to rebook our trip to Hawaii, so that’s nice. Unfortunately, Martin & Lisa won’t be joining us because of all the airline fuck-ups.

I’m only working three days this week - partly because of Passover, partly because of Nathan’s visit.

I haven’t done any writing this month aside from blogging. Maybe May will be a better month for that, since I’m finally creating some order around here.

Knitting is going better and I’m trying to set up a knit night with some locals on Ravelry.

TV watching of the moment: Death Note, Bleach, Naruto, 30 Rock, BSG (ZOMG - AIRLOCKED!?), and Top Chef.

I’m going to Passover Seder (is that redundant?) at my place of employment (a synagogue/temple) tomorrow night.

I’ve never been to an “official” Seder before. I went to a couple of informal ones in college, mostly populated by homesick sad Jewish kids.

Tom is also coming, which will be nice, I guess. We go back and forth over whether or not it’s a good idea, what with being Non-Believers and all. I’ve managed to avoid telling everyone at work that I’m an atheist. It’s bound to come out eventually, it always does, I’m just hoping we can keep of the charade at least through the dinner.

I took this job at a religious institution because it’s close to my house, they’re an inclusive bunch, and Conservative Judaism and I don’t disagree on much once you get past the whole Invisible Sky Daddy thing. But, in theory, that’s the most important thing at this place and IT NEVER COMES UP.

We talk a lot about world affairs, family dynamics, diets, and shopping - by now, you’d think Ceiling Cat would have come up.

I’m a hypocrite for working there since I’m anti-religion and atheist, but they are so nice to me, and I’m the youngest person there so they all dote on me like I’m their favorite niece, and everyone calls me “sweetheart” or “honey” which feels really good since I don’t have a lot of friends here.

I’m using them and I’m okay with it.