Snow?

3.30.09

It snowed on Friday.  I watched last week as the clouds began to slowly swallow up the mountains.  First the tops disappeared and somehow as the foggy clouds enveloped the higher peaks, the outlines of the lower ones became more crisp and defined.  Then the clouds got thicker and lower until it looked like Santa Fe was nestled in the middle of flat, white sheets of paper rather than mountains.  Driving to work the normally expansive vista of desert and mountains was replaced by what looked like the background of a small child’s drawing - plain, empty, negative space, only white.  I had the impression that if I drove far enough, I would simply drive off of the earth or hit a paper wall.  I suppose that driving 65mph (yes, I do drive the speed limit, especially since my car is a little under the weather) I would rip right through a piece of paper.  I wonder what would be on the other side . . .

It was not until I arrived at work as on time as I could be seeing that it took me at least twice as long to drive through the unplowed, snow-filled roads that I even thought to think that perhaps I didn’t need to be there.  I had actually been woken up that morning by a text message from my sister saying that if I was not going to work, we should hang out.  At that point I had no clue about the snow and in my half-asleep confusion I thought, “well of COURSE I’m going to work!  That’s what I do!  I can’t just not go because I decide that I’m not going . . .”  Well, as it turns out, I didn’t need to go to work until 10AM because we had a two hour delay.  I discovered this by calling a coworker as I sat in my car, looking at the deserted Head Start building, unable to check my work phone because it was sitting at home in the pocket of a sweatshirt.  My coworker was able to confirm that I needn’t be there for another hour or so, but there was no point in trying to make it back to Santa Fe.

I was never given a key to the front gate, but as luck would have it I had someone else’s with me.  I felt triumphant at such good fortune until I discovered that the lock was frozen shut, which left me to plunge through shin-deep snow around the side through the gate that is never locked.  Snow filled my dansko clogs and soaked into the legs of my corduroy pants.  I got inside, kicked off my shoes, and made myself at home.  It was nice to be the only one in the building and the snow outside left me feeling warm, cozy and peaceful.  All in all, accidentally showing up on time worked to my advantage because I had a nice, relaxed but productive morning and got to leave early.

The weekend remained chilly and the snow stuck on the ground for a few days.  While it looked pretty that first morning, I am so over snow.  

Saturday night Adi and I developed a plan.  We have both put on a few winter pounds and gotten into some less-than-desirable habits over the past few months.  In an attempt to reverse all of that, we have decided to start joint grocery shopping on a fairly regular basis so that we will eat out less and eat healthier food.  Sunday we went to a produce market and for $29 purchased a very, very large amount of vegetables.  We also hit Trader Joe’s for protein and a few other things.  Arriving home we put the food away carefully - Adi helping me by dividing my dried mango into six containers so that I won’t accidentally eat it all in one sitting.  Then I baked banana bread and we played cards.

Since Sunday we (and really by “we,” I do mean Adi) have made two large, delicious salads that served as a few dinners and lunch.  Last night Adi made chicken soup from scratch for dinner that was even more delicious today for lunch.  I’ve been eating my mango as a snack at work and overall it’s going really well.  Adi loves to cook/prepare food and is having a good time making stuff for us to share.  It feels good to be eating things that are good for my body and to be sharing food and clean up.  

The other part of the new plan, which is really just my own new plan, is that I have re-introduced swimming to my daily routine because I’ve just been so inconsistent with exercise recently.  But get this, not only am I swimming daily . . . I’m waking up at 5:30AM so that I can get to the pool by 6AM so that I can swim for an hour BEFORE going to work!  I’ve been going to bed by 11PM every day this week and while I am tired and it is certainly a routine to which I will need to adjust, it feels good.  The hard parts are getting out of bed and then once I’m at the pool actually getting into the pool.  Once I’m in, it’s rather nice.  I’m usually not entirely awake, which helps and by the end I am rather energized.  I hop in and do one lap to warm up, one lap with the kick board, twenty laps, three laps kicking, five laps, two laps kicking, five laps, one kicking, one last victory lap and I’m done.  When the pool is set up for short course (swimming the width, which is 25m), it takes a little under an hour and I’ll do some pull-ups towards the end.

What I am starting to all in love with about this routine is getting home from work and not thinking “Ok, I need to make sure I get an hour in at the gym, so that means that right now I can do this, then I have to do that, but what if I want to do that, man oh man I’m tired . . .”  I also enjoy that I leave in the dark and when I get out of the pool the sun is just rising.  I like that by the time I get to work my body is awake.  I like watching the sky outside of Chavez, where I swim, in the early morning and feeling the texture of morning air.  

Tomorrow I have to go to Albuquerque for a training for work.  I am going to try to get to the pool to do at least half of my workout, but I have to have my car at the shop and be ready to leave from there at 8AM.  We’ll see.  Now I need to go because I am running late!