Resolution Bowl Challenge #2 – Artsy Week

The Challenge:
My second challenge of the year was to do some artsy stuff. It doesn’t sound like a big deal but the last artsy thing I did (besides making balloon dresses) was an art class in High School. I remember the teacher was odd and I was ignored and ridiculed since I didn’t have any natural talent. Well enough of my sad story but it does help explain why I stuck with sports and math which were my strong points.

The Skinny:
As I blogged about before, I was going to try for lots of free art tickets from an event called ArtsFest. So I was excited as I sat at my computer waiting for 10 a.m. to roll around so I could register. I quickly realized this was not going to be an easy task. My computer kept timing out and when I did get to an event it was already full. Apparently I wasn’t the only one taking advantage of the free stuff. I almost gave up but finally I managed to score 4 free ballet tickets and also 4 free pottery class tickets. I wonder if it is even appropriate to use ‘score’ in reference to ballet…it doesn’t sound sophisticated enough.

Results:
I attended the pottery class with two girlfriends. We were given a partially made tea pot and had to add a handle and spout. (For some reason this reminded me of a song). We then painted and decorated the pots. It was fun to be creative, get my hands dirty and use the much underused side of my brain. It was also fun girl time. We were having so much fun that we went to lunch at a German Restaurant and walked around a farmer’s market. My artsy time was off to a great start.

That night I went to Battle of the Sexes Ballet with 3 friends including one of my rollerblade friends. I got all dressed up in my LBD for the event. As someone who can only walk these days due to injury I was very impressed with the athleticism and grace of the dancers. But I did have to joke around with my friends by saying “They’re good but can they rollerblade”. They put on a cute and entertaining show. I just wish I was seated closer since things were a little blurry from my nosebleed seats. But that’s what you get for free I guess.

Decision Time:
Will I add more pottery, ballet or other artsy stuff in my life? Perhaps. My friends and I discussed taking a pottery class where you can actually use the wheel and start from scratch. I think it would be fun but that would require time in my already booked schedule. Though, if I was going to do it, now would be a great time since I’m still injured and sick and limited in what I can do anyway.

The ballet is a bit easier of a decision. I did enjoy the night and being exposed to something different since this was my first ballet ever. But I wasn’t that comfortable being all dressed up and I never like to just sit around and watch other people have fun. It’s just not my thing. I’m more of a doer than a watcher I guess. I would rather take a ballet class even though I know I would be horrible than watch other people doing an awesome job.

I’m glad I exposed myself to these new things and kept an open mind. Life has many wonderful things to offer and I want to experience them all!

Cat “Short and Stout” Cathy

Girls Who Play With Goats

I know based on one of my last blogs this should be titled Women who Play with Goats but it just didn’t sound as good. Anyway, living in Orlando I consider myself a ‘city girl’. I would guess people in New York City would laugh at me for this but still much of my time in spent around asphalt, parking garages, big buildings and small crowded parks.

So imagine my surprise when I visited a friend who lives outside the big metropolis of Orlando and actually owns goats. I was so excited I went to take some pictures from outside the fence since I wasn’t sure how menacing these creatures were. My friend laughed, opened the gate and handed me some food and said it was like candy to them. Judging from their reaction I think it was more like crack to them. But it was fun feeding them out of my hand and petting and holding them. It was so exciting to be in such a different setting from what I’m used to. I guess some people go to petting zoos but this was a first for me and I really enjoyed it. The only sad part is these cute little guys are going to end up on someone’s dinner plate soon. But at least they had a good ‘open range’ life up to that point I guess.

The beautiful view of the river, the goats and the open space made me question my city dwelling life. But then I was reminded of the effort to raise goats, the hour commute it would take to get to work from there and the minimum 15 minute drive to get anywhere and I wasn’t as questioning. Like many things in life it’s just a trade off and for now I can enjoy some country time on the weekends with the convenience of everything in walking distance during the week.


Cat “Curry anyone” Cathy

Resolution Bowl Challenge #2: Artsy Week

The best laid schemes of mice, men and Catastrophe Cathy often go awry. This was supposed to be my artsy week. It sounded easy enough. I had a whole list of fun art activity. Most of it was hands on since I’m more of a doer than a watcher but I also had my eye on a few plays to watch. It was adding up to be an expensive challenge but ohwell what’s money for anyway if not to spend…right? Then my friend told me about Arts Fest which is essentially 10 days of free art events which starts in just two short weeks. It was a no brainer decision to wait two weeks and save around $200. So Artsy week has been somewhat delayed/extended.

I debated picking another activity for the next two weeks but between physical therapy appointments for my injury, a long overdue hair appointment, a short weekend vacation and needing brakes for my car all in addition to my normally hectic schedule, I’ve decided to change the rules of my game a bit. Instead of picking a new activity every two weeks I will just pick the new activity whenever I can based on time available. So I may make one challenge last a few weeks and another a month or so. It’s all part of being flexible.

I’ve looked at everything including gardening classes, chocolate decorating, voice lessons and balloon art. But I’ve decided on the three P’s - a play, painting and pottery for my artsy activities.

Cat “Picasso” Cathy

Girled

I recently wrote about being “ma’amed” and “babydolled” but neither of these bothered me much. I just thought it was odd since they were so different and were used to address me within minutes of each other. But I do have a pet peeve when it comes to a generic name for women. I don’t enjoy in a professional environment being ‘girled”. Is this considered acceptable now? I just finished a first contact professional work phone call in which I got an “ok girl” at the end…wtf? Then my doctor the other day who happens to be like 60 said “girl you’ve lost some weight since the last time I saw you”. I’m 42 so I’m just not sure the term girl is appropriate anymore. Would anyone call a 42 year old male a boy? Hmmm.

Cat “Woman” Cathy

Resolution Bowl Challenge #1 - Healthy Eating

The Challenge:

My first challenge of the New Year was healthy eating. The plan was for a week of no sweets followed by a 48 hour fast and the remainder of the week eating high nutrient low calorie food. By this I mean things you would recognize from nature like an apple and raw nuts. The closer to the source the better. A nut for instance should be picked and packed. Not smashed, colored, added to something and whatever to make a Frankenut.

The Skinny:

I did well on the no sweets part of my challenge. I allowed myself fruit and honey but not chocolate cake and candy and donuts and the other items I usually gorge on after my meals. I even resisted the killer cake at Too Jays and I’m extremely proud of myself for that accomplishment. It seems to me that it’s all about mindset and discipline. Once I decided I wasn’t going to have sweets I just did it and it wasn’t that hard. I’m sure if I stuck with it soon it would be my normal MO to just skip desserts. I’m not sure I want to go that far since I like desserts and I think it’s good to treat yourself once in a while. The only problem for me is sticking to the ‘once in a while’ limit since the more sweets I have the more I seem to crave.

My success with the 48 juice fast and high nutrient low calorie diet wasn’t quite as successful. I was able to eat at vegan restaurants for several days and went 4 days without meat. I personally don’t think having some meat in your diet, even red meat, is a bad thing. I just ate vegan to up my veggie (high nutrient) count and since I thought it would be fun. The 48 hour fast part was hard. It turns out much of my social time involves meeting friends for lunch or dinner. I didn’t have a single 48 hour period in my week without some social meal planned so the fast kept getting postponed. Finally the fast was reduced to 29 hours to fit in my schedule. Although shorter than planned I enjoyed the fast. I always feel good and my mind seems clearer when I fast.

Results:

My weight may have dropped about 2 pounds from the challenge. It’s hard to know for sure since I weigh myself at the store and my weight fluctuates based on what I ate, what I’m wearing, etc. But a reduced calorie intake was a good idea since I’m not exercising as much due to my injury.

I’m not sure if it helped my health since I’ve had a flu/cold thing going on for over 3 weeks. I could say just imagine how sick I would be if I hadn’t done the healthy diet but I’m not sure that holds much weight.

Decision Time:

Would I continue on my healthy diet? I’d like to think so but not at this extreme level. I want to eat lots of fruits and veggies and less processed foods but I also want to allow myself to enjoy dessert a couple times a week just not every meal like my recent trend. I also plan on continuing the 24 hour fast on a quarterly basis using the change of seasons as my reminder. I enjoyed this first challenge of the New Year. It was fun, gave me motivation to stick to healthy eating and something neat to talk about with friends.

Cat “Veg O Matic” Cathy

Ouch!

My new sport has put me on the sidelines for a bit. About 6 weeks ago I pulled something in my aerial silk class. I actually heard a ‘pop’ followed by pain and realization of my dilemma that I was 5 feet off the ground wrapped in silk and needing to get down fast!

Thankfully my injury isn’t too bad. There’s been a lot of pain and I can’t do many sports but I’ve managed to still get out for social events and even some walking and light dancing. I’m nowhere close to my normal activity level but at least it hasn’t stopped me completely. I’ve noticed the pain not only keeps me from doing my sports but keeps me from my normal high energy level when I do other activities. It’s a slight source of constant pain and seems to wear me down a bit. Who would have thought that something so minor could be such a pain in the butt? So after 6 weeks of waiting for this to heal on its own I finally decided to get an MRI and I discovered I have a partially torn tendon in my gluteal region. So my pain in my butt really is a pain in the butt.

Although I miss the adrenalin rush, time outdoors, social contacts and sweating and raised heart rate I get from my sports I’ve decided to make the most of this down time. I will catch up on errands, go shopping, go to the theatre, plan dinners with friends, try pottery, play board games and other less active endeavors. Wow, that should be enough to keep me busy for a while and although it’s not extreme it should still be fun and different. I’ve decided I will make the most of this time while I heal but I’m still very much looking forward to being able to get the heart rate up and muscles moving again soon.

Cat “Trivial Pursuit Anyone” Cathy

The Resolution Bowl Challenge

It's the first week of my resolution bowl game and I've already cheated. My last blog explained how I put different challenges in a bowl and I was going to randomly draw one every other week. It seemed like a good way to mix things up and keep life interesting this year. My 'cheat' wasn't too bad though. I just got rid of the word 'randomly'. I remember one of my challenges was to do a juice fast followed by healthy eating for a week. Since I gained a few pounds over the holidays it seemed like a good way to start the new year and lose those pounds. Also I'm still recovering from an aerial silk injury (partially torn ligament) and I can't do many sports so this seemed like a good time to cut calories. So I just dug through the bowl and picked Juice Fast/Healthy Eating as my first challenge for 2011.

Now what exactly does this mean? It's not like I eat horribly all the time but I have been known to overindulge in sweets and bad carbs. Since this is just my warm up week I will weigh myslef, cut out desserts and read up on nutrition a bit.

Next week will be the real challenge. I will try to complete a 48 hour juice fast followed by a mostly raw diet of low calorie and high nutrient value. I will try to note any health benefits I notice, any cool new restaurants and meals I discover, and weight loss and anything else of interest.

Happy New Year to all and I hope you've been able to keep your resolutions!

Cat "Juicy Couture" Cathy