2011 Learn Go Do - April Reflection

In 2011, rather than having one New Year's resolution, I created a list of intentions for the year. You can read that list 2011 Learn Go Do by clicking here. This is my reflection on how April went.

Learn

If you've been reading my other monthly reflections, you know that one of my intentions has been a real beast: learning to knit lace. Usually I feel like I can conquer any knitting challenge. However, knitting lace tested all my powers of concentration. While I knew all the right moves, I kept getting tangled up and starting over. However, I think I've got it! (Knock on wood). The picture above shows how I'm doing. Hopefully, the sweater I'm working on will be finished before the end of the year.

Go

April's new restaurant was the Jarro Cafe, a Mexican place out in the Spring Branch area of Houston. It's worth the trip just because they give you seven different kinds of salsa with your chips. They are known for their tacos. I had mole enchiladas. In case you are unfamiliar with mole, it is a chocolate-chile sauce. It was pretty good, but a little sweeter than I like my mole. Next time I'll have to try the tacos. The prices were very reasonable, which sweetens the deal.

Do

Since January, I have been working my way up to exercising five days a week. This past week was the first week I tried it. Man, I have been sleeping like a champ these past five days. I have to say, I kind of enjoy it. I've been a regular enough exerciser at different points in my life to know that I never get to the point where I just LOVE exercising. I hate sweating, I hate being hot, I hate exercise clothes, I hate spending time on it. That never really changes, no matter how much I do it.

My friend Liz has this belief that exercise should involve three pieces of gear or less, and this is something I subscribe to as well. Driving to a gym seems like a waste of money and fossil fuels (and those places must just suck energy, with all of the TVs and machines!). I like to do things that are simple and can be done at home, so that I'm not spending extra time preparing or driving. Some simple workouts I like:

• Yoga. I've been practicing yoga on-and-off my entire life, and so this is something I can do at home with only my iPod and a mat. It doesn't annoy me as much as other types of exercise because it's really more of a spiritual practice than workout.
• Walking outside. Always free! Always something different to see! Houston is full of amazing walking trails, and during the spring and autumn it's a great place to walk or run outside. (I don't run. But other people do).
• Walk at Home videos. Leslie Sansone is the creator of the Walk at Home series, and everyone I know who has tried them really likes them. One reason I like Leslie is that she's kind of goofy and not an exercise-tyrant. While she's leading the workout, she talks almost exclusively about health - not about losing weight or how you should look. Her positivity is infectious. The videos have easy steps to follow, but they are fun and the time passes quickly. Great for those of you who hate exercising. (A great money-saving tip -- if you already have cable onDemand or Netflix streaming, a lot of exercise videos are available).
• So You Think You Can Dance workout DVDs. These DVDs are a different kind of fun. I grew up dancing, and sometimes I miss it. These DVDs teach you some dance routines, instead of just having you do a bunch of random "dance" moves. All of the leaders are dancers from So You Think You Can Dance, and they really explain how to do the moves. You can put together your own workout, combining a warm up with different dances and a cool down (they also have segments where they teach the dances very slowly, which are also great for toning muscles).

So, April was exhausting! I'm looking forward to May, where I plan to try to continue working out (5 days during at-home weeks, 3 days when traveling), accelerating work on the sweater I'm knitting, and trying some new restaurants around town.