Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Oh What A Feeling!



Thanks, Grandma Bess! We're proud owners of an amazing new bed. I can't believe how well I've slept on it. And it's beautiful - by far the nicest piece of anything we have. The movers came over yesterday and assembled it (with the sales rep there, too) and last night I felt like the princess and the pea, minus the pea. We've ordered low-profile box springs for it, but until they arrive we have regular sized springs from the store, on loan. Which means the top of the bed is about 4 feet off the ground. It's wonderful!


Most Colorful Costume Award

Today I won the prize for "most colorful costume" at work. The prize was a candy bar, which I did not accept. I congratulated myself all the way back to my desk for my appetite resolve; unfortunately, it's all I've been thinking about since!

The Big Wiener:

Friday, October 26, 2007

Reality is difficult at 5:45 am

I took the plunge this morning - literally - by participating in a voluntary hydrostatic test for body fat percentage. I've long thought that although my weight is typically at the high end of the "healthy" range, that I'm fit and have a fairly dense body (read: must have lower body fat than some couch potato who weighs the same). I still think that BMI is completely inaccurate for many people, myself included, and does nothing to take fitness into account. So to test this theory, and also to give myself a starting point to gauge fitness, I did the hydrostatic test.

First, I had to fast for something like 8 to 10 hours. I wrote down these instructions and lost them. I had a beer at 11 pm last night. The test was at 5:45 this morning. Probably can't blame too much on the lack of strict adherence to the instructions.

Second, I took off all my jewelry and put on a swimsuit. The technician weighed me (air weight: 165 lbs) and measured my height very carefully (5 feet 7.25 inches, Mom). Then we went into a small room with a raised platform with a tub in it - the tub was maybe 5 feet cubed. It had a white wire cage in it, submerged, that was suspended by a cable from the ceiling. The top and sides of the cage were open, so really it was a wire floor with corner supports. I climbed into the tub and got into the cage, sitting on the floor with my toes against the far corners. I held on to the corners with my hands. I inhaled, exhaled all the air I could, and stuck my head underwater. Apparently the whole thing has to stop moving for 1 second for them to get a reading. It probably took 10 seconds. We did this three times.

After exiting the cage, we sat down at the computer and the technician entered all the info into a forumula: age, air weight, height, gender, water weight. The three readings from the cage all were the same: -.2. I'm not sure what the units are. Anyway, it spat out my percent body fat at just over 36%. Thirty-six percent! I was/am shocked. I realize I'm not at my lightest (but also not at my heaviest), and I'm not at my fittest (but not at my most sluggly), but that percent body fat put me in the bottom 10 percent for their distribution. "Very Poor" is my category. The formula also gave me the lean muscle weight and the fat weight: my fat weight is almost 60 pounds.

The technician ran the numbers to see how I'd need to tweak the formula to get "average" body fat percentage (24%). I'd need to weigh 136 pounds. This seems completely unreasonable. But, that's what I've said about BMI. I suppose at some point I'll need to recognize that all of these measurement tools can't be wrong. I don't think I want to be 136 pounds. But I do see that I need to get back on we*ght watch*rs and step up my aerobic program, which is fairly nonexistent at this point. Drinking tropical cocktails and eating chocolate-covered macadamia nuts certainly hasn't helped the last two weeks.

So, it's back on plan, starting today. I'll have to do this dunk tank thing again at the end of the winter and hopefully see some progress.

Spelling, spelling everywhere

I always enjoy finding spelling errors and typos in published media. Although it annoys me (a part of me thinks "who let THIS get past the copyeditor?"), it feels good to find it myself. I try and use these situations as reminders to myself to always have a fresh set of eyes review documents before they are deemed "final."

Case in point: I read yesterday's blog and was troubled by the spelling of the author of In the Heart of the Sea (which I also misrepresented the title). It looked strange. I googled "Nathaniel Philbrook" on Amazon and found this: http://www.amazon.com/Mayflower-Nathaniel-Philbrook/dp/1419390031 but when I clicked on the author's name, no additional books popped up. I then googled "whaleship essex" and found the correct spelling of the author's name: Nathaniel Philbrick. Sorry, Nate. My mistake.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Lifestyle Inversion

So we're back from the tropics (Hawaii) and into the arctic. We were delayed leaving Seattle and ended up landing in Anchorage at 3:00 am instead of midnight, and in the middle of a snowstorm. It was actually great to see snow - after 10 days of heat, the cool air felt wonderful. There's something about getting on the plane in sandals and a skirt and getting off in an environment so completely inappropriate for your clothing. It's been snowing every night since we've been back, and without snow tires on my car or even an ice scraper, it's made for interesting (and late) mornings.

I'll post some Hawaii pictures when I can; I didn't take any pictures myself so will have to borrow some from my resident photog. We did have lots of fun snorkeling and playing with the new underwater housing for the new camera - great turtles!

I read Nathaniel Philbrook's The Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex on the plane on the way home - fantastic. I can't believe the survivors went out to sea again! It made me want to read Moby Dick - I can't recall if I've ever read it.

The new bed is being delivered on Tuesday, the college fair is Monday and Tuesday, the Halloween party is this Saturday, and I have a hydrostatic body fat test tomorrow morning (where you are submerged in water).

But the big news is that I'm an auntie!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Hawaii Bound

We're off tonight for ten days in paradise - Hawaii!
Can't wait to feel that warm, moist air. It's 25 degrees here, and there's not a speck of moisture in the air at all. I can feel the moisture leave my skin when I step outside!

Anyhow, we're off. I'll post some photos of the adventure upon our return.

Bon Voyage!

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Elllllllllliottttttttt Highway

That's right, Elliott with two L's and two T's. One $700 car rental (go, Ford Taurus sedan!), one flat tire, $300 in gasoline, and about 6 pounds of dust got me from Fairbanks to Manley Hot Springs in July. That's bug season, apparently.

Zee Road (that's Minto Flats in the distance):














Manley Hot Springs Slough:


Manley Hot Springs!


Aaahhhh, a soak in the concrete retaining structure, anyone?

'Cause You've Gotta Have Faith



What would we ever do without a little Faith?

...and a little ERVA?


Attempted bear print


Well, use your imagination. It was a small bear, the print only about 7 inches in diameter. But fresh-freshy-fresh! Right near those fascinating splash cups...

Beware - nerdy plants ahoy!

some wonderful plants from my July trip to the Elliott Highway:



Splash cups! These plants are amazing. They are shaped like a tiny cup (maybe 1/2 cm in diameter) with their seeds (the red beans) resting unattached in the bottom of the cup. They wait for a raindrop or a water splash to enter the cup, which then scatters the seeds! Talk about evolution.



Lovely ferns...these are only about 8 inches high. Mini-Boston. Boston-lite?











The money shot - lying on my belly in a field of Eriophorum - aka cottongrass - while the bugs feasted!

First Post




A few of my favorites...
Cutest Puppy picture is used with permission by Jim Kohl Photography, all rights reserved. Please be cool and abide by copyrights; don't steal or misuse.