I’ve kept on track in the past four weeks by filling up that beauty (from Gaiam on sale in Target’s “Great Save” promotion section, 2/$12) to the left before I leave for work.  There’s a bubbler (that’s Massachusetts speak for water fountain) around the corner from my office; getting up to refill a few times a day provides a welcome excuse to get up and stretch my legs.

I am hopeful that increasing the amount of water will help me um… decrease my dependency on Diet Coke.  Perhaps there will be a crowding out effect: by adding more of the good, there will less room for the not-quite-exactly-so-good.  Bottom’s up!

I whipped up a little stir fry for Nick yesterday with some inspiration from Martha Stewart’s Good Food.  Unfortunately I didn’t have many of the ingredients on hand (rice vinegar, soy sauce, etc.), so I invented my own marinate for the chicken breast (giggle) and shrimp.

Marinade:

• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• Half a cup of honey (direct from Nova Scotia, thanks to Jaime)
• 1 smidge of cayenne pepper
• 2 splashes of Hoisin sauce
• 5 squeezes of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

Once chicken is cooked through, add shrimp (pay no mind to the bubbling sugar in the marinade).

Stir in:

• Shredded carrots
• Snap peas
• Broccoli
• Red and yellow peppers

Serve over warm brown rice and top with freshly chopped cilantro.  Lean protein, vegetables, fresh herbs and whole grains make for a happy, healthy meal.

Have you taken a personality assessment? According to one of the more well known tests, the Myers-Briggs, I am an INFJ and therefore an elite member of 1-3% of the population.  And sort of strange.  KTHXBYE.

While some of this gobbleygook might be irrelevant, I find these tests to be sort of interesting and at times, even helpful.  If I better understand how I might approach a situations, I might also better understand how to succeed.

Here are a few tests to try out:

• Keirsey Temperament Sorter
• Jung Typology/Myers-Briggs
• Which Muppet are you?

Surprised by the results?  Or bored by the lengthy questions?

Among the trillion and one things I have to be grateful for, today’s five:

1. Digital photos of roses in summer to remind me it will not always be so cold and gross
2. The guts to experiment with recipes (tonight I made chicken and shrimp stir fry with vegetables and brown rice for Nick)
3. Phone calls from my mom
4. Peapod
5. Socializing in the lobby of our building with neighbors before going to bed

MIND

• Step out of my comfort zone more often
• Read (and actually finish) 2 books/month; write reviews
• Write more often (letters to my 13 year old pen pal, posts here and there, and so on)
• Travel a bit more (around the block, around the corner, and beyond)
• Take more pictures

BODY

• Improve my 5k and 10k race times
• Train for and complete a longer distance (10 miler or half marathon)
• Schedule and record workouts
• Figure out a way to avoid looking like a Muppet in photographs
• Floss and moisturize daily
• Put my varied fitness DVD collection to better use
• Get up the nerve to try out the yoga studio next door
• Incorporate strength training

BELLY

• Plan meals at the start of the week to save time and cut down the “I don’t know… what do you want?” dilemma
• Photograph and document especially delicious and nutritious meals
• Up the ante on my cake decorating
• Become better educated about healthy eating
• Increase protein intake

SOUL

• Spend more time on the people that matter the most, doing the things that matter most
• Share inspired and gigglely moments
• Pray (not prey… let’s not get confused,  here)
• Record 5 things/moments/people that I am grateful for each evening

DWELLING

• Scale Mount Saint Laundry in a more effective manner
• Divide and conquer domestic duties
• Hide all socks from the Frenchie

Care to share your February Resolutions?

Mark Twain had a sense of humor.  And a fake name.  I appreciate him for both.  He pulled no punches, especially when it came to New Year’s Day and our often ill-fated resolutions.  Mark, if you would?

[On New Year's Day] “Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink, and swore his last oath. To-day, we are a pious and exemplary community.

Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient short comings considerably shorter than ever. We shall also reflect pleasantly upon how we did the same old thing last year about this time. However, go in, community. New Year’s is a harmless annual institution, of no particular use to anybody save as a scapegoat for promiscuous drunks, and friendly calls, and humbug resolutions, and we wish you to enjoy it with a looseness suited to the greatness of the occasion.”

[The Works of Mark Twain; Early Tales & Sketches, Vol. 1 1851-1864, (Univ. of California Press, 1979), p. 180.][Photo source.]

Well said.  With January, and the threat of paving the proverbial road to hell with my resolutions, safely behind me, I set off to embrace my February Resolutions.