October Objectives

With the new month here, it's time to look at some goals, objectives, ambitions, intents, targets.

MOVIE SEASON IS ON! 

The past couple of years have seen a dearth of movie attendance.  Not because there weren't movies to see, but because of scheduling issues.  Holy smokes, I'm retired!  There should be NO scheduling issues!  Summer doesn't usually have many movies that I'm interested in seeing, and this year was no exception.  However, fall/winter/spring usually DO have movies I'm interested in seeing, and this year is no exception.  I'm going to get this schedule thing straightened out!  

So far, I've seen a couple of feel-good movies.

Source:  youtube.com

What made this movie a winner for me was that the main character, Zak, who had Down Syndrome, was played by actor Zack Gottsagen, who has Down Syndrome.  What a great job he did!  And the movie emphasized all the best qualities of people with Down Syndrome:  great sense of humor, persistence, charm, willingness to try things, and an irresistible naivete. My take on this movie:  predictable, unlikely, entirely appealing.    

Source:  youtube.com

Natch, I was drawn to the title of this movie.  The review I read described it as a comedy-transformation movie, and it was.  Brittany is played by actress, comedian, and former SNL writer Jillian Bell.  Brittany had a journey to make in her transformation, and I would have preferred less of the self-indulgent pity-party "old" Brittany and more of the training for a marathon "new" Brittany.  However, there was still enough of the training/running part to redeem the movie for me, and the ending was satisfactory.  My take on this movie:  predictable, likely, good enough.

COOKING SCHOOL

The Sharp Knife is still in its box.  I've decided to sharpen my existing knives (but not too sharp) and practice two particular skills:  1) how to hold the knife properly (I wasn't) and how to hold the non-knife hand so you don't cut your fingers off (I also wasn't).  I have decades and decades of automatically wrong technique to overcome.  I'll practice these holds while learning three basic chopping techniques:  slice, chop, dice.  

I've also decided to expand my side-dish repertoire.  Many of my dinner entrees (supper to you mid-westerners) are all-in-one:  protein, veggie & carb inclusive.  For those, I'm interested in not-usual salads as side dishes.  For entrees with separate dishes, rice pilaf and garden side salad are getting old.  I've already got roasted and sauteed veggies under my belt.  I'm looking at other grains, breads, squash, pasta, & beans.  There's a trendy preparation for veggies called spiralizing.  It can be used for carrots, potatoes, cucumbers, etc.  Even trendier is using the spiralizer to prepare zucchini squash, then using the squash in place of regular pasta noodles.  Called:  Zoodles.  Cute!!!!  And for those of us on the low-carb side, it's a nice alternative.  Spiralizers come in all sizes; I don't want a counter-top version.  I'm not THAT trendy.  This hand-held version from Amazon will be showing up on my doorstep any time:

 

Source:  Amazon

  

FINISH UP THE TINY DECK CONCERT SEASON

There are two scheduled for October, and the music is on the stand.

START OVER (AGAIN) FROM AN INJURY

Source:  needpix.com

A leg injury incurred by falling early in September brought  running, hiking, biking, strength workouts, yoga, and dog training to a screeching halt.  The good part is that it could have been A LOT worse.    However, I can't get around the time that's required for healing.  It's now in the last phases of recovery.  

 

Running:  I started doing a 30 minute walk in KV on Monday with good results but still some leg swelling later in the day.  When I do start running, it'll be Week 1 (again) of the Hal Higdon 5K Training Schedule.  A Fall Running Series is very questionable.

Hiking:  Sue and I have a plan to go out Friday for a short section of the Kelly Off Highway Vehicle trail.  She's volunteered to be the Voice of Reason in case I'm tempted to over-do.   

Biking:  Since some of the injury was to the knee, I want complete healing before I bend the knee as much as a bike takes.  A Fall Ride to Munds Park is very questionable. 

Strength Workouts:  The strength workout I get from Dr. Wes is what's called "functional" strength training.  It's more therapy-based than reps-at-a-gym based.  It trains muscles as part of whole body movement rather than isolated movements.  It involves bending, kneeling and other things an injured knee can't do.  I did dig out some upper-body-only dumbbell workouts I used to do before I started with Dr. Wes and have been able to make do very well with those.

Yoga:  It occurred to me that rather than find another excuse not to do yoga, I could check out some chair yoga on-line.  Turns out there are some vigorous knee-involved chair yoga routines out there!  So my google search has been refined to "chair yoga for seniors".   The most appropriate one for me that didn't involve the knee was a session for people in wheelchairs.  😕  I'm not complaining!  My injury could have been have been so much worse than it was!  Up to and including a wheelchair!!  

Dog training:  I finished up the last Agility Class with Jasmine a few days after the injury.  The trainer, Rebecca, had already set up a session that didn't involve running on the human part.  It worked out well enough.  I've acquired a book on Agility training, and have been working on the planning part of integrating what I learned in classes with what's in this book.  They dovetail very nicely.  I'm probably still a week out from being able to re-start any work with Jasmine.  

 "Our aspirations are our possibilities."  

  

                                                                                               -----Samuel Johnson