The First Ten Things (Part III)

5. Start an Exercise Program/Routine - So I used to be in shape. Between middle school and high school I was on the field hockey team, on the track team, and in marching band (yes this counts as a physical activity. you try running from the 20 to the 20 in what is essentially 8 seconds with the top half of your body facing the sideline, your feet facing the endzone, playing an instrument that is half your height, all while trying not to run into anyone or get hit by a trombone slide).

Fast forward 4-5 years and I struggled to run up one of the highest hills in DC, or even the three flights of stairs to my department's floor on my way to class. I'm not saying that I hate my body or anything like that. I actually like the way I look. That might be the hard part of all of this. I pretty much want to build up some running stamina and basic muscle groups while keeping my body almost exactly the way it is now. So my plan is to work my way back to at least high school running standards (2 miles in under 20 minutes) and increase the number of pushups and situps I can do consecutively. That shouldn't be that hard to do seeing as there are very detailed plans to do 100 Pushups and 200 Situps on the internet already that look like they work and are also kind of doable.

6. Improve my cooking skills - I like food. And in order to keep up with an exercise routine, I'm going to need to eat better. To eat better and not go broke, I'm going to need to learn to cook better. Yeah, that makes sense. Plus, I love to entertain. And my friends love to eat. This sounds like incentive...

My mom once kicked me and one of my friends out of the kitchen for exploding a closed container of chocolate in the microwave while trying to make a sundae. We also got kicked out for exploding marshmallow peeps, heating a Christmas cookie over a candle, and a whole lot of other stuff. My cooking skills have since improved but I'm nowhere near cooking a 5 course meal on a Tuesday for just me. I think here the goal is just to be able to consistently cook about 20 things and maybe add in 2 really hard impressive things so I can pretend I know what I'm doing if I ever have super important company, like at the holidays. I think that's a good goal for someone who loved watching the original Iron Chef on The Food Network.