august 14 in twenty-eight

My first meet-up yesterday was fun. I had a hard time later in the day convincing myself that I REALLY wanted to go after all, but fortunately C was being very encouraging about the whole thing and basically pushed me out the door. The meet-up was in Bexley, which is about half an hour from my house. I intentionally arrived five minutes late, hoping to avoid being the first one there (as awkward as groups are for me, one-on-one conversations/smalltalk with a stranger is so much worse). I was the third; the other two were the woman who organized the event, and then a young (maybe 25-30, I'm bad with ages) German girl who had been in Columbus for seven weeks because her husband had been transferred there. She had come from Switzerland before that. It seemed like she had recently started crocheting again.

The other women were at least 40, which I expected. Some were in their 60's. All were very pleasant and accepting, and there was only one person there who was really starting to get on my nerves (which is the norm, I've found, so just one out of eight isn't so bad).

Oh, and I started and finished a scarf that I brought. That seemed to impress a lot of people, but it was a super bulky yarn and a size N hook, so it's not really as impressive as it seems.

I also decided a few days ago that I need to be much more proactive about being healthy. For me, I need to be really dedicated to something to make it interesting to me. I can't half-ass things or else I quickly lose interest. So I've started being more conscious about the things I'm eating. I don't FEEL good when I eat fast food frequently (I love fast food, but it's not meant to be eaten every day). So I'm trying to plan out my meals every morning. I find that I have to do that, or else I'm too willing to make spontaneous bad choices. So yesterday I went to the store and bought Greek yogurt (a staple in my fridge. Now I also have some for the office, too), 11 ounces of tuna, an avocado, whole grain pita pockets, dill relish, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and celery salt. Combine that with the True Lemon I already have at work, and suddenly I have a really interesting tuna salad. And, lunch for the week, too. It's a good start.

At home I'm trying to buy the stuff I know I'll reach for when it's dinner time and I'm unmotivated to be creative. For me, it's Smart Taste spaghetti (may not be as healthy as whole grain pasta, but it has the fiber I'm looking for and tastes really good, I think), Greek yogurt (as a sour cream substitute), spaghetti sauce (I make a big pot of it at a time and keep it on hand), quick chili mix for chili/Greek yogurt spaghetti, feta, and potatoes.

I know I need to do better about eating more produce, but I just don't like it and I am not one of those people who can be happy with an apple when what I really want is a Reese's cup. I figure, it's better to eat healthier and enjoy what I eat and take vitamins for the things I don't get, than try to eat completely healthy and well-roundedly (not a word, but you know what I'm saying) and give up healthy eating after a week.

I've also joined a walking meet-up group. They meet every Saturday at one. I can't go this Saturday, but I'm going to try it out next weekend. I used to be so diligent about going to the gym, but that was back when I had a husband who was never around in the evenings because he worked the night shift, and I also had way more time to do things like that. I'm trying to get back into it, so I figure a walking group is a good place to start.