Bossypants

I haven't written in a week and I feel like its been months. While I'm restructuring my life and getting ready to present my new self to you I decided to read a book! Yes, amazing, I actually FINISHED a book. It wasn't hard.

What was it?

Bossypants, by Tina Fey of course. My interest in Tina Fey was first born when I watched 'Mean Girls', a classic coming of age story for girls in the 21st century (please note the sarcastic tone), and damn hilarious. Soon after, I generated an addiction for 30 Rock. If you haven't seen it, I encourage you to catch up. Her style of comedy (sarcasm, truth, everyday quips) was exactly what my friends and I did, so henceforthwithto, I thought Bossypants would be a good choice for my reading attempt.

Now, I'm not generally a fan of books and don't get sucked in easy, but this book feels like Tina Fey is talking to you about her hysterically busy and successful progression in life. And aside from the disturbing cover art, I have come to feel like I know her and would be disgustingly disappointed, that if we met, she wouldn't treat me as an old friend and give me a hug (I smell just as good as Oprah Tina Fey).

It's an entertaining book to read and talks about her career, comedy, life as a mother, life as a (bad) wife and life as a boss, all while being very funny and telling a great story! It inspires me to stay up later, write more and work harder...well at least for today...to get what I want out of life. It is nice to see that there are people out there, that still pursue what they love to do, instead of what is convenient, conventional and expected of them. (Yes, I got all that out of this book).

Good work Tina Fey, I applaud you and good luck!

Swimming is DAMN hard!

Meet my arch nemesis.....

Yeah, so what it's a pool? This is the Lakewood YMCA pool. I have incorporated swimming into my training to build my endurance (which apparently fled from my body when I packed on the pounds at my last job). This morning was my first swim workout. The result? I am a sucky swimmer. Going just one length of the pool had me panting like my dog after a run.

Isn't waking up at 5 am hard enough, without gasping for air and choking on pool water? I couldn't cut the freestyle the whole time, that s*** is hard, so I went with the breast stroke, which is significantly easier for me. I warned the coach when I got there, that I am NOT a swimmer. The coach took pity on me and gave me some mini-goals to achieve, like not stopping between laps. Needless to say, it was VERY difficult for me to do that, today anyway.

By the end of the workout, I was controlling my breathing a lot better and interchanging freestyle and breast stroke. That's really what it was about, my breathing. Once I finally got into a rhythm, I felt like I wasn't totally anchoring everyone else and that someday I could catch up, maybe in a month or so. I am definitely going back on Wednesday! Once I learn how to breathe slower and get my strokes perfected, I can be a fish just like everyone else.

Until then, they will have to watch out for my slow a** in the right side of the lane. Right now, I do almost half the laps as everyone else, but I was getting the hang of it by the end of the hour, which gives me hope for Wed. morning. I'm stoked on this new swimming thing, not to mention the 20-minute bike ride to get to the YMCA. :) I can now project some crazy endurance in the months to come. YAY!

If you don't hear from me by next week, I probably drowned.

Interested in my workout? Check out 'The Workout Schedule' blog, to visualize my insanity.

**self censorship :)

The workout schedule

This intense varied schedule should smack me around and get me into tip-top shape for events to come. I thought I would share, to make me more accountable and just in case you'd like to try and keep up with the young wipper snapper (yea right!).

Monday
6-7 am - Swim workout @ YMCA
6:30-9:00 pm - Tennis @ Rancho Cienega Tennis Courts

Tuesday

6 am Santa Monica Stairs workout/run
7-10 pm - Tennis in Bellflower

Wednesday
6-7 am - Swim workout @ YMCA
Gym (or outdoor) workout (5K-10K run/weights) (24 hour fitness)

Thursday
6 am - Long Beach beach run

Gym - lite cardio/weights (24 hour fitness)

Friday
9-10 am - Turbo Kickboxing (24 hour fitness, slauson) <--kick butt class

6:30-9:00 pm - Tennis @ Rancho Cienega Tennis Courts

Saturday
Tennis (LA)

Bike ride/Hike

Sunday

Santa Monica Stairs Workout/Gym Workout

Adventures of a Chronic Dieter...

After a couple of great weeks of getting back into shape and eating well, I faltered. How? you ask. Those damn yogurt covered pretzels from Trader Joe's. I know you are supposed to treat yourself once in a while, so you're not too far off on deep end dieting, but I felt like I lost control. I didn't actually eat that many overall, maybe like 12. But still, I felt the lack of control, as to everything else, I have been thinking through and controlling pretty well (as far as eating goes). Especially, since I've been working out so hard, it feels like a set back.

My body is beyond sore and if I drink any more water I'm probably going to have to move my things into the bathroom. I hate being this sore, it makes me realize how out of shape that I have actually gotten. I've been working out on top of the soreness, but after I finish, I can barely move again. Getting up in the morning is tough, because my body wants that extra rest and I feel crippled when getting out of bed, crawling to the coffee pot.

Today, I took an afternoon nap (and a walk with Chaka) of about 30 minutes, amazing what a nap can do for your mind and body! Hopefully, I will be off to play tennis shortly (like in the next hour), otherwise I have to go to the gym to run, which I'd rather not do today.

Next week...it's swim time. Monday will be my first master swim class at the YMCA. I'll ride my bike to swim at 6:00 am. That's some dedication there huh? It's my first time since beng a kid, but I think the water will help me get in shape and it's only twice a week. I'm hoping it will help melt away that nastiness that has gelled around my legs.

Back to drinking my water now. Stay tuned! I will feel fantastic soon, I just know it.

I'm going green...well more like baby blue!

I'm so excited, I have finally become totally fuel efficient. The same fuel that keeps my body running will be fueling my....wait for it....my new Schwinn Clairmont beach cruiser. LOL.

And yes, there is a basket on my bike for quick trips to Trader Joe's or Ralphs and afternoons at Starbucks or downtown. Not to mention my bike riding that will commence in Santa Monica on the weekends.

If you're in Long Beach, you may just see me riding down the street in my neato Schwinn with Chaka in a basket on the back. I look forward to riding the bike to the YMCA in the mornings for my new swim class. YAY!

Who are you?

There are times in your life where you have to make life decisions. That's what I have done. After such a long time of not really feeling the 'right' feeling, I believe I have finally figured out what is 'right' for me.

Immediately after I made the most recent decision about my life, despite a little nervousness, I felt happy and realized that good decisions always feel...well...good! There are people that follow or believe in other people's paths and there are others that create a world of their own. I have never been a kid to follow what others were doing, sometimes by force. My mother always wanted to be different, do different things and set a tone to be an example and was NEVER someone that followed others; I think I get it from her.

With my parents being fathoms opposite; my mother totally out there, creative and whimsical and my dad, precise, on-schedule and conservative; I think I turned out to be an interesting and smart combination of the both of them. (Is it ok to call yourself smart, without sounding totally vein?)

So although, I'm being really vague right now and can't reveal more at the moment, announcements will come (no, I'm not pregnant). This new chapter of my life, I can feel, will be the best one by far. With the wedding, work, life as I know it is about to change and I have a great feeling!

#YouKnowYou'reAnIndianChildWhen

A friend of mine on Twitter started a hashtag today. It was basically just her an I, but I thought it was so funny. There are specific things that you experience when you're a kid who has parents that immigrated from India.

Since I'm sure they differ slightly for different types of Indians, I will only generalize from California Bengali's, so you all can understand us just a little bit better.

You Know You're a Southern Californian Bengali Child If:

• Your dad is an engineer, doctor or works for Microsoft.
• Your weekends are booked with 'family get-togethers'.
• You are studying for the S.A.T.'s at the age of 10.
• Your dad smells of tobacco and scotch.
• You have never been to a summer sleep away camp.
• Your mother doesn't or shouldn't be driving on the freeway.
• Everyone is your dada, didi, auntie or uncle.
• Your in math class instead of enjoying summer.
• You are 14 in community college calculus.
• Your school teachers don't even try to pronounce your last name...and you don't need them to.
• You live with your parents to 'save money' at the age of 25.
• Rice is on the menu (every night) with Fish or Chicken curry.
• Your parent's drive a Honda, Toyota or Mercedes.
• You start applying to UCLA, UCSD and UCI as soon as you enter high school.
• You are a computer science, engineering major or pre-med.
• Your parents tell you repeatedly about how Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel prize for literature.
• You don't play outside or swim until 4 pm because your mother is worried you're getting too dark from the sun...
• Your parents use adjectives as nouns, ex: "Don't be a stupid".
• The cashiers at 7-11 look at you intently before asking "Are you Indian?" with absolutely no follow-up.
• Kids at school ask where your red dot is (that's all Indians).
• You either check 'other' or 'Asian' on all official documents.
• You know that Salt Lake refers to a neighborhood in Calcutta and not Utah.
• People don't believe you when you say you're Asian.
• 6 hour flights seem like a picnic compared to the 16 hours it takes to get to India.
• Kids at school mistake you for Mexican.

There's tons that I think of in 'the moment', but these are just a few. Ah, life :)