I'm humbled and saddened this morning as I read about and look at pictures of the prisoner swap that happened on the Israel-Lebanon border this morning. The picture of the two black coffins carrying the remains of the two soldiers whose kidnapping sparked the war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah is captivating. And it reminds me how high we value these human beings- even bodies, just bodies, being returned to their families for a proper burial and a proper mourning. A value so high that they were worth not just other bodies in exchange, but the freedom of a cold blooded murderer. People can debate forever whether or not the price was too high, but at least we can now, sadly, remove two names from list of the missing for whom we prayed every week for two years.

We place a high value on these things. And for that, I'm proud.

Some more tidbits I forgot to mention

• Simply saying "we saw Wall-E" to a bunch of Bostonians doesn't mean what it means to the rest of the country. No, I didn't see Wally on the Mass Pike. I saw Wall-E in the movie theater.
• My MIL is starting to worry about the people her kids married: a day after I stabbed myself and spent the morning in the ER, my sister-in-law's husband had a light bulb shatter in his hand and they spent the night in an NYC ER as he got three stitches on his left hand ring finger. Quick, hide the sharp objects from the other in-law kid!
• Driving a Prius means 450 miles = 1 tank of gas.
• The highest point of I-90, the longest interstate in the country, west east of South Dakota is in the mountains of western Massachusetts. (Thanks, DB for the correction.)
  

I stabbed myself...and other interesting tidbits from my weekend in the mountains

Yup, you read that right. I stabbed my left hand on Friday, while we were getting ready for what should have been a beautiful 20-mile bike ride along the quaint little roads of Lee and Lenox, MA, in the heart of the Berkshire Mountains. Instead, Andrew drove like a maniac to the hospital and we spent the morning in the ER.

3 hours, 4 stitches, and a pack of Vicodin later, we took in the sculptures of Daniel Chester French instead, which was actually quite nice. But you really don't realize what you need both hands for until you can't use one, and then you feel kinda helpless. Have you ever tried putting on a seatbelt with your right hand instead of using your left? How about typing? Carrying groceries? Opening up a bottle or turning a faucet? Cutting your food? Yup, Andrew had to cut my food for me Friday night; kinda felt like a baby.

Thankfully, 3 days later, I have most motion back in my fingers though the tip of my middle finger gets numb every now and then. It's really a weird feeling to get pins and needles just at the tip of your finger and not the whole hand. Doc says it may take a while for the feeling to return.

A few random other tidbits:

• When renting cars, don't pay extra for a hybrid car, because they'll just assign it to you anyways. We got to drive a Prius all weekend. It. was. cool.
  
• If you bought take-out Chinese and drove 2.5 hours to your destination and forgot that the food was still in the car because you couldn't smell it, chances are the food has no taste.
  
• Corollary to the above point: kosher Chinese in MD ain't that bad compared.
  
• Even in Western Massachusetts, just miles from the NY border, they love their Red Sox.
• Supermarkets in Western Massachusetts, even though no Jews live there year-round, have more kosher food than supermarkets in DC, where Jews live year-round.
• Never use a sharp knife to try to separate food items that are frozen together. Chances are, you will hurt yourself.
• Massachusetts has more Priuses (Pri-ii? Pri-a??) on the road then the entire MD-DC-VA area.
• Still can't my rings off my finger. And my finger tip is still numb.
• Did I mention that hybrid cars are cool?
  

I want to be a loser

The biggest loser, that is.

Today was the first day of the biggest corporate loser challenge in my office. It's just the kick-in-the-ass that I need to get up, get moving, and get caring about my body. The basic premise is this: Pledge to exercise and eat well between July 1-November 30. There are no weigh-in's and no one is keeping tabs on your diet except for yourself. There are only three requirements:

• Exercise at least 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes each time;
• Drink a minimum of 64-oz of water a day; and,
• Support your team.

So how do you become the biggest loser? It's optional to set a weight-loss goal, and if you do set one, it's added to the goal of your team and whichever team loses the most (percentage of total goal), wins. Points are added/deducted based on how well you follow the first two requirements (we are supposed to keep a daily log).

That's it.

I set my 5-month goal for 20 lbs. Is it ambitious? Yeah, probably. But if I keep to my requirements, I know I can do it, because I did it before. My roommate in grad school took ridiculous care of herself- ate well (mostly vegetarian) and worked out- and I fell victim to the peer pressure. What else could I do but follow her act? So I started eating better (though the lack of kosher take-out in Syracuse as compared to what was available on Main Street in Queens helped quite a bit) and went to the gym almost every day. As a favor in return, I re-introduced my roommate to chicken. :-) More importantly, I lost a ton of extra weight and felt really good about myself. I kept the habit for a year after I moved to DC, but then I lost my cheap gym membership at GW and basically stopped with the strenuous physical activity. That, plus loving food so so much, has brought the pudge back.

So I'm determined to lose it. It helps to have a workout room in my building, which I will finally truly take advantage of.

Wish me luck!