A Brother Abroad

I went to Italy once (okay, twice).
But because my brother just left and hasn't posted any pictures, I had to improvise. I tried.

In between the rigorous months of college course-work and party-marathons for those living in their wonder years, my roommates and I add a fourth roommate to the mix (or fifth, if you count my dog as the fourth roommate.) It is obvious when this fourth roommate returns home: there are empty cereal bowls left on the floor beside the couch, every single light in the house is turned out, the washer/dryers have to run every day to accommodate the massive influx of dirty clothing, and all of the snacks in our house miraculously disappear in a matter of hours. I suppose if this semi-permanent house-guest were not my brother, it would be exponentially more intolerable to deal with his seemingly lackadaisical (borderline inconsiderate) habits.

But alas, during the winter months, he crawls back home, forced to relinquish the inflated sense of independence that so many college students revel in while living at school, and not-so-seamlessly assimilates back into parent-supervised suburban life. The roomies and I live a quiet life, used to going to bed early (we're all old people), keeping TV volume at an all-time low and content with low-maintenance dinners. But when #4 returns, the house somehow goes from quiet to loud and empty to full -- even though we're only housing an extra body. Although the roomies and I are generally drama-free (for the most part), the return of #4 brings with it a bit of a tumultuous transition as we can no longer expect to go to bed at 9:30PM without someone still being up and about in the house. Despite this minor commotion, within a week or two, our trio becomes a regular quartet and it's as if my dearest brother never left. 

Until now. My brother is embarking on what nowadays seems like a regular rite-of-passage for most privileged college folk -- he is studying abroad. After a bit of negotiating with the parents, they agreed that it would be a great opportunity and he was off to Rome for the semester. But we had just started to get used to him being home! What will now happen to our little, dysfunctional family unit sans our semi-permanent house guest?

Well, we'll do what we always do, except this time, it is different. Before, my brother was a mere twenty minutes away -- easily accessible whenever my mom had a hankering for doing some extra laundry or when my brother needed to spend some quality time with everyone's favorite roommate (my dog, naturally).Now, we're battling a six-hour time difference in order to communicate and I'm left to deal with my mother's reverse homesickness (she misses him. A lot already). A semester ago, we could check in with him with a quick text or just tune in to the ol' college gossip mill (I know people). My spy-system does not stretch all the way to Italy. Instead, we have to rely on his anecdotal emails and infrequent tweets from afar in order to gain a little insight into what is arguably one of the most important, life-changing and exciting experiences he'll have as a young adult. Strange, right?

As an older sister, it seems as though whenever I'm stuck under the same roof as my brother we constantly bicker and butt-heads, but as soon as we're separated and given the choice to interact with each other, we develop a new-found, mutual appreciation and respect for each other. I will admit this though (and since he doesn't read my blog, I think I'm safe): the house will be a lot less fun, lively and colorful without him around for the next four months. We won't be able to have a surprise visit from him (accompanied by the depletion of our liquor cabinet and supply of Wheat Thins) anytime soon. But we'll be the ones sitting around bored and missing this tornado of tenacity and spontaneity, while he gets to explore the world. I'm hoping that my brother will return at the end of the semester with great memories, valuable experiences and hopefully, a better understanding of the world around him. Fingers crossed that he will also learn to consistently put his dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and maybe even gain a better appreciation for his other three roommates.

Let's Get Physical

I am not going to pretend to be one of those girls who runs around in cute sneakers all the time, regularly travelling to and from the gym, high on life and the rubber fumes coming from her yoga mat. In fact, for a long time, I didn't really work out at all. Eventually I realized, after gaining the dreaded freshman fifteen (courtesy of double stuffed Oreos and chocolate ice cream), that maybe I should try this whole "exercise" thing -- other people seemed to like it, it was healthy and I certainly couldn't deny that I wasn't longing for a more lithe and slender body. 

Since then, I have been trying to find some sort of fitness regimen that meshed with my whole on-again-off-again relationship with working out. I love the feeling I get after a good workout, but have a difficult time cramming it in before or after work. You know how it is, it takes forever to get to and from work, then you're at work, and the last thing you want to do when you get home is an activity that claims to be another form of "work." In lieu of working out, you could be going to bar trivia, getting a haircut, watching trashy reality TV -- SO many other things you could be doing that could make you equally happy, even if it won't get rid of your beer belly. True, some people would classify these things as "excuses" (just ask Tufts Health Plan), but gosh darnit, you're just trying to find a way to manage it all!

I understand your problems. I fight this same fight. I am you. Obviously, when I was between graduation and my job, I had plenty of time for working out. I had too much free time to even have an excuse. But now? All work, some play, and little time for lifting things up and putting them down. The Christmas cookies have done their damage and I must do penance.

Like I said, I do enjoy working out, but where does the time go?! I've been trying to integrate it into my routine and find ways to make it more convenient. For starters, I have cancelled my gym membership. I know, this seems counter-productive, but I hadn't used it in three months. At $10 a month, that's $30 I could have used towards something cute and sparkly (or, more productively, towards a car loan payment.) I decided that I needed to stick to a fitness regimen that made sense for me. Driving to the gym after work seemed so cumbersome to me that I started to dread just getting there, so I eliminated the driving aspect. After all, I have a treadmill, dumbbells, medicine balls, etc. at home. If your home becomes your gym, then that leaves little room for ways out of exercising.

I've found that since doing more of my workouts at home, I can manage to fit in at least 30 minutes of exercise a few times a week easily. Instead of quickly flipping through Cosmo's fitness section, I've been ripping out workout suggestions. Suddenly, the TV is no longer an enabler to my propensity for lounging and laziness, but instead, home to a myriad of personal fitness instructors (thanks OnDemand!). I got a bit creative, saved a few bucks, and have found a way to make my fitness regimen more convenient.

Sure, there is certainly something to be said about separating where you workout from where you relax and spend your personal time. If you're at the gym, there is really little else to do other than work out and with everyone else exercising, I suppose there is pressure to be doing the same thing. However, if you're at home, who's going to call you out for eating an entire box of Cap'n Crunch on the couch while watching a Harry Potter TV marathon? Unless you have a talking pet (which would be awesome), I doubt you'll be answering to anyone except the indigestion you potentially have later. You are the only person able to hold yourself accountable, but I suppose that is true of most things in life.

So how goes my quest for health and a bikini bod? So far, not so bad. Luckily, I have a sort of neighborhood "fitness support group," if you will, with whom I try new workouts and have just recently started getting into yoga (more on both in later posts), which help me to follow-through on working out. As always, it's a work in progress, but being able to have an extra piece of chocolate cake always acts as a great motivator...