Thumbs, treadmills, turkeys, and being social

My updates have been a little sparse lately, so let's catch up.

I guess the biggest thing is I hurt my thumb. It might have happened when I was trimming back a shrubbery in the yard, or maybe when I opened a particularly stubborn jar of salsa. (Mental note: make up a more interesting reason. Possibly involving cave diving or panning for gold.) All I know is I've started wearing a fashionable black half-glove for thumb support, and that helps.

The next big thing is that last Tuesday Amazon delivered unto me a treadmill. Jer and I assembled it that night -- which included a mad dash to Lowe's for a single surge suppressor -- and I used it Wednesday morning for the first time.

I love it.

I've never been a ... strong ... runner, but I've wanted my own treadmill since I first used one 12 or 13 years ago. I love how much time it saves me, not having to drive to the gym. I love that I can go full-out with my terrible form and outfit, and be completely un-selfconscious. I love that I can use it for as long or as short as I want, and not worry about hogging the machine.

Most of my reasons for buying a treadmill involve being self-conscious, which is a feeling that's always held me back in exercise. The only time I ever got over it was when I worked out with a trainer, and he pushed me so hard I was too tired to care about anything except when I would be allowed to lay down and die.

So I'm taking it slow, focusing on building my endurance in intervals, and trying to pay attention to my form. I don't want to jinx myself, but I've used it four out of the last five days. I just love it.

As for writing, there's not much to report. On Saturday afternoon, I watched the first half of Star Wars IV and took notes about what happened and at what times, which was really interesting. I've never dissected a film at that level before, and it helped to see how all the different threads were building toward the ending.

Sunday was a social day. In the early afternoon I played Dungeons and Dragons with friends and in the evening I went to a get-together in Capitol Hill. I chatted with a lot of cool people, drank some good beer, and even got to meet a few people I'd only ever known through the internet.

Lastly, I'm defrosting a frozen turkey in the refrigerator and will have to figure out how I want to prepare that soon. Maybe I'll just whisper at it, "I'm going to cook you," over and over. Do you think that will prepare it enough?