New Looks

This post is late in coming, at least for the purposes of my mom and sister.

Jeff and I recently added some new furniture to our apartment. After 3 1/2 years of good, solid use, my old orange, floral-patterned couch was put to rest. I found this sofa on craigslist while in my junior year of college. It moved with me to 5 different apartments. While it served me well, it was time to move on, and remove one more item of "college" furniture from my life.

The slipcover gave it a bit more life.

Beneath the slipcover...

Out with the old

In with the new!

The red is cozy and adds a nice splash of color to the room.

There are two pieces; a sofa and a loveseat. I love that the cushions are still somewhat firm. I like the soft texture of the fabric (not microsuede, but a soft material - polyester, I think). I really like that the cushions are attached and don't need to be fixed every time someone gets up. I love that Jeff and I can each sit on a couch if we'd like. I like that it's easier to seat guests when they come over. I like that our living room has more definition from the dining room and the entrance to our apartment.

Can you tell I like our furniture? We got these couches in early March and I'm still pretty stoked about them.

In other news, I may have just worked my last Saturday for a long while. April 15, here we come!

Thoughts on Fasting

For lent this year, I decided to fast one day a week. I had gotten the idea from my friend Jacque, who was also fasting once a week. I did this on weekdays, and chose to not eat breakfast and lunch, breaking the fast after work, for dinner. Some of my thoughts on this choice:

- I really wasn't concerned about health. In general, I'd argue that most adult Americans would benefit from (or at the very least, not be hurt by) eating less food.**

- Some days were more difficult than others. I think this depended on a variety of things, including what I ate the night before, and if I exercised the day before.

- One of the difficult aspects was how to approach this from a work standpoint. This was something that was a personal decision that I was keeping (for the most part) to myself. I often work in an environment where I'm in a room with one other person all day. I tried to choose days when I was working by myself, or would not need to explain why I didn't want to join for lunch.

- I did notice some change in my work by the afternoon on fast days. I was less focused.

From a spiritual standpoint, there were benefits as well. This was probably most noticeable on Good Friday, when I didn't eat until communion during the service in the evening. I think it made the day and service 'hit home' more for me, as I recollected on the day. Easter dinner was also a great way to celebrate Easter, the end of lent, and Christ rising from the dead.

From a work/physical standpoint, I am glad that this complete - eating lunch on a work day is, if nothing else, a nice break from the day. That's all. I hope Easter was wonderful for all of you!

** On a trivial note, while reading "Superfreakonomics" by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner (a follow-up to "Freakonomics," also a good read), I learned that Muslim babies born during May are have a higher likelihood of "[having] visual, hearing, or learning disabilities as an adult," due to their mothers day-fasting during Ramadan (currently starting in mid-August). The loss of nutrition during the first month of pregnancy can have a lasting detrimental effect on the unborn child. This has been seen in southeast Uganda (where Islam is predominant), as well as in certain Michigan regions, where there are also large Muslim populations.