Women, Weightlifting, and Schwarzenegger (by Jenny Gordon)

I’m thin.  I’m not a stick but I fit squarely in the thin category.  And yet it bothers me when I gain 10-15 pounds and my clothes no longer fit.  When that happens, I usually join Weight Watchers and use their app to count points and lose the ten pounds.  I add in a little cardio as well for good measure.  Two years later I’m back up to where I was and the process repeats itself. 

Everything changed when my boyfriend joined a CrossFit/Strength training gym six months ago, Crossfit Retribution.  He was introduced to the world of weightlifting.  For months he begged me to check it out.  In my mind, if I started weightlifting, my thighs (my problem area) would get even bigger.  And I was worried I’d look like this:

I was completely wrong.  I joined the gym and now I love it.  Here is what I’ve learned from two short months of doing a strength training program:

1.)    Lift weights!  My trainer (a toned and feminine looking woman I might add) introduced me to the world of dead lifts, shoulder press, bench press, and squats.  I started out by lifting lighter weights and we focused on form.  The first night I attempted a 30 pound squat and just about fell over because I was so weak.  I didn’t give up and the next week I squatted 35 pounds.  After two months I successfully did an 80 pound squat.

2.)    Follow a macronutrient plan!  Download the free app My Fitness Pal so you can track your macronutrients (or macros) each day.  My trainer, Nicole, tells me what level of macros to consume but you can also find an online Macro calculator.   It will tell you how many calories to eat, as well as how many grams of fat, proteins and carbs to consume.  All are essential for building lean muscle.  I’m allowed 1800 calories per day which isn’t restrictive at all.  

3.)    Buy a good protein powder!  Many women do not eat enough protein and I was one of them.  Unless you like eating meat all day long, you will probably want to supplement your protein goal using a powder.  I put a scoop in my green smoothie every morning and another scoop in a protein shake in the afternoon.  Here is one of my favorites – MusclePharm Combat Protein Powder Chocolate Milk.

As I followed this plan, I started noticing even though I worked out very hard, I wasn’t very sore the next day.  Consuming the proper amount of protein can help with soreness.  One night in the shower I lifted my arm and saw a muscle that wasn’t there before.  Then I saw a new muscle in my leg.  One month into the program I moved in with my boyfriend.  I was lifting heavy moving boxes and I wasn’t in pain.  Next I started feeling thinner and more toned.  I measured my waist and thighs and they were smaller.  My midsection was flatter and starting to get definition.  After two months of staying on the same macro eating plan, I started getting very hungry.  Nicole told me that’s because I had built so much muscle and now needed more calories to sustain my body.  So she increased my macros and I’m now eating almost 2000 calories per day.  Oh and I’m down 5 pounds and have hit my goal weight.  What's more fun than eating MORE and still losing weight? 

Nicole showing me proper squat positioning

Weightlifting has many more benefits, which you can read about here.  Ladies are you strong enough? It’s written by the guy who owns my gym.  He knows a lot more about this stuff than I do.

Now that I’ve experienced the joys of weightlifting, I know that a more realistic image of a woman who strength trains is this:

Weight training has changed my body more than restrictive dieting and cardio has ever done.  Since I’ve started I’ve made huge gains in the gym:  

• Bench press - up 22.5 pounds 
  

• Squats – up 50 pounds

• Dead lift - up 45 pounds (I’m only 10 pounds away from dead lifting my body weight)

• Shoulder press – up 17.5 pounds

And those jiggly thighs I had?  They’re practically gone.  So the next time someone says you’re going to look like Schwarzenegger if you weight lift, you can tell them how wrong they are!

Change is Scary

Change is scary.

 If you are anything like me, making big decisions comes with much lament. First, the plummeting feeling in my stomach, quickly accompanied by the drowning feeling of self-doubt. Is this the right decision? How do you know? Why don’t you know what’s best for you? Now there are some decisions in life that are truly monumental, such as purchasing a home or deciding whether to get married, have kids, and then there are some decisions that just feel truly monumental. For me, this non-monumental-monumental decision came in the form of a haircut.

Pre-Haircut Blues

Throughout my childhood, I felt an overwhelming compulsion to cut my hair. When life felt mundane and I needed a break from the monotony, I would take off an inch or two.  By my freshman year of college I was sporting a short blunt bob with blunt straight bangs. I don’t know what happened, but one day something just snapped. I remember looking in the mirror and deciding that I was going to grow out my hair and donate it to an organization that provides wigs for women suffering from cancer. Maybe I was inspired by my boyfriend’s donation a couple years back, or maybe the break from monotony that I needed was some commitment for a change.

Fast-forward to 2015.

 I had officially been growing my hair for eight years and I was starting to feel absolutely insane. My hair was officially past my buttocks and I was officially fed up. You can imagine how difficult life with hair that long can be. What proved to be even more difficult however was making that hard decision to change and get it cut. I grappled with cutting it for two years before I mustered up the courage to chop it off.

 (Hey, it’s not like procrastination is a necessarily bad thing in this scenario; it simply means more hair to give!)

Braids: All day, Every day

It was the realization that my hair was either in a bun on the top of my head or a very long braid at my side every day that made me decide to take the next step. When had I stopped enjoying my hair? My hair had always been a source of joy and expression for me, and it was time to take that back. I had let my fear of change and comfort in contentedness keep me from taking charge of my life. It was then that I hit the ground running.

Growing out your hair for years and years is a huge commitment and investment of time. Like all wise investments, you need to do your research first.

You as the donor are responsible for providing a certain length and quality of hair to be considered a viable donation. The Locks of Love organization got a lot of guff for announcing in 2007 that they have to throw away 80% of donated hair because donors did not follow the guidelines for donation. You wouldn’t bring canned soup to a mitten drive would you? It’s a nice thought, but not helpful for the task at hand.

Generally, organizations require hair donations of ten inches or more, less than 5% grey, and untreated by dyes chemicals and bleaches.

Another reason to do your research before deciding to donate your hair is because not all hair donation organizations are created equally.

When you tell people you are going to do donate your hair the first thing people ask is “Are you going to donate it to Locks of Love?” While Locks of Love is a fine organization, I am glad that I did my research. I grew out my hair with the expressed interest of bringing joy to a woman suffering from cancer. After a thorough reading of their website riddled with vague terminology such as “long-term medical hair loss”, I found that the overwhelming majority of their wigs go to children suffering from alopecia. Many children with cancer are denied wigs from this organization because their hair is going to grow back at some point. 

That was it for me. Having family and loved ones who had lost their battle to cancer, it was wigs for cancer or bust. Locks of Love was out. That is when I found the absolutely amazing Pantene Beautiful Lengths Program. 

Partnered with the American Cancer Society, Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths wigs are created specifically for women with cancer. To date, the program has donated 42,000 real-hair wigs to the ACS Wig Bank since its creation in 2006. Another great aspect of this program is that it allows donations of only 8 inches (although I donated 12).

When the day finally came and I sat in that chair to cut it off I thought it would be different. I thought I would feel something when that razor sliced off eight years of my life, or confetti would fall from the ceiling and everyone would get up from their cuts and high-five me for my being a big girl, but that’s not how change works. It’s hard, it’s scary, it’s inevitable, and it’s yours to bear. No one else knows how monumental that moment was for me, and that makes it all the more special. But the craziest thing about change is how quickly it goes from scary to being the past. A split second. Now it’s the future. You can’t glue that hair back on girl, move the hell on. Embrace the change.

It brings me immense joy to know that there is a woman out there who will feel confident and beautiful with my hair on her head. Next time I face a big scary decision, I will remember the emotional (and physical) lightness that I felt that day. 

Change is scary, but it’s also temporary.  

The Time My Fourteenth Birthday Became a National Tragedy

To many it was just a typical Tuesday, but I was especially excited because it was my fourteenth birthday! I was in the eighth grade and in middle school speak, that meant you were royalty. I brought in a variety of beautifully decorated cupcakes for my homeroom class, much to my classmates’ delight. Plus, I had finally gotten my ugly braces off after enduring them for three long years.

I was feeling on top of the world!

Throughout the morning my friends, classmates and teachers alike, greeted me and wished me a happy birthday. I was the only one in my grade with a birthday that day and man was I feeling popular. By 10:30am I was in 3rd period, German class and my teacher made an announcement that there had been a terrorist attack in New York. All of a sudden, everything changed. It was September 11th, 2001.

----

After German class, the entire middle school gathered into the school theatre for an emergency assembly. It was a mix of conversations – some students knew, some didn’t, some were panicked about their families…plenty of questions, plenty of confusion. The middle school head tried to explain and put our 11-14 year-old minds at ease, but it was impossible.

It was a strange time, to see your teachers - those you admire, just as confused and scared as the students. The rest of the day was just a strange, out-of-body experience. The entire day was spent talking about the attacks. Teachers did their best to answer questions, but they had just as many questions as we did.

At the end of the day, my mom picked me up and the ride home was quiet. For those who know my mom, she is never quiet. I’m sure she was racking her brain trying to figure out how to process this and what to say to me.

“Do I ignore it for now and try and make sure she has a good rest of her birthday?”

“Do we talk about it now or wait?”

“Is she worried, upset, angry?”

When we got home, we turned on our small black and white TV in the kitchen and both sat there for hours just watching the news. How could you not? It was captivating. Horrible. Disgusting. Terrifying. Heartbreakingly captivating.

Several hours later, we both couldn’t take it anymore and went to the local Denny’s, as least to try and celebrate what was left of my birthday. My mom told everyone there it was my birthday, in hopes that would cheer me up. Instead, everyone gave me the same look -- the oh-my-goodness, I’m-so-sorry-your-birthday-is-basically-ruined-now look. Even now, 15 years later when people find out my birthday is September 11th, I still get that look.

One aspect that has stuck with me is the association 9/11 or September 11th has with people. No other event in our nation’s history is referred to solely by its date. The exception I suppose was December 7th, 1941. But even still, the event is called a variety of names – the “Attack on Pearl Harbor,” “Bombing on Pearl Harbor,” “The Day that Will Live in Infamy.” 9/11 is not just a date on the calendar anymore, it is a terrorist attack and it will forever be that way.

Today, I still struggle with how to process everything. Of course, it’s unfortunate that these attacks happened on my fourteenth birthday and it can be hard to feel happy or excited when the rest of the country is in mourning every year. In reality though, I didn't lose anyone that day - my family, my friends, my house, my school - everything was fine. I was healthy and safe unlike so many others.

How do you put such a strange juxtaposition into perspective?

Behind the Scenes of an Election- Karen Benewicz

Before I began working at the Anne Arundel County Board of Elections, I never game elections more thought then then candidates I was voting.  I guess mainly because I have voted by absentee ballot, or not at all.  Now, I work for an election office I can appreciate what goes on behind the scenes.  On November 8, 2016 the registered voters of the United States will elect their 45^th President. 

 The candidates running on the Democratic ticket are Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders  and Martin O'Malley.  While the Republican field of candidates is much larger the front runners at this time appear to be Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio. Most people think of an election as the candidates running for office, but an election is much more. Before heading to the polls, become an informed voter. Know the candidates and the issues they support.  Become and active contributor in the election process, not a passive participant.

While the politician are busy running their campaigns, local election offices are busy preparing fro the election.  Local election offices like Anne Arundel County's Board of Elections are:

• registering the candidates and voter;
• taking care of petitions;
•  arranging polling locations; 
• preparing the absentee ballot mailing, and
• hiring and training election judges. 

  One of the biggest jobs the Election Workers Department is tasked with is the of the hiring approximately 2,000 election judges (poll workers) to work the day of the election.  These election judges need to be recruited, hired and trained.  Being an election judge is a great way to serve your community and see the democratic process in action.  In Anne Arundel County our election judges must attend three hours of training, and work from 5:30 AM – 9:00 PM on Election Day.  Election judges are compensated for their time, they are paid a stipend of $175, $25 for training and $150 for working on the actual day of the election.

Election judge pay and requirements can vary from county to county and state to state.  To serve as an election judge in the state of Maryland you must be a registered Maryland Voter and at least 17 years old. Additionally,  you cannot be running or hold an elected office.   If you are interested in serving an election judge, contact your local board of elections. 

Maryland holds what is referred to as a closed primary. If you vote in the Maryland primary,  you must be registered as a Republican or Democrat no later than April 5, 2016.  April 5^th is the date registration closes and the electronic pollbooks begin to be updated for the election.  The Maryland State Board of Elections website is a great tool you can use to:

•  find your polling site;
• determine your representatives;
• register to vote; and/or
•  express interest in being an election judge. 

Photo from ES&S DS200 - Scanning Unit

 Maryland has made some changes to its voting system for the 2016 elections.  In 2007 the Maryland General Assembly voted to select a voter-verifiable method of voting.  It was not until November of 2014 the funds were made available and the new system was selected.   The new voting systems selected are produced by Election Systems and Software (ES&S).  The new voting equipment you will see at the polling sites on Election Day is the Express Vote (Ballot Marking Device) and the DS-200 (Scanning Unit).  

Photo from ES&S Express Vote - Ballot Marking Device (BMD)

Marylanders voting in the Primary election on April 26, 2016 will be using pre-printed paper ballots. The paper ballots will allow you to mark your selection.  Once your selections have been made your ballot will be inserted into the scanning unit to be scanned and tabulated.

For those of you who take advantage of the eight days of Early Voting,   April 14 -21, 2016, you will be voting on the Ballot Marking Device (BMD).  Instead of receiving a pre-printed ballot, you will receive a ballot activation card.  The ballot will be inserted into the BMD.   Similar to the previous system, the BMD is a touch screen.  The major difference is that once your selection have been made and verified on the summary screen, you will select print and your ballot will be returned to you with your selections printed on the ballot.  The printed ballots marked with the BMD will be taken to the scanning unit by the voter.  You have not cast your ballot until you have completed the scanning process.

You may think the election is over the same night as you watch the news reports.  We have three days after the election designated to count absentee and provisional ballots.  Approximately two weeks after Election Day, an election is certified and registration reopens.  Preparations begin for the next election.

 

 

Morbid Economics- how much should you give a co-worker when their relative dies? - Greg

Know what fascinates me? How people act towards each other when death occurs- what they talk about, and how people broach such an awkward and personal topic.

Mourners after Kim Jong-Il's death

Know what fascinates me even MORE? (Today, at least) At my work, whenever someone in my unit- which has 77 people- has a relative die, someone from our module will always pass around a card for everyone to sign and start a collection for the bereaved.



The card part doesn't fascinate me- collecting and giving money to give as a gift does. I can't think of a LESS spiritual token or memento than that. It happened just today at work, so I decided to dig deeper: what are my strategies for determining how much I give? Does this "system" change? Why or why not? What's it based on?

coffin

Proximity- closeness and distance


OK- I'm gonna get real here. Was I close to the person or not? In today's case, the woman whose grandmother died, Rhonda S., is a colleague of mine. She's a nice and personable woman, 47 years-old, married with teenage children. Rhonda and I exchange hellos, sometimes chat about Holiday plans...and have zero connection outside of work.




Doing the math, her grandmother was probably in her mid-to-late 80s. Rhonda never mentioned any chronic conditions, so I'm guessing her GM's health deterioration was probably age-linked...




What's appropriate?


According to my Orthodox friend, Stephanie, the expectation for Jewish bereavement at shiva is seriousness, compassion, and bringing food. Across the cultural spectrum, different religions call for different offerings.




Anything from silence to jokes, flowers to garlands, simplicity to garish celebrations and offerings, these all are expressions of sympathy. Of course, some demonstrations of goodwill are better than others... Note: a Keurig coffee maker is NEVER a good condolence gift.

Russian gangster tombstone

...but nowhere in the rulebook does it say money should be a gift! However, at Social Security, in the building I work in at least, the custom is for people to give each other money to show empathy!




When my dad died from cancer in 2009, I got a very unexpected $91 when I came back to work three days later. Of course I kept it! It wouldn't be at all helpful in paying for his cremation, defray the added cost to my mother when her spouse died, etc.. but I suppose this bought me a measure of gratitude and connection with my co-workers, and a dinner for four at Applebee's where we didn't have to skimp on appetizers.

always a photo-op

What's everyone else giving?


What's the median "give" in a typical SSA bereavement? I don't mean to sound cynical, but I've literally been giving grief money for eleven years in memoriam to strangers who happen to be related to colleagues. I've learned to quickly get a sense of the average donation, the low contributions and the high ones, and then land somewhere in the middle.


Behavioral economist Dan Ariely has strong ideas about what the right gifts are, as does Jordan Weissman from the Atlantic. But we're dealing with the here and now at SSA: what dollar figure can you put on sympathy and friendship in one fell swoop, but without breaking the bank?

Michael from Price is Right 

How much am I going to give?


I've weighed my connection to the bereaved: we're not close, it's her aged grandmother, and the death was from natural causes. If it was, say, her son or husband, the figure goes up because the closeness factor/sympathy goes up. But say it was her 2nd cousin? That's not even in my money/sympathy approximation.

"an early death pays top dollar!"

The cheapskates give $1-$2, the outrageous donations are closer to $20. There are a lot of cheapskates, but not many big donors- maybe 1 or 2 at most. Most give $3-4 when they chip in to this sort of thing...and this sort of thing happens A LOT in my unit. 


I had $23 in my wallet today, so I have to keep the number respectable, yet not low. Decent in the eyes of the contribution collector, but not something I myself can't afford. Big enough to be a good donation, but not so big that it becomes a silent auction of grief. I'm writing an anonymous check to the bereaved, in effect, but my peers get to see "just how compassionate" I am...or am not.

stock photo of compassion

I never gave cash to people in my life for their dead relatives until working at SSA. Now, I use game-show guessing principles and a studied environmental scan before jumping in at all. It's sick, it's exacting, and it's precisely the kind of math people don't like talking about.


I gave $5, then offered to chip in another $1! Jeannette, the money collector, was busy making change for my $20 and didn't take the other buck I offered! I guess I wanted to look better than I originally planned?




What amount would YOU give?


- Greg

You Have What It Takes by Allison Miller

My first class toward my  Master of Arts in Contemproary Communication at the Notre Dame of Maryland University titled Digital Marketing Strategies. This course opened a whole new world for me and literally changed my life.

Let me explain.

It’s no secret that technology, the Internet, and social media have taken the world by storm.

Socialnomics 2014 by Erik Qualman

What has been a bit more nebulous is the best way for businesses to take advantage of this phenomena.

Attribution: www.business2community.com

That’s where my esteemed professor David Beaudouin comes in.

Through this class, I learned that developing a focused social media strategy is just as important as developing a marketing strategy and that the two should go hand-in-hand.

Similarly, I learned that there is no end to how to best use varying forms of social media content in enhancing a company’s brand.

This year I have furthered my studies with a course titled Blogging for Business. While I spent several years blogging for personal reasons, I have since learned about blogging as an inexpensive yet powerful marketing tool for small business owners. There are a host of ways small businesses can benefit by creating informative blog posts on a consistent basis that build brand loyalty and customer trust.

Beyond the marketing benefits small businesses can gain from social media marketing, I quickly discovered that designing a social media management (SMM) program as well as effective content is a viable business line for a budding entrepreneur.

That’s where my life changed.

Because of Professor Beaudouin, I was inspired to take that leap into the small business world as a proposal developer and technical / marketing writer, and now see that I can expand my business offering beyond technical writing and proposal development to social media strategy and blogging.

While social media strategy and blogging may not be complex, it is by no means easy.

Professor Beaudouin emphasized that the primary skills required to launch and maintain a successful social media strategy is diligence, attention to detail, and sweat equity.

Tools like an editorial calendar help determine which types of social media posts to craft  (including blogs) as well as track topics and measure analytics.

Attribution: www.capitalizesocial.com

Born to Blog authors Mark W. Schaefer and Stanford A. Smith note that with just a little effort and coaching, we all have what it takes – a willingness to be tenacious, passionate, flexible, consistent, and courageous (See Chapter 1, The Common Traits of Successful Bloggers).

Blogs should be authentic and speak to their target audience by providing substantive information that readers find valuable and just entertaining enough to keep them coming back.

There are a host of blogs that tout the benefits of blogging for small businesses and emphasize that it is definitely worth the time and effort. Here are a few principles I've learned along the way and a few examples of blog posts that echo these sentiments.

Blogging yields greater rewards than you may think.

Many small business owners may question if a concentrated social media strategy is worth the time they could be spending drumming up business. What they may not realize is their social media presence my bring in more business than they realize relative to the amount of effort required. These blog posts offer some reasons why.

The Hidden Benefits of Social Media Marketing: Why Your Strategy May Be Working Better Than You Think by Stephanie Chandler

There are benefits to social media marketing that can be measured.

The small business owner’s mantra is to create the most bang for its buck when bucks often require stretching. These posts provide statistics that measure the benefits. 

5 Benefits of Social Media Business Owners Need to Understand by Peter Roesler

Top 8 Benefits of Social Media Marketing for Small Business (Infographic) by Jomer Gregorio

There are specific tools to measure those benefits.

In a world where money talks, metrics are king. These posts offer free resources as well as products for purchase that measuring social media analytics. 

Social Media ROI: 11 FREE Tools for Measuring Social Media Success by Chuck Price

50 Top Tools for Social Media Monitoring, Analytics, and Management by Pam Dyer

These blog posts as well as my coursework have confirmed for me that we absolutely have what it takes to cultivate and sustain a viable social media strategy for ourselves or our employers. And should you take the entrepreneurial leap, we can also creatively grow our business using such strategies by sharing our perspectives, information and resources while offering our own expertise.

Upcycling Baltimore

Trash to treasure, broken to beautiful, historic to modern; These are just a few of the ways to describe upcycling. With the creation of Pinterest came an influx of DIY enthusiasts ready to make over the world one project at a time. With a small budget and a little chalk paint ones creativity can go a long way. Here in Baltimore we have several perfect resources for picking out a piece to recreate.

You can start with perusing internet sites like Craigslist or local yard sales and flea markets or you can visit some great little hidden gems like these:

                                                                                          Ryans Relics - With two locations on Belair Road in Fullerton you are sure to find a beautiful piece to give new life or even a small memento that brings back some fond memories. With an ever changing inventory you never know what may be waiting for you at one of their locations.

                                           

K&M Second Chance Furniture - K&M is a true hidden gem; located in Essex on Marlyn Avenue. This small shop has a fast turnover due to their fair prices and personable customer service.They acquire everything from tiki bars to trinkets and everything in between. I have personally gotten quite a few pieces from them for my own projects and I could not be happier with the service and selection and I think my results were pretty good too. 

             

Overstock Baltimore - Overstock is a warehouse filled with upscale hotel and office furniture that still has a lot of life left but has been switched out for newer pieces. If you don't mind looking through the warehouse stock for the best pieces you can find amazing deals on pieces that are ready for use or for a makeover. In addition to the hotel and office furniture they also sell some new pieces and household items that can even be custom ordered if you decide upcycling is not for you.

If you want to make an impact beyond the piece you upcycle then perhaps the following locations would be best fitted for you...

Pigtown - This richly unique town is situated within walking
distance of the Inner Harbor, Camden Yards and Ravens Stadium

Habitat for Humanity - Restore - Habitat for Humanity is taking their charity to new levels by creating a system that brings everything full circle. When renovating homes for deserving families they deconstruct as much as possible to sell the items in their retail stores for profit in order to continue funding the program. They currently have five locations in the Chesapeake region and in addition to selling also take donations to help you "declutter" your space. Each location is filled with pieces that are ready for a new life and you can feel good knowing you contributed to such a great cause.

Sign up now...Click here.

The Loading Dock - Established in 1984 before the Pinterest and DIY crazes; the Loading Dock was ahead of the game. For a small yearly membership fee of just $10 for two members you can get access to a 45,000 square foot warehouse filled with treasures galore! If you want to learn more about some projects they even have free workshops and ideas to help get you started. The Loading Dock was created with the concept of supplying affordable housing materials as well as making an impact on the amount of items that could be saved from the landfills. You can load up on great items and good feelings at The Loading Dock.

Second Chance - Perhaps my least frequented but favorite location, Second Chance Baltimore really gives you an opportunity to take a walk through time. With a 200,000 square foot warehouse (yes you read that correctly) it is almost overwhelming to even walk through. There is truly something for everyone at Second Chance. The best part is what they are able to accomplish with not only the retail location but the services they provide. Second Chance has created a program to not only give furniture and materials a second chance but the people of Baltimore as well. Second Chance uses funds from their sales and services to train and educate people who need a second chance. They provide classroom environments for the program participants to learn needed skills from running common equipment to management and construction skills.

So if you are new to the upcycling trends or an old pro there are a plethora of options out there for finding your perfect piece and there are no limits to what you can do.

Reduce - Reuse - Recycle - Dream - Create 

This house has been built from almost 100% recycled and re-purposed materials. It was the vision of my sister and inspired  by The House of Blues .