Die Woche; or, random stuff about my week

Languages: Ich habe deutsche studiert.  But I'm realizing I need to work more on composition and speaking!  I'm almost done with the A2 level in both German and French.  I've passed A1 in Spanish but I'm still only on the second of six modules in Italian.  I can sound out anything written in Cyrillic but I can only pick out one or two words of any given conversation in Russian.  Most of the words I have learned have been English transliterations of words like "DJ" and "backstage."  It's almost like a trick, like you have to know the secret handshake to learn actual Russian words.  I'm looking for news radio and podcasts in my target languages, so I can listen to longer sections of natural speech.

Books: I keep reading books with the same title as the book I actually intended to read.  I've ordered the "real" I Married Adventure from the library.  I read two versions of a book called Note to Self, neither of which I loved, only to see the cover of the book I actually wanted to read when I went to review one.  Note to self: take better notes to self when browsing in bookstores...

Downsizing: Mysteriously, there seem to be just as many books in the house as there were at the New Year.  Must investigate.  Starting to feel concerned about my old writing notebooks, and the fact that they only exist in one format that has no backup.  This may be a canard of my subconscious mind to prevent me from thinking about the bookshelves.  Still on track with getting rid of one item per day, which I started last fall.

Health: I've been using my food log to monitor my potassium consumption, which was a bit low.  It occurs to me that planning a diet that was sufficient in either dietary fiber or potassium would almost certainly result in weight loss for most people.  The list of symptoms of potassium deficiency includes a lot of very common complaints that always seem to befuddle doctors: numbness and tingling, fainting, digestive problems, muscle aches, and frequent urination.  According to the USDA, the average American intake of potassium is only 56% of the recommended amount.  About 98% of Americans don't hit the target.  So I don't feel that bad that I was low - I was still doing significantly better than average - but I'm glad I have the information.  Most people seem to think keeping a food log is too much work.  In actuality, we tend to eat the same things over and over, so after the first 2-3 weeks almost all the information is collected in one place.  What did I add?  Half an avocado in my sandwich every day, and melons and dates for snack time.  Beans are one of the most concentrated sources of potassium.

Fitness: My PT has ordered me to walk more while testing a new kinesiotherapy taping technique on my ankle.  Spike and I are up to a little over 4 miles now.  He's happy but my lungs are burning!  Last year I barely considered 4 miles enough to qualify as a "distance."  Many, many, many floor exercises with rubber bands and a yoga strap.  A few thousand "bridges" later, my lower back no longer touches the floor when I lie on the ground.  The power of physical therapy - what else can it do?
(that weird mark is the tie to my shirt)