January Goals

Imagine if I were the person I'm striving to be....I'd be taller first off; I may actually be 5'2" or EVEN 5'3"! I would be thinner; I'd have the cool, Pilate's looking abs, not the inflated looking body builder 6 pack abs. I'd be the best physical therapist the world has ever seen, with a 100% success and 100% satisfaction rate, completely reversing even progressive, non-curable conditions. I'd somehow have tons of extra time to exercise and volunteer and create imaginative works of art in every medium known to man. And my hair would always be perfect.

Ok, maybe that's not what John Lennon had in mind when he wrote that song. Maybe its more like....imagining a better version of yourself and a better life and a better world. And doing just a few little things each day.

As always, I have to make a list. Oh! Imagine the world without lists! *shudder* I would die! I would go completely insane and then just drop dead. I gotta make a list -- quick!

JANUARY GOALS

1) Cut out meat and dairy: I had a few injuries in 2010. And a weird, creeping contact dermatitis that lasted forever. And, of course, a never ending respiratory infection. The more I learn about our food sources, the more I am convinced that moving to a more plant based diet is better for overall health. And maybe for reducing risk of injuries and sickness plus for quicker recovery. So I'm gonna stop reading about it and just do it. For a month. And see where I am in February.

2) Work out 30 Times in 30 Days: Yeah, its left over from December where it was an epic fail. But where I failed at the Holiday Booty Buster I can succeed in the New Years Resolution buster! (no link. I just like the word "buster")

3) Journal Daily: Just cause I think it keeps me grounded and more clear headed. And probably more pleasant to be around. It's a gift, really, to all the people who are forced to interact me each and every day!

4) Go on One Winter Hike: Either solo or with somebody.

5) Get Continuing Education Courses Set and Turned In For 2011: Early start.

6) Go on 2 or More Group Runs: Running doesn't always have to be such a solitary activity. I know that in theory. I just always seem to train alone. Group runs may be a nice change.

7) Finish 3 Books This Month: Looking back at last year, maybe a book a week was a bit too lofty a goal (especially when one has a penchant for Stephen King). A week off every now and then is good...you know, to work on my time machine and perfecting cold fusion.

8) Two Projects from the Infamous "Project Box": Again, taking my cues from last year, about half credit. So I'll adjust the goals this year accordingly. So that I don't feel like as I'm making progress I'm still running behind.

9)Write Four Old Fashioned Snail Mail Letters to Friends: I know. Makes me seem like I'm living in the 1940s. But I still say that getting something in the mail is much more uplifting than getting poked on facebook!

10) Girl's Weekend: A girl's gotta have fun, right?

And since it's January.....the month of New Beginnings,

Today's New Thing:
Cooked on my New Electric Skillet. Not as great as the George Foreman Grill. But ok.

Goal Wrap Up

Happy New Year, everyone!

I had big plans for 1/1/1111. I was going to get up early and go down to Old Silver Beach for a group run. And then I was going to stand back, NOT cave to peer pressure, and watch the crazy people take the polar plunge. (I'm not opposed to the idea of a polar plunge per se, but I had a cold that lasted 3 1/2 weeks. So jumping in the ocean in the middle of winter did not seem to be in my best interest) I was going to go to Costco. I was going to do some Christmas present returns. And I was going to cook up a storm-- all the healthy food I bought yesterday on my marathon of errands.

As it turns out, I had a lazy day. I did not leave the house. Which is so not like me. But I did cook up a storm. And I drank some tea. And went over my yearly goals. And did some journaling. And cleaned. And got rid of some stuff.

Not quite what I had planned. But I feel good. Rested. And ready to tackle 2011.

December Goals:

1) Wrap all gifts in recycled materials: Ridiculously easy to meet this goal. I had a plethora of gift bags left over from last year. And for items that did not fit into bags, I had insane amounts of brown packing paper and ribbon. (that's one drawback to ordering all your gifts online. Amazon uses way too much packing material! But easy to recycle!)

2) Training schedule all set up for 2011: all set up and written on the calendar.

3) Finish 5 books this month: And thanks to never ending illness, I finished Water for Elephants, Her Fearful Symmetry, Palo Alto Stories, Thrive, and This Time I Dance.

4) 30 Workouts in 30 Days: Epic Fail. I was crushed from that killer cold. Not only when I was actually sick, but during my recovery period.

5) Get Everything Turned in for Advanced Clinician Application: Done! Right at the deadline!

6) Get Apartment Spectacularly Decorated for Xmas: Done. I love my little Charlie Brown tree and I want to keep it up until Valentine's Day!

7) Organize a Memorial for a Friend: Put on the backburner. I wasn't the only one contagious and exhauseted. We're gonna do something at a later date.

8) Get Rid of 30 More Things: Done. I can't believe that I accummulate so much stuff. From somebody who strives for simplicity.

9) Have a Great Birthday: Ok. I don't mean to be a complainer. This is nobody's fault. But my birthday was a bit of a low point. I was sick. And I called in the next day. And I cried in the shower. Because I was just not happy on my actual birthday. But I'm pretty happy now. So, it's all good. Days are days and we shouldn't get stuck on the actualy date.

10) Have a Great Christmas: And THAT was a great day. Spent it with my family and played the part of "Super Auntie"

And the Yearly Goals for 2010:

1) 52 projects in 52 weeks: Half Credit. I did about half the year before just losing interest.

2) 52 Books in 52 Weeks: I ended up Completing 46 books in 52 Weeks. Not too shabby

3) Using Cloth Bags for 100% of my shopping excursions: Almost completely. A few mess ups here and there, but much more of an automatic behavior

4) Generate Only 12 Bags of Trash in 12 Months: 16 small bags of trash.

So even though I really seemed to lose steam this year, not too shabby overall. I'm excited for lots of new things to strive for in 2011.

End of the Year Lessons

Hey Everyone!

It’s that time of year again….the most wonderful time of the year…or so the saying goes. Time to wrap up all the end of the year stuff. Time to stop and reflect upon all the lessons you learned in the past year. Once again, for your end of the year entertainment:

The Top Ten Things Heather Learned in 2010

10) If I get stung by a bee, I will NOT die.
Actually, after my Jurassic leg incident last summer, I learned lots of things about bee stings: there are 5 types of venomous insects in New England. There are 3 types of reactions to bee stings. The hummingbird sized insect that stung me was most likely a yellow faced hornet, not a yellow jacket. Many vegans eschew honey. I never had any use for this type of information before. And really? I still don’t. But that whole not dying thing; that’s good.

9) In South Carolina, 1 inch of snow is like the apocalypse
Or at least enough to cancel a marathon. That you’ve spent months training for. And flew down to Myrtle Beach to run. Stupid southern states!

8) There is something worse than the California DMV…the Massachusetts IRS
Somehow, the state of Mass decided that in 2006 (the year I lived in California until August and in Mass for the remainder of the year) I should have had the foresight to pay taxes to Mass for the ENTIRE year. And it took no fewer than 6 separate pieces of correspondence to convince them otherwise. Not to be outdone, California followed suit once I THOUGHT everything was solved. Four pieces of correspondence and counting. Stupid blue states!

7) St. Mark’s Square in Venice floods
You know that place with the big gold basilica and the pigeons? I tried to go there and hang with the pigeons. I went down in my super-cute sundress (that will now be known forever as my “pigeon dress”). Turns out, I shoulda worn duck boots! There was, like, 2 ½ feet of water in the square. The entire foyer of the basilica was underwater! Don’t know why that bothers me so much.

6) I learned what a bulging disc feels like.
It’s HORRIBLE! Now I have a smidge more sympathy for my patients. But not a whole lot. ‘Cause I also learned that physical therapy works when you are compliant with that home exercise program!

5) Summer really is just spectacular!
This year, we had the warmest, most wonderful summer weather I can remember in years. It was great. I really love summer. Which leads me to the next logical conclusion: I hate cold.

4) I am not the lifestyle police
Wouldn’t it be awesome if I was? Everyone everywhere would be roaming around as rumpled, tangled, messes with 4 types of athletic shoes in their car at all times and plans to see every live music act in a 15 mile radius. Alas, as I creep into the fourth decade of life, I hear friends reporting news like “I was hospitalized overnight for chest pain twice this year” or “I had this numbness all along the left side of my body for 3 weeks before I went to the doctor and he said it was a mini-stroke”. Most often with a cigarette in one hand, a beer in the other, and a plate of fully loaded nachos in front of them. Don’t they know that they should be striving to be within one standard deviation of ME? Clearly not. And it really doesn’t go over too well to say so. Guess I’ll just have to lead by twirling, pigeon dressed example.

3) I’m becoming less organized as I get older
You’d think that by now, I’d have my Xmas letter written by Thanksgiving and mailed out by December 1st. Yeah, not so much. My friends will be getting Xmas letters around Jan 5th.

2) Children’s behavior is much more tolerable when you share a genetic link with them.
You know, except for you guys. YOUR kids are ADORABLE! It’s all the other ones out there I’m referring to!

1) I got a hug from the lead singer of Ozomatli!
OK, technically, that’s not something I learned, that’s something I did. At the Life is Good concert in September. I just thought it was exciting enough to share. Plus, after returning home and consulting Google, I learned that his name is not, in fact, “that scruffy trumpet player guy”, but Asdrubal Sierra. (I can’t pronounce that anyway, so even if I knew that beforehand, I still woulda called him “Dude”)

Happy Holidays, Everyone!
And learn lots in 2011.

question of the week

Well, I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I had fun with the family and the kids, and Santa was good to everyone. And today, I braved the blizzard in my jeepy-jeep to get into work and make the world a better place. (or, at least to treat a few brave souls who also braved the elements and to start chipping away at the piles on my desk)

Anyway, as I was driving home, I was thinking about how I moved back to a place where I am almost blown off the bridge while driving home in 15 degree weather and snow squalls. How I moved back here deliberately. And how I may have been a bit crazy to do so.

What's really interesting is that my musings closely resemble this week's question from
50 Questions to Free Your Mind:

To What Degree Have You Actually Controlled the Course Your Life Has Taken?

The simple answer is: more than most, but not as much as I would like to.

The more complex answer has been occupying my mind quite a bit lately, and not just when driving during a blizzard.

In general, I've done a pretty good job of living my life with intention. I didn't hang around, working the same job for years on end whether I liked it or not, and just SEE what would happen. I didn't sit on the sofa night after night, watching other people's stories march across the screen in front of me. I didn't TALK alot about all those giant life goals that everyone has-- run a marathon, go to Europe, climb a mountain, write a novel-- but do nothing about them except dream. I've traveled. I've lived and worked in 10 states. I've run marathons and triathlons, I've climbed mountains, I've traveled to Europe (I haven't written a novel, but hey, there's still time, eh?) I've set goals. I've prioritized them. I've tried to use my time productively.

But lately, it seems that I've been doing things halfway. I've been setting the goals, but not really working towards them. I've been starting projects, but letting them sit around, half finished. I've been firting ideas, but not really committing to them. And I'm not really happy with who I've become lately.

So, as the year comes to a close, and my horrible incapacitizing cold is coming to and end, I'm becoming a little more motivated. And, motivated by this gal, and this guy, and this chippy, and this chap, and this new firecracker I read about in a magazine, I'm taking back a little more control over the course my life shall take next year.

Today's Joy:
Running 3 miles without feeling like I was goind to throw up

So, after what I thought was a nice, gradual return to working out, I decided that tonight was the night I could start running again. Nothing crazy. Just a 10 minute mile pace.

I ran one mile. ONE!

And I felt like I ran 18. My body feels like I just got run over by a truck.

Crap.

Today's Joy:
Work Holiday party with a fun Yankee Swap.

Snow and a question

It's Monday...and a snowy Monday at that. I was all in love with the snow this morning, awed at how pretty and white everything looks. By the time I got out of work today, warmed up the car, scraped all the ice and snow off the car, cranked the defrost up to high, and drove home on the slippery, unplowed roads; well, I was over it. Exactly one day to get over the snow. (Bah Humbug!)

But, since it's Monday, its also time for the 50 Questions to Free Your Mind:

Week 8

If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?

Well, if that were the case, I would have died last Wednesday! (But then again, I plan on living beyond the average life span anyway, so maybe not)

Looking back, I'd live a little more in my teens and early 20s. I was always the girl who did exactly as she was told. Got good grades, studied hard, came in on time, never did anything that would cause my parents grief. (and yet, I still was always in trouble. Go figure) You could say that I was preparing for a sensible life.

It wasn't until I was in my mid 20s that I figured out that I didn't want a sensible life! I wanted to drive across the country with the top down and my dreadocked, purple hair blowing in the wind. I wanted to climb mountains and swim with the dolphins and camp in the desert. I wanted the unconventional life, not the white picket fence and 2 children and dog. (Ok, I wanted a dog. I big, friendly, slobbery one)

I love reading memoirs; the good, sensible, girls who did everything they were told don't write memoirs. They'd be too boring. And yet, the wild crazy people -- the ones who did everything they shouldn't have and by all accounts should have been the failures -- have just as much chance of success and the sensible people. I didn't know that when I was younger. I wish I had.

The thing is, I know that now. So if I were to take this question to heart, I should be living my life as if it were on borrowed time. I've already outlived the hypothetical average life span. I should be taking as many chances as possible.

I think I'll start tomorrow.

Today's Joy
the snow (I'll go back to this morning in my mind)

Holiday Movies

"Christmas waves a magic wand over the world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful" --Norman Vincent Peale


Nothing can dampen that holiday spirit like being sick for the first 19 days of December. Yeah, I caught some kind of super-cold. Every time I started to feel better, I got slapped upside the head by its evil viral fists! Plus, my printer bit the dust this week.

Bah Humbug!

I entered this weekend simultaneously grouchy-ginchlike and frantic with the thought of all I needed to accomplish: finish Xmas shopping, write the Christmas letter for the Christmas cards, get those all addressed and stamped...get stamps...get a yankee swap gift, make something for the work pot-luck. Argh! I just wanted to climb back in bed with the humidifier on high and and endless mug of tea.

I tried to put myself in the mood; I dressed in red and green. I put on Christmas Carols. I drank some wassail. But nothing worked. Finally, I stumbled across something that could reach me unlike Mariah Carey screeching her way through 'Oh Holy Night'....I put on the Turner Classic Movie network.

White Christmas was on. I love White Christmas. It always makes me smile. It also gives me a serious case of leg-envy. (I think my entire body would only come up to Vera-Ellen's mid thigh! But this email isn't about my inferiority complex....) I was addressing envelopes and humming along in complete contentment.

After White Christmas, came A Miracle on 34th Street. I know it seems impossible, but I'd never seen that movie. (of course, I didn't see Casablanca until I was 26 or It's a Wonderful Life until I was 30, so that's just par for the course in my little world) Well. Miracle is even better than A Christmas Story. I think they actually got the REAL Santa Claus on the cast! (Really. He spoke Dutch and everything. I saw it!) I mean, watching the real Santa for a couple hours puts the printer situation in perspective.

And then today. When I came home with the new printer and was waiting for the software to upload to the computer, I came across Auntie Mame. Another movie I had never seen. (Were people funnier in the 1950s? 'Cause that movie was hilarious!) And I think I have a new role model, now, too!

And there you have it. A mere 6 days before Christmas, the miracle has occurred! I'm off to dance around the Christmas tree in my reindeer sweater. Have a good week!