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Thursday Ten: Some Days Are Like That Edition

January 29, 2009 by 5 Comments

1. Sometimes I have a truly fantastic time at guitar lesson, other times (like today), I can’t seem to wrap my head around the most basic of concepts and can’t seem to get my fingers and brain to work in conjunction and then it’s all garbled crap. And those days are hard. Still working on Beethoven, and then some funky notes and I had to figure out the counting and the picking and it was one of those times where even after I said something, I had zero understanding of what it was that I just said and even less understanding in how I was going to execute it. Fantastic. Fantastically crappy.

2. New music of the week. TONS. Tons and tons and tons. I can’t list it all – but basically, in a quest to build a workout playlist for my 101 List, I listened to a lot of amazing music last week — and my iPod is a little happier for the process.

3. When I dropped Pumpkin off at school today a little boy rushed up to meet us – so excited to see my little girl. He said several times, “She’s my girlfriend!” My girl? She walked right past him without paying him any attention. Huh. That’s awesome. She can keep ignoring boys til she’s 25. Fine by me.

4. We have some serious snow falling now. I ventured out for my guitar lesson not realizing that the roads had gotten so craptastic since dropping off Pumpkin – but yikes! Slippery. Now big fat flakes are falling and I’m not liking it. Really, winter – you can be done anytime.

5. Speaking of… Groundhog’s Day is coming up. If that stupid little rodent says there’s going to be a longer winter, I may have to take a road trip to Punxatawny (seriously, is that how you spell it? No clue, and I’m not up for Google) to bludgeon a groundhog*.

6. Today might be a perfect day for some Five Minute Chocolate Cake. I have a four pound bag of chocolate chips in my pantry beggin’ to be used (don’t ask why I have so much chocolate chips, I just do).

7. One of my things on my 101 List is to get my karaoke on. Let me be clear: It’s not because I think I have a surplus of singing talent that needs to be shared with the world. Oh no. No no. Though I don’t think I would make a “worst ever” list, I’m less than fabulous BUT – I love karaoke (because I’m a dork). What is your favorite song for karaoke? Seriously?

8. I’ve decided I need a shirt that says “because I’m a dork”. I say it a lot. I’m dorktastic. I embrace it. Maybe it’s time to get the puffy paint out.

9. Somehow, I have a sneaking suspicion that school is going to be closed tomorrow. I hope to b e wrong.

10. After finishing “Revolutionary Road”, I picked up Candace Bushnell’s “One Fifth Avenue”. Just so you know, I am knee deep in a complete fluff read and though it’s not as good as “Sex and the City”, so far it’s better than “Lipstick Jungle”. But honestly: Fluff. I should be embarassed, but I’m not. So there.

*Disclaimer: I love all animals and would not really bludgeon one. Even a stupid groundhog who deserves it.

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2008 – High/Low for the Year

December 31, 2008 by 4 Comments

I can never decide whether or not I feel more nostalgic or joyous when one year comes to a close and another is about to begin. I guess it’s with equal parts of both joy and nostalgia that I move outta 2008 and right into ’09.

In review, the year’s lows:

  • Feeling like hooey and then finding out that it was just my thyroid being a big dysfunctional jerk
  • Friendships that went wonky
  • My grandfather’s health being on such shaky ground and the time spent in the hospital
  • The economy and the uncertainty of employment
  • Paying $4+ for a gallon of gas? Yeeeouch!
  • Beyonce continuing to release albums
  • That the state cut the snow removal budget during the year of the worst snow on record in quite some time (genius, guys, really).


Highs:

  • My kids continue to be the most amazing part of my life – my certainty and my happiness – if I never do anything else good in my life, it’s okay – because my girls? They’re more than enough. (Okay, sap sort of over).
  • Finally taking the leap and starting guitar lessons.
  • My grandfather weathering the nasty health scares and sticking around. Love him.
  • I still have a job
  • I have AMAZING friends. I do. I am so lucky. To my enduring friends who have been by my side for a bazillion years (I’m lookin’ at you, Robin), to the peeps I’ve only just met: Ya’ll are amazing. Whether you make me laugh, you make me think, or whatever your role is in my life – I’m glad you’re there. All of you.
  • The 365 project has been excellent for forcing me to look at my life from new angles. I needed that.
  • I am so eager and excited to start looking at the next 1,001 days. And I have created numerous challenges for myself involving Chicago, so I’m looking forward to several trips to one of my favorite places. Win – win.

Happy New Year to all of you. I hope that 2008 was a good year for you – I hope 2009 is even better for you. Do you have big plans tonight? Do you have resolutions set? What was the best part of 2008? What are you lookin’ forward to next year?

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101/1001

December 19, 2008 by 2 Comments

I saw a tweet on Twitter last night asking if anyone was going to do this 101 Things Project. I wrote back asking what it was and was referred to Day Zero. So, me, being the raging dork that I am decided that I am going to give it a try – starting 1/1/09 I want to make a list of 101 things to accomplish in 1001 days.

There are many reasons, the biggest of which is that I have found it too easy to nestle into my comfort zones and not challenge myself. There is so much more that I could be doing, but I don’t and there’s no good reason why. That’s crazy, right?

The killer won’t be actually getting this stuff done – I’m fiercely competitive and really love feeling like I’ve accomplished something. But coming up with a list of 101 things? That’s HARD. I’ve got 24 so far.

The idea is that these things have to be measurable – I can’t just say I want to be a nicer person (that’s just crazy talk because I’m already pretty nice).

Some things I’ve already got on my list are:

1. Fundraise and participate in Relay for Life
2. Spend a day at the beach
3. Quit using regular batteries – buy rechargeables!
4. Start a new family tradition

Please, help me make my list by adding stuff in the comments below. Once the new year starts, I’ll probably have a place to track my progress on this project. Think big and get me “outside of the box”.

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