nostalgic workout world

So you know how there is a problem with childhood obesity these days? In large part because children like to sit around and watch TV and play video games? Well it got me thinking about the things that I used to do as a kid. There was a lot of running around and some of the things we did were pretty physically challenging. In fact, I'd be pretty exhausted if I did all the things that I used to do as a kid.

Which brought me to my brilliant brainstorm. Do you remember pogo sticks? Sure. What about pogo balls? It was a ball that had a platform around the middle that you had to stand on and then squeeze the ball between your feet and jump up and down. Um, that's hard. But I'm guessing it is an awesome workout! And fun. So we should make an aerobics class using them!

Then I had an even better idea. We could make a whole gym out of our old toys. I already take hula hoop classes. There could be jump rope classes, but instead of regular jump ropes you could also do double dutch or chinese jump rope. I suggested having Big Wheel races. My sister suggested just regular relay races where you do things like the wheelbarrow, or hop in a potato sack. There could be a rollerskating rink included in it. And instead of weights there could just be really heavy tinker toys/ connect-a-sets.

I think it is a fun idea but I'm not sure it would catch on. It made me think though that parents should go outside and play with their kids. Counts as family time AND work out time!

value add

So I've been talking and thinking a lot lately about changes that I need and want to make in my life. That is the whole purpose of this blog, after all.

I gave myself a year to make some changes. And I've started, but I'm still a little disappointed in myself.

It's not the easiest thing in the world to make changes. That's why we don't do it!

So here's the thing. I need to think about what I want with my life. And then I need to stop and look at everything I do. If it is not helping me get the life I want, I need to stop doing it/ get rid of it.

This isn't really a problem for me because I already don't do it but an example is watching TV. Is watching a few hours of TV a night adding anything to my life? There might be a few benefits to it- like being able to discuss it with other people, providing me with cheap entertainment and a way to "unwind." But is it actually making me happier or healthier? Is it bringing me any closer to my goals in life? No.

What are my goals? What do I want with my life?

1) To form and continue having healthy/happy/meaningful relationships with my friends and family

2) To finish and publish my writings

3) To get married

4) To have kids

5) To keep my weight under control and stay healthy/disease free

6) To get completely out of debt

7) To find and appreciate beauty and joy every day

8) To not fall back into depression

9) To figure out who I am and to be the best person I can be

I have a friend who just quit Facebook. And I applaud her for that. It was sucking time away from what she wanted to be doing. I'm not going to do that because I find that Facebook falls into goal #1, where it helps me maintain my friendships. If I see a friend who has written a few status updates saying how crappy their life is, I know it is time for me to reach out and send them an email or a card or call them or set up a playdate for us. Of course, it can also be a tool for wasting countless hours of the day- it all depends how you use it.

Time to bust out the machete and go to town cutting out the pieces of my life that aren't helping me.

fonts

Aye carumba!

It's fun to try to spell words for the first time. Things that you say all the time but never write. Like "aye carumba!"

I was discussing Facebook with my mom last night. She made the comment that status updates, as with any written communication, can be taken the wrong way because you don't know the tone and inflection that they are written in.

I said that emoticons have really helped with that problem. But she still wasn't having any of it.

And so I came up with a brilliant (if I do say so myself) solution. We should have different fonts that everyone agrees upon for different emotions. Most importantly I think there should be a "sarcasm" font. When you see anything written in this font, you know that the writer means for it to be taken sarcastically.

But you could have all sorts of different fonts: sarcasm, anger, sadness, irony, happy, bored, normal. It would really help cut down on miscommunications.

change is coming

Do you remember senior year of college? How there is that excitement because you are about to graduate and everything is going to be so different and new and your "real life" is about to begin?

Yet at the same time everything you do suddenly becomes sweeter? Checking your mail box (six times a day cuz you never know!) going to class, running into your friends in the bathroom at a party- you realize at the time how great these moments are because you know that they are almost over.

That's how I am feeling these days. There's a big change happening in my life. I've been feeling it coming for months now. And I am so excited for it. But that makes me appreciate the life I am living right now so much more. Each time I give a massage to one of my favorite clients I savor it, knowing that there will come a time in my life when I no longer get to give them massages. Right now, sitting around in my pj's on a Monday morning writing a blog entry at my parents' dining room table... some day I will look back and long for this moment.

When the heck did I become so sappy?

When did I become so happy?

Are they linked?

jokes

While doing all my cleaning I ran across a piece of paper that I had gotten inside a party popper that had two jokes on it. For some reason I felt the need to keep it? Yeah, well, here ya go:

Why did the baby foal take throat lozenges?

Because he was a little horse.

Who was the biggest robber in history?

Atlas- he held up the world.

new bedroom

I am pretty much done with my bedroom. It didn't turn out quite like I had imagined- but then again, I didn't have the $3000 I wanted to do exactly what I had planned. This is more "design on a dime" style. I still like it a lot better than my old bedroom.

Here are a few of the pics of my old room- I had to scrounge around until I found some.

This is Bubba, notice all the clutter and tons of colors that are taking over the background.

This was about half way through changing my bedroom when I had the new wall color but still had the old bedding. That comforter is from Crate & Barrel back in the 70s! They built stuff to last back then!

Starting to clear stuff out of the room but still a lot going on. Since this used to be the spare bedroom there was just a lot of crap in there- like all the old VHS tapes! Did you know that Vanna White was in a movie??

And here are some of the pics of my new room. Still needs a few finishing touches (a chair would be nice) but it is mainly done.

The view from the hallway.

My vanity. And a dresser so that my clothes aren't just sitting around in piles. There's a thought!

They say that you should have equal things on both sides of the bed and by doing that you are creating space for a partner to come into your life. The left side of the bed used to just be up against the wall. No room for anyone. Now there is lots of space. We'll see...

blah-blog

Oh Bloggy-blog, why don't you write yourself?

Don't you know that I don't have the time or patience for you today? I used up all of my patience at the post office this morning when they spent half an hour searching for my package only to send me home without it and then call me when I had already walked three blocks away to tell me that they finally found it and to come back for it.

Waaah, waaaah, waaaah.

It's a rough life.

My apartment (my floor of the two-flat house) is a disaster. You know how when you are cleaning, sometimes it has to go into that much dirtier/ messier phase before it becomes really clean? It's in that stage. My sister, who came up here the other day, made a comment to me that I need to have my apartment cleaned by Christmas. By Christmas? I was planning on having it thoroughly cleaned by the end of next week. But I took that as a hint and am working on getting it spotless.

But I knew all my faithful readers needed an update of my doings. I haven't forgotten about you. I'll write again when I actually have something to say.