small things...

W.W.F.E.D?

Earlier in April I was out on a walk, trying to bank some steps onto my FitBit (do you have one?  can we be friends and race to our daily steps?) and thinking about some of the upcoming items on my list that are decidedly fitness/health related:

1. Try Paddleboarding

6. Hike 40 miles of trails in Illinois

9. Lose 25% of my body weight

11. & 12. kayaking/paddleboarding at sunset and sunrise

27. Complete a Mud Run

I was thinking about preparing specifically for #27, but also still trying to wrap my mind around #9 and how I want to accomplish this goal.  As a woman who has thought about her weight constantly since age 10, I’m not keen on the idea of another diet.  I’m not willing to deal with restriction in any way that removes pleasure from my life.  I am here on this planet to enjoy it.  HOWEVER, and this is a super-important-however-i –need-to-face….my body hasn’t been feeling good.  I can’t get around that fact.  My digestive system doesn’t feel right most days, my body is stiff and my joints are achy.  And my body is just plain heavier to move around.  It’s not like I only eat food that is amazing and delicious. I eat a lot of crap too.  Easy, convenient crap – does it even taste good?  I honestly don’t know.  I  could be making better choices.  It’s the getting myself to make those better choices that is going to be key.

Earlier that same morning, I was still in bed slowly waking up, trying to decide if I’d go for that walk.  I’d been dealing with muscle spasms in my calves that I wasn’t sure weren’t muscle tears (they weren’t!) when I asked myself, “What would the fit version of myself decide to do?”  And I answered, “Fit Erin would go for a walk.” So I did.

So far in the few weeks since I’ve been asking myself, “What Would Fit Erin Do?” (WWFED) It’s helped me order a delicious salad over a fatty sandwich, it’s helped me skip the bagel and Starbucks mocha in favor of the green smoothie I had waiting to be made at home, it’s pushed me to trust my body to go further.  It’s gotten me to bank my first 18K steps in a day. I love Fit Erin!

I also quickly realized that Fit Erin would know what her starting point is so she knows how to prepare for the journey ahead.  I’ve started by collecting data.

• I am using the Fit bit to track my steps with a goal of 10,000 steps a day.  I have a really sedentary job (I am 10 steps away from the bathroom, the copier and my file cabinet)  with an hour commute at either end of the day.  When I started out tracking steps I started by altering nothing to my day to see how many steps I naturally took each day.  roughly 3500.  I was shocked by how low the number was!  So I quickly learned that the only way to reach 10,000 was to go for a walk every morning before work.  I am now walking about 2.5-3 miles every morning.  My current goal is to have at least 5000-6000 steps complete before I leave for work.  My future goal is to work running back into the mix. Fit Erin is totally into it.
• I am  using Fit bit to track my calories.  I am using this just as data gathering for now.  I am not restricting what I eat in a prescribed way, if I go over the suggested amount,  I go over the suggested amount but I take a good look at what pushed me over the edge.  Was it worth it?  Only Fit Erin knows for sure.  My goal was to first figure out what kind of damage my current eating was doing to my calorie intake.  The most shocking: an 1150 calorie burrito from Chipotle.  This was a standard burrito for me.  I had no idea.  My second goal is to make adjustments to what I’m eating so that I meet the calorie limit more often than not.  The Fit bit tracking feature will keep track of carbs/fat/protein and vitamins and I’ll pay more attention to that later.  For now, I’m just finding my rhythm.  But I’m making changes.  You won’t find me going Vegan or Paleo or whatever is the popular diet these days.  But you will find me returning to more home cooked meals, more locally sourced foods, better food in general.
• Next on my list is building strength, flexibility and body confidence – not body image, actual confidence in my body’s abilities.  One of the worst consequences of neglecting my body/health for so long is the lack of confidence, and sometimes straight up fear, that I now have about my ability to do certain things I physically used to be able to.    Also, I totally have baby muscles now.  Fit Erin has guns, I’m pretty sure. 

So maybe you’re on a fitness journey too.  Maybe you’ve got some good ideas to share with me.  I’m looking for community with this one.

What would the Fit YOU do?  let me know!

xo

erin

Month 4–Wrap up

So I’m 1/3 of the way through the year and about a 1/10 of the way through my list!  (I’m guesstimating that the books I’ve read and foods I’ve tried are moving me along a smidge).  I’ve got a lot to do in the next 8 months. jeez.

But I did knock two more items off my list this month and made some headway on the books and the hikes.  Also….it should be mentioned….I did create a budget….but I didn’t exactly stick to it.  so, that one will be a do-over.

Anyways…on to what I actually DID accomplish this month:

You already know about my fabulous art class, right?  Well here is a reminder

This past weekend I got to cross another item off the list!

#18. see a play at Steppenwolf  Complete!

My friend Peggy and I met up on Halsted to see a matinee of The Birthday Party, written by Harold Pinter.  Are you a theater buff?  CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THIS PLAY WAS ABOUT? please?

Don’t get me wrong, I liked it quite a bit…for something I really didn’t follow.  ah well.  The THEE-A-TER.  And I am moved to see more plays.  I left undeterred.

I know that trailer spooked you out.

Afterwards we headed down the street for tapas at Café Babareeba.  It was packed! It was 5:30 with a 2 hour wait for  table.  But with seats at the bar we were happy.  And I was like ‘YES!’ these people know how fun it is get your eating and drinking done when the sun is still shining and still be in bed by 10pm!  (it was pointed out to me that this was likely the pre-theater people and they were probably going out afterwards, but STILL.  And really, you don’t know…maybe these people were my tribe).

You don’t get tapas without getting the bacon wrapped dates, do you?  don’t be a fool. 

#3 – Eat or drink 10 things I’ve never tried before ( 4th new food tried) 

Pomegranate Alioli.  holy yum.

 

okay, now that I see this gleaming pile of alioli I realize that dips look disgusting when photographed.  So instead divert your attention to the sweet potato fries and the mouth watering Spanish beer (Estrella Damm).  But believe me when I tell you that pomegranate is the best thing to happen to Alioli since the ‘oli. 

#20 Read 40 Books.  11 books complete, 29 to go

And two added this month

A story about family members in failed searches for answers of their own.  (find it here)

and also

A terrifying story of a women’s descent into madness only to learn maybe she isn’t mad at all. (find it here)

#6 Hike 40 miles of trails in Illinois. 3.8 miles down; 36.2 to go!

I added 1.3 miles of trail this  month with a visit to the River Trail Nature Center with my friend Wynn on Sunday.  Several of the trails were flooded from the rains a couple weeks ago, but there was a nice dry bridle path surrounding the nature center.  We had conflicting feelings about the animals housed there – a Bald Eagle!  Wynn wondered if that was legal.  He was missing 1/2 a wing, but still…seemed strange.

Everything is still so brown on these trails.  I can’t wait to see a little life back in these woods.  Also, I seriously need to get some more miles in!  I’ve been battling a chronic calf strain which is hampering the hikes a bit.  Hope to get it sorted soon.

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On tap for May….

A themed party!

Learn to swim with my face under water!

perhaps a boring budget.

Begin 40 days of meditation!

I paint, you paint, we all paint for paint's sake. what?

#13 – Take an Art Class Complete!

One of the best things that has come out of creating and posting this list is the number of times I’ve been able to cross items off the list with friends.  This will be the second time I’ve actually had a friend provide the opportunity itself!

My friend Liz is an artist/painter/giggler/intuitive spirit and old friend.  When she moved back to Chicago from Amsterdam I remember clearly her transition into ‘Artist’, when she made the commitment to honor that true side of her self.  I don’t get to see her as much as I might like, but (like too many people) I’m able to keep up on small sections of her life over Facebook.  Over the last several months I’d noticed a few scant posts she’d made about offering private “Art Sessions” in your home. 

One of Liz’s paintings which you can view on her website: www.liztuckwell.com

There are a lot of art classes I’d like to take, but Liz’s Art Sessions are on another level.  This past Friday she came to my home for my own private session.  She brings everything with her: canvasses, paint, brushes, tarp for the table, muslin to cover the tarp, paper, markers, cups for water.  She also brings a playlist she’s put together for the session. 

After setting everything up Liz walked me through a meditation.  The goals of the sessions are to both connect to spirit and through doing so to discover and release your own creativity.  The meditation worked to ground me and slow down my monkey-mind.  We next moved into a practice where taking markers we wildly colored a large piece of paper.  No thinking, just movement. 

She then walked me through a few painting techniques, how to’s and clever tricks.  None of which were required to be mastered or even used, but just for me to know and play with.  The rest of the afternoon was spent painting together, talking about life and telling stories.  I ended the day with a piece of art I’d created and a peaceful inspired spirit.

glimpses of my painting.

Liz left me with a few glops of paint and a few brushes and the encouragement to keep painting.  Saturday morning I picked up a few small canvasses at the local craft store and spent the better part of the afternoon playing with paint.

 

 

 

 

I don’t know even know what I was trying to do with all these, but man it was fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you live in Chicago or the greater Chicagoland area, you should do this for yourself.  You should do this for yourself, you should do this for a friend, you should invite a few friends over and do this for one another.  Let your inner artist out!  S/he needs some fresh air, honey.

Liz’s website again: www.liztuckwell.com

Email: info@liztuckwell.com

Tell her I sent you!

xo

erin

Month 3 Life list “Wrap up”

Not as much was accomplished in March as I had planned.  What I hadn’t planned for was a month of birthday celebrations.  So that was a pretty good trade-off.

The month began like this…

A surprise party!  It was awesome.  And though the “surprise” of it came a few days early through the chance run-in with a friend of a friend – I was still thrilled and touched and surprised.  yay friends!

I dance for cake.

The next weekend I headed up to Milwaukee to celebrate the 40th birthday of one of my super-favorite-people-of-all-time-to-eternity.  Annie.  I have no photographic evidence handy to prove her cuteness, but I can tell you that she has a great house filled with lots of art and 3 handsome men (well, one man and 2 boys, but soon enough).  I had the unexpected opportunity to chat with her parents who’ve I’ve known since elementary school, but it was the first time her father ever told me the story of his voyage to America from India as a young man.  And how shy he was around women, but there were all these women on the boat and I think he said some of them were dancing and that was like whoa and also he tried beer for the first time and everyone knows beer for the first time is unbelievably gross.  how do we ever keep at it?  Annie and her husband and their friends were headed out dancing 80’s style, but I had to hit the road and head home to tend to a cat with a mysterious limp.

the NEXT weekend I went to Louisville, Ky.  And now I love Louisville, KY.  And feel like now I have some stake in the fact that one of their teams made it to the final 4, and that there is this one guy on The Voice who is from Louisville and when I see these things I think, “Totally, Louisville is everywhere these days.”

the next WEEKEND was my birthday weekend.  I was tired by this point, but I still made it out to dinner with another bestie, Leah – also a co-thrower of the aforementioned surprise party. 

The rest of the month has been spent with these two fine groups:

(source)

I totally caught the Downton Abbey fever y’all.  And that I’ve watched all 3 seasons I’m feeling the withdrawal. 

So what didn’t happen this month as that I still haven’t learned to cook a damn chicken.  And also, I’ve practiced swimming with my face in the water, but I’m still a sputtering blurry eyed panicky mess.  April it is!

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March also saw the passing of the father of an old and treasured friend.  She is the second friend to lose her second parent.  Please send a good thought to her family and keep a good thought for your own. 

Travelling to a place I’ve never been

#2 - Travel somewhere I’ve never been

You can’t spell…

Louisville, KY

Without LOVE.

I travelled down to Louisville, KY (which was surprisingly close – I should spend more times looking at maps) with two of my fave girlfriends for a birthday weekend.  We all convened at the home of Amy & Mike in Bloomington, IN and then Amy, Anna and I road tripped the rest of the way down to Louisville together.  Did you know there was a Nashville, IN?  Well, next time you visit Amy you can drive through there on your way to the highway.  It’s super cute.  Looks a little like this…

   

(source)

About 2 hours later we were in Louisville, checking into the coolest hotel I’ve ever met.  It's located in Downtown Louisville and is dedicated to giving guests constant interaction with art.  I loved it.  We settled into our room, made a reservation at the hotel’s restaurant and took a walk around the neighborhood.  Had we done a little homework or asked the concierge which way to walk, we would have seen a bit more action, but instead we headed towards the river and what looked a lot like what Louisville’s Skid Row might look like without the destitute folks.

Okay really it was just a highway underpass.

Walking back from skid row, showing you our nostrils

Dinner was at Proof on Main.  We ate in the bar and drank beer and Dark & Stormy’s and Bourbon’s with coke.  We ate beet salad and burgers and ricotta gnocchi.  We had the best waitress who knew her stuff and was right about how good the french fries were.  We talked about things that women in their 40s talk about now, I guess ( I would argue that women rival only 6 y.o. boys in the amount of potty talk shared…and by potty talk I mean the-current-state-of-your-digestive-health yo).  And mostly we laughed.  Before heading up to bed we stopped by the art gallery the museum has on the first and mezzanine floors. 

 

All from the Current Exhibitions

Amy figuring out how the girls fly in the video showing on the wall behind us

This is the hotel’s lobby.  Check-in is just to the right.  Entrance to the bar through the far right doorway.

Then we were off to bed to watch the last 20 minutes of “SuperBad”.  Specifically the part where they are drunk on the floor in their sleeping bags admitting how much they love each other as best friends.  This would be re-enacted the following night sans shame.

:: Saturday::

For some reason I couldn’t figure out the time change.  Why is turning 40 so confusing to me? So I thought we’d slept really, really late.  I mean our room had a blackout curtain so I was sure we were sleeping all day.  I even got up and put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door because I was certain the cleaning staff were on their way.  But, nah, it was only 8:30.  Which meant it was only 7:30 in Chicago.  Or did it mean that it was 9:30 in Louisville, but 8:30 on my phone?  I still don’t know what time we got up.

But I do know that we had a tasty breakfast at Dish on Market.  A basic two-eggs over medium, bacon and potatoes for me.  There were grits on the table.  Amy and Anna snuck in their own Chai tea packets.  Our waitress had the first and best southern accent of the weekend.  We hightailed it out of there just as we were ambushed by about 30 Mary Kay convention goers.  What if they’d tried to make us over?!

About 3-4 blocks up the street we found Glassworks – a big ol’ space dedicated to glass art.  They have galleries and glass blowing and a walk-in workshop and a gift shop, apparently you could also live there.  it’s sweet.

We opted for the walk-in workshop where you can make you’re very own glass art.  I made a suncatcher

Anna and Amy worked on larger projects of their own – that’ll get fused together and mailed to them.  It involved cutting and scoring and goggles! (mine involved glue)

Where are Amy’s goggles?

Not surprisingly, their project took quite a bit longer than mine.  In fact I think I was done before they got started.  I took the opportunity to walk around some.  Across the hall I saw a bunch of people in folding chairs watching something.  As I got closer I realized they were watching a few men down in a pit working on glass blowing.  It was quiet, the spectators were rapt…it was weird.  And then I was one of them.  Why was it totally mesmerizing?  It must have been the fire.  I sat there for probably 30 minutes totally engaged.

Afterwards we headed out to another part of town to eat at a place Anna’s husband used to work at Kayrouz Café.  And we ate outside.  Because it was 70 degrees.  Did you know that it is 18 degrees in Chicago today?  It is. 

Next stop The Highlands neighborhood.  Filled with shops, cafes, bookshops, young men with full beards, tons and tons of folks wearing green and hanging out of Irish pubs (st. paddys weekend, of course).  And a surprising amount of Big Lebowski references.  I later learned (like this morning) that Louisville is home of one of many Annual Lebowski fests.  The Dude is alive and well in Louisville.

I also learned in The Highlands that Anna has had a premonition that we are going to travel to Scotland together.  Could a Highlands tour be in our future?  Are there any other Highlands we should include?

If/when I go back to Louisville I’ll spend a little more time in NuLu.  A newish neighborhood filling up with art and food.  We got to partake in a bit of the latter at my new favorite restaurant The Garage

It was a pizza place that focused on local, farm fresh foods and apparently is known for their ham, though we didn’t try any.  We did try their beer

mine is the fullest.  Why do I drink so little beer?   Can I add start drinking more beer to my 40 list?

ALSO! I added something else to my list of trying new things.  White Anchovies!  Maybe you think, ewww…, but they turned out to be yum.  in a salty, fishy kind of way

Since the was a birthday weekend we got a little Chocolate bread pudding (yum) and had a birthday pic taken.  I look a little frazzled, but it’s with happiness

 

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Moral of the story:  If you have the chance to go to Louisville you should do it.  If you have the chance to go to Louisville to celebrate your birthday with two of your favorite friends on the planet you are probably already on your way.  Have fun!

xo

erin

Month 2 “Life List” Wrap up!

February is not always an easy month to get through around these parts.  Having a “life list” totally made the difference.

Here is the recap:

# 39 – Learn how to hula hoop – COMPLETE 

I still need some work on my technique and my endurance (i.e. the hoop still drops of my bod pretty quick), but I consider this skill learned, dude.

# 20 – Read 40 books – 34 books to go

I finished 4 books this month:

The Dangerous Animals Club – Stephen Tobolowsky

A memoir from an actor whose been in every movie you’ve ever seen.

The Middlesteins – Jami Attenberg

A story about the the things that can break up a family (in Skokie!)

Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me? -  Mindy Kaling

You know Mindy.  and she is funny. Especially about her childhood.  Thing that made me laugh the most was someone else’s eulogy for her. what does that say about me…or Mindy?

Audiobooks

The Graveminder – Melissa Marr

This was so bad. Just so bad, but also there were zombies and love and secret other world, which meant that that, of course, I listened to every word.

#17 – Visit my Grandparents. Learn something new about them.  COMPLETE

This was, of course, the highlight of the  month.  I don’t think John and Betty read blogs, or even know I have a blog, or even know what a blog is, or even would want to know why-anyone-would-write-a-blog.  But I hope they would and that they do, feel the love.

#7 – Have 4 seasonal Dinner Parties – Winter dinner party complete, 3 seasons to go

When a blogger has a dinner party, but she doesn’t document the entire thing in photos –did it even happen?  A question for the ages.  So I hope you’ll believe that it did.  One of my oldest friends Liz came in to town to visit her family and I hosted a little dinner in her honor.  How about a menu, then will you believe me? jeez:

• Toasted bread topped with Ina’s roasted tomatoes
• Chicken stuffed with spinach and ricotta
• Thyme Roasted Sweet potatoes
• Arugula Salad with Garlic vinaigrette
• Salted Caramel and Belgian Chocolate ice cream

 

On tap for March…

Chicken carcass handling and cooking! (ewww)

A trip to somewhere I’ve never been!

Learn how to swim with my face in the water!

 

A Trip to Rock Island

#17 – Visit my Grandparents. Learn Something new about them Complete!

This past weekend I traveled with my sister and nephew to Rock Island, IL to visit our grandparents.  My Grandpa was turning 96 years old on Friday (though he said all day he thought he was only 86).  My Grandma said those 10 years must have blown by too quickly for him. 

::My Grandpa and me on his 90th birthday

We had a quick visit which included some time hanging out with my Uncle Jim, Aunt Kim and cousin Julie at my grandparents apartment before heading to our hotel where a bunch of this happened:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My grandparents (John and Betty)  are amazing.  Each turning 96 this year, they still live on their own (with lots of visits, rides and checking in on from my Uncle Jim and his family), they still swim 3 days a week, take the bus and keep tabs on their enormous family.  Still we’re aware that each visit with them is a gift.  So I was determined to learn something new about them during this visit.  Here is what they told us:

• My Grandpa (John) got slapped by his teacher on his very first day of school for arriving late.  He lived 1/2 block from school
• My Grandma saw my grandpa for the first time across the hall at school when they were 15.  She thought he looked pretty good
• In their day people didn’t date so seriously when they were that young.  They might of liked each other best, but they both dated lots of other people

::Total dreamboats

• Still my grandma was pissed when my grandpa dropped her off at home first after a party when he still had 3 girls in the car (grandpa said she lived the furthest – it only made sense!)
• He used to visit her in Moline and race down 7th street to catch the last streetcar home at night
• Sometimes he’d sneak on the back when he didn’t have money to pay the fare. He never got busted
• When my grandpa moved to DC to attend Catholic Univ., My grandma dated, oh about 7 other boys
• His father died soon after and my grandpa came home to run the family business when his older brother Barney called to say he wasn’t interested in Insurance
• My grandpa only has 8 hours left to complete his Bachelor’s degree.  I tried to get him to think about going back – there’s still time!
• They got engaged soon after

I forgot to ask her how she broke the news to her 7 other boyfriends, but she did mention that everyone knew they liked each other best.

John & Betty Forever!  They’ve been married for 72 years (73 later this year)

I love them.

xo

Erin

#39–Learn how to Hula Hoop

#39  - Learn how to Hula Hoop complete!

I’m fairly certain that as a kid I knew how to hula hoop.  I don’t have any distinct memories of actually hula hooping, but still.  All kids can hula hoop, right?  Between, what I’m now sure were my golden hooping years and today I somehow lost the ability to keep aloft a spinning hoop around my waist.

Now, I’m a curvy girl.  I’ve got hips! I’ve got a butt!  Both of which seem perfectly designed for making sure a hula hoop never hits the ground.  But no. Sadly, in the last few years every time I’ve tried to hula hoop it’s quickly fallen to the ground like I had the hips of an eleven year-old boy. 

The bigger question might be: how, as a grown-ass woman, do I keep getting into situations where there is a hula hoop and pressure to succeed at said hooping?  I don’t know the answer to that.  What I do know is that I wanted to figure out what I couldn’t figure out and then spin a hoop around my waist.

Enter my old friend Susan.  A friend I’ve known since elementary school.  I’ve had sleepovers at her house, I finally admitted that I didn’t believe in santa claus to my parents in her living room.  At Susan’s I once encouraged her to go outside to show me how fast she could run down the street all so I could sneak an oreo (something that never graced the shelves at my house).  I quickly learned one cannot sneak an oreo as oreo’s get completely stuck all over teeth as soon as you try to chew them up.  She caught me, I think I still tried to deny it.  Sorry, Susan!

Anyhoo – Susan knows how to hula hoop.  She also knows how to make hula hoops.  And she offered to show me the way.  So this past Saturday night we gathered in my building’s party room to learn how to hula hoop.  Apparently, it’s not like learning to dance.  It’s more like learning how to snow board – when your body finally feels what it feels like to do it right you’ll stop faceplanting on the mountain.  Sure, you want to place your feet in a certain kind of way and move your hips in a certain kind of way and it should work.  However, time and time again I would spin the hoop around my waist and it would quickly fall to the ground.  I tried barely moving my hips like my lovely friends seemed to be doing – and the hula hoop fell.  Mostly, I ended up moving my hips wildly around in a desperate attempt to keep it going.  Every time the hoop went around more then a few times my friends all cheered!  And I just did it over and over and over and over again.  I have the bruises to prove it.  Seriously.  My side is completely bruised from hula hooping.

But, finally, I got it.  I spun the hoop one more time and something clicked.  I looked at my friend Wynn, who I swear had been hooping non-stop since she’d walked in, and said, “Ah. This is how it feels to hula hoop.”

I’m still figuring it out, trying to keep recreating the muscle memory. And endurance.  you need endurance to hula hoop!  And also, I need to toughen up my sides.  the bruises smart.

Month 1 update on The List

This was a month of ‘getting started’ and planning ahead.  I quickly realized why none of my resolutions have been very successful in the past.  I want immediate gratification.  I want a complete life overhaul the moment the idea pops into my head.  And when that doesn’t happen…resolution fail.

But…BUT…this little list is proving to be a keeper.  While I can’t cross anything off my list yet (wait until later today – crossing off will happen – more on that later…squee!) I’m on my way.

Here is the roundup for Month 1 (boringly similar to the last post I made but now an OFFICIAL Roundup):

Tasks completed:

#3 Eat or Drink 10 things I’ve never tried before. 2 Down, 8 to go.

1. A Scotch egg, The Gage, Chicago, IL

2. A venison burger, The Gage, Chicago, IL

*Honorable Mention: A Beermosa.  Somebody else’s drink and I just had a sip.  tasty!

#6 Hike 40 miles of trails in Illinois. 2.5 miles down; 37.5 to go!

1. .5 miles North Park Nature Center

2. 2 miles, Fort Sheridan trails ( a write up on this soon)

#9 Lose 25% of body weight. 1% down. it ain’t nothing.

#20 Read 40 Books.  2 books complete, 38 to go (2 more nearly complete)

1. The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach
2. The Age of Miracles, Karen Thompson Walker

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On tap for February….

Hula hooping!

A visit to my Grandparents!

A seasonal dinner party!

A cooking class AND chicken carcass fear-facing!

Stay tuned or  better yet JOIN IN.  Check out the list here and let me know what you’re up for!

The list begun

I’ve been feeling a bit impatient with my list.  I feel like I want to do all 40 things at once and when it becomes abundantly evident that I cannot, I feel irritated with the list.  or myself.  or with the space-time continuum.  One of those.

Nothing has been crossed off the list, but a few items have been begun. 

#6 – Hike 40 miles of trails in Illinois

Last weekend, in a bit of spontaneous planning, my friend Wynn and I walked a very short looped trail at the North Park Nature Center.  At first glance you might not think it was a very woodsy place, but there were woods! and deer! and a buck!  It was short, but it was a trail and it counted. (.5 miles.  39.5 to go!)

 

#20 – Read 40 books 

Two books down:

  1.  (source)

Friendship, college, dreams and baseball

2.  (source)

Depressing and frightening, end-of-the-world tale

 

#9 Lose 25% of my body weight

This one. Have I started?  I’m not totally sure.  I’ve joined Weight Watchers and I’ve tracked some points.  I have the same feeling that I’ve had at the beginning of every diet I’ve ever attempted (which I think includes every diet ever invented).  And that feeling is an all-encompassing F*ck You-world-I-hate-dieting.  Hmmm…not going smoothly so far.  The small voice I hear every time I get to this point says to me, “Go your own way.”  I hesitate when I hear this message because of a lifetime lack of self-trust when it comes to taking care of my body.  When that small voice speaks you are supposed to listen, right?  So I’m getting quiet.  I’m listening.  I will let you know where it takes me.