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Do you like Pina Coladas?

Today I spent a good few hours dreaming about a tropical vacation. It's not even all that rainy and gloomy here this week. In fact today the sun came out. Yahoo! Sunshine in Oregon in January is rare. Like a well behaved Lhasa Apso. Olivia is on my $%#^ list tonight. Stepping barefoot into a puddle of dog pee after returning from a nearly four mile run does not a happy dog owner make. So yes, rare, those well behaved Lhasa Apsos and sunshiney winter days.

Despite the lovely sunshine, which will apparently stick around a for a few days, I'm jonesing for some warm sand and water. I want to lounge on a fluffy towel and wiggle my toes off the edge of a dock with a palm tree landscape in the distance. I want to be here:

This is a dock in Ambergris Caye in the country of Belize. I want! I want! I want!


Alas, this year is not about vacationing. However this doesn't mean I won't slip into a tanning bed for a bit and pretend that it's actual sunshine warming my skin. Do you think I can sneak in a pina colada?



Progress

I am happy to report that I have already made progress on my List of Good Intentions. I added six books to my wish list at Amazon.com so I have a jump start on my reading for the year. Amazing right? Real progress! The task was so completely draining I've been unable to focus on anything else. It's hard work to shop online. All the browsing, the reading, the mouse clicking. It wears a girl out.

In all seriousness, I did actually add the books to my list, and not actually purchasing them certainly applies to the work on the budget part of the list but other than that I haven't done much else.

You see, I sprained my thumb. I didn't actually know this was possible, and I don't know how I did it. Maybe in my sleep? I wish I had some great story about how I was out running (getting ready for the half marathon) when I saw an unattended baby carriage start to roll down a very steep hill. I made chase, dodging the occasional trash can, cocker spaniel, and huge tree root induced crack in the sidewalk. Upon catching up to the stroller I yanked it back towards me just as it was going to plunge off a bridge above ice cold water and swift rapids. In the moment I yanked it, my thumb was tweaked to the left a bit and thus resulted in the swollen, sore, useless thumb. This of course did not happen, but it sounds so much better than "I have no idea" when people ask me why I'm wearing a brace on my hand.

The brace has impeded many things, not the least of which is my List of Good Intentions. I'm almost out of things to do at work that don't require the use of my right thumb. Hoping for a quick recovery because it's getting old fast. I can't even dress myself by myself which kind of rules out trips to the gym for a bit. The Immediate Care doctor thinks I'll be fine in a few more days, but there hasn't been a change in the swelling in three days now. Stupid thumb.

I really have an appreciation for why some animals evolved better than others now. Thumbs are important!

By the way, after I saved the baby from imminent death the city threw me a parade. It was awesome.

Good Intentions

I have been remiss. This little space on the interwebs has been pretty much abandoned. I guess maybe I haven't had much to say, or maybe I've just been lazy. Yeah that's really it. I've been lazy, because lots of things have happened since SEPTEMBER! The quick and dirty? I ran my fourth and final 5k of the year. I went on a trip to Boston, NYC and Washington DC with Scott. We had a wonderful Christmas. Our New Years Eve was quieter than usual but just as fun. And now a new year has started. So to start this year out right I'm posting a list. My list of good intentions. They aren't resolutions because I don't want to set myself up for failure and I tend to feel guilty and/or pathetic when I don't get something on my list accomplished. So this year, it's intentions. I have every intention of making the effort to accomplish them, but it's not the end all of lists. I can add to it, or remove things from it as I see fit. It will be my intention to make a real go of it though. I always do have good intentions.

1) Train for and run a half marathon. I'm actually going to do this. There is a plan in place.

2) Lose 15 pounds. It is my hope that training for the half marathon will assist with this greatly, but I know that I also have to stop shoving pie (and fries, chips, candy, hotwings, etc) in my pie hole.

3) Develop a time line and structure for a story that has been keeping me up at night.

4) Read at least one book a month, maybe more. This might sound silly, everyone knows I love to read. Not very hard to get one in each month. The thing is, this is more about taking the time to sit and be still.

5) Work on my walk with God. If you want to talk about being remiss, this is a good subject. No more. It's an extremely personal thing and I struggle with my political beliefs and my religious beliefs. I need to find some balance and understanding.

6) Try more veggies. We'll see. But like I said I have good intentions.

7) Save money. I LOVE a budget, but usually I'm trying to work an angle to fit just one more thing in. This time I'm going to be removing things and padding the savings account. I've already got Comcast to give me $20 off my monthly bill just for being awesome. Yay me!

8) Let go. Of control. Of people who have chosen to move on. Of the idea that things must be perfect. Of my worry wart tendencies. This is going to be extra hard but I'm going to try. Really, I swear I am.

9) Plan a dream vacation. We might not actually travel this year, though it would be the goal. The idea here is that I have something fun and adventurous to look forward to. If we can get the money set aside for the Meeker baby fund, we can then set aside money for a trip. And if we are blessed with a baby, it will be our last vacation as a couple. If we aren't successful with IVF, it will be a break and distraction from the stress and worry.

10) Finish one round (at least) of IVF. Don't know when, or how, but that's the plan for now. As part of the whole letting go intention (see above) I will be stressing about this less and taking a leap of faith that things are going to work out.

11) Take more photos. I stumbled upon this new project. New to me. I will take a new photo every day and post it. It will be my year in snapshots. Should be interesting and will encourage me to carry my camera with me more often which is something I'm always thinking I should do. If you want to see them you can visit them at http://365project.org/erinlis/365


So that is the list. For now. Some easy, some not. But I really have the best intentions. For certain, I have every intention of getting as much out of 2011 as possible!