So it's been a while . . .

No post since December 16th? Sheesh! I guess I got a little busy with Christmas. And it was a good Christmas this year - especially seeing it through the boy's eyes. He's at the age (4 almost 5) when the magic of Christmas, Santa, and Elves is amazingly real - I loved seeing every minute of his excitement.

I posted last about the time-suck of Pinterest; well, I have another to add, that just piles on to Pinterest and Facebook - that is, the Kindle Fire Jim gave me for Christmas. I am not enough of a tech-lover to justify buying an i-pad and I was just ready to try an e-reader - so far, the Kindle is perfect for me. I can read, play word games, stalk Facebook, and Pin - yep, guess what I've been doing for the last several nights??

Progress - well, I've added Troeg's Mad Elf Ale to the list of beers (YUMMM) and I've written not just one but TWO poems (one for a friend who wanted verse to accompany a Christmas gift and one to accompany a Christmas gift to my Aunt). I have not knit a single stitch but I did have dinner with Jackie and she lent me the book "Purls and Pints" (knitting projects you can do while drinking - perfect for my skill level). BONUS POINT - I had only one beer with dinner (the Mad Elf), so there was no drunk driving!

Very much looking forward to the year ahead - to working on the list, to writing more, to having more fun. It's cliche, but I love the feeling of starting over every New Year - even as a kid, I always loved this time of year for assessing, reorganinizing, and rearranging. So, a Happy and Safe New Year to all!

Pinned to my computer by another time-suck

Oh, I needed another time-suck in my life - Facebook had gotten too predictable. TV is boring. Make room for Pinterest! I love this site - if you haven't yet checked it out, take a look and while you're there, request an invitation (they actually have to invite you to join - takes a couple weeks). Pinterest is a place to post images you find online - you set up virtual bulletin boards (e.g. "Party Ideas," "Clothes," "Books," whatever) to which you "pin" the images. Then, similar to Facebook, other people on Pinterest can "like" them, comment on them, or re-pin to their own boards.

I love Pinterest particularly for how it relates to this project - I've had a lot of fun finding the recipes and beers I've tried, as well as images of the places I want to go. The time-suck part comes in when I start perusing other people's boards ...

ee cummings - forever on my body?

I'm toying with the idea of making my next tattoo a line from an ee cummnigs poem:

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)

Just not sure where to get it - clavicle? Wrist? Upper back?

It's beginning to look a lot like . . .

I'm maybe half-way done with Christmas shopping. I haven't baked a single cookie or wrapped a gift. The Christmas cards were supposed to go out this weekend but are lacking stamps and address labels. But the tree is up and the house is decorated!

It's been a good weekend. Ben had a blast helping decorate today. And yesterday it was great to let him have an all-day PJ Saturday, complete with a train track around the living room and a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Weaver. As the days tick off closer, my Christmas spirit is growing. It helps to see the holiday through the eyes of a kid - I love that excitement and frenzied anticipation!

Now I've done it . . .

"#25 - Run a Warrior Dash."
Found out today from Jackie that there is a second Warrior Dash in Ohio in 2012 - at Clay's Park, in August. Practically in my back yard! (At least, compared to Logan, which I think is near Hocking Hills.) So, what did I do? Registered for the first wave (9:00 am) and promptly signed my gal Lindsay up for the same. Jackie is planning to register, and possibly Jen and Katie (two of Jackie's girlfriends I met at GLBC).

I am excited about the whole thing, but admittedly, scared, too: You have to jump over fire! You have to scale a wall! (yikes) Uh, yeah, and run the 3.1 mile course. But it looks like so much FUN! The thing that cracks me up is that I will have one more experience for which to credit (blame?) Jackie . . . hmmm, we'll see how I'm feeling in August.

I'm ready to be nice again

I got nothing. But I'm here!

Bad mood all week and finally feeling better. I have nothing to be crabby about, and EVERYTHING to be grateful for. Ummmm, the list - no progress today. But I remain hopeful! Good night, all.

Here I am again - just as promised! NO TV tonight - just a rowdy 4-year-old who has been up four different times to report: 1. "No, I didn't fall out of bed. I gotta go to the bathroom." 2. "Mom, come look at the moon!" 3. "I need to tell Daddy I gave away my alphabet blocks last weekend." and 4. "We forgot to open the Advent calendar tonight!"

Not much progress to report today but I did start scoping dates for 2012 races - will be registering soon for the Cleveland Half in May. And I am very excited to find out that a couple friends at work are going to start training for the Jeep Davis Memorial 5K in May. I don't mean to wish away time, but I love daydreaming about spring and summer races when the weather is cold and crappy.

Keeping Commitments

It's Monday night, and as I promised, I AM writing. One Christmas Ale in, but the TV has NOT been turned on. That is what seems to be my biggest time/motivation suck. I have such a love/hate relationship with the idiot box! I get so involved in shows like "True Blood" and "Mad Men," but feel like most of what is on today is crap. Yet, I will watch it if it is on.

What's new? On the upside, I reached out to several friends in the last day and made plans to get together over the next month. On the downside? Ben and I were talking about the past year during our drive to school this morning. I realized that after our OBX vacation in June, the summer was sadly unremarkable. I kept thinking, "I must have forgotten SOMETHING" but when I checked my calendar at work I realized, nope - many summer weekends were spent fulfilling my own commitments, but not many were spent doing fun things with him. I am a big proponent of parents having time to themselves, but I need to do better by him. I mean, we didn't even make it to the zoo until September! So, if nothing else, the list is helping push me to do fun, memorable things with him.

Progress

Check #31 off the list - we took Ben skating at Kent State on Saturday and had a blast. I am so proud of the boy - he had a tough time balancing, and fell a LOT, but he kept trying. By the end of the session, he was starting to get a little rhythm and was able to stay on his feet by skating between me and Jim, holding our hands. Most importantly, he still had a positive attitude and was excited about coming back.

As for the rest of the list - I've scoped out the schedule for the Rubber City Roller Girls and have plans made with MARIAN :) et al to see them in March. I've started looking at 2012 marathons I might volunteer for - possibly the Towpath Marathon in October. That is, if it doesn't conflict with #10 (Las Vegas)! And I have the Soap Box Derby on the family calendar for June.

I planned to write last night, but was struck once again by the one-two punch of red wine and DVR-d "Saturday Night Live." BOOOOOO. My laptop sat next to me on the couch, cast aside. I admire the writers who blog every day. My friend Michelle, from church, updates hers religously (ha ha, sorry, I coudn't resist the pun!), and I am so inspired when I read it. (In fact, I caught up on hers before updating here.) I think the challenge for me this week is to actually post EVERY DAY this week, whether at work on my lunch break or at home ("Put the remote down, Jen!"). Let's see how it goes . . .