-- read the newspaper on Sunday while enjoying a cup of coffee, and a leisurely breakfast (and maybe listening to the aforementioned jazz).
-- spend more quality time with friends.
-- have dinner parties, again. Since living here, I haven't had any.
-- have dinner at 7:30 during the week.
-- have a home that is comfortable, and a place that we like to spend time.
Looking forward to living it up this summer!
I think the memories of these gifts will serve us better than a new pair of shoes, or a shirt he doesn't need.
Good thing G doesn't read my LJ!
So Friday evening we began the undertaking of going through that room. Box after box, we sorted into three piles: trash, goodwill, keep. It was amazing how big the goodwill pile grew. Between Friday and Saturday we made three trips to Goodwill and one trip to the landfill, and we are made our second trip to recycle cardboard boxes (we are keeping all of our U-Haul boxes broken down in our storage unit, but we had oodles of other various cardboard). By 11 p.m. on Saturday night our "storage" room had been transformed into a guest room/office. We brought our extra bed and a bookshelf from storage, moved the desk from our bedroom, and put together a tv stand. It is hard to believe the difference. We wished we had taken "before" pictures. Today has been spent organizing our bedroom, putting away the keep pile, and another trip to goodwill. We are working our way down to our living room. G is making us a little snack now, and I think we may get the living room finished while enjoying some cheese and crackers and a glass of wine!
We have resolved to own our stuff, and to not let our stuff own us. It feels so much nicer, so much lighter. even if this is not a move, it will certainly make moving easier when we do.
We went on a nice long hike yesterday morning up Old Rag Mountain near my parents' house. It was G's first time doing the hike, and I think he really enjoyed it.
On the way back to Lynchburg we stopped at Whole Foods and stocked up on lots of great stuff.
Wedding planning has been chugging along at full speed. The invitations were put in the mail on Saturday - eight weeks to the day. I have already heard some folks have received their invitations and mailed their response cards! I am planning to go to Staples tonight for a 3x5 card box to organize the responses. I also have my high tech spreadsheet, but I think it is best to keep an old-fashioned record as well. I can hardly believe the wedding is 53 days away - and only 50 days until G and I head to Sperryville to start greeting guests, get our marriage license, and deal with last minute craziness.
I have gotten very into cycling classes at the Y. I had to transition out of the H20 Aerobics. While I really enjoyed being in the pool, I just wasn't seeing much in the way of results. I think the best part of the H20 classes was getting into a routine of going to the gyma, as well as getting acclimated again to group exercise. The cycling classes are a real calorie-killer. Last night they had a specialty intro class - Punk Rope. It was pretty fun. It kind of reminded me of being in a HS gym class, but in a good way!
Hard to believe that Easter is this weekend, but I think this might be the earliest it can be on the calendar.
Can't sleep. Sick with worry. Working on essays for meeting w/ tutor.
So far so good on the Listerine rinsing 2X daily, and I set up an automatic weekly transfer from checking to savings. I plan to go to water aerobics tonight and have my gym bag with me in my office. Oh, last night was a testament to how much I wanted to be at the gym. When I came out in my cropped gym pants and my damp feet in my crocs, I thought my feet might freeze to the bottoms of my shoes. The temperature was around 19 degrees. Brrr! To add to that, because of the sheer number of weight-loss/exercise related new year's resolutions, I had to park in the far outer reaches of the parking lot. I don't think I could have scurried any faster, but I still thought I might be risking frostbite!
We took our Christmas tree down today and boy was that a mess!! The needles were falling everywhere and the tree stand had a leak. I was vacuuming up needles for quite some time. The house is still a bit of a mess, but at least the Christmas decorations are down.
One more resolution, keep to a plan to save a percentage of each paycheck in a savings account.
1. Start going back to water aerobics. I love it and I find it incredibly stress-relieving. I just need to make time for it.
2. Rinse with whitening mouthwash before I brush my teeth.
I think that is it, These two things are reasonable and doable.
Happy New Year!
The end of the year is fast approaching, and until yesterday I had not even contemplated any new year's resolutions. In general, I don't think they work for me, but I did think I should consider some positive change I would like to make going into 2008.
The last year has had its ups and downs. Let's get the bad out of the way first: I failed the bar twice, my mom's cousin died suddenly, g's coworker also died suddenly.
Now for the good: I got engaged to my sweet, sweet G; I got to spend time with many friends, and family members over the course of the year, since I started WeightWatchers in June, I have lost 16.6 lbs. I have stumbled a little along the way, but it keeps going down. I have vastly improved my negative attitude.
Looking forward to 08: I know the first 2 months will be rough as I continue to prepare for the bar exam. But there is so much to look forward to after that! G and I will be married in May. I am hoping to have some gathering of friends prior to that. I don't want to call it a bachelorette party because I would prefer that there be no phallic balloons, straws, cakes, embarrassing games, etc. I just want a chance to spend some quality time with friends. I don't know if G and I have decided on a honeymoon location ... maybe Hawaii. I have never been to Hawaii and G's family has a condo there. I am also looking forward to getting into a groove at work.
What should I work on for the new year? I'm not sure. Try to work out at least once a week? Maybe to simplify my life. Maybe to recycle even though it will be more work for me. I have switched to mostly organic foods- but not organic produce. It still allows me to do 97% of my grocery shopping on the perimeter of the store (fortunately for me the organic canned/dry foods are on the perimeter!) I will think about that this weekend, and hopefully by Monday I will have something figured out!
I recently switched banks, and I now have easy free online bill pay as part of my free checking account. I cannot imagine how I lived without this wonderful service. It as made me so organized. As soon as a bill arrives in the mail, or in my inbox (I am gradually going paperless), I schedule a payment for about a day or two before the bill is due and forget about it! It is so simple and there is no chance for a bill to get forgotten or paid late. I also love the fact that I don't have to use checks and I save on postage!
For some reason, I feel very behind this year. All of my shopping is done, except for a gift for my grandma. She is very into gardening, Christmas and Chanel No. 5. Unfortunately for me, she has a shed full of gardening equipment, more boxes of ornaments than she can even fit on her tree and back up bottles of Chanel No. 5. While I love my grandma dearly, she is not particularly gracious when she receives a gift she does not like, so determining just the right thing creates a lot of pressure. Last year I managed to get a hit with a personal power washer, but I am flat out of ideas. While I am sure she would like it, I don't really like giving gift cards. Christmas shouldn't create this sort of stress, but there always seem to be at least a little.
This year Christmas Eve will be held at my parents house and my mom's siblings will join us. For some reason, unknown to me, one aunt has not spoken to my mom since Thanksgiving. So Christmas Eve should be interesting.
Just realized I also should get a gift for my tragically hip cousin, and then does that mean I need to get something for all the other cousins?
I feel like I need something to happen. Something really, really great. I need a shake-up, but in a good way. Maybe the new year will be that jolt I need, but right now I need something so I don't feel like I am just going through the motions.
G and I often talk about what we would do and how our lives would change if we won the lottery - a big lottery. I really like the thought of that life and it isn't even anything extravagant and really other than wanting to pass the bar on principal there is not much to really stop us from achieving that life. If we won the lottery we would open a wine shop/wine bar/restaurant. We would serve wine by the glass, by flights or by the bottle and have a menu of delicious but simple offerings. We would also have a retail shop.
I think that life would have its problems, but I really love the idea!
It is more than just sex. It is being aware of when your partner needs to be touched. Actually, we really enjoyed the whole counseling session. It was far more interesting than we anticipated. Our next one is in January and by that time we will have the readings chosen.
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