Birthdays

Tomorrow is my twenty-sixth birthday. I don't know when it happened, but I stopped getting excited about the annual event. I'm not afraid of growing older. In fact, I like the idea. I just have that blah feeling. My mother called to ask if I wanted my favorite birthday cake tomorrow (chocolate mousse cake - yum!), and I told her I don't know. I really don't know what I want.

I asked for a bicycle helmet so that I can take my bike off the paved trails.
I asked for shelving units for my basement.
I asked my dad to run electricity throughout the basement so that I can have an outlet away from the laundry tub.

Do I really need these things? I suppose not, although the helmet may help me stay alive on the trails I plan to ride.

I am aware that birthdays are a way for us to become aware that life IS moving forward, but my life feels like it is at a standstill.


Some of my friends deal with birthdays differently. Some throw themselves parties.
Some just gather friends in small setting. Some continue like it is just another day.
Perhaps I should just disappear for a day. Maybe I'll wake up early and go to the bridge I like in Hines and take some pictures.

I feel exhausted. Yesterday, Jeremy and I scrubbed the apartment. Well, I scrubbed...Jeremy straightened up rooms. His parents came to visit, and I couldn't bear to let them see how things had taken a turn for the worse.
I thought I'd have more energy. My cold is almost gone and I've been eating healthy. I'm even sleeping enough to hit REM sleep, and the dreams have been extremely vivid. I think that may have something to do with the cold medicine I've been taking, though.

NO SLEEPING ALLOWED

I have too much to do, too much to say

I need to:
hang a mirror
clean my entire townhouse (basement, living room, kitchen, hallway, stairs (both sets), bedroom, spare room, bathroom, landing)
do laundry
rearrange rooms (spare room, living room)
get Jeremy a dresser
hire an electrictian to run electricity throughout the basement
bike - no less than 18 miles tomorrow
grade papers, tests
enter grades into the system
take out trash
do more gardening (I pruned the front plants - a lilac bush and a shrub, and I pulled these overgrown flowers - I did replant one of the root bulbs in one of my planters. I need to buy a yucca and a rose bush (spring, maybe) and plant the crocus bulbs I bought today for spring)
check online accounts (email, blogs, bank, credit cards, memberships)
sort and file papers (at least my creative writing is in tubs, apart from everything else)
gather my writing samples for grad school app's
finish my personal statement for grad school app's
plan for the week
prepare for Open House
prepare for my classes next week
get business cards made up for tutoring, as well as for percussion lessons
contact references to write letters of recommendation for grad school
hang photography
print photography
take boxes to Chuck and Paula (I need to find out where they live)
call Bren (to see if he and Amanda want to get together)
get a library card
check out benefits of getting a membership to the recreation center here
vacuum car (I am obsessive about keeping my car clean)
wash car
visit my parents and sister
visit with Maureen, Melissa, Mike at some point soon
order new ink for my nice pen
order/create resources for teaching German
meet with the other English 10 teachers to map out plans
decorate my home with Fall items
try to "finish" the basement w/o overstepping my bounds as a tenant in a rental property
make a dentist appt.
change my primary care physician and find a new doctor
visit a new doctor or two (perhaps a dietician)
make a birthday list
paint toenails
take a bubble bath and relax
buy shelving units for basement
look for a part time job (preferably teaching drums)
sand down wooden trim in home, finish wooden surfaces.
buy items for the patio, including accent stones for boundary of landscaping
sell small xylophone and paintings
buy new (smaller) living room furniture (preferably an eye-popping color like red to accent the black and white photos (except for one 8x10 that has a red lighthouse)
Print photos (yes, MOST of the photography I am using is my own! It's just too bad that the school dark room is now storage for the English dept. Perhaps I could create a dark room in my basement. I can take my dad's photo lab equipment whenever I want.)
donate excess computer and photo equipment to my school
meet with the principal to discuss my plan to better our chances of building a new high school (I have some solid ideas that worked at two other schools!)
invite my family over for dinner and drinks
study for my German exam in October
study for my second round of GRE testing (the first time around didn't give me the score I wanted)
take my class and study with Reenee
spend more time with my cats
start doing yoga more

AND THAT IS JUST AT THE TOP OF THE LIST.
HEAVEN, HELP ME!

New bike

I decided to buy a bike, despite my lowered funds. The sale price was so good that I couldn't pass it up. I went riding yesterday and today.