Resolutions

Now is the time that we arbitrarily assign to making new goals and resolutions about how we have been living our lives. Is it cliche for me to have resolutions again this year? I decided to look at my list for 2007. Let's have a look here:

1. Limit alcohol consumption to one to two drinks per month.

To be honest, I have cut back on drinking overall, but I have had a few moments of heavy drinking. Everyone at James' party, Mike A., Jeremy, and Mike V. have seen the "fun" Lish during this times.

2. No fast food, not even when pressed for time.

Okay, so I still went to Subway (and yes, McDonald's several times).

3. No pizza, unless I make organic homemade pizza. (I will miss you, Jet's Pizza!)

That one didn't last, although I did make a lot more homemade pizza.

4. A minimum of thirty minutes of cardio every day.

That one last for a long time. I don't know what stopped me. I was losing weight and feeling great (pardon the annoying rhyme).

5. Count calories daily. Limit for first month = 1600, second month = 1500, third month = 1350...we'll see beyond that.

I did count calories for the better part of the year. I lost track during the holiday season, though.


6. Follow a daily chore schedule for each room in my home.

Yeah, that one didn't work out well. Jeremy's schedule is chaotic, at best, and grad school work took up almost all of my time.


7. Read at least two books (novels, biographies, etc.) each month.

I read a lot - just not that much. Maybe that should have been a goal for the summer only.

8. Do yoga three times per week.

I stopped within a month.

9. Join a music ensemble - I think Canton is looking at its newest percussionist.

I am thriving in the band. I LOVE it! I will continue this year. I scheduled grad school and other commitments around it.


10. Go to my doctor's regularly - dentist, regular physician, urologist (for my kindey stone problem), dietician, OB-GYN (to be honest, I am still holding off on this one).

I started going to the dentist regularly. I have an appointment on January 8th. I haven't been to any other doctors, though. My fear of the doctor borders on phobia-status. If I could list my urologist in Battle Creek as my primary care physician, I would travel to see him. He is a great doctor AND I used to teach at St. Philip with his wife. Their daughter was one of my journalism students years ago. Unfortunately, I have to have a "local" doctor.

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So what are my resolutions for this year?


1. Organize and decorate my ENTIRE home. I am tired of treating my townhouse as a temporary living situation. We currently are not in transition - this is our home. We need to make it look like a home.

2. Live healthier. That means: eating healthy food, counting calories, creating an exercise routine (preferably at Lifetime Fitness), managing stress positively, reduce or eliminate "excessive" behaviors in regard to food and alcohol, get out and enjoy life more (go dancing, traveling, etc.)

3. Learn one or two instruments (I am already doing well with my new tenor ukulele - the strings are tuned just like my soprano uke). I want to learn the harmonica (Jeremy bought me one for Christmas). I bought myself a drum set, but I already know the basics. I am thinking that, over the summer, I could start learning violin or something - maybe flute. Maybe I will even get voice lessons.

4. Clean my home more frequently.

5. Write more. I have just about abandoned journal writing - I've been posting more online, anyway.

6. Get married! I am addressing the planning stuff a lot lately. Lack of money is cutting my guest list significantly. Sorry, folks. Some of my cousins won't even be invited!

7. Play my ukulele in public - not school. I am not afraid of students.

8. Go to Germany.

9. Find and buy a house with some property, preferably out in the middle of nowhere.

10. Stop living so much in my head!

111

111. I don't think I could love my cats more even if they were my own children.

112. I love taking naps. I've taken a nap many times during this vacation.

113. I wear size 9 shoes.

114. I used to collect stamps. Yeah, I'm a loser.

115. I will be spending the $23.00 for each season of The X-Files tomorrow at Best Buy, and I am not ashamed. It's a deal!

102 - 110

102. I still get butterflies-in-the-stomach-type feelings.

103. Mike V. and I are on the same wave length most of the time. Oh, look! He just left me a message! Cool!

104. I don't believe I've ever kissed someone under the mistletoe.

105. I finished ALL of my Christmas shopping today - in less than three hours! I have spent a little over $500. this year.

106. I want to cut my hair. I don't think I'll be donating my hair this year.

107. I played my ukulele during passing time at work on Friday.

108. I brought my decorations up from the basement, but I have very little drive to actually unpack and display them.

109. I love when Jeremy runs his fingers through my hair. This is the only way for me to truly relax. Nothing else works. Not even alcohol.

110. I dislike buying into the commercialism that surrounds Christmas. I would prefer to not give or receive any gifts. I'd like to spend Christmas day in church.

94 - 101

94. I finally finished all of my papers for my grad class. And I have a snow day tomorrow. And I have to turn in my papers. And I want to spend the day cleaning.

95. I'm ticklish in only a few places.

96. Jeremy bought me chocolate today. And shoveled all around our place and our cars. And cuddled with me. And goofed around with me in the kitchen. And kissed me. And gave me quiet time so that I could finish my homework. And has been a total sweetheart lately. This is who I remember falling in love with. I missed him.

97. I felt empowered while putting my aunt in her place on Saturday.

98. I like sock monkeys.

99. I am taking two classes next term; I am so nervous.

100. I still haven't done any Christmas shopping. I think tomorrow will be a busy day!

101. I don't think I will stop with 101. I have so much more to reveal. Just not tonight. I should get some sleep.

93

93. I sometimes wish we were stranded on an island together...all alone...forever. I'd have you all to myself.

92...Kenny v. Spenny

92. Despite how disgusting and juvenile Kenny v. Spenny is, I find the show frickin hilarious! I almost threw up a few minutes ago watching the meat-eating competition/vomitfest.

What does everyone else think of the show?

87 - 91

87. I love playing with blankets with my toes.

88. I used to enjoy working at Payless, even though I don't like to look at feet.

89. Sometimes I want to return to mindless employment.

90. My professor granted me an extension on my final papers. I am so happy.

91. Jeremy made me a really nice dinner tonight. It was so wonderful and sweet.

66 - 86

66. I can't seem to get my papers done this week. They are due by 5 PM on Friday. I waited too long to get started, and I feel like a complete failure. I am tempted to buy a paper. I won't, though. I find that completely unethical. Nevertheless, I am tempted. I'd rather get a terrible grade and get booted out of grad school than cheat.

67. I started eating chocolate-covered espresso beans again. My students noticed a difference in my behavior today.

68. I don't get a hoot about literary theory. I want the master's in literature so that I know literature!

69. I have some really wonderful students this year.

70. I have never taken illegal drugs, and I am still proud of myself.

71. I want to drink all the time lately.

72. I don't believe I will be getting the 8-string tenor ukulele I want for Christmas. And I could almost cry about it.

73. I was able to eat mushrooms in a sandwich and on a pizza recently. I did not vomit either time. I've never before been able to stomach mushrooms.

74. I have strong, yet hideous, toes. I'd love to show off their strength, but I'd be afraid to have people see my crooked foot digits.

75. I've started praying every night before bed...not be attacked by demons. Apparently, I believe...at least for now.

76. Sometimes I am angry at God for not making me special enough to have demons fighting over my soul.

77. I'd rather be in a boring, loveless marriage than a series of short, passionate relationships.

78. I realize when I say things like what I said in #77, people think I am unhappy in my current relationship. I am actually quite content.

79. I have been ashamed to ride in Jeremy's last three cars (one was always breaking down, one was louder than any other car I had ever been near, and the current one is falling apart...slowly).

80. I named Jeremy's current car 'The Red Dragon.'

81. I might go to Midnight Mass this year.

82. I love broad-shouldered men. I am so lucky Jeremy has broad shoulders. And dark brown hair. And two distinct eye brows. And green eyes. And big teeth. And high cheek bones. And a great sense of humor (which none of my old friends usually get to witness - he is a bit uncomfortable around some of my friends). And a great memory. And a NOT-so-hairy chest (I'm NOT into the whole Tom Selleck look at all!). And cute ears.

83. Jeremy just burped a "Hi" and a "Hello". I have the classiest fiance ever!

84. I organized every item in my teacher desk today, right down to color-coding paper clips and post-it notes. I should post a photo of this craziness!

85. I am dehydrated again.

86. If I am still in my MA program next semester, I will be a much better student. I will cancel Comcast if I have to.

52 and onward

52. I like to pretend I am a foreigner in stores.

53. I find Harvey Keitel very sexy in the movie The Piano.

54. I procrastinate more than I used to.

55. I have a recurring dream that I lose my teeth. I have had this dream since I was six or seven years old. It is just as disturbing as when I started having the dream.

56. I LOVE new office supplies.

57. I never intended to stay in my current line of work.

58. I don't think I truly care about grad school.

59. I have been sexually harassed at work. I no longer teach at the school - the superintendent refused to fire the man even though he admitted to harassing two women on staff that year.

60. I was stalked by a coke-head when I lived in Florida. He went to prison on drug possession charges, and I changed my number, packed my stuff, and moved back to Michigan before he was released.

61. I adore scarves. I want to have at least twenty on hand so that I can coordinate fabrics, colors, and textures on a daily basis.

62. It's my fault my cats are so emotionally needy.

63. I want to get the edge of my tongue pierced...or possibly get the corner of my lower lip pierced.

64. I want to dye my hair bright purple or cobalt blue. My job really doesn't allow for me to do that. I want to get out of K-12 mostly for that reason.

65. Lately, I like playing the ukulele more than I like playing the drums - or the piano, for that matter.

About Me (Again)

51. I am better with alcohol. I cannot deny that I like who I truly am when drinking.

Oh, and James, I think you are very wise. Thank you for engaging in such an interesting and honest dialogue tonight. That is definitely food-for-thought.

About Me

I noticed Joe had posted lists with random information about himself. Several other friends have been doing the same thing lately. I, too, have one. It's been saved as a draft for some time as I compiled more and more information that I felt I should share. I moved some things around to give the sense of continuity, although I am not sure how that really comes across in a list.

I'll start with fifty and see where that leads.


1. I am almost always day-dreaming. I prefer to live in the world inside my head, where second chances are possible and anger is never real or lasting.

2. I am glad that I attended self-defense workshop classes my first semester in college. I never thought that I would ever have to use the techniques we discussed and practiced.

3. I don't hate Jim for what he tried to do to me.

4. I understand what it is to feel alive.

5. I remember everything - how others looked at me, how I felt, how awful I was.

6. I miss my dog and still cry frequently over that loss.

7. My heart has been truly and completely broken twice. Both times, I allowed for it to be mended by the people who had broken it.

8. I don't like a lot of physical contact. On the other hand, I am openly affectionate with certain people with no problem.

9. I have become aware of some of my incredibly anti-social behaviors, as well as behaviors that my doctors (as a child) said could indicate a mild form of autism. I am not autistic. I just don't care to interact with people sometimes.

10. I understand why parents are afraid of the stigma of declaring learning disabilities and deficiencies.

11. I have serious trust and abandonment issues that stem from my childhood. I can pinpoint what I now believe to be the root of these issues, but I don't seek help. I will never seek help.

12. I started having depressing and a few random suicidal thoughts again within the last five months. While I wouldn't commit suicide, I fantasize about having some control over my passing.

13. I am becoming a much more devout Catholic. I had to experience pagan religions and shun the church for a while to get here.

14. I started praying again at night before I go to sleep.

15. I chickened out of sending in one of my secrets to PostSecret. I was afraid someone would know it was me.

16. When I look at electrical outlets, I always see faces in the design. I used to imagine they were screaming.

17. I miss going driving as an outing.

18. I love picnics, complete with the perfectly-prepared meals, basket, and Gingham blanket.

19. I still regret arguing during my audition for the school of music - I feel I should be a professional musician in a large, metropolitan-area orchestra.

20. I would write a lot more if I didn't feel like the future generations wouldn't appreciate good literature.

21. I have a difficult time hiding my attraction to people. I become giddy and laugh nervously.

22. I am considering quitting drinking altogether again.

23. I love hitting Ann Arbor with the Mikes.

24. I stopped collecting things and have accumulated more clutter than when I did collect things.

25. I miss being someone's muse. Some ex-boyfriends and some of my friends (both male and female) have said that I inspired stories, poetry, songs, screenplays, and art that they have created. How do I become that again...and for someone like my fiance, who is not really the creative type?

26. I regret not enjoying Florida more while living there. Being five miles from the ocean should have afforded so much more enjoyment.

27. In my quest to not be apathetic, I have become overly-empathetic and find it difficult to manage everyone's emotions.

28. I am fiercely independent and dislike when others "mess" up my living space, but I'd still prefer to have my fiance home every night.

29. In less than three years, I will be thirty. I need to re-examine my plan for my education, career, marriage, children, etc.

30. I can't wait until spring so that Mike V. and I can go drinking and stay out all night again in Ann Arbor.

31. I love going to libraries while drunk. I am a complete nerd.

32. I read into things too much.

33. I grieve the passing of the important moments of my life. I try to bargain with God to let me go back.

34. When I started driving, I paid around $1.19 per gallon of gas.

35. I don't have text messaging included in my phone plan. I've decided only some people are worth the $.15 per message.

36. I relive moments in my head...constantly.

37. I have imaginary conversations I want and need to have with my friends.

38. The year 2000 was, by far, the best and worst year of my life thus far.

39. Mike V. treated me to a Brian Vander Ark concert in Kalamazoo in 2006. While he was using the restroom, I wrote a note and left it in the CD jacket. He didn't find it for weeks.

40. I am a much more positive person than I used to be.

41. I don't own a coffee grinder.

42. I've resigned myself to the notion that if something were to happen, it would have happened by now.

43. I make up new card games that are designed for no one to win. They are single-player games.

44. I think my cats think that I am their real mother, especially when I wear my orange fleece jacket.

45. There are still boxes in my basement that haven't been unpacked. They contain teaching materials and electronics I think about using.

46. My favorite utensil is the spoon. And I actually have a favorite one in my silverware drawer.

47. I still crave cigarettes even though I haven't had one since I was fourteen or fifteen years old. I have smoked one cigar (at my sister's wedding).

48. I met one of my heros - Desmond Tutu - in 2005 while working at a hotel in Battle Creek, Michigan.

49. I usually hold grudges.

50. I am afraid of being alone, which explains why there have only been a handful of times when I wasn't in a relationship with someone within the past eleven years.

another week closer to summer break

I've begun to think about the closing of each week. I feel like a new teacher, always behind in my planning and grading (although the grading is far less taxing as I now teach German most of the day). I am stressed about many things going on in my building.

I think I will grade my students' quizzes and writing assignments tonight. I have no other plans, and it would be nice to spend my weekend doing other things, for once.

Not feeling quite so neurotic today.

I tend to look forward to Mondays. Today was very different. I knew going into it that it would be a tough day. I missed both Ryan's and my uncle Chuck's funerals because of contract issues with taking days off before and after vacations. Jeremy was unable to return from St. Louis for the funerals, as well.

I left work quickly today. I ended up going to dinner with Melissa - she called when I had just left my place in search of food (I had determined that I just didn't feel like cooking for myself). Mike hadn't called, so I figured he was busy with grad work or school stuff.

We had a nice meal in Canton. After returning home, I watched videos at ukuleledisco.com (one of my favorite sites). As I began to really wind down from the stress of the day, Mike called to, basically, apologize for not being able to meet for coffee as we have been doing on Mondays. He is just too busy with grad work and the end of the trimester at his school. I, of course, felt so proud of myself for knowing exactly what the hold-up was. Mike and I are so similarly wired that it would be damn near impossible to NOT know what is up with each other. I find it absolutely hilarious that while he was at a voice lesson tonight, I was singing scales and various songs, both with and without my uke.

He suggested we meet later this week or perhaps next week. That might be good. My friends could finally meet him. We've been good friends since 2000, and we've hung out both in the Kalamazoo area as well as all over the Detroit area, but most of my friends here have never met him. I swear he is not a figment of my imagination!

I spoke to Jeremy tonight. I miss him so much. I can't wait to see him this week (he'll be home for a couple of days). Perhaps our friends will all want to go out to the Rathskeller in the Heidelberg for a beer boot.

Ryan G.

Ryan G. is gone. One of Jeremy's best buds is dead. I still can't believe it. Jeremy is in shock, and the worst part is that I can't go and be with him tonight in St. Louis.

His girlfriend woke next to him this morning, and he was cold. How can a 28-year-old man die in his sleep when he is healthy?

I wonder if Jeremy is going to call Chris R. I don't think anyone else has his current contact information.

I want Jeremy to come home. Now.

I feel so bad for Ryan's parents. They are so warm and friendly. I can only imagine the devastation this causes.

This is Mike.

I totally stole this from his blog and embedded the code. I hope he doesn't mind. Exposure isn't a bad thing, right?

Now I just need to get video of Reeny singing. It would be nice to have both of my best friends represented here in proper musical form.



If only I could get someone to write songs about me. Nice ones, anyway.

Bowling, Band, and Billy Ray Cyrus

Thursday had some twists. I couldn't get my research assignment done before class, due to server problems at work. Lucky for me, class was canceled! I decided to join the English department from my school at the bowling alley, where we ate brownies (baked by Jessy) and cheese fries.

After spending an hour with my colleagues, I went home and got ready for band rehearsal. I left later than usual, and then I couldn't find a parking space for a while due to a Billy Ray Cyrus concert at the theater. I eventually made my way in and found the percussion equipment already set up! Bonus!!! Rehearsal went really well; Cyrus's roadies were really nice when I was having issues with doors and percussion equipment during take-down. They struck up a conversation and held doors for me and such. It was pleasant.

I didn't get to say anything to BRC, not that I wanted to or anything - I am not a fan, but it was cool that I am surrounded by people who love the art of performance whenever I go to the theater. Sometimes we mingle with drama groups, other times musicians. It feels good being there, like my life somehow makes sense while I am there.

quiet evenings in

There is a lot to be said for going out and having a good time. Mike and I had an awesome time at Alexie's book tour event. Tonight, though, I am enjoying the tranquility of my home - the cats are sleeping, Jeremy is away at training, the TV is off, and I have completed all of my grading and such for a couple of days. I am sipping mocha with Buttershots.

Everything feels right with the world - I haven't been able to say that in quite some time. I am just concerned because I was only able to achieve this feeling with a little bit of alcohol. I guess that goes back to the comment James responded to a long time ago - that the notion of improving oneself with the aid of alcohol is somewhat different from the norm. Or something like that. I am too lazy to check. Your words did resonate and I've pondered them many times since then, James.

I am now considering making a chocolate mousse cake - the real deal, not the store-bought crap that is fluffy. I will be making one (or two) in December for Christmas - I believe it is now expected when I arrive at Jeremy's relatives' holiday gathering. It was a hit last year, to say the least. I just don't think I should make one now. That stuff is about 400 calories per tiny slice. Perhaps I will just stick to my butterscotch schnapps and cuddle with my cats.

Postsecret and such

Sunday is postsecret day. I usually wake early and look at all the postcards people have sent in. Today, I didn't remember to check until much later. I was busy typing my paper.

I marvel at the baring of souls, while also wondering if some people send in secrets that are complete fabrications just to shock Frank and get posted online.

Should secrets be purged? Or should people be taught to use some discretion and keep some things private?

my paper is done!

I finished writing this morning and submitted my paper electronically. I have found myself so far behind in everything lately. I think this weekend finally provided time to rest AND get back on track.

behind schedule, but definitely on track

Jeremy and I cleaned several rooms today. We didn't get to everything, but at least we made a dent. My paper is half done. I already have my information for my last half, so I am doing well. I will work on it tomorrow morning and email it to my professor in the afternoon. I then will work on lesson plans for the next two weeks.

Jeremy and I went out to dinner, which was really nice. I think he really got the message that we need to change our habits - blogs and emails from friends can be just the ticket sometimes. He is currently asleep on the couch while I try to get laundry done while working on my paper. All-in-all, this has been a very nice weekend. We've needed one of these for some time.

Just finding time to look into those green eyes of his makes life feel easier.