five good years
Every year, I look forward to getting to write this post, partially because it makes me think and partially because it means that I've made it through another year with the transplant.
And like every year, I think about what I gained from the previous year. This year, however, I do have something to use as a benchmark: the list I made last year. And I think a good amount of progress has been made. I'm getting in better shape, treadmilling almost daily, with no meaningful exercise only on a couple days in the last month and a half. I'm trying to do stuff out of the ordinary, whether it be watching movies I ordinarily might not watch or ordering something different when out to eat. I have a menu for a deli downtown with about 30 different sandwiches. Each time I go, I mark one off, getting a different one each time.
I try to watch my language, but it's not easy. I'm trying to eat better, but not doing as well as I'd hoped. If I'd eaten remotely as well as I've been exercising, I would've probably dropped twice as many pounds as I did according to my last doctor's weigh-in.
Traveling, that I've done. The whole shotglass thing, I don't even remember why I started collecting them, but it's become a drive to see these different colleges and meet all those crazy bookstore ladies. Better than that, I get to see my incredible friends (more on that later).
Not giving up on classics/Latin. It's tough. It keeps sneaking up on me in the most unexpected of place. Those reminders just pop up everywhere and I doubt they'll go away until I take one good run at it, fully prepared and determined.
Old grudges? What old grudges? Letting go of all of that has helped a bit on smiling and being happy, but I'm not quite there yet. Enjoying other people's company isn't always that easy.
I said nothing about keeping to a schedule. It's better but not perfect. But it leads to this year's list, which is incredibly short and to the point. As per previous years, everything from last year's list stays on. None of those things can ever really be crossed off.
1) Find a job with a flexible enough schedule to let you go back to school to get your M.Ed. and teaching certificate. It doesn't need to be a career. It needs to be something to bring in money to offset the cost of school, that's all.
2) You've been blessed (and you don't use that word pretty much ever, so it means something) with a number of amazing friends over the years and sadly you've let too many of them go. They're probably wondering about what happened to you just as much as you're wondering about them. You have emails. Find out. And for the ones now, don't get complacent. You don't know what can happen.
[Edit]3) Finish what you started. May it apply to many things, but the two unfinished 50k+ Nanos, the Script Frenzy stuff... finish them. Not even for anyone that would be crazy enough to want to read the stuff, but to have the self-discipline to work beyond merely what is needed or required for the goal.[/Edit]
All I can do is take nothing for granted.
So that's all for this year. Thanks to everyone for being there in whatever capacity, for chatting for hanging out, for a place to stay, for meeting up for lunch, for everything. I can begin to express how much I appreciate all that.
Now it's out to Parthenon for some Greek food. :)
And like every year, I think about what I gained from the previous year. This year, however, I do have something to use as a benchmark: the list I made last year. And I think a good amount of progress has been made. I'm getting in better shape, treadmilling almost daily, with no meaningful exercise only on a couple days in the last month and a half. I'm trying to do stuff out of the ordinary, whether it be watching movies I ordinarily might not watch or ordering something different when out to eat. I have a menu for a deli downtown with about 30 different sandwiches. Each time I go, I mark one off, getting a different one each time.
I try to watch my language, but it's not easy. I'm trying to eat better, but not doing as well as I'd hoped. If I'd eaten remotely as well as I've been exercising, I would've probably dropped twice as many pounds as I did according to my last doctor's weigh-in.
Traveling, that I've done. The whole shotglass thing, I don't even remember why I started collecting them, but it's become a drive to see these different colleges and meet all those crazy bookstore ladies. Better than that, I get to see my incredible friends (more on that later).
Not giving up on classics/Latin. It's tough. It keeps sneaking up on me in the most unexpected of place. Those reminders just pop up everywhere and I doubt they'll go away until I take one good run at it, fully prepared and determined.
Old grudges? What old grudges? Letting go of all of that has helped a bit on smiling and being happy, but I'm not quite there yet. Enjoying other people's company isn't always that easy.
I said nothing about keeping to a schedule. It's better but not perfect. But it leads to this year's list, which is incredibly short and to the point. As per previous years, everything from last year's list stays on. None of those things can ever really be crossed off.
1) Find a job with a flexible enough schedule to let you go back to school to get your M.Ed. and teaching certificate. It doesn't need to be a career. It needs to be something to bring in money to offset the cost of school, that's all.
2) You've been blessed (and you don't use that word pretty much ever, so it means something) with a number of amazing friends over the years and sadly you've let too many of them go. They're probably wondering about what happened to you just as much as you're wondering about them. You have emails. Find out. And for the ones now, don't get complacent. You don't know what can happen.
[Edit]3) Finish what you started. May it apply to many things, but the two unfinished 50k+ Nanos, the Script Frenzy stuff... finish them. Not even for anyone that would be crazy enough to want to read the stuff, but to have the self-discipline to work beyond merely what is needed or required for the goal.[/Edit]
All I can do is take nothing for granted.
So that's all for this year. Thanks to everyone for being there in whatever capacity, for chatting for hanging out, for a place to stay, for meeting up for lunch, for everything. I can begin to express how much I appreciate all that.
Now it's out to Parthenon for some Greek food. :)