Here's a little update on how all my resolutions are going. You know, resolutions? Those things everyone made January 1st? What? Yours fell through? My plan doesn't seem so crazy now, does it?
-Walk Cooper daily: While I certainly have not been walking him daily, I have made an effort. With the crappy air and 9 degree January weather, I'm proud of myself for how often we have been going (probably 3-4 days a week). Now that its warming up, however, I'm faced with another problem. The melting snow is exposing so many smells! I know I complain a lot about the amount of smelling Cooper does on his walks, but really, its almost embarrassing when I have to drag my dog along on his walk. Here's a video to prove my point about Bassets and smelling. You know how puppies romp and play with each other?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VJqpdNsTwM
Anyway, I still plan on working towards this goal and every day that I fail to walk him, I work on another goal. The "fuck it" goal.
-Chore list: I just barely finished my updated version of this for the new house. Yay. If I were to give myself a grade on this one it would be "satisfactory".
-Actively seek social or intellectual stimulation: I'm currently listening to a podcast class on the Philosophy of Religion from the University of Oxford. You too can listen to this class and many more here:
http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/open
Its pretty nice as I can listen to it in my car on the way to work. I'm thinking my next class will be Bioethics. My friend Meghan and I are talking about doing something once a month that I think could fit under this category. We will go to things like plays, operas, ballets, etc. I'm so excited for this.
-Relax: I'm doing surprisingly well here. I'd like to thank my "fuck it" philosophy. I understand the crude language may turn some off from it. It works for me. But if you'd like, you could use "who cares" "let it go" or if you need it to pack a punch but not the kind of punch that "fuck it" packs, try "screw it". I feel that's a fair compromise. Now I just need to figure out how to maintain my relaxed state while I'm sleeping. I think the next step would be some kind of meditation before bed.
-Eat Better: We've been eating at home a lot. So that's good. What isn't good is that the boss at our pizza place is sending us hand written thank you notes. Well, you can't win them all. But seriously, I'm spending a lot on fruits and veggies when I go grocery shopping, which shows that I'm buying the good stuff. I think, though, that I should start doing Bountiful Baskets again because you get so much for $15. Don't know what that is? Here ya go:
http://bountifulbaskets.org/
-Spend more time with family and friends: The last few weeks I've done so well here! Feelin' good about it and I'm hoping to continue. I think it helps that Alex is working a similar schedule to mine. We can spend weeknights together so that by the time the weekend comes we are ready to share our time with family and friends.
-Spend more quality time with myself: I have been working more on hobbies that interest me and it has been nice. One thing I'd like to work on more is writing. I think I am too critical of myself. I get an idea and I talk myself out of it because I know I'm not a great writer. This thing that, in my mind is beautiful, may be destroyed by my inability to put it down on paper. But it's therapeutic and makes me feel all whole and stuff so damn it, I need to get over it and do it.
-Less time browsing the web: Doing well on this except for my stupid phone. Since when was it a good idea to have internet on your phone? Oh, time black hole, socialization killer, leave me be. I need to show some restraint.
-Expand my music library: Do you call adding new stations to your Pandora radio expanding your music library? Cause if you do, that's a big, fat check. I've added Etta James, Elvis Presley, and M.I.A radio.
And that's it. A work in progress. Rather than considering my failures, see this as a success. I do.
