Milestones

This weekend, especially today, reminded me I need to celebrate a few milestones. What better way to celebrate than by imbibing in your favorite alcoholic beverage of choice, or if you are pregnant or simply opposed to drinking (which I won’t hold against you) than feel free to enjoy a soda or fruit juice. My drink of choice this evening was a Rising Moon beer. Deliciously crisp with a hint of lime. Grab a beverage and join me in celebrating the following achievements:

I think spring has arrived.

Today was such a beautiful day here on the East Coast. High of 51 and sunny, everyone in the neighborhood raced outdoors in shorts and t-shirts to soak up some much needed sun and fresh air. My husband and I celebrated by raking all the leaves, picking up sticks, clearing out the garden, and trimming the hedges. With a temperature of 51, it’s easy to forget that just two days ago we got snow. We fail to remember that spring is a fickle season and run outside to do yard work, grill, or play with the kids. Billows of smoke erupt from the backyards of almost everyone in the neighborhood as they engage in that popular East Coast ritual: burning yard waste. The burn season is short here, so when temperatures are above 32, you better get outside and set something on fire. That’s one nice thing about living in Massachusetts; you can have a bonfire in your yard everyday from January through March—not just out in the desert on a special occasion. Like when you’re in high school or college on a Friday or Saturday night.

I know this elation may be short lived. It’s only the first day of nice weather after all. Tomorrow is more of the same, and the rest of the week should see days around the mid 40’s. I know, for those of you living in Arizona, you’d have your winter parkas on, the heat blasting in your homes, and your faux fireplaces running 24/7. In defense of your wimpy ability to handle cold, East Coasties hardly ever see a day over 100 degrees in the summer. The second it hits 90, the local tv and print news run nothing but articles on how many people have gone to the hospital with heat exhaustion and tips on how to avoid heat stroke. It’s all relative.

Tomorrow we start phase II of P90X.
This is a pretty huge milestone for me and my husband. It’s taken me longer than four weeks (about five or six) to complete the first session. Sadly, that’s how out of shape I am/was. (Being “in shape” with P90X is relative as well.) My husband probably could have gone on to the next segment a few weeks ago, but being the supportive chap that he is, he’s waited to move on with me. I have to admit I’m a little more than nervous to know what the next phase holds. While I can now at least finish the workouts, I still can’t perform every exercise for the entire time they do it. Like one leg wall squats. Or dive bombers. I sit those particular moves out, eat a Krispy Kreme donut and swill a coke and wait for the next exercise to start. The good news is that (thanks to my neighbors) I’ve found a great chiropractor who will hopefully pop all my bones back into the right order, whereupon I’ll be able to perform every move in P90X with 100% accuracy. That’s really the reason I haven’t been able to “Bring It” every time. It’s all because of my defective spine.

I have now surpassed my blog total for 2009.
This blog is #15 on my 40 day journey towards Lent and while it probably hasn’t helped my spiritual growth as much as, say, praying a novena every day, it has helped my self discipline, which in turn could assist me in more daily prayer, even if it is a round about way to get there. So far I’ve blogged when I’ve had nothing to blog about. I’ve blogged tho’ the kids and I have been sick. I’ve blogged even when the other night I was so tired I misspelled every other word and the text on the screen started to blur. I’m saying all this mostly to pat myself on the back. It’s taken me a long time to come to the point where I feel my writing is worthy of reading. Thanks for being a part of that.

It’s a sad statement that last year I blogged approximately once a month. What a horrible track record! To think that any of you even tune in to read me anymore is absolutely amazing. I wouldn’t have tuned in anymore. I get really annoyed when I go to my favorite blogs only to find the same damned post there. What a lazy blogger, I think. Why even have a blog if you’re not going to update it frequently? What’s the point? I have a million reasons why I posted so infrequently, none of which are any good. By the time I finish this Lenten blog-a-thon, I’ll have posted as many times as 2008 and 2009 combined. I think that we should find a way to all celebrate together….like maybe you all could send me $5 bucks. That would be a fun way to celebrate, don’tcha think?

Even when Lent is over this year I’m going to try desperately to continue to blog everyday. I’m one of those people who need structure in order to feel successful (it probably isn’t good that freelancing is rather loosey-goosey) but I have to say that the pressure I’ve received from neighbors and friends to keep my posts updated (read Jim and Clara), as well as the feedback from many of you who are reading, encourages me to blog daily. And while I understand that leaving comments takes a bit more of your time, I don't care. Get off your butt and dink in a couple of letters, the secret code, and hit "post comment." We’re a community you and me, and I like to see discourse on the comment section. Feel free to tell me what you think, good or bad, and comments or suggestions. I may be mocking you or giving you the veritable “finger” while I read your comments in my living room, but give them to me anyway. And here's a shout out to my friends who have and do post comments on the blogs. Thank you thank you!