33 for 33...

In no particular order:

* Visit Yosemite
* Get a new (faster, better, awesome-r) bike
* Learn Calculus--just kidding
* Make bagels or soft pretzels from scratch
* Get my passport stamped (Spain 2011!)
* Practice my very rusty Spanish in time for trip to Spain
* Make pasta from scratch
* Read some Jane Austen (besides the short stories I read in college)
* Pay down my student loans
* Go to therapy
* Find a cheap yoga class
* See a movie at the indie movie theater in Menlo Park
* Paint the living/dining room
* Try container gardening again
* Prepare a Thanksgiving dinner with brand new recipes
* Re-evaluate my stuff and sell/donate/toss what I no longer *really* need
* Work on my tennis game and improve my forehand
* Make potstickers
* Have family portrait taken with my in-laws
* Print and frame wedding photos
* Try to read one new book per month
* Update resume
* Take at least 2 weekend trips with the Tall Man and the dog (maybe Tahoe?)
* Make a cheesecake of any kind (I bake all the time and yet I never make cheesecake)
* Get a massage
* Make better friends with my body
* Trip to Vegas with my best girlfriends
* Go on a 20 mi. bike ride in Monterey
* Get through another election season without losing my sanity
* Take a cooking/baking class
* Adopt a second dog (Esme needs a playmate)
* See a Broadway show/play/symphony
* Read at least 2 Karen Armstrong books
* Find a new fitness challenge unrelated to tennis, kettlebells, biking or yoga

Well, that seems pretty ambitious. Guess I better get started; only 11 months left to go!

Well, it's October...

Thank goodness. As previously mentioned, September is historically a bad month. I don't know why September out of the other 11 months is usually the bad one but it is. Sigh...

There have been family issues and an untimely death in the family that left us all shocked and devastated. Training at work left me feeling overwhelmed. I was working 6 days a week for a few weeks and I was just dog tired. I recognize that life is filled with good times and bad (although hopefully mostly good times) but there seems to be a critical mass of it in September. And once again it left me unwilling to engage in any birthday celebrations much to my husband's disappointment. Who feels like celebrating when it feels like Life has handed you a shit sandwich in lieu of birthday cake?

But, as I mentioned, it is October and things are better although my family continues to grieve and me with them. Training is officially over and I have dropped to part-time at the blood center (I'm a 50% employee but training was full-time) giving me a little time to catch up on some life maintenance. We have decided not to buy a house in the forseeable future and instead are putting some effort into making the house we rent more home-like and less oh-we're-just-renting-and-not-going-to-settle-here. I've purchased some paint samples and Michael and I are trying to pick which color (or colors) we prefer. I think I'm leaning toward 2 colors right now: Holmes Cream and Toasting Tan. The colors look really pink online but I assure you we have not picked anything even remotely pink. We ordered a beautiful sectional sofa (except a bit smaller than this and it's a left arm chaise not right arm; also not nearly as expensive--think big sale) and Michael has ideas for building a shelving unit to go around our TV on top of the ship case his dad made. With any luck we'll have our new couch by the time my in-laws arrive at the end of December.

So, things are looking up. Coming soon, a 33 for 33 list.