Weekending

This weekend has gone by so fast, it's crazy. Normally I feel like weekends stretch on and on and I'm always ready to go back to a routine by the time Sunday rolls around, but this weekend has been full and fun and I think today will be a good rest day before jumping back into the daily grind. Not that the daily grind is bad - I love every day of my life! Even the Mondays (which I get to spend with my Abster!) :)

Friday I had planned to go up to D.C. with Ruth, to go ice-skating for her birthday, but the forecast called for rain AND snow, so we decided to reschedule. Not only did I want to slog through D.C. in precipitation of any kind, I also didn't want to have to drive to and from the metro station in it. It ended up being a good decision because it did indeed both snow and rain. Instead, I spent the day reading (mostly The Dark Tower - no, not the Stephen King novel lol! - but also some of my new books), listing stuff on Etsy, and putting some more stitches into the Khy's birthday sweater, AKA "The Ugliest Sweater In The World." I told Robin that she had to promise to pull it out when I had my own babies so we could laugh about it together, and she agreed. Seriously, I am following the pattern exactly, and the individual stitches look nice, but somehow the whole thing just looks hideously ugly. Oh, well. Khy will get a good laugh at his Auntie Ra-Ra someday. :) We had a family birthday celebration that evening with my grandparents.

Yesterday was full and fun! We had a Father-Daughter banquet at church Saturday morning - all four of my sisters and I went with my dad, who also accompanied two gals from church who don't have a father figure in their daily lives (my dad is awesome like that :)). So. Much. Fun. I was sharing beforehand with the BFF that I was a little nervous about the whole thing, because those events can go sappy/cheesy/awkward really easily, but it was fun and there was lots of good stuff to think about, and laughter, and good food.

I did some deep cleaning and organizing in my room in the afternoon - all but vacuuming, I truly hate to vacuum! - then had a good chat over the phone with Robin while chilling for a bit. Then Maggie and I headed out to Tearrific to use the free wi-fi to download the latest episode of Sanctuary, drink some green tea, and chat.

We ran into the grocery store on the way home, where we picked up (among other things!) the latest issue of Everyday with Rachel Ray. I lovelovelove this magazine (there was a coupon inside for a year's subscription for $12, down from the regular price of $39.99, and Maggie and I decided to split the cost and just go ahead and subscribe. We love it that much). This is why: not only are there awesome recipes and health tips, but everydayish tips like this one: When your eyeshadow (the kind in a compact) shatters and goes everywhere, dribble a little rubbing alcohol on it until it forms a paste, use a spoon to smooth it back into the compact, and let it dry. Wish I'd bought this a week earlier as I just threw out several of my fav eyeshadow colors because they'd powdered/cracked and were all over the inside of my purse. :(

We came home to watch episodes of Unnatural History on my laptop curled up on my bed. :) I love cozy nights in!

What I love about the weekends (in no particular order):

• Sleeping in - duh! :)
• Going to bed early but taking your time falling asleep by reading, listening to music, writing, or just relaxing.
• Hanging out with family.
• Special events!
• Cooking (and not having to plan meals in advance)
• Staying in PJ's all day (Abby and I are very alike, lol)
• Getting ready for a brand new week - getting everything organized and clean to hit the new week running!

New Venture!

So... I'm on Etsy! :)

Right now I only have two listings, but there will be more, I promise. But in the meantime, check out my shop!

Different Views

I realized this week that there's a fundamental difference between the way I view snow, and the way my family and most of my friends view snow.

When the mere mention of "snow" appears in the news, images like this pop into my loved one's heads, making their hearts skip with anticipation:


When I hear "snow," my heart skips, too, but in terror, because THESE are automatically the first images I see in my head:

Yes, I realize I'm a grinch. That doesn't make the idea of driving in the snow any less terrifying.

When I was a kid, I loved snow. I also didn't have to drive. The more I think about it, the more I realize that snow is really a kid thing - no responsibilities, nowhere to go, nothing more pressing than sledding to attend to. :)

Once you have places you have to go, and people that are counting on you, snow just becomes an obstacle. *sigh* Don'tcha hate growing up?

More Odds and Ends

I swear I'm going to get back into writing topical posts, lol!

Yoga is going great - in fact, my classes have become the highlight of my week! Last night we worked on "chaturanga", the "four limbed staff" pose. We've been doing the "knees chest chin" pose ever since class one, so this was the next step. We used straps tied in a loop around our elbows to help stabilize us - this was only partially effective. :) About two-thirds of us thought we were doing it exactly the way the instructor was, then fell flat on our faces on the mats. There was lots of laughter and general good spirits and most of us (myself included, I'm pleased to say) figured it out in the end. I will say - waaay harder than it looks! :) My arms aren't terrible today, but I'm definitely feeling them. Looking forward to class tomorrow - yesterday was more challenging that it has been and I loved it!

As per my resolution (that I've been really slow in implementing) I went out today (my "off" day) to jog. I haven't jogged or walked faithfully since before the New Year, but let me say - I can definitely tell that yoga is working. Jogging - while I still think it's boring - was sooo much easier today, after three weeks of yoga but no jogging, than it was three weeks ago when I attempted it (before taking any yoga classes).

Abby and I picked up Allen, Lizzie, and Ruth today and we went to the indoor playground, but we took a quick stop in at the thrift store first. :) Not a great deal day - everything was sooo expensive, though I did see an aerobic step for $8 I'm wishing I'd gotten - but I did find a good stack of books (and at my "home educator" rate of ten cents per book, they're an even better deal!). Another copy of "The Sound and the Fury" (cuz mine is pretty beat up) (even though I don't love Falkner, I feel that as a self-respecting English major I should own his favorite work); Midwives (I know nothing about this book but flipped it open and it seemed interesting); 40 Ways To Raise A Non-Racist Child (I can't wait to dig into this one! Racism is so close to my heart!); Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman (not sure if this is FOR beautiful women or to MAKE you a beautiful woman, lol); and Harvest The Fire (again, I know nothing about this book except it's scifi and old. Which generally translates to "good read").

I also got a book on UFO's from a Christian perspective by an author I heard in person many years ago. In fact, a non-Christian friend came to hear him with me, and she was so convicted she came back on Sunday and went forward! :) I gave the book to Anna since we'd been discussing this topic, but I can't wait to reread it.

I've been crafting a bunch lately... I'm not sure what the motivation is, except that I recently added a lot of blogs to my reading list that are written by crafty folks. Monkey see, monkey do, I guess. :)

I love zippers - yes, I'm just a little obsessed, lol - so I was excited to see this tutorial on how to make a "daylily" zipper flower. I didn't like her design perfectly, so I altered it a little, but it turns out I don't like this one perfectly, either. Gonna keep trying, but I'm gonna get some zippers from the thrift store to practice on. :)

Ruth is turning 11 tomorrow... my "real gift" is a day in D.C. ice-skating at the sculture gardens, but I wanted something I could unwrap that was sort of related. I found this easy hat tutorial - six seams in all! I love it! - and made a scarf/hat set for her. The only alteration I made was to make the bottom band a little wider, and I added a pompom to the top. Isn't it cute? I won't say this pattern is completely foolproof, but I will say you have to be a seasoned, at least semi-professional fool (like me, lol) to goof it up.

My other pressing project - Khy's birthday sweater - is coming along nicely. I finished the back over the weekend and started/finished the first front panel today. When finished, it'll be a hoodie-style cotton sweater for my little guy. :) Two pieces down, four pieces (another front panel, two sleeves, and a hood) to go!

And finally - I've had these purses sitting at the end of my bed ever since my last closet-clean out. Would anybody like them? They're quite cute and in good condition and I'm loathe to throw them out, but so far everybody I've asked is cleaning out their own closets. If you'd like one or all of them, let me know.

The first is a beautiful green St. John's Bay hobo with a buckle embellishment - I got lots of compliments on it the few times I used it, but it's just too small for my life, lol - the second is a silver clutch-size bag from Claire's with a sparkly "S" monogram, and the third is a cosmetic case with a nice looking brown print. They're all looking for good homes. Handbags are like puppies. :)

If you're local, let me know what you want and I'll bring it to you the next time I see you. If you're a blogosphere friend, drop me a line and we'll work something out.

Literary Criticism

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile... I'll try to do better this week!

In the meantime, chew on this choice piece of literary criticism/refutation, if you wish. I enjoyed it immensely (mostly, I'll allow, because it deals with one of my favorite authors), but then again I always find a good piece of literary criticism fun to read.

I havem't read Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, but I am now interested in doing so, as I've had several people ask me about it. Time to hit the library! :)

Craftiness, UFO's, And Natural Cosmetics (Oh My!)

There's been lots of craftiness going on at my house lately... Some members of my family are doing a "UFO" project (don't worry, we haven't all become extraterrestrial watchers... it stands for "Unfinished Objects"). I thought, not being a quilter or much of a crafter or a sewer, that this wouldn't affect me much... then I went to clean out my crochet bin. Ouch! I've decided to buckle down and get it all organized, including making a list, since I tend to go the the store saying glibly that I'm going to pick up yarn "for a weekend project" and then choke when I reach the yarn wall. How much material did I need? What color? What content? EEK! I usually come home with nothing (which is better than some folks whose blogs I read who come home with the entire store, I suppose, lol).

I decided to get in some practice AND get some extra room by working up all the yarn I'm not in love with - especially cotton. I HATE cotton! Yes, it's nice for anything skin-related, and yes, I too am drawn in by the idea of organic, natural yarn, but it's a pain to work up and my stitches never look as nice. I'm not sure why this is. I just know I don't like it. I have one ball of cotton waiting to be finished into a doily (yes, the doily is actually started!) but I also had half a ball of blue and an absolute smidgen of cream. So I decided to turn them into soap holders.

I've been meaning to do this for awhile as my sisters went on a soap making spree just before the holidays. Most of their creations turned out beautifully, but others - not so much. And the ones that didn't turn out so well are, of course, the ones that are hanging around our bathroom since they weren't given away as gifts. One in particular has been especially persistent - I call it the Dead Sea Eel Soap, because I swear as though it looks like they chopped up a pile of dead sea eels and covered them in soap. And as people have used the soap (NOT ME! I almost screamed when I stepped into the bathtub and saw it!) the dead sea eels are no longer covered in soap and have started to pull away from each other. Not pretty. I'd post a picture, except that I begged and pleaded Ruth to take it away and she did. However, I thought a nice soap-holder would solve the problem. I used this pattern - very easy, I worked the first one up in under an hour and did the other one in twenty minutes (I made one for Maggie, too).



If you can't see from the picture, this pattern makes a cute little drawstring sack that you slip your soap into. You can use it just like a bath pouf, the cotton works up a nice lather, then rinse and hang it from the faucet to dry. And I don't have to look at the dead sea eels!

Wouldn't this make a cute gift with some nice soap? :)

This wasn't my first attempt to use up this cotton usefully. I also made the Short Row Sweetie Dishcloth from the February edition of Crochet World Magazine. This was cute but monotonous to make. I'm still not sure how I feel about round dishclothes. :) It's like when Wawa started selling square sausages - it makes you rethink the shape of the world.

Love the little loop on top - so nice for hanging!

Aren't my stitches nice?

Anyways, I have a few projects to finish off before I start a whole slew of new ones - so excited!

I have been on a shampoo quest for the last year or so. You heard me - a shampoo quest. I have very fine combination hair, which means that anything that keeps my scalp from being a greasy slicked down mess tends to dry out the length of my hair, resulting in frizz or straw. And vice versa - nice glossy length means a greasy scalp. I've sort of coped by mixing and matching products - I usually use one type of shampoo and another conditioner. And I still have to wash my hair at least every other day, and if I don't wash it every day I have to wear a headband or clip the second day to keep my roots from being disgusting.

A friend from church gave me a bottle of this organic, all natural shampoo and I tried it yesterday:

I was kind of dubious, since I tend to think that "all natural" also means "less effective"... I know, I know, don't get me started... but I totally love this shampoo so far. The scent is amazing, it washes nicely, and I woke up this morning and my hair was shiny for the first time in a really long time. So far my scalp is handling it well, too! This really is all natural shampoo - no chemicals or unpronounceables on the ingredients list. Maggie has warned me she's going to borrow it and try it for herself and probably try to make her own. :)

Mostly by accident, I've been steadily going more natural this year. I went sulfate-free after L'Oreal came out with their Everstrong line, since another blogger with similar hair recommended it.

This has definitely reduced the damage factor of my hair, but still leaves my scalp a bit greasy. I like it better than the shampoo I had been using, but I'm still not 100% happy withit.

The one product I AM 100% in love with is the Overnight Hair Repair Treatment from the same line. Holy Cow! I love this stuff. :) At night before I go to bed (if my hair is dry - haven't used it damp or wet) I pump one pump into my hand, work it through, and go to bed. I definitely feel the difference in the morning, and it doesn't leave my hair greasy or matted. During the day, if my hair is a bit dry or even crazy-straw-stiff, I do the same thing and in seconds, it's tamed.

Maggie walked in a few days ago, sighed, and said "My hair is crazy! I can't get it to do anything!" I handed her the bottle, told her how to apply it, a minute later she said, "What in the world WAS that?" :)

DIY Easy Yoga Bag

After successfully completing my first yoga class, I decided to celebrate by crafting myself a much-needed yoga mat tote (because even though I scoffed at these previously, a yoga mat really truly doesn't fit well into traditional bags, and if you try to carry it in your arm it unrolls, slides out of a roll, etc. You really do need a bag). I looked online and in stores for one but nothing really struck me - not even on Etsy, which is unusual! I figured I'd make my own.

I initially went into JoAnn's looking for some owl-print material (because what could be more adorable than an owl-print yoga bag?) but the only owl prints I could find were fleece and flannel, which I passed over because both tend to attract dirt and dust, and I know my bag will be spending most of it's time on the floor. Once I had abandoned the owl concept, it took me forever to find something I liked, but I finally found some pretty green leaf-print material with sparkles. And it was 60% off. :)

I went over to find some canvas strap that would work for a handle, and debated between a linen-cream color and brown until I spied some orange canvas strap that matched my mat perfectly. I like the pop of color against the green, and I love the fact that the strap makes the bag coordinate with the mat and my new Camelbak water bottle (why is it that matching items feel more luxurious?).

I bought a yard of the material and a yard of canvas strap and brought it home to play.

Isn't the material pretty?

I started by cutting out a circle for the bottom using an old Tofutti container as a pattern (I believe it had a diameter of 4.5"). Then I measured out a rectangle of material 1" longer on both sides than my bag, and wide enough to wrap around my bag. My dad determined (via some mathematical formula that I missed, as I stuck my fingers in my ears and hummed loudly during the math) that the ideal width for this rectangle, based on my 4.5" circle, was 13 1/8" (these measurements allow for a 1/4 seam allowance).

I sewed the rectangle in half, creating a tube.

Then I sewed on the bottom circle. This is the trickiest part! If you make it past this step, you're home free. :) I marked the four corners of the circle, then the four "corners" of the tube, pinned them together, and sewed slowly. I increased my stitch length a bit the first time around, to make for easier ripping if I goofed it, but it turned out perfectly, so I went over it again with a regular stitch length.

Voila!

I debated about how to finish the top... I was initially thinking a ribbon-drawstring finish, but I didn't like the idea of ribbon after seeing how "sporty" the bag looked. I ended up giving it an elasticized "cuff" on the top, loose enough so that the mat shows through a bit, but not enough that the mat would fall out if I picked it up the wrong way.

I winged it on the handles - I didn't measure, just attached them where it seemed natural and sewed over them like crazy with matching thread. :)

So pretty!

I had some material left over (really, a LOT of material!) so I made a padded sleeve for my Camelbak, and a velco strap to attach it to my new bag.

My new set! :)

Of course, now that I see how well this turned out, I'm determined to have an owl-print yoga bag. :) I checked over at Fabric.com to see if they had any owl material and was delighted to discover they have a whole nest full! So far I'm leaning towards one of these three: this adorable print with owls, moons, and stars (it's like a mashup of all my favorite things!); this fun black and white print with skinny owls, fat owls, stuffy owls, funny owls, etc; and this fun artsy-crafty looking owl print. Kind of leaning towards the black and white print just because it's a heavier material, but I'm thinking I could always quilt the lighter prints to make a heftier print.

Decisions, decisions...

Yoga Update

I promised in my last post to do a review of my new Yoga class that started Wednesday.

I LOVE IT!!!

I was pretty sure I would, but it was even better than I expected it to be. I chose to start off my fitness kick with a yoga class instead of, say, a spinning or aerobics class for a couple of reasons (not sure which was more important to me, they're all kind of tied together):

• Yoga is low-impact, which is good for people with weird knees, backs, and hips (like me, lol)


• Yoga fosters a mind-body connection, a "mindfulness", that I was hoping would spill over into other areas of my life, so that even when I wasn't actively doing yoga, I would still be reaping the benefits


• Yoga fosters a positive sense of self... The emphasis is on what your body CAN do, not what it CAN'T do. If you can't do a certain pose, you can modify it, and that's accepted and encouraged and not seen as a failure, but as a baby step. It doesn't matter if you're fat and round and lumpy like me, :) or slim and strong like the instructor, you can both celebrate in your success.

Despite these hopes and beliefs, it was scary to go to my first class. :) I was totally plagued by the little ANTS in the back of my head that were telling me that I wouldn't be able to keep up, that all my classmates would be skinny, that the instructor would probably not be thrilled to have an overweight person in her class... I kept shutting them down but I was still nervous when I walked in... and then I walked in.

The instructor was amazing - beautiful, but beautiful in a inner glow way rather than a created image. She actually looks almost exactly like Genevieve from Trading Spaces (does anyone remember that show?) and has that same positive full-of-life vibe. There are twelve of us in the class, all women, and we're all different shapes, sizes, and ability levels (most of the ladies have taken the class with this instructor before) - there is no more fun way to practice than with a bunch of ladies who are all in it together, lol! :)

We started off in the Easy pose to practice deep breathing and being quiet. This may be my single most favorite aspect of yoga - how often do we practice being quiet? We should! Even God says "Be still, and know that I am God."

I love the quality of self-awareness that this kind of practice builds. Self-examination is a good thing! One of the things that the instructor asked us while we were breathing was to examine how we were feeling at that moment - energized, tired? I realized that I did feel tired (it had been a long day, lol), but almost immediately I had a "muscle memory" of feeling this way when I used to work overnight, of getting out of bed at 9 or 10 PM and feeling exhausted, but I always made it through the night. When I remembered that, I realized that I am usually capable of more than I think I am - times when I've thought, "I absolutely can't do any more, stay awake any longer, walk any farther, type any more words on this essay, work one more math problem," etc, but when it came down to it, enough strength to finish what needed to be done was always there for me ("I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"). It was a really encouraging thought and one that stayed with me throughout the workout!

At another point in the workout, the instructor called out that we should notice some aspect of our bodies at that moment (the way our legs supported us, I think it might have been? I noticed at that point but have forgotten, lol) and how amazing our bodies are. Immediately the verse "I am fearfully and wonderfully made" flashed into my mind. Our bodies ARE pretty amazing creations!

I know that many Christians feel uncomfortable with Yoga because of the aspect of meditation, etc, but I was pleasantly surprised at how neutral this class was (I'm sure there are other instructors/classes that are not this way, but this was my experience). I think that a lot of the experience depends on what you take in with you, so to speak. If you mind is empty, you're probably going to end up filling it with empty mantras like "You are a powerful and amazing being." :) On the other hand, if you're filled with Scripture you're going to see how this all relates to Biblical truths, and worship the Creator, not his creation.

The workout lasted for about an hour, then we ended in a corpse pose to finish with more deep breathing.

The most awesome part is that it really did spill over into the next day and even today. Yesterday I woke up feeling energetic, I swear it's due to the yoga because I am not a morning person! And all day I kept that feeling of mindfulness, especially in relation to food - I would pick up a piece of food and think immediately, is this to solve hunger or something else? Is this going to nourish my body? How is it going to make me feel in twenty minutes, an hour, three hours?

In short - I'm excited about making this part of my routine! Since Monday is a holiday, I have to wait a week before I get to go again, but after that it'll be twice a week, with hopefully some cardio on the other days (jogging - I'm determined to make it to a 5K by June!).

Related: I have a DIY yoga-bag post for later... check back to see the adorable one I made! :)

Rambling

I've sat down at least three times in the last week to try to write a blog post, and so far I've yielded nothing worth sharing. I want to get more into doing topical posts, not just daily slice-of-life posts, but apparently I'm gonna have to ease into blogging again with ramblings, since I'm in total writer's block. It's twice as hard to start again after a break than it is to keep going!

Well... to start... can you tell what's on my mind?

Getting fit in 2011! This is my new yoga mat (I'm so thrilled it's orange - what a great inspiring color!) and Camelbak water bottle (also orange). My first beginner class is tonight - I'm super excited (and a little nervous - never done anything like this before!). I'll report on how it goes tomorrow.

While my best friend was here, we took our sisters and her son up to Washington D.C. to see the sights, walk around the city, and eat some good food. I still need to sort and label the pictures and get them up into an online album, but here are some of the highlights.

My BFF and my sister Maggie on the metro on our way into the city. We thought we'd use the metro a lot more on our trip but ended up using it only to get in and out of the city and walked the rest of the way. It was a ton of fun but my feet were really sore that night! :)

Khy seemed pretty unimpressed by the whole trip, but he was an angel. He barely fussed and sat through dinner at the restaurant like a little gentleman. :)

We swung by the Sculpture Garden - one of my fav places in D.C.! - to see the winter ice-skating rink. I'll be taking my sister Ruth there for her birthday next week - can't wait! She loves D.C. and the art gallery as much as I do, and she's been wanting to try ice skating all winter.

That's pretty much all that's been going on lately... it's been pretty quiet and boring since BFF and Khy went home. Abby has joined me in missing them - she told her daddy last night that she missed Khy and his mommy. :) I am looking forward to seeing them again, hopefully soon!

Happy New Year!

Here's to a great 2011, everybody! I enjoyed ringing in the new year at home with my family, some friends from church, and my BFF and her boy!

The very first picture of the year.

I'm always interested in people's New Year resolutions. I updated my list at 43 Things last week, weeded out some goals that sounded good last year but don't seem so important this year, added some new goals that I thought I'd NEVER reach last year but feel totally attainable now, etc. I realize that I won't accomplish everything this year, but I keep the list around to keep me on track. I think I've narrowed down my top ten resolutions for 2011.

1) Lost the weight. I'm so excited about this one! Weight Watchers has pretty much snuck into my life and even in the last three weeks, when I haven't been officially "on plan" and I've been indulging a lot in holiday treats, I still haven't gained. Super exciting! As much as I hatehateHATE the thought of Robin and Khy leaving next week, I know the first thing I'll do is stock the fridge with healthy food and go back on plan and start losing in earnest again. And I'm excited about the process and being in the process again.

2) Run a 5K this summer. I am so super psyched about this goal. I guess I should state that while my goal is obviously to run a 5K, I'll settle for finishing a 5K at any speed. My dad has agreed to run with me as a birthday present, and I think this will provide a nice running partner, plus healthy competition and inspiration. Just today he mentioned, "I'm going to go downstairs today and set up the treadmill" and I was shocked at how excited this made me. :) I signed up for the "couch to 5K" program, and got a free account at a running website, so I'm all set to start!
3) Take a yoga class. This has been on my list for a long, long time and I've been holding back from fear of new things, fear of looking stupid, body shame, etc. But I have this new huge amount of respect for my body these days, and for myself, and the community college just opened a new fitness center with a 17-session beginner yoga class, and my dad offered to payfor it as a Christmas gift, and I'm going for it! :) Now time to pick out a pretty yoga mat (you knew shopping was going to enter into the equation soon, didn't you?).

4) Spend more time/form stronger bonds with the kids. I am realizing these days how quickly my family is about to change. I'm anxious to start feathering my own nest, Maggie has experienced tremendous progress with her physical issues in the last year and is eager to get her hands back in total working order and get on with her adventures, Anna is starting to pursue things that will take her away, starting with a 6-week missions trip to south Asia this summer, and I look at the twins and Ruth and think, "Eek! They're becoming their own people!" I want to be a force of affirmation in their lives, and my time to be an influence in their lives is quickly running out. God has been really poured grace into my life this year, and now I want to be able to share that with my siblings.

5 & 6) Learn to manage my time and money better. Time is precious, time is money, money is important, and I want to learn to manage it all better.

7) Read through my Bible this year. I may turn this into a 2-year goal - I've been reading the blogs of other folks doing this and they agree that while it is possible to do it in two years, you get more out of it if you take 2 years. I'm using this plan from EWordToday which takes me through the New Testament then the Old (I might switch to the concurrent New/Old Testament plan - we'll see).

8) Post to my blog twice a week - This was one of my top resolutions last year and I think I've done pretty well on it! This is really the only way I'm using my writing skills these days and it's a self-respect thing to make time for it in my life.

9) Read the 100 Greatest Books. :)

10) Take time to live in the moment - this is really the only non-quantifiable goal in my list, but it's the one I've been working on in my life lately. Take time to realize that life is the here and now and that if you keep waiting for life to begin, then it'll be over before it's started. :)