I’m ALIVE…….

Oh dear readers, if you still exist! I am indeed alive and well, and knocking items off the 40×40 list like a CHAMP. Which would make sense why I haven’t posted in oh, four months, right? On account of all the busy, right??? (Work with me, people).

Proof:

1. Drop 30 pounds- and maintain! I’m down 22 and would be thrilled to keep on with it….say it with me a la Tony Little…..you can dooooo eeeeeet! Progress is slow! Aghh!!
2. Publish something, a poem, short story, something. – DONE.
3. Debunk the house- aim to live simply – DONE
4. Take kids on a dream vacation – DONE! Carribbean Cruise!
5. Catch an NFL game – (NEARLY DONE – Broncos v. Raiders in Sept!)
6. Attend ComicCon- IN COSTUME (Oh dear.  Wonder Woman? Storm? Elastigirl??? How to choose?!?!?) Sadly this did not happen. I wish!!
7. Take the fam to the Renaissance Festival – Document every single spectacular moment of people watching. – NEAR DONE- Happening next weekend!
8. Get a group together to see a drive-in movie. – NOT yet, soon.
9. Go hiking. Not walking in the mountains for 20 minutes, but actual HIKING. – DONE
10. Complete the C25K program – Alas, a classic case of ambition turned to slack. I have discovered, I hate running. Ah well.
11. Actually RUN a 5k – HAHAHA See previous!
12. Bake a Guiness Chocolate cake – Pending, pending!
13. Do yoga without whining and/or cussing out the instructor (I admittedly suck at yoga. So much I dislike it, but I do recognize there are benefits so….). Done. Did not cuss. Barely whined.
14. Travel a bit. DONE
15. Stick my toes in the ocean. DONE – Isla Roatan, Honduras
16. Take a photography class- Don’t know if this is going to happen– camera is on the fritz. May sub in.
17. Sleep under the stars (even if just for awhile). Scheduled.
18. Design/create something beautiful. DONE
19. Get a tattoo. Small one.  (Yikes. Maybe this one, maybe not. I promise to sub in an alternate list item should I chicken out). ALTERNATE LIST ITEM: Take The Teens to see Cirque du Soleil show!
20. Plant, and not kill, a small container garden (Oh this is big. I kinda kill all green things. Wish me luck.) FAIL. And it wasn’t even a container garden, it was just a mere orchid. Dead as a doornail. Sorry plants!
21. Go to a roller derby match. This has not happened yet! Need to find a local source!!
22. Frame all of my favorite photos- create a gallery of them in my home. Partially done.
23. Take a fun cooking class. This might be on the horizon:)
24. Knit a scarf. All the way. LOL. Not even close.
25. Compile all of the family recipes into a book. Nope. I am afraid I am not going to meet “deadline” on this. Aiming for Christmas….
26. Grow and make my own mint tea. Hmm. See note about killing orchid.
27. Travel out of the US with my daughters. DONE!
28. Get dressed up and take my family out for a super fancy dinner. DONE!
29. Read the Bible. Some reading has been accomplished! I think the whole book is a bit of a task. It requires more attention and time….but I will say, I love the Book of Psalms. All of the beloveds made ME feel beloved.
30. Spend a weekend at a bed and breakfast. Not yet…..
31. Go fishing. Need to plan this….
32. Have a photo shoot w. Play the Pin Up at Tahlulah. Not in the budget just yet. Bumping to next year.
33. Raise a puppy (The pup arrives in 5 weeks- a sweet bulldog we plan to name Lola. SUPER excited!) LOLA is a LOVE!! She just turned a year. Can’t even stand how awesome she is.
34. Take a professional family photo. DONE!
35. Ride a rollercoaster with my daughters. DONE. I screamed the whole time. So much fun~!
36. Learn to stop thinking/talking long enough to meditate (Admittedly, this will be hard. I can never turn off the brain. People accuse me of not being able to lighten up sometimes…..) Mostly accomplished!
37. Renew my faith (I used to be so focused, and somehow, life has gotten in the way of my spirituality as an every day awareness. I think this renewal will feel like going home…), Happily in progress.
38. Do something to help via charity or community service. DONE
39. Visit the Grand Canyon (Road trip!!!) Scheduled for end of August!
40. Have a HUGE “I’m turning 40” birthday bash- and launch an even bigger 50×50….. Stay tuned……

Observation: The best thing about having a 40×40 list, or a ANYTHING list, is the fact that its YOUR list. Own it, be flexible, stay open. Good things end up happening. 🙂

Oh, and I’ll try and post more often….. promise!!

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Behold! Two delicious little musical morsels, and a little something that makes me giggle.

1. Kimbra, who is all kinds of quirky wierdness:

2. This, off The Black Keys cd El Camino, that I just purchased and do so adore. The fam and I have been quite the groovy jammers on the way to school, not kidding.

Side note: The title of this cd SO reminds me of a scene in The Mexican, with Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. This cracks me up! EL CAMINO!

 

Good news

1. OK- a few months ago I started thinking about opening up my own advertising and design business…nothing fancy, most def a mom and pop outfit, but something to keep me creative and learning, and if I make a buck in the process, all the better. I’m happy to say it’s working out! I’ve already signed a couple of customers, and I love this new little feeling that maybe someday I could be my own boss. Who knew?! I’ve not set up a web page yet, but Peak View Advertising and Design, LLC is on the rise people!

2. I am SO HAPPY with this change in weather we’re having. I don’t know about you, but I come alive when the sun is shining and the weather is sweet (oh hi,  Bob Marley). I know it’s a bit of a tease, NM weather this time of year is fickle as hell. Gloriously sunny one week, and then cold and windy and bitter the next…but after a long winter I’ll take what sunshine I can find.

3.  I have this app on my phone called Soundhound, and I love that  if I hear a song that strikes my fancy, while shopping or driving around, I can find the title and artist in like a mere nanosecond or two.

My latest discoveries:

Orgone, Who Knows Who –I like the feel of this one 70’s funkish, great vocals…

Florence and the Machine- Shake it Out:  I love the lyric “I am done with my graceless heart, so tonight I’m gonna cut it out and then restart…”

The Features – That’s How It Starts

The Black Keys – I’ll Be Your Man

myhappymusic

1. I am sequestered today in a quiet office, supplied with plenty of coffee and girl scout cookies, left to design and write, and get some projects completed. For some reason, the best music for this, is plenty of standards (and a good mix of remakes) like these…

and of course, some of this:

I can’t say why it helps me zone in on being creative, or writing, but I’m thankful that it does. Mostly I think it just helps me be happy, and reminds me of watching I Love Lucy re-runs.  Have a happy day, dear internet.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

This is absolutely beautiful and brilliant, and if you have some time, experience this. As coincidence would have it, this animated short also just won an Oscar. Not that that matters- I think anyone, (but especially book lovers) could appreciate this. Just magical. Enjoy.

Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) award winning author/ illustrator William Joyce and Co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a hybrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and MGM Technicolor musicals. Morris Lessmore is old fashioned and cutting edge at the same time.
-IMDb

OK fine, I love you.

Vday.  Thoughts:

The Grinch, via Pinterest

1. I woke up this morning, feeling a lot like a love Grinch. I would not and could not be swayed to enjoy this V-day. As it happens I’m not alone in my grinchy sentiments,  but I will say that did talk to someone sweet today- and even though we were both NOT feeling vday, somehow, he helped this little heart  to warm just a bit. The thing is, I really do want to believe in the infinite possibility of love. Regardless of how much I grouse about the lack of options sometimes.

2. I admire the people who delight in love on today of all days. I really do. Reading posts, or talking to people who are all “Happy Valentine’s Day!” cheery, well, it made me smile a little. Major props to the people out there who go out of their way to cheer up people like me.  It also helped that they gave me candy, and as it happens, I have eaten an extraordinary amount of chocolate today. Don’t judge me.

3. While I have an affinity for the vintage valentine, I also do really dig these as well.  My love affair with letterpress and typography continues…

via Pinterest

…and on that note…… go get all lovey with someone, won’tcha? Happy V-day.

Wrap Up

via Pinterest

You guys, what a busy week. My wrap up, such as it is, is as follows:

1. I ran into someone awesome at work yesterday, who always jokes with me about “following my life” on Facebook, and is now stalking me as a result of this blog. And I am totally flattered! I had no idea he read me, so you know, happy coincidence! Turns out we have the same taste in music and he really dug the Grace Potter video I posted last week. So, Hammer, this one is for you.

2. Nerd alert. This weekend we will be at a MATH COUNTS competition, wherein Little Teen will stand second chair against the brilliant and brainy. I predict awesomeness.

3. Valentine’s Day is coming up. I’ll be honest, since I am single, I’m not a fan.  (Now, if I was otherwise engaged, I’d be all about it, I won’t lie). However, in the absence of a beau, I’ll be a good sport and get some cutesy cards for my sweet ones, and I of course won’t pass up the opportunity to sample a little dark chocolate, should some find its way to me. The Valentines will, of course, be vintage.

via various Pinterest

4. I love my friends. One in particular, Lisa, always has very interesting/funny/thought provoking posts, and today alerted me to the existence of a maple bacon bar with dark chocolate glaze and chile brown sugar at Whoos Donuts in Santa Fe. I’m positively intrigued and I think its quite possible that this should be sampled with some red wine. Epicurious, anyone? For my Santa Fe friends, and local followers, stay tuned for an official review.

5. One more video, which I admit to replaying at least 3 times while I was writing this post.

That’s all I’ve got.

FAIL

It would be a very accurate estimation to declare that:

1. This week kicked my ass (work + teens+ irritating people + long days + more WORK)

2. Fake NaBloPoMo = FAIL by Day 10. Honestly, I’m surprised I made it that far, and I totally admire those that do blog daily.  You guys rock.

However, I will be fair and say that since the NaBloPoMo was FAKE to begin with, not such a big fail.

I still posted more than I had lately, I’ll still post when I can, and it is what it is. It’s not like the internet was going to give me a prize, right?

Although…. if I was going to get a prize, from THE INTERNET, I’d have picked a copy of Jenny Lawson’s upcoming book “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened”.  Jenny is BRILLIANTLY funny and her blog, The Bloggess, is one of my favorites. Go pre-order her book on Amazon, I promise it will be the best decision you ever made. (Maybe not ever. But close, really close). Go now.

 

Insight from this little experiment: I’m good at getting all goal-y. I get excited at the notion of lists and the feeling of accomplishment when I check something off said list. This enthusiasm, intoxicating as it may be, is hard for me to sustain.  A good summation of this phenomena would be the post, “This Is Why I’ll Never Be An Adult” on Hyperbole and a Half, by another favorite blogger Allie Brosch. She nails it, perfectly.

Source: hyperboleandahalf.com. You have to read this post.

One more thing. Day 9’s post was brutally honest, and I am so grateful for the kindness and support of a lot of incredible people. THANK YOU for being so good to me. Much love.

Day 9

You guys. SUPER FUNKY today.

Not as in funky/odiferous (eu!) nor funkadelic (though the link below may suggest otherwise) but funky like down in a funk. I’ve no idea why, usually I am the happy sort, but today has been especially unfocused. Kinda sad, kinda, dare I say it, depressed.

Why do I hesitate when saying the D word. Why does it have such a negative association in my mind? Perfectly awesome people are depressed. They battle it and survive it and it gets better…..

I fully subscribe to being human. I know all days are not going to be sunny and happy and shiny.  It just happens to be a rare thing for me, and when that happens it seems more noticeable. And I feel more culpable. How dare I have an off day!

Reasons for said funk. (None of which may make any sense because I am going to be cryptic enough to respect the privacy of those involved).

1. I had a parent fail this weekend and today. Parent fails suck. I know the “perfect parent” does not exist, and I know my job is harder because I am usually both mom and dad to The Teens…but I hate when I disappoint. I want so much to give them everything and teach them everything and…just everything, and I failed this weekend and yesterday and today. DAMN. IT.

2. I am a sucky planner. And an even suckier follow through-er. ADD? Depression? Crippling case of procrastination that makes what I should do seem so overwhelming that I can’t do it? Yeah, that.

3. I keep saying I am going to get to the gym and I haven’t yet. What the hell am I waiting for.

4. I had an argument/conversation with someone, who did and didn’t do something, and who I have very complicated feelings for. This person could stand to live outside of his bubble and not be so damn selfish. I’m just sayin!

OK I’ll stop there. I will counter all four of those things with the fact that I have amazing friends and co-workers who “get it” and who are supportive and funny and help me feel like this too, shall pass. MAJOR thanks to my dear friends who suggested this book, I am hoping on it.

Anyway.

How about some music? I caught this, titled Gypsy Fade, by Galactic, while listening to Pandora this morning, and thought it was worth a share. Very funky/jazzy/almost reggaeish. Enjoy.

Fake NaBloPoMo Get Off Your Ass and Blog Day 9 Status:

whatever

Day 8

So how lame was Day 7? LAME huh? OK here’s what happened.

I’m lying in bed after a long day trip to visit family, taking everyone out to eat, sit and watch some NBA, and then drive two hours to get home. The teens have homework and Monday to get ready for, and I have my own things to take care of, and when I am just about to nod off, my head pops up off the pillow and I realize…… I’d forgotten to post, and now my lame ass fake NaBloPoMo is going to fail on DAY SEVEN. Seven! I panicked, I admit it.

So I hopped on the phone and uploaded a picture of my dog. She is of course, a lovely pooch, and really quite the apple of my eye, so I guess in some way, I can claim worthwhile post- for me. Not really for you.

So yeah, sorry about that.

Today though is Day 8, and I have for you….musings on Gregory Maguire’s latest novel, Out of Oz. First let me say that Maguire is one of my favorite writers. He is lyrical, and witty and brilliant, and I love a writer who can make the non-sensical seem down right intelligent by virtue of the words that fall out of his brain and into his stories.

All that being said, this book- which is the latest in the Wicked series, has me saying WTF, like, a LOT. I remember plenty from the last three books, yet somehow I feel like I am in a whole different world in this book and it’s quite disconcerting. Maybe that was the point, given the subject matter. Anyway, I’m near halfway through…I’ll keep you posted.

I’m also reading (guilty pleasure) book 12 in the Janet Evanovich Plum series. These reads are easy and funny in a literal LOL way, and require little to no brain power. which, sometimes, totally fits the bill. A very dear friend sent them to me, practically the whole series, and I have decided that my favorite way to read a series is to have all of them at my disposal, so I can binge read to my hearts content.

Yes, I am a nerd, now that you mention it. 🙂 What do YOU read? Any recommendations?

P.S. Crap. Part of posting is actually hitting the PUBLISH button. So this was technically written on the 8th day but posted on the 9th day. Ya’ll better still give me credit, ’cause I’m callin it good. 😉

Fake NaBloPoMo Get Off Your Ass and Blog Day 8 Status:

Whoopsie!