I don’t know who’s idea it was to bring back leggings. They are fine if you are wearing them under a dress to be less revealing, or to work out in, or even under a very long shirt…preferably one that covers your rear end. However, they are NOT attractive on anyone, over the age of seven, when they are worn as pants. Especially not with a shirt that barely comes to the waistline, and certainly not if you weigh more than a stick figure.
10 Things to do before I turn 30
As part of my path to finding more happiness in my life, I have decided to make a list of the things I would like to accomplish over the next year and a half or so, before I turn 30. I figure that if I write it down it will be easier to plan, and I will be more likely to get things done. So, here it goes:
1. Find a new job – I am currently working a low level customer service position for a mid-sized nonprofit. I love my employer, they do wonderful things for the community, but I am stuck in a position that does not utilize my experience. When I move on, I would like to be in a position that is a bit more fulfilling, where I feel like I am making a difference to the organization and the community. It would also me nice to not work directly with the public and all of the CRAZY that comes with it.
2. Start a workout routine – Exercise keeps you healthy, gives you energy, improves your mood, and helps you maintain a healthy weight. Who can argue with that? I want to be more regular with my yoga and running, and be more open to new experiences. My goal, as put by Lululemon, is to sweat at least once a day.
3. Finish grad school – As much as I love learning and being a part of the education system, it would be nice to read a book that isn’t assigned, and have a few moments to myself, where I am not having to think about public policy, management strategies, or even what is going on in the rest of the world. While these are all important things, I would like to focus on my family and my life. I may not quite make this one before my 30th, but it is worth a try.
4. Spend more quality time with my son – It seems like only yesterday that my son was a tiny infant. Fast forward to today, he is almost 4 and a half! I was lucky to be able to spend his first 18 months at home with him. Since then however, I have either been going through surgery or chemo, or working full-time. More recently, over the past year, I have also been in graduate school two nights a week and with a lot of time spent at the library or holed up in my room studying. Needless to say, I am missing precious moments with him during the short time he will want me around. All too soon he will be a teenager and mommy will no longer be his “best friend”.
5. Pay more attention to my hubby – I love my husband dearly, and have put him through hell. After a mere 8 months married, we were pregnant. It was not a pleasant pregnancy. Unbeknownst to me, I simultaneously had two parasites sucking the life out of me – my darling child, whom I love unconditionally, and cancer. The later did not come to light until just before my sons second birthday. After my son was born, there was the period of sleepless nights, endless diaper changes, nursing, and constant attention paid to the new life in our home. This was followed by health issues with my son, who at 15 months was showing signs of autism (more on this later), and the never ending drama that is figuring out what he is allergic to. After getting him healthy, returning to work full time, catching up on all of our bills, and finally knowing for 1 full month what it is like to be financially stable, I end up in the hospital. After some tests I am admitted, prepped for surgery, and spend a week in the ICU and another in a regular room, followed by two more surgeries, a couple more stints in the hospital, and chemotherapy. Once done with chemo, it is back to work, and then it is decided that I should go back to school, so I can get a better job. It should be obvious by this point, that my poor, loving husband has not received the attention he is due. I intend to remedy this as soon as possible.
6. Become more spiritually connected – I was raised nondenominational on a Navy base. In the 5th grade I began going to Presbyterian church with my friend because my family had given up on church when we moved. As an adult I converted to Catholicism. I have always strongly believed in a higher power, but have fallen out of the routines of being an active participant in my faith.
7. Volunteer somewhere – It is important that I do something to benefit others. I would like to get my son involved too, but he is kind of young. I think it would be good for him though, to get started early in life, building a respect for all people, especially those less fortunate than us. I like to believe that I have has such a hard time of things. It can be difficult to keep ones life in perspective. Though I have had obstacles in my life, I truly am blessed. There are people going hungry, people being sold on the black market, children going without proper health care, and others who simply do not have a safe place to go. I am lucky. I could easily have been one of them.
8. Create something beautiful – I have been doing art since I could hold a pencil. I was in art classes my whole life, even in college. However, since I graduated I have created very little. Life has become complex and has gotten in the way. I need an outlet for my stress, for my passion, and for my mind.
9. Find more joy in everything and thank the people who mean the most to me - I manage to find an awful lot to complain about, despite how lucky and blessed I am. I need to focus more on the good in life, in people, and in my little part of the world. I need to say more nice things to people and fewer snide or judgmental things about them. I want to find the joy in every situation instead of something to complain about, and I want to let the important people in my life know how important they are to me.
10. Travel – I have barely left the east coast of the US. I want to go someplace I have never been before. I am not too pick, it need not be extravagant, just someplace new.
A trip to Never Neverland
Growing up, the only Disney character my husband ever connected with was Peter Pan. My mother-in-law tells me quite often of the endless days spent watching and re-watching Peter Pan and Hook. So last night we finally decided that our son was old enough to sit through Hook and appreciate it. As we watched, I was surprised by how entertained I still was by this movie, twenty years after it originally released. Our experience watching Hook with my four year old son, was the most fun I have had in a LONG time.
Seeing the movie with fresh eyes, he spent the evening pretending to be Captain Hook, waving around his hooked finger, chanting along with the pirates, pretending to be Peter, hiding from Daddy (who was pretending to be Hook), and being flown around the room. We all took part in the pretending, the play fighting, and general ruckus, though my husband took a little convincing. When we finally told him that he had grown up and was more like Peter Banning than Peter Pan, he loosened up and chased us around the room, hollering Ru-fi-Oohhh and bangarang!
I think we are all a bit too grown up. It is time to loosen up, and think back to a time when life was much more fun.
On This Day…
On this day, I work in a beautiful place, surrounded by beautiful things, doing very little. I am bored. I sit around all day, working far below my potential, for a wonderful organization who, for all the good they do, are not interested in fully utilizing my skills. At least not at this time.
I am 28, I am educated, I have survived cancer, I have a wonderful husband, and a darling son, but I am not fulfilled in my life. I have an urge to feel that I am doing something important, that I am making a difference. I want to have enough that we are not always stretching. I want to have the time to sit and meditate. I want more time to enjoy my son while he still likes me. I want more happy in my life.
So today, I am beginning that journey. On this day, I start living.
