How Am I Doing?

        Back on January 1st, I wrote a piece entitled Fifty Ways to Lose Your Lover.  It wasn't about losing any lovers but the title got your attention, yes?  It was actually about fifty things to do in the new year. Much less sexy, heh?  I checked back in March and again in June to see what kind of success I was having with the new year.  It's time to look again.

     The original fifty things were all over the place.  At the check-ins in March and June, I considered three things I was doing towards those fifty things and three things to which  I could apply more focus. I want to do that again.

Pauline (mom) in blue; Lolita in Pink

       So what are three things that I am doing?  One that I am happy to be doing is spending more time with my mom.  Since she has moved closer to me, it is easier for me to get up there. I still don't get there as often as I might like but in the summer I visited about every third week.  Now that work has started, I am more limited but I already have planned an excursion there for early October.  Over the summer, I found myself reliving my days as a teenager when my mom and I would go to the store or something.  It was weird, in a good way weird.  For many years, my parents lived in a very isolated place.  I like that she is now in a small town and we can go on errands together.  There is something to do while we are together and that makes it more playful.  I will add that the drive to her house is beautiful.  The highway is not congested and the views are of vineyards and rolling hills.  I can put in music or an audio book and just cruise. Very relaxing.

      A little thing that I am managing to do is to drink more water.  Sounds kinda hokey but hey, we have to take success where we can find it, no?  I don't really know if it matters but I am doing it.  I have this purple Camelbak that I can easily flood with ice cubes and water and it follows me to work, around the house, out in the yard.  Wherever.  Again, don't know if it matters but "they" tell me it is a good thing to drink water so I am doing that.  Whatever.

     Write, write, and write some more.  Okay, so I already claimed this as a success in March, but I want to claim it again.  I am enjoying writing even though sometimes even I don't get what I am trying to say.  That right brain takes over and, even if it doesn't make sense, I like it.  It's the same way with my painting.  Item #2 on the January list was to make time for weekly painting and, for the most part, I have done that.  I don't know where those paintings come from.  Most of them I like; a few are unattractive to me.  But the right brain takes over and the left is along for the ride.  Nice!

       Where can I set my focus now?  The one that immediately springs to mind is to take Ellie on more walks after work.  This is NOT for Ellie, mind you. No, no, no.  This is for me.  Taking Ellie on a walk after work means I get to breathe for a half hour, I get to see the leaves changing color, I can allow the day to sift through my consciousness and drift away.  I always like to do this but so often I get home and just fold.  What would make this more feasible is if I were to force myself to walk away from my office by 4:00.  If I get home too late, then I just don't want to go.  Although the kids leave school at 2:45, my after- kids-leave time is jammed full with all the things that can't be done when there are kids around.  Grrrrrrrr!  Time, you frustrate me!


      I can put #33 and #42 in one wish:  I can notice more color and detail in the world and I can take more photographs. I am attracted to design, color, detail.  What I really need to do is organize my on line photo library.  When posting on the blog, I very seldom turn to photos other than those I've taken myself.  I would like to expand my collection and look for that which I have yet to really see.  It's fun.

    A third thing that I haven't done yet this year but would still like to do is to take a solitary road trip.  There is something so cool about being out there on the road where no one really knows who you are and no on who knows you knows where you are.  It's a way of being lost, I suppose.  Since I often feel lost anyway, I might as well make an adventure out of it.  Realistically, it's not likely to happen but I don't give up easily.


       Mid-September..... But I don't have to get everything done before December 31.  In fact, when I look at the items I originally listed, I see lots that are really life long ambitions.  They are goals that will not be satisfied in one year.  And some of them are vague and immeasurable.  Maybe those are the best ones?