Begin As You Mean To Go On

That is how I have tried to live my previous New Year's Days,fitting in the things I hope to continue throughout the year.  Live with intention.  Sometimes I get all of the things ready on New Year's day and sometimes life (or the lives of all the people that are a part of my life) takes precedence, which in a way is one of the ways I mean to go on anyway, so it is all good.  So, did I begin as I meant to go on?  Well, I guess that I did.

First, I got up and ate a healthy breakfast.  That isn't all that new for me, I am a big believer in the most important meal of the day.  Then I went up to the beach, in the freezing cold (really! BRRRRR!  FUH-REEZING!  Like, when I got out of my car it was 10 degrees farenheit with a wind chill of freaking ice pellets being blown into your skin from a machine gun.  Like, when I hear about or see people who leave their warm homes to participate in these assinine activities I say to myself and anyone that will listen that they are soft as sh*t.  That is how arctic it was) to run the Hangover Classic with Cheryl.  Honestly, had she not been convincing me that it was going to be great!  That we'd be so happy after!  That it wasn't as cold as I thought! I totally would have skipped.  And guess what?  Six miles of it was worse than I thought, and I was happy when I was done, happy to never do it again, and it was just as cold, colder even, than I thought it would be.  To begin, I was over-dressed (if you can believe it), so I was warm.  Ish, but the wind was kept away from my skin and the wind was brutal.  Combine a strong headwind (kept away from my skin, but truly blowing me across the road) with snow covered roads that are a struggle to run on to begin with and it is like running at a dead sprint but getting noplace at all.  I will be sore tomorrow.  I did learn a couple of things though.  First, wear a little less.  Second, I really don't ever want to do that again (which has no bearing, of course, as to whether I will or not).  Third, if the half marathon occurs on a day with similar conditions I will.not.run.it.  I anticipate being sore tomorrow.  yay. (And no, I did not run this race in any kind of impressive time.  I dragged ass.  But I finished!)

Thanks to Cheryl's iPhone, there we are pre-race.  See how my smile doesn't quite reach my eyes?  heh.  (I started this post yesterday and in the 24+ hours that I have had to think about it, I think I may have come across a bit more negative than I wanted.  I mean, it was all of those things, but it is sort of like childbirth, I've almost forgotten about it.  But not totally.  Trust me.)

Then I socialized with friends.  Not for a long time, but a good start to the year.  There was knitting, another thing I mean to go on with.  Then I did a couple of new things for the year.  Not really new to me, but things that have been sitting and sitting and I figured if I only just took them out and spent five minutes with them that it would be a way to begin and maybe I will meaningfully go on.  Since one of the thing I really want to do is remember to take pictures, I killed two birds.  Here are a couple of the five minute things.

I know it!  Cross-stitch and felt ornaments.  I love them!  I love the cross-stitch snowmen and the teapot shaped felt ornaments.  I have had the kits for a couple of years and really want them to be finished.  The felt ornaments are so detailed and take a lot of work, light, eyesight, and good fine motor skills.  That is why I can only work on them for short times each day.  But we know how a little bit every day can add up to new ornaments for next year's tree, right?  Take a look at the Santa close up! Isn't it going to be adorable?

We had a family dinner, the making and consuming of which was a group effort.  Then we watched Hancock (not what I expected, but not bad).  Spending more time together is another thing I intend to go on.

Here is a big one.  I spent time responding to emails and reading and commenting on blogs!  Were you surprised if you got an email from me?  Are you surprised to be reading and thinking that, "hey!  She didn't return my email or comment on my blog?"  Well, thanks to Typepad and their commenting crap I had a couple returned to me.  But I would like to be a better member of this community.  It is my intention, but how I do remains to be seen.

The day rolled on with me beginning things for five minutes here and there, but I think I will need the weekend to gather all the intentions for my beginning.  There is still the needlepoint, my spinning wheel to come out, my sewing machine to see day light.  Monday......

This could be a busy year.

Two.  But not one of those is a resolution.  Just an intention.  

Comments

[jill]

My mom got me started on felt ornaments when I was younger. I love hanging those on the tree each year. Maybe it's time for me to get my daughter's started on some of their own.

Congrats on the run. Way to demonstrate discipline.

[margene]

Grrl, you are something else. That's a ton of great stuff to pack into the day/year. A race in the snow? That's amazing no matter your time. You truly are one of the most driven and disciplined people I know. Way to go!

[Manise]

Intentions are far better than resolutions. Great seeing you yesterday.

[Danielle]

I'm so glad that you came out for some knitting -- you had a busy day! It was nice to see you again :)

[pumpkinmama]

You and Cheryl are crazy - but the good kind of crazy. I'm so impressed with you both, truly. Hope you and I overlap for more than 3 seconds soon!

[Marcia Cooke]

And posting, apparently! Glad to see it!

[Nora]

Holy crap.

I don't think you could have paid me to run that race. I'm in awe.

xo

[DebbieB]

Love the race description. You made a memory, at least!

Those ornaments are cute. A little bit each day...

[Cheryl]

Well I, for one, am so glad we did that race! We began the year with passion, drive, determination, and craziness, succeeding at something that at one point we never thought we'd even attempt, and encouraging each other along the way! Talk about a good start to the year.

I am sort of laughing though that you dragged ass. You finished before me, and I really was pretty psyched at my time!

[Jennifer]

Wow - another great post. Now you can say "Been there. Done that" on the freeze-your-rear run. Love the felted ornaments. Might have to look into some of those for myself.

[Norma]

That is pure craziness, but I love it. :)

[claudia]

Nice job getting out there and running it. There are indeed things one should only really do once in a lifetime (like your ice race and me climbing up Mt. Washington Auto Road on a tandem).

[Lisa McGuire]

OH MY! Kudos to you and Cheryl for doing something many would not even consider...sober or hung-over. The ornaments are cute. :)