Another Year

Thursday, I turned 32. Nothing terribly momentous about that, and yet, I feel it should be marked. In addition to the phone calls, cards and e-mails to congratulate me for living another year, there were presents and a dinner at Applebee's. I do like to get presents. So much so, that I get them for myself all the time.

Normally, I take my birthday off of work, so I can pamper myself and reflect on the past year and make wishes for the new one. (I do this again, in a minor way, three months later for New Year's. Just to check on how I'm doing.) This year, we moved the office, so I took Friday off instead. I stayed in bed all morning, reading. I never do that anymore, and I felt younger for doing so. Then I went out to pamper myself with yarn. Not a lot, but enough to keep the stash constant.

After that, I pampered myself in the mature way by going for an hour long walk with my friend, her 11-month-old daughter and her dog. Along our walk, my friend, who has known me since I was almost 6, told me how well I was doing compared to last year. She has turned into, in some respects, my life coach. (Friendships go through many incarnations, don't they?) She nags - I mean, encourages - me to exercise regularly, and eat better food and look for the brighter side of life. I'm very lucky to have her.

Anyway, along our walk, she asked about the good changes that happened this last year:

1) I changed my diet and have lost almost 50# this year so far.
2) I started a blog.
3) I eat healthier.
4) I started take more responsibility for my spending by keeping track of it.
5) I started to look for new paths for the ruts in my life.

And then, she asked my about my goals for the upcoming year:

1) Lose the remaining 50# I have to go, preferably by my cousin's June wedding.
2) Keep up the activity.
3) Pay down the credit card debt.
4) Keep writing, in the blog and elsewhere.
5) Be better about keeping the promises I make to myself, such as, I will start the present knitting on 1 October.
6) Become more aware of my surroundings. (I tend to live in my head, which tends to make me oblivious and inconsiderate.)
7) Go out in the world a little bit more, such as by exploring the job market.
8) Clean the house more often.

(I think the list got longer. Well, I could be up for a challenge.)

It really was a very nice walk.