My to do list

at the Hook Lighthouse, the oldest working lighthouse in the world!

I am a big list maker.  My phone is filled with lists from the past 2 years.  Shopping lists, packing lists, music lists, movie lists, theme party lists.  You name it and I have a list for it.  As this summer winds down and with my two vacations behind me, I am starting to think about my yearly to do list.  What I want to accomplish this year. I tend to go by the school year and not the calendar year; it is just more natural for me.  So here is my to do list.  Somehow I feel like posting it here will make me more accountable for it:

1.  Return to drinking H20 morning, noon and night.  I was never, ever a coffee drinker.  I held out in high school when many of my friends started drinking it.  I held out in college when even more of my friends started drinking it.  I even held out post college and into the working world.  And then I had a baby and went back to work and was getting 4 good hours of sleep if I was lucky and I couldn't hold out any longer.  It is nearly a year later and I do have 1 cup of coffee a day.  But when we were in Ireland, I had none.  And I felt fine.  No headaches.  My usually sleepiness but that's another story.  So I want to return to my days of being coffee free.  Well, at least Monday through Friday.  Maybe I'll let myself have a cup on the weekends.

2.  Return to the gym.  This is something that I know that once I go once or twice, I will get the itch to start going 4-5 times a week.  I actually enjoy going to the gym.  I know some people hate it but I always find it super rewarding and a good time to clear my head.  I have an easier class load this coming trimester and I will make myself leave school everyday with time to get to the gym before I pick up Max.

3.  Make home-cooked meals a minimum of 4 nights a week.  Most nights, before Max came along and even up until recently, Damien and I would rely heavily on packaged vegetarian food.  There are some great options out there for fake chicken and fake meatballs or veggie burgers.  The problem is that they are still processed food.  Now with Max eating many of the things that we are eating, I am realizing the need for us to be cooking our own food, from scratch.  Damien generally does most of the cooking but I want to become better at making meals for my family.  My mom cooking every night is such a part of my childhood memories and I want Max to have those memories (of mom and dad cooking!)

4.  Buy new music.  One thing that Damien and I have in common is our taste in music.  From Boards of Canada to Radiohead to Bob Dylan and the Beatles, we have a love of good music.  It varies from genre to genre and we go in waves of obsession (My Morning Jacket's newest right now!).  We were always going to shows and concerts and scouring the internet or magazines for good new bands.  And I haven't been doing much of that at all lately.  I am kind of in a music rut.  I will change that.

5.  Rent/Go to more movies.  Damien and I used to be avid moviegoers. Or at least moviewatchers.  We'd watch at least a movie a week, if not more.  A few years back, a group of friends including my brother and other people that we worked with would do a weekly movie night.  We'd either stay in at someone's house and make dinner and watch a movie or head out to the theater and then out to eat.  It was usually a Wednesday or Thursday night and it was such a nice way to break up the week.  I miss that.  And I miss my brother.

6.  Listen to more NPR.  When I lived in Worcester, I had a nice 40 minute or so commute to and from work every day.  It was my time to catch up on what was going on in the world.  I felt connected. I never, ever watch the evening news.  I actually never, ever have the television on.  Ever.  But listening to Morning Edition every morning and then PRIs The World or All Things Considered every afternoon was my lifeline to what was happening daily.  No bs.  No wondering how my salad might kill me, but only if I tune back in at 6 to find out.  Now with a 3 minute commute, I don't have my scheduled NPR time.  I need to fit it in.

7.  Send more cards/letters.  Being in Ireland and spending the week with Damien's grandparents made me realize how easy it is to lose touch with people.  In a time of such a wide variety of communication, somehow it gets lost.  Yes, I happen to know what my 400 friends on Facebook are doing at every moment but I haven't written to or called some of the most important people in my life in a long time.  It is so nice to get a letter or card in the mail.  An unexpected one.  One that just lets you know that someone is thinking about you.  I need to let some people know that I have been thinking about them.

8.  Deal with health issues.  Thankfully, I am a healthy person.  But I do have some lingering health problems.  I have had to have at least 3 mammograms by the age of 32.  I have a large lump in my left breast that is painful at times and uncomfortable all of the time.  I need to have that removed.  It is not cancerous but it is worrisome for me.  I have a chronic problem with my right hip that has been ailing me since college.  I think it is a result of so many years of running on pavement.  It definitely flairs up with certain foods.  No one has ever been able to help me with the pain.  I have been told by countless doctors that they do not know what is wrong with me.  I need to find new doctors.  I have been dealing with the stress of parents that divorced late in life (I was a senior in college) and a mom who is not over the divorce.  This is a huge one for me.  I know I need help with this one.

9.  Stop biting my cuticles.  Sorry, this is a gross one.  I have been doing this since I was little.  In fact, I think nearly everyone in my family less my mother has been doing the same thing.  It is painful and ugly and I need to stop it.  It is an anxious habit.  I did stop for a period of about 3 months shortly after we got engaged.  But then I started again.  Now I need to stop again.

10.  Be nicer to myself.  

There you have it.  Ten things to do this year.  I'd better get started...