It was a good-and-bad start to the new year for me.
Good: I caulked a bathtub and I think I even did it correctly.
Good: USC won the Rose Bowl.
Good: The YP has figured out his own user account on the computer and will no longer mess up my bookmarks.
Bad: My dad will be sorely disappointed that Illinois lost the Rose Bowl.
Bad: I'm woefully out of shape. Embarrassingly so.
Bad: I realized that probably half the blogs I regularly read last year have been deep-sixed. And that another erstwhile friend hasn't responded to my overtures since at least September, so that is a little depressing.
But, I keep moving forward. This blog ain't going into that good night. That said, it's probably going to remain third in my priorities, behind work and family. Maybe fourth, behind the house.
So this year, I'm not setting any goals in terms of reading books or finding music or even pretending to be plugged in to the pop culture zeitgeist this year. Screw it. I'm going to have my head down in politics -- presidential and playground. I'm going to work hard at my job and possibly attend a convention, and I'm going to prep the YP for kindergarten and bowing to the will of the state while trying to keep his brain from turning to jelly. And he starts Little League in April. La. He's getting so big. It seems weird that I will be spending next Christmas with a grade-school veteran.
I am, however setting other goals. I want to get fit and lose weight. I've decided I can't set a goal of "lose 40 pounds" -- much as I would like to -- because it is just too amorphous for me. So instead I am setting goals that might somehow attain that goal as a side effect. First, I'm going to make it a goal to eat 18 Weight Watchers points each day, with exceptions for holidays. Second, I read somewhere that the physical fitness test to join the Marines is to be able to do 20 pullups with no time limit, 100 crunches in 2 minutes and run 3 miles in 18 minutes. Now, I'm not even going to pretend I'll ever be able to do even one pullup, but I'll be dipped if I can't meet the other two requirements by Jan. 1, 2009.
As of today, however, I can only do 46 situps in 2 minutes. (I'm doing situps. I know crunches are better for your back, but I can't help but think of them as a cheat.)
I don't know how far I can run in 18 minutes -- running is tomorrow -- but I'm going to guess it's about a mile. Maybe a mile and a quarter. That is to say, I can probably run that far in 12 minutes and then spend six minutes barfing.
And I'm going to record it all here, as I believe there is something to be said for peer pressure and shame in public failure. And because I'm sure you'll all be thrilled to take this journey with me. Heh. Well, maybe I'll have some pithy political observations sprinkled in here and there just to keep you guessing.
Good luck! Hopefully, having to listen to us give you a hard time will be incentive to resist getting comfy on the couch instead of jogging or situps.
Posted by: Sparkling Cipher | January 02, 2008 at 11:54 AM
I wish I had your willpower! I always want to do some sort of get into shape thing, but I can't even remember to write down what all I ingest.
Posted by: Lori | January 07, 2008 at 09:52 AM
The Marines also say, "Pain is weakness leaving your body." Make that your motto, and the six minutes of barfing will be like a zen treat. Ha!
Those are good goals, though. I like them. I may copycat you. I wonder how many crunches I can do...
Posted by: lane | January 13, 2008 at 11:09 PM
60
Posted by: lane | January 13, 2008 at 11:14 PM