Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Organizing My Way to Rest

Monday is my day off.
In my opinion, the very best way to spend my day off is completely alone...

I like to wake-up, watch TV (probably the most recent Amazing Race episode), watch a movie on Netflix.com, read a chapter of a book, eat a late breakfast. Then repeat that cycle substituting Amazing Race for Grey's Anatomy and "breakfast" for "lunch". Then repeat that cycle once more, this time substituting Grey's Anatomy for whatever else is on TV and "lunch" for "dinner", watch How I Met Your Mother and read a book in almost-not-enough light until Bre comes home. Laugh with her for a bit, drink a glass of orange juice while we watch TV, brush my teeth for the first time that day and then go to sleep.

My Monday never looks like that. I always clean the kitchen between cycles one and two.
I always do at least three loads of laundry.
Twice a month, I strip my bed and wash all of the bedding.
Once a month, my Monday looks like it did this week:
I cleaned the entire house. The refrigerator, the baseboards, the couch, mirrors...everything.

Then, I went to my storage to clean out boxes of old magazines...and some other boxes that were filled with the entire content of a junk drawer in the hurried moving process.

With my backseat filled to the brim (and my trunk--which is always full--the Maguires joke that it is my "Monica closet"--no youtube video available for that reference, sorry.) I headed to the recycling bin.

I had thought that I would feel exhausted at the end of that day.
But, sometimes, my life is more exhausting when it is cluttered; when there is a running "to do" list in my head...

Often a very productive, organized day, can bring rest.

And that was just what I needed from my Monday.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Striking Items Off My List...

If you didn't know (which, I would find difficult to believe unless you've never read this blog before), I'm working on a 30 Things to do Before I'm 30 list.

Some of the items will take a lot of time, others will take a lot of practice...

Last Monday, I checked one item off the list: Watch 75 of the AFI Top 100 Movies of All Time. The 75th movie was Gold Rush starring Charlie Chaplin. I chose 75 as my number so I wouldn't have to watch every movie on the list. I'm sure Intolerance (a 3-hour black and white) is classic, but I think I'd rather re-watch a few episodes of Veronica Mars.

So, I've reached the goal, but will still watch many of the other movies on this list. I simply will no longer feel forced to watch those that I wouldn't choose for myself (such as Platoon or The Deer Hunter.)

And then, last night, I hit another goal: Bowl a 120.

I have been practicing...refining my skills and consistency...for about six months. Each Monday night, Luke and Dom bowl a few games at Lake Forest Lanes and then have been gracious enough to let a rookie join. (This sounds over-dramatic, but, honestly, they take this game very seriously...as in "If you bring a friend, then you two will bowl on another lane...4 people makes the game too slow" serious.)

For weeks I had been hovering just under 120. 118, 119...one pin away from my goal.

Last night, I bowled a 124.
Not all that fancy when you see it in-between Luke and Dom's scores, but a big accomplishment for me.

We toasted (with water from Splits Lounge) and Luke made sure to mention that just because I have reached this goal, it does not mean that I should never come back to Monday bowling nights...that this, in fact, "is only the beginning."

We then bowled a third game and I only rolled a 114.
(We chose not focus on that...)

There is such a sense of accomplishment that comes with each item turning from plain text undone to bold and italicized completed.

Hopefully, there are more of these success posts to come.