Out with the aughts, in with the tens

Normally, the new year jump-starts me. I make lists, I get invigorated. This year? Not so much. I am not sure what the problem is, but I just can't get motivated. (I can't even get my new years post out before mid month - yeesh!)

I have always been interested in many many things. As a kid my answer to "What do you want to be when you grow up?" changed at least every month. I come from a family of nerds and voracious readers, so I was never at a loss for subject material or projects. One year in elementary school I got the award for reading the most books over the summer.

As I got older, not much has changed. I still jump in and out of things pretty often. I am a certainly a dilettante. I have piles of half finished projects, unread or half-read books on a hundred different subjects. Sometimes it wears me out just thinking of all the things that I want to learn, try or experience before I leave this planet.

Therein lies part of the problem. I spend a lot more time thinking than I do doing.

Last March I made a list. I have a bad habit of losing interest in things quickly. My follow-through is not nearly as great as my start. I worked hard to come up a well rounded list that contained items that would be beneficial and fun and keep me interested and engaged. So in lieu of resolutions, I will continue to work on my list. I have been making progress, but it's hard to believe that 9 months have gone by.

So for 2010, my words are action and focus. I want to spend a lot more time out conquering and a lot less time holding down the fort. I need to focus on being present in each moment and making the most of every day. On making day-to-day life easier by reducing clutter and establishing some routines. I am not supposed to spend all my time and energy tending my stuff, so I won't. 2010 . . . here I come!

By the way . . . what do we call this decade? The tens? The teens? The tweens?

A little trip down memory lane

This weekend I will be heading back to the town where I went to college for a sorority reunion. I haven't been there since the day I moved away many years ago. I have kept in touch with a few girls off and on, and thanks to the miracle that is Facebook I am now in touch with several more. There has been quite a buzz since we haven't been together in years.

I dug out my old scrapbooks to take a little trip down memory lane. There were several recurring themes. Lots of good times. Lots of bows. Lots of hair. Very big hair. Cute Boys. Lack of sunscreen. Road trips. Laughter. Questionable fashion choices.

Strangely, there was no evidence of libraries, vegetables, or early morning jogs.

A whole lot of booze and tanning bed rays must have damaged my brain, because I really don't remember a lot of the details. Pretty sad really, but not too unusual for me. Friends often recall things that happened even recently that I just can't remember.

The Rock Star gives me a hard time rather often because I am constantly forgetting things that happened or we talked about. Just this week he noticed a scuff on my bumper and on the doorway to the garage. He asked me if I hit something, and of course I said no. Then I started thinking that maybe I did - I just can't quite remember. How do you forget driving into a wall?

Part of the problem is that often I don't think that I am really paying attention or living in the moment. That certainly needs to change. It is said that to fight off dementia and Alzheimers people should keep their brains active with crosswords, puzzles, reading etc.

I better do something, because at this rate, by the time I am 50 I will be shuffling around the neighborhood in my bathrobe looking for our cat that died 6 years ago and trying to remember which house is mine.