2001-03-12 - 15:58:40
Birthday Resolutions

Is it a rule of thumb that one's birthday should be used for re-evaluating oneself? Because that's always what happens to me!

I turned 23 on Saturday. I had invitations to two different events -- an SCA display and a $50-a-seat tea hosted by the university president's wife -- but I chose to spend the day with my family.

Mom took me shopping and spent $75 on clothes for me -- an amount that (at mervyn's) covered one skirt, one shirt, one nice pair of dress pants, and one (as my dad quaintly puts it) over-the-shoulder boulder holder. Not much in the way of volume, but nice quality. I've been really short on dress clothes lately -- 85% of my wardrobe is still college clothes, and 60% of that came from my high school days. Rather difficult to pick office attire out of an array of sweaters, sweatshirts, t-shirts, and jeans. =)

From other folks, I also got pyjamas and girl-stuff (nail polish, hand lotion, raspberry bath soap), a nice dress, a journal, a classic movie on DVD ("Yours, Mine, and Ours"), my own copy of the books Azash was letting me read (Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy), two exercise videos, and some light hand-weights.

Yes, you read that right. Exercise videos and hand-weights. Those were my birthday present to myself. I've griped long enough about having a sit-on-my-ass day job and a sit-on-my-ass social life. It's time I did something about it. One of the videos is on aerobics and targeted weight loss, the other on strength and flexibility. Now all I have to do is get on a schedule and keep to it.

Those of you who've met me are probably raising your eyebrows at this one. Shell? Sticking to an exercise program? I've always been slim enough without them that I never got in the habit of fitness. But it's time. Youthful high metabolism doesn't last forever, especially with my current lifestyle. So, since Azash has switched to a 6am-5pm work schedule as of last week, I asked him to bang on my door when he leaves for work. That gives me 2 hours before I have to leave for work: 15 minutes to wake up, 45 minutes for the video, 25 minutes for the shower, 25 minutes to get ready for work, and 10 minutes to scarf breakfast on my way out the door.

Wait a minute, you ask, isn't Shell a NIGHT person, not a MORNING person? Yep, right again. This is going to be murder for a couple of weeks, until I readjust my internal clock. In fact, I'm near dozing off right now at 11am because I started my new schedule this morning ... *yawn* I'll have to designate a Day Off for myself so I can sleep in at least once a week. =)

So how do I plan to keep the motivation going? Easy. I got out a picture of myself in my swimsuit from last year and asked myself, How do I want to look THIS summer?

Exercising, cleaning my car inside and out, balancing my checkbook, doing laundry ... I had an excess of Do Something energy this weekend. Of course balancing the checkbook also led to grabbing 10 of my least-listened to CDs out of my collection to sell on campus, and digging my resume out of the filing cabinet.

Ever since I looked my job up on Salary.com and found out I'm only making 40% of the median worth of my job, August 2nd has loomed large in my mind. My promised year will be up ... and hopefully, I'll be able to find a new job where I don't spend 90% of my paycheck on bills and living expenses. I think I'll start surfing Monster.com now, and try to assimilate some more of the skills they ask for on their advertisements. 5 months to go ...

Where did all this impatience come from? I just hope it lasts! I've spent the last couple of months learning to be content; perhaps now I'll manage to fashion my life into something I can be more than content with. =)

By the way: two young men I know ALSO had birthdays last week. Oddly enough, they both have the same first name, are both over six feet tall, are both really odd (in good ways), are both now one year away from age 25 (in opposite directions), and both make way more money than I do.

*laughing* Happy birthday, Speedbump! I would also say happy birthday to New Zealand Boy, except that he'd better not have any idea this site is here. *grin*