piss and vineger

I’ll be turning 30 years old on July 12, 2010, and I decided to partake in the project where you make a list of thirty things you want to accomplish before your 30th birthday. I don’t have long to go, but I’m hoping I can polish off everything on this list by making the items reasonable:

1. Hang curtains (whether store-bought or handmade) in every window of the house, and get rid of every shred of miniblinds that have been haunting my windows and my dreams since we moved in.
2. Install hardwood flooring throughout the main floor of the house (!!!).
3. Pay off my credit card.
4. Brew a batch of stout beer.
5. Plan and start saving for an autumn vacation in Vancouver/Seattle.
6. Grow delicious foods from heirloom seeds from Baker Creek, including a healing herb garden.
7. Get a really great haircut from my bestie JoAnn at G Spot Hair Design, one that is an actual hairdo rather than something I pull back into a bun everyday.
8. Get new glasses and contacts.
9. Paint every room in the house something other than “Ultra White”.
10. Scan all of our photos and organize them somewhere online.
11. Update my Iowa City tumblr at least once a week.
12. Continue my weight loss/fitness streak. Weight Watchers is working!
13. Throw a May Day party.
14. Organize and clean the basement.
15. Try sewing another purse.
16. Bake the perfect Blondie.
17. Finish watching the whole Arrested Development series (we’re on an extended hiatus, mid-season 2).
18. Create monthly music mixes without missing a month.
19. Try making homemade ketchup.
20. Build a pergola on the patio to continue cultivating an awesome backyard oasis.
21. Finally part with (donate) the ugly fleece that’s clogging up my fabric stash.
22. Go scooter camping in Palisades.
23. Buy a bike helmet so I can safely ride all over town.
24. Start really using the calendar/scheduling app on my iPhone to help keep my life more organized.
25. Try raw milk.
26. Mail goodies to my faraway friends.
27. Build a respectable cocktail station.
28. Start a food blog with aforementioned JoAnn.
29. Make a batch of Navratan curry.
30. Throw a fabulous 30th birthday party on my patio.

I’m having pains from exercising. Most notably, I’m having a pretty bad pain in the side of my right foot that radiates a little up my ankle. It got pretty bad last night during my “workout”, so I had to slow down my already too-slow walking for a couple of laps. This morning, I feel it with every footstep. Could this be tendinitis? I know I have weak ankles from too many tears of the ligaments (I’m accident-prone, and have been since early childhood). I also know that I’m babying my left leg because I twisted it about a week ago and it still feels a little unstable.

Is this the type of pain that I can work through, or should I take a break and rest it? I’m on a roll and don’t really want to stop. Time for research.

When I woke up this morning, my pee was dark and smelly. What could this mean? It means I’m dehydrated! Why am I dehydrated? Because I don’t drink enough water!

But it also means that I got sweaty last night. Which I did. And it was awesome.

I’ve decided to start exercising. Now, I’m not going to turn this into some big to-do, where I’m all diet-y and “zomg, must wear abercrombie butt-shorts!”. I’m already working on a huge life-change by budgeting and getting my financial shit in order, and I don’t want to pile another huge change on top of that so that neither of them stick. I’m just working out, trying to sweat for 30 minutes a day, hopefully 5 days a week. I’m not going to change my eating habits for now, which leads to a lot of stress for me, in having to concentrate on everything that goes into my mouth.

If I were in my usual gung-ho-mode, I’d run out and buy a $100 pass to the fitness loft at work. Then I’d fall off the wagon and stress about the money I wasted on the pass. Instead, I’m going to walk/jog the track at the gym for free, and maybe just buy a locker for a semester, and do that for 3 months straight to build the habit and make sure it sticks. If it does, and I’m in better shape by then, then I’ll buy the pass so I can have access to the exercise equipment like elliptical trainers and recumbent bikes.

I know from previous experience that I’ll tend to eat better if I’m working out on a regular basis, and if that happens fine. I’m just not going to focus on it. I know that exercise is the key to me getting into better shape, the catalyst. Here’s hoping I stick with it.

In the meantime, I’m going to make sure I drink plenty of water. Wish me clear pee!