rabid renaissance

I hate this part…trying to get back into some “good” habit after a horrid lapse. I’ve hated it through my life with every attempted journal, every attempted new leaf of eating habits or exercise regimens. Confronting my inner demons of flakiness, procrastination, lack of discipline and will power…all unpleasant experiences.

So what have I been up to for the past 3 months? Let’s see…

I have not been back to Global MindShift, mostly because I don’t have enough time to participate at the level that I feel is productive for me.

I turned 33. Not much to report there, aside from some paranoia that I am now able to actually feel my metabolism slowing down, and that the skin of my chin, jaw and neck seems to have entered some sort of 2nd puberty hormonal breakout behavior.

I’ve been playing a lot of Mafia on my message boards. They typically start with 20-30 players and can last up to 2 or 3 months. Yes, I am a geek. Though I did manage to talk Shay into playing in the latest game, and previously talked my friend Ronnie (Hi Ronnie!) into playing an earlier game, where we were both scum and lost, quite possibly because I accidentally posted in the wrong forum. Whoops.

Shay and I took our first trip to Yosemite, where we camped over a long weekend with our friends Audrey and Lex. The four of us did a little hiking and Shay and I rode our bikes around on the valley floor. We took lots of pictures, but I didn’t manage to get one of the coyote who came through the campground chasing squirrels.

I took some of my dad’s old swords, fencing foils, and fencing masks off of my mom’s hands to hopefully sell on eBay. They are now occupying a dark corner of one of our closets, along with the box of old cameras and individual sets of antique tea cups and saucers that she agreed to let me try and sell back in the spring. Of course burning the time and effort to actually determine their ballpark value, take pictures of them all, and finally post them for sale on eBay is yet another item in my Procrastination Pile.

Shay and I flew her Mom out here from North Dakota for Thanksgiving with my extended family. Lyvon had not yet met anyone in my family except for my mom (they met at our commitment ceremony last May). It was a very nice visit and a delicious turkey feast. The Friday after Thanksgiving, we took our mothers to Monterey to see the aquarium and do some shopping. Just don’t ask about the $60/plate abalone “special” that mom and I both ordered for lunch without knowing it was $60/plate. It was good, and I love abalone, but it wasn’t $60 worth of good…

Next week we’re flying to Minnesota for our niece’s first birthday, and to spend some time with Shay’s sister and brother-in-law, since neither Thanksgiving or Christmas fit into our collective travel schedules.

More soon!