So… 2009! I’m still having a wee bit of trouble wrapping my head around the fact that the first decade of the 2000s is racing by at breakneck speed. Unbelievable, that is!
I went to see “Marley & Me” tonight and cried embarassingly lots. I hate crying when I’m around people. Ugh. But it really made me think about Rags and what an awesome dog he is. Rags and I have been through some tough times together (well, mostly tough for me, although I think the unfortunate incident last Saturday was far more traumatic for the poor hound than it was for me, bless his heart!), and through it all he’s been a champ. I feel so lucky to have him. And thanks to the sappy flick tonight, Rags (spoiled rotten hound that he is) will most certainly be enjoying another rare (though becoming less so) night on the bed tonight.
I haven’t done a lick of schoolwork in nearly two weeks. This is most distressing. I really need to get back on the wagon. At the very least, I’ve *got* to finish my stats paper. Sheesh, Liz! I’m determined to have a draft done tomorrow. Seriously, this time.
I start back classes on Thursday, and have mixed feelings about this. If I can manage to get some serious work done over the next five days, I will feel a lot calmer about beginning a new semester, I’m sure. And I’m obviously eager to return to some semblance of routine … I like vacation time as much as the next person, but I generally only handle doing next to nothing well for a short time before starting to feel a bit twitchy to be productive again. I’m looking forward to (and also slightly fearing) my spring roster of classes. I think they’re going to be challenging and interesting, with special emphasis on the challenging part. Hopefully, the emphasis will instead be on the interesting part … not that I don’t love a good challenge, of course, but not so challenging that I get completely overwhelmed.
I’ve also decided that when classes begin, I’m going to procure myself a carrel in the library where I can spend at least a few hours a day working in solitude. And, I’m also going to start making the trek across campus to the student rec center and swimming again. It has long been a fantastic way for me to get some exercise and indulge the water baby in me, and my only reluctance thus far has been that the rec center is clear on the other side of campus from my building. But in thinking about that, I’ve just been getting frustrated with myself, because — dammit Liz! — that’s sort of the point, isn’t it? So. It’s time to break out the swimsuit and start doing laps again, methinks. (Perhaps I will even try to swim across Tennessee!)
I’m not really the kind of person to make New Year’s resolutions and I won’t begin now — for the same reason that I’m not the sort to start a diet on a Monday or whatever. But, I will just say that I’m hoping 2009 is going to be a sort of renaissance Liz year … by which I mean, a year when I feel like I’m getting my shit together and doing the things that I love most. I’ve already made some great progress on the Incredible Shrinking Liz (ISL) project, and feel great about that. I want to kick up the exercise a notch (mostly as a mechanism for coping with stress and keeping myself balanced, but also as part of the ISL project). I want to spend the next four months doing kick-ass research. And I want to get out of the house more, with particular emphasis on getting to know the quirks and charms of Nashville better.
Thankfully, in each of these areas (except possibly the research bit), I’ve done things in the last few weeks to already begin to chase down these goals. So they’re not New Year’s resolutions so much as they are just resolutions. I want to be a better version of myself, and here’s hoping 2009 gets me closer to that. Cheers.