Breaking the Ice

I don't know what it is about a snow day (or, in this case, an ice day), but all of the normal weekday routines go out the window.  The window, outside which, there are the rarest of sights in central Georgia...

like ice covered Crepe Myrtles

and an icicle-laden bird feeder amid a backdrop of ice-covered playground

 

and the undeniable tweenage-sized footprints around the side gate made by neighborhood boys whose trespassing can't be denied thanks to the evidence left in the ice (not so big of a deal - we're used to it)...

Instead it's time to catch up on the DVR with the husband whose been told not to come into work. It's time to iron a whole laundry room full of clothes, just because you can. It's time to build tents in every room in the house.  It's time to put everyone in the tub after a big breakfast with lots of sticky, dripping syrup, get them all cleaned up, and put them right back into jammies for the day.  It's the perfect time for marathon games of hide-and-seek (and those hilarious Disney Channel shows that are more your guilty pleasure than your kids').  It's a good time to sit down by the fire and count your blessings.

And for some random reason, it's time to put all of the kids up on top of the refrigerator and take a picture - because, in Georgia, cabin fever sets in quickly...very quickly.

Apparently, for me, it's also time to dust off the old list and re-examine it, so that I can cross a thing or two off of it in the near future.  Unemployment has been a bit like purgatory for me, and I look at The List as a good distraction to keep my occupied in the interim...no matter what the future may hold for me.  And it seems that a snow (or ice) day is the perfect time for a kick in the rear.

Running through the list, I realized that I indeed scratched one item off recently without even realizing it.  In my (typical) pessimistic way, I made taking and passing the PE exam two separate items.  In my mind, I would end up taking the test five times before I would manage to pass and I wouldn't even be able to accomplish those five sittings in 1001 days.

Turns out, it went a lot better than I expected.  (Imagine that.)  So, if you haven't visited my blog in the past week or two, and you would like to read the post that I'm counting as my official "completed" blog post for item #6 (Pass the Professional Engineer Exam), please go here.  Thus, I have completed 35 of the 101 tasks I have assigned myself.

Hitting some highlights as I go down the list:

4. Vote in all city and county elections. ~ I have thus far voted in every election (and subsequent runoff) on every city, county, state, and federal ballot since I began the grand list adventure in 2009.  On top of that, I should add that the most recent election day fell in the middle of my kidney stone experience, and so, I was chauffered to the polls by my loving husband while I stumbled across the parking lot and into the gym clearly under the influence of drugs.  Percocet to be exact.  Good thing I had that cheat sheet in hand.  (Truly, there was a policeman there and I just knew he was going to arrest me for being under the influence while voting.  To my knowledge, voting while on pain meds isn't illegal, but in my paranoid delusional state, I thought it was.  I specifically remember telling Sam to "play it cool" as we walked past him.)

26.  Cook a vegetarian meal.  ~ This is is totally doable, and I wholeheartedly intend to knock this out sooner than later.  I know that technically grilled cheese and tomato soup fits the bill, but I'm looking for something that I might actually add to my very anemic meal rotation.

27.  Reach two new tens-places in my weight.  ~ I'm not actually going to stress this one anymore.  As long as I get in a daily workout (which, admittedly, has been seriously lacking lately), I am going to focus on health and hope that weight loss is a byproduct.  Sadly, for me, my weight rarely drops when I exercise.  I suppose that means a diet would in order.  And we all know how much I love food....  I totally live to eat.

30. Play tennis with Sam at least ten times, no matter how horribly he kicks my tail. ~ I cannot believe that I haven't done this a single time since October of 2009.  SAD.  Our anniversary is coming up soon and my mother-in-law has graciously offered babysitting services.  If we don't play tennis at least once while she's here, there's just really no excuse!

35. Read the Bible in 365 days. (Day 1: Jan 3, 2011) ~ On January 3rd, I began B90x - a clever play on the P90x workout - that is a plan to read the Bible in 90 days for a spiritual "workout", if you will.  I'm halfway through Leviticus right now.  If I'm being honest, the second half of Exodus was tough to get through.  I keep having to remind myself that if it weren't important, God wouldn't have included it in the final draft, so it is important to know exactly how tall and wide the curtains that lead to the Most Holy place were.  I'm finding Leviticus much easier to read, but I have always had a minor interest in law - for some nerdy reason.

I feel compelled to share this passage from Leviticus 13 because, I confess, the mental image of someone actually having to do this made me chuckle.  I know it shouldn't and it feels sacrilegious to admit it out loud, but all I have to say is - Thank you, Jesus, for the new covenant!

⁴⁵"The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, 'Unclean, unclean.'

(Those poor lepers!)

38. Attend a couple's retreat with Sam. ~ This one will be happening soon!  Our church is hosting a marriage conference at the end of January and I cannot wait!  It will be the perfect culmination to our January marriage series in Sunday School.

74. Read 10 new ("grown-up") books. (7/10) ~ Thanks to a lengthy holiday, I added a couple more titles to the list bringing the total up to seven books read.  I'm halfway through Benjamin Franklin's autobiography right now.  I can't wait to share the titles, just because the randomness of the books I've selected is just so...me. Hint:  They aren't all John Grisham novels.  I stepped out of my comfort zone.

So here's my own kick in the rear, in the form of posting this for the world to see.  I intend to knock these out and let you all know as quickly as is humanly possible.  And maybe I can get to some of the more craftsy ones like dresses and hairbows while I'm still home too.

To those of you who are experiencing winter weather, stay warm!  And thanks for reading!