Bea

Life List - a good excuse to ignore resolutions

I'm crap at resolutions, how about you? After 2 weeks (plus!) of eating what ever looks good, drinking what ever is given, staying up and sleeping in late, anyone would feel like a little more clean living would do them some good. This is how I suspect New Years Resolutions were born. 

And then it's days (hours?, minutes?, weeks?) later that resolutions look hard. You're back at work, kids are at school, and life carries on in its' usual busy manner. Sticking to resolutions then? Pretty hard.

(As an aside: I once spent a Christmas season so full of merry Christmas drinks, that I resolved to stay sober for 6 weeks of the New Year. I made it 5 weeks and 6 days, which I was pretty proud of.)

I think this is why I love the Life List so much more. It's about long-term things, things you want to do but you'll do when you find the time, motivation and opportunity to do so. It's not about putting them off, but it is about not cramming them into the first few weeks of the new year.

New things on my list so far?

- Own a house in my own name

- Own a pair of diamond earrings (small!)

- Do a (tandem) skydive

Ok, so it's not many. But it's something I need to think about. That, and the fact that my life list looks barely touched. While I can cross the first one off my list, I have some work to do. The challenge for me is twofold:

1. Start crossing things off the list

2. Keeping building the list - because 23 seems like a short life list

What I love about the interwebs is the instant support you can get for Life List items. Friends who support you in new ventures, recent accomplishments, and life's little surprises. Let's do that here too, k?

What's come up on your Life List recently? I'd like to know, if only because I think I might like to try that too!

Happy 2010 everyone! Here's to a GREAT new year!

Life List - launch my own business

Remember how I talked about wanting my own business? And how it was meant to be launched by November 1st 2009? Well, believe it or not, I'm about as ready as I'll ever bet.

Ladies, I present to you:

                                  

(you can click on the logo to get to the new site!)

The Baby Room is an online store for fertility products such as pregnancy tests, ovulation tests, and ttc friendly lubricants. Trust me, the irony is not lost on me. I figured since I have spent so much of my own money on fertility products, it was the least I could do to get good products at good prices and share the deal. And voila, The Baby Room was born! (get it? see what I did there? CLEVER)

I'm nervous and hopeful. The site is beta (if that's the term) in that it's a rougher version than I would like, but it will have to do the job until I can afford better upgrades.

So, if you're ttc, or know someone who is, and living in New Zealand won't you pass the word? I'd be ever so grateful!

Wherein I scare you with naked crawling. Life Lists: they'll be the death of me.

You know how one of my items is to have my own business? And how recently I had to admit that progress on that particular project was going a little slower than I hoped. 

We can add the triathlon to that category too. 

Last Wednesday I was running along and feeling great. I've always struggled with running, but I actually felt good Wednesday. It was a 60 minute run, and by 45 minutes I was feeling strong - but then felt a twinge in my left ankle. Nothing major, but a twinge. By the time I stopped at 60 minutes and started walking to cool down, it was BAD. Limping, dragging my left leg, take 20 minutes to walk 100m bad. 

By the time I got out of the shower, had dinner and did a little reading, it was throbbing. Then I got up to go to bed. And fell to my knees.

I couldn't walk. Since David was away, I had to crawl to bed. Sad enough, yes. But then I remembered that I had not locked the front door. INTERNET, THIS IS WHERE YOU WANT TO TURN OFF YOUR MINDS' EYE. Because then I crawled to the front door, naked. WHAT? Like I was going to get dressed to crawl on the floor. Don't judge me. 

The cats looked really confused. 

I'll still be doing the triathlon on December 13th, but with the ankle injury I won't be as fast as I hoped. 

I may be down, but I'm not out. 

Business Launch! Eventually, anyway. (Life List: An update)

Remember when I was all brave and courageous and starting a business ? I was so sure that November 1st was going to be launch date, it was all going so well! I have products, logos, a business plan, and a web developer just ready to go as soon as I press 'start'. 

Only, I've got a little hiccup.

You see, these products and logos and web developers cost money. And while I could get away with a little bit of credit and some smaller orders for product, and roped my very talented sister-in-law to do the logos, the web developer needs considerably more money than my bank balance allows.

This was ok when it looked like I was going to secure another contract in my day job. Not one as lucrative as the last one, but one that would keep me going and allow me to pursue the business. Now, that contract isn't happening.

I've got a couple of small projects on the go that let me pay bills and have a coffee now and then, but nothing that will let me build and launch an online business. That sucks. 

So, I'm giving myself a little lee-way. I was all head strong and stubborn to make it happen by any means possible by November 1st. Clearly, November 1st has been and gone and there's no business to be seen. I'm disappointed, but philosophical. Just because I've hit a bit of a set-back doesn't mean it won't happen. Heck, I'm still planning and working for it to happen before the end of the year. I don't want this to be on my 2010 resolutions list.

I guess what I'm saying is: give me a break. Yes, I know I didn't meet the self-imposed goal. But that's no reason to abandon it all together, is it? I don't know about you, but when I don't meet my own goals I'm at risk at giving up completely. Which is a bit harsh. What's that about you being your own worst critic?

Here's the deal: give me a break and I'll give you a break. I promise to keep working hard on this business, give it my very best effort to get it up and running before 2010, and I'll be sure to support you in the one (or more) thing that you'd like to achieve before the end of the year.

Small or big, it doesn't matter what it is. Just share it. I know that if we share it, we're more likely to accomplish it. Sooner or later. 

p.s. if you know of a GREAT website developer for a reasonable price, please let me know! I need an e-commerce solution that won't break the bank!

Swim, then run, then bike, then collapse (Life List: an update)

As some of you may be aware, number 8 on my life list  is to complete an Olympic length triathlon. OLYMPIC length. Meaning, Olympians do this. And before we go any further please let me clarify that I am NOT AN OLYMPIAN. 

The full race involves a 1500 meter swim, 40km bike, and 10 km ride. In the USA, this means a 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, and a 6 mile run. Ridiculousness, I know. 

The training schedule is a 12 week programme which ramps up the distance and time for each of the 3 activities each week. This means that we do not get a break, we do not get a rest, and we never feel like we are getter fitter as each week gets harder and harder. 

I say 'we' because I have a girlfriend who has agreed to do the triathlon with me. Or rather, she forced me to agree to do a sprint triathlon with her and I said, in what must have been some drunken stupor, SPRINT SHMINT WE ARE WOMEN WE ARE STRONG LET'S DO AN OLYMPIC LENGTH! I have been off the vodka since. 

Can I tell you how much my legs are begging not to do the final run of the training week on a Wednesday afternoon? And how, when I return, my legs are all WE TOLD YOU WE ARE TIRED and give way before I can step in the shower. Oh, the bliss of rest on a Thursday. And then, like some perverse swedish hot-spa-to-ice-bath, the difficulty of jumping in the pool at 6am on a Friday. 

To be fair, despite all of my whining, I'm pretty impressed with myself so far. I have missed just one training day, largely due to an irrational and emotional reaction to an event in my professional life and resulted in my skipping the required 60 minute cycle and instead sitting in a hot bath with a glass of wine. The two are so similar, it's hard to tell them apart. 

We are half-way through the training schedule and therefore half-way to the race. I am still dubious as to my ability to complete the run after the cycle, but am doing my best to trust the anonymous expert who wrote the programme. They wouldn't lie would they?

Today is a quick 35 minute cycle. The cycle isn't the hard part, going out in the rain is. 

Providing amusement for drivers in my neighbourhood. 

Mighty Life List

Maggie has a great idea, and man is she making it work for her. Have you seen the things she’s done lately? Don’t you want to be a part of that? Me too! I think one of the scariest things about having life to-do lists is sharing them with others, because then you feel accountable to achieving those goals.

I’ve always felt that my life should and could be more……astounding, amazing, thrilling. But that sort of life doesn’t happen by accident, right?

So, without further delay, here’s the starting list. New Years’ resolution? PSHAW.

1. Start my own business

2.     Attend a main-stream fashion show

3.     Go to Puerto Vallarta with my best friend

4.     Go snorkeling in Rarotonga

5.     Cycle the Otago rail track

6.     Visit Stewarts Island

7.     Travel business class to Canada

8.     Complete an Olympic length triathlon

9.     Have a glass of champagne…in Paris.

10. Take dancing lessons

11. Take singing lessons

12. Make myself a skirt

13. Buy a house in Canada

14. Have a campervan holiday in Australia

15. Walk the Tongariro Pass

16. Visit White Island

17. Run a half-marathon

18. Take a holiday with my parents

19. Go for a pint with my brother

.....to be continued !

What's on your list?

and you want me to double that?

Here's a brave thing to admit: I've committed to doing a standard length triathlon on December 13th. THIS YEAR. Because I don't have enough to think about already.

A few years ago, before we even thought about having a family, I bravely said 'I'd like to do a standard length triathlon before getting pregnant'. I had already completed a few sprint triathlons, could push myself to do a 10k race if I had to and have always found the swimming part easy. As in, '3 hours straight swimming is so much FUN' easy. 

Then we started on this family pathway and things, well, they got side tracked. Put on the back burner. Lost behind the couch. Exercise became just one more thing on the 'to-do' list, instead of something that I had always enjoyed and looked forward to. 

My lovely friend, and now training partner, mentioned this triathlon on December 13th. And we talked about how we could do the spring distance in December, and then work our way up to the standard length for April 2010. 

When we looked at the training plan for the sprint race our reaction was 'p-shaw, we already do that and more now, where's the challenge?'. We must have had a couple of drinks, because the next thing I know we've agreed on the standard length and now just have 12 weeks to get ready. TWELVE weeks. 

This morning we did our first 'brick' workout as a bit of a benchmark for where we are now. We decided the sprint distance would be a good marker. 500m swim, 20k bike and 5k run. One hour and 20 minutes later I was seriously questioning our sanity. That was SLOW and HARD and....ugh the work that needs to be done.

December 13th means 1500m swim, 40k bike and 10k run. 

Now that I'm on the couch having had a good breakfast and a little nap, the 'good' angel on my shoulder is whispering sweet nothings in my ear:

But you've done hard before.

You've done hard, and then LOVED it.

All good things take hard work, sacrifice, focus. You CAN do this. 

Imagine the cake you'll be able to eat after all that training.

 SHE HAD ME AT CAKE. Ok, not really, but nice side-benefit.

Twelve weeks it is.

It's just one of the things on the to-do list before Christmas. What's on yours before we see 2010?