I turned 30 yesterday, which for me turned out to not be such a big deal. We’re using the occasion to throw a big party, since hubby turns 30 in a week and a half, and I’m looking at 30 as something of a marking point. How have I done so far with my goals? Are the goals I had still the goals that are important to me? The story I’ve heard echoed over and over again is that folks get caught in up the everyday, in the things that have to be done today or by this weekend, or their big plan for next month, letting their bigger goals in life gather dust. I don’t want to fit that story. I want to both achieve my goals in life, and keep making new ones so that there’s continually a challenge, no matter what my age.

I talked with my mom today. She asked me if I needed a walker yet. I boastfully replied that I had run 9 miles this morning- no walker necessary here! She then reminded me that when she had turned 31, I had seen fit in my 11 year old sense of humor, to give her a cane that had a rearview mirror and a horn attached to it. When you’re 11, your parents don’t seem quite ancient, but definitely count as old. Not old like grandparent old, but stuck in the same state they’ve always been in and will always be. That cane had been my way of poking fun. And now, I’m merely one year away from the same age as my mom had been. Luckily, my kids are a lot younger. I’ll have to be 40 (ooh, ancient!) before Cora will be in that same pre-teen state to poke fun at her “old” mom. And I’m hoping to be able to proudly say, ‘I don’t need that thing, I just ran 9 miles today.’

Java, of the caffeinated sort, you rescuer, you time-redeemer, you sleep snatcher and protector of the purpose of my Java (non-caffeinated) conference attendance… don’t fail me now.
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‘You have 19 users in your list of banned IP addresses. ‘

You know who you are, you scum who plaster my entries with comments that say things like ‘Reduce your credit card debt’. (Hey, how about the time-honored technique of spend less than you make??) Who leave notes that suggest that I can easily enlarge parts that I don’t have, or use creams to reduce cellulite (that I unfortunately do have). All with neatly embedded URLs to take me to your product of choice. Surprisingly, Disney was actually one of the embedded URLs that came across yesterday. You’ll note that none of these things are still in the archives for my entries. I blast you into comment oblivion with the click of a mouse, and then add you to my list of folks who can never bother my site again. Count’s up to 19. And my comment phaser gun’s waiting.

I’ve finally managed to trim my in-bin at work to 10 messages, give or take a few depending on what’s going on for the day. What a pleasure to see everything in my in-bin in one screen! How unlike me, in general… Coworkers swear that they keep their inbins empty, regularly either deleting their email or filing it. I had never been able to keep up with the flow, no more than I can keep up with the stream of industry magazines that crosses my desk at work, or the pile of mail that threatens to overwhelm me at home. This empty in-bin thing is giving me hope that I’m not doomed to endlessly be digging through information.

I’m working on a habit. A good one, I hope. I’ve been slipping the sneakers on at the end of the day, and going for a run around work. Even picked up a running partner lately. Steve’s training to run a 5K in memory of his wife, who passed away from cancer. I’m running for a much less worthy reason, for the most part. It feels good. I feel like I’m accomplishing something everytime I can run a bit farther than I did previously, or run the same run without giving up and needing to run that last hill on the last quarter mile back to work. And I really like the idea of the jeans fitting a bit better as a result. Gives me the motivation to skip the chocolate that my project lead so sadistically keeps in his office.

It’s time I take from my family, I realize. I try to trade that off by eating my lunch at my desk for the most part, so hopefully I’m not chaining Jason to two youngsters for longer than necessary. And I try to make it up to him – (hint, hint- I’m feeling guilty, Jas – you could work this to your benefit). My habit is fast becoming an addiction, though my speed doesn’t similarly count as fast. For me, a long run is 3+ miles, though I have dreams of marathons… maybe even this year, if I can figure out how to fit in the time necessary to run the LSDs (an addiction of their own, but means Long Slow Distance) necessary to build up to 26.2.

I looked up Biblical references to running – came up with a few. Heb 12:1 seems to fit – I’m trying to earn the perseverance to run the race. Something to cogitate upon to redeem the time – it’s Bible study time, honey. Really.

Out on one of the various book vendor websites, looking for a location near work that might have a book I need ASAP. So, I put in my zipcode and ask for the nearest locations. Lo and behold, one pops up that lists itself as remarkably convenient to me: only 8 feet away! I knew I have a lot of books in my office, but…

If you checked this page earlier today, you’d have found an empty blog! Somewhere in my settings, I must have set the main page to display entries for the last month. Generally, even in a bad month, that’s five or six entries. This past month, however, I’ve come nowhere near this page. The combination of two little girls and an overwhelming project at work has kept me well away from blogging. Sometimes even well away from sleeping. I promise that this blog hasn’t died – its author is just conserving strength and hours for sleep.

You know the Atkins plan has taken over the collective consciousness when 7-Eleven, home of the Big Bite hot dog and the Supersize Slurpee, hawks Atkins products. (Subway and T.G.I. Friday’s are similarly on board, but somehow those product pairings don’t seem quite so obscene.)

I can’t help thinking that the success folks’ get on Atkins has more to do with _controlling_ their carbs, rather than controlling their _carbs_. E.g., if you watch what you eat, you generally eat less. In full disclosure, our one attempt to do Atkins succeeded for only two weeks or so, after which point I lost next to nothing and hubby lost only a smidge more, so I have a bias as to the plan’s results. My dad-in-law, though, has had great success – but those pork rinds he gets to eat for snacks just strike me as wrong, somehow…

In my in-box this morning – two spam emails for an herbal remedy for hangovers. At least it’s timely spam.

Have a happy New Year!

Enjoying simple pleasures today. The joy of a 2 1/2 month old sleeping through the night. The joy of a new purse, appropriately organized so that I can now easily find that ringing telephone. The joy of a longish-running test case that both helps me track down a memory problem, and lets me write a blog entry. The joy of a 50 degree day at the end of December. The joy of brilliant blue skies. The joy of an easy commute, compliments of all of the other folks who stayed home this week. The joy of anticipation, looking forward to a chance to go out on the town tomorrow night with my husband. The joy of accomplishment: the deliverables are out the door, and we don’t have any more staring us in the face near term. (Not that there’s not a lot of work to do – it just isn’t technically due for a while yet.) The joy of hugging my daughter, and helping her tuck herself into bed next to her daddy (rather than her usual thump on him, “get up!” approach to rousing dad).

Gotta have a day like this once in a while… Here’s hoping that hubby’s having just as good a day, and that maybe you are, too.