Another Month Closer To Doom-Or A Seussical World?

Well, it's only another month closer to doom if you think the world ends in December.  I like to think we'll have a rebirth of peace and happiness and all that old anger, bitterness, and war will go away.  We'll all live in a  Dr. Seuss colored land, hand out flowers to each other as we sing our way through our wonderful days and be able to eat as much candy as we want without repercussions.  


Ahem.  Sorry.  Too much inhaling of Mr. Clean fumes while cleaning.  


Oops.  Not really cleaning.  Just thinking about it.


March is just around the corner--it is true the older you get the faster time flies by.  Except when you're  waiting for a table on a Friday night.  


Since this Winter hasn't really been much of a Winter, and Spring seems just around the corner, I've been making my lists of things I'd like to do, and if all the world was right and I had oodles of ambition, things I would actually do.  But it's fun to make those lists and get all those fluffy random brain ramblings down on paper.  If only to see what I actually thought I would do in the future.  I impress myself by actually thinking I would do all those things in a respectable period of time.


Anyhoo, March is here, and I have a lot of book talks to do this month.  I have one tomorrow night at a local library, then another one next week, then two book talks to give at a women's conference later this month.  This means I'm dithering over what to talk about.  There's stuff I have read and loved, and then there's the stuff I think people would actually read.  Sometimes they are miles apart.  It's keeping me busy and compulsively trying to read 10 books at once.  After this month, I don't have any book talks planned until June.  


I've been looking around my wee house, and decided that some things must be taken down and put away.  Time for a fresh start.  I have a beautiful big purple victorian birdhouse my father made for a friend years ago, and when my Dad died, she gave it back to me.  It's sat on a shelf for the last 8 years, keeping guard of my living room.  I thought--Dad's not a birdhouse, so perhaps I should put it away for now and make a new vignette on that bookshelf (which has no books on it--just knick knacks).  I feel the need to change things up a bit.  I'm pretty sure Dad wouldn't mind, and since he's always on my mind, I don't need a birdhouse to think of him.  I have realized that most of the things I have around my house have been occupying the same places for years, and I want to clear things out, move stuff around, and make the place a bit more up to date.  


Cheaply, of course.  I'm not investing millions here.  


If I did win the lottery, well, I'd sell my house and buy a bigger place and all new stuff!  And I'd have a pony in the back yard, a carousel in the side yard, and a chocolate stream by the back door.  You could double dip and I wouldn't be upset.


So my plans for March are....more declutter.  Got off track earlier this month and need to get back in the groove.  Try the Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred DVD I just bought yesterday.  If I can run for hours, I can make it through 20 minutes of her particular hell.  We'll see how I do for 30 days.  It's my own particular ode to Lent.  
And yes, I do realize Lent started last week.  Better late than never, right?


And, hmm...since I have failed miserably against the ongoing obsession with books, I am recommitting myself to reading the stacks on the floor.  I decided that if these books mean that much to me, I have to read them all.  This year.  And to prove that point, I started writing down titles of everything I've got stacked on the floor.  Old, new, half-way started, haven't even opened the cover--that's what I've got on the floor.  I won't even look in the basement til these are done.  I have to come up with a reward system for myself--how's about, for every book I read that I already have, I put $5 in my vacation fund?  That is one quick way to save up money for a trip around the world.  Or New Mexico.  I think that sounds like a great idea.  Geez, writing down all that stuff on paper made more room in my brain.


And as horrible as this makes me feel, I am going to go through the folders I have of recipes I've ripped out of magazines, printed off the internet, and scribbled down-and detrash.  If I actually made all of these dishes just once I would never make the same meal for the next 20 years.  Sigh.  This is gonna be hard.  I'm also hoping to make plans with a few friends and family I haven't seen much of lately and have some dinners out.


And running.  Oh yes.  I so admire all the ladies I follow who run, train, and work their life around running.  They take care of themselves.  Bravo.  I have not taken care of myself since November.  I can't wait to get outside with my iPod and go for a run.  It will be painful, slow, and frustrating, but there's  nothing like feeling that fresh air on my face, and knowing with every step I take, I'm improving my stamina.  Running and Jillian Michaels together will redefine this body--fingers and toes crossed.  


So what do you have planned for March?  I wanna know!!