It's the closing of the year & time to make a new list of stuff that I probably won't accomplish.. but that's the point right?? We try to do better.. sometimes we do... sometimes it's just wishful thinking.
Some previous list items that are #done or almost there:
01. READING. This year I did fantastic with the 'reading at least ..2 books a month' challenge.. I managed 53 (& counting!) I think I'll stick with that same challenge for 2015 since I also know I don't read as many books when school is in session. ;)
a few of the books I plan to read or re-read or currently reading for this next year..
02. "Getting Home more." We are home. We are in Berkeley. so #happycamper right?? ;) SO..
2b: getting back to SoCal to see friends now & again would be good!
03. Walking/Biking/wii fit.. I did better since 2011.. I'm walking every day! I get my 10k+ steps in almost every day.. and I joined the Y a couple months ago & am hitting the pool once in a blue moon.. the next step is to make an appt. with the trainer so I can use the equipment (the rowing machine especially!!) properly!
3b. Bike. When the weather gets better.. Back on the bike! Be brave! Hit those Berkeley streets & hills!
04. Join some of the Berkeley Path Wanderers walks.. There's a couple coming up on the 1st and the 10th.. The latter will be a Little Free Libraries walk.. so you know that's right up my alley! ;)
05. Passport.. I have a new copy of my birth certificate, so. um.. yeah. Get that thing! I wants to go on a cruise or run off to Canada & see friends one day. ;)
06. Back on Program.. I'm on, I'm off. I got down to about 172 (from 190+ lbs in Feb.) and back up to about 180 this holiday.. so I'll start tracking my food again after the new year.. My ultimate goal is 140 with a plateau of 150.. ;)
NEW STUFF:
07. Each day is a new day. I am going to try & treat each day as a new opportunity to try things again.. Not let people or things get me down for too long.. If someone dissapoints me, I don't want to let it pile up.. Maybe they were having a bad day & took it out on me? Maybe it was me that did something wrong, but no one told me. Who knows? ..I got to not let that tear me down or hurt me. It's a bad habit I have, and it piles up or re-visits me at the wrong times.
08. Along that line.. I can't say I'm going to be Pollyanna.. but I do realize no one loves you when you're down & out. With that in mind.. I'm going to try & not verbalize my misery so much. Not only does no one give a rats, it makes me look like I can't handle my junk & I'm a whiner. I can totally handle it but I'm definitely one of those people that verbalize more than I should.. Honestly, I get over stuff pretty easily.. So if something bugs me one minute or day, I might be over it an hour or a day later. Maybe. ;) So yeah whining about something that I end up letting go of within minutes makes me look pathetic.
09. Clear the clutter. We downsized but didn't downsize our stuff so much. So getting organized is probably the biggest thing that's going to have to happen this next year.. I know it's not all on me.. but I need to be the instigator! ;)
10. Continue to be proactive in learning about & involved in Berkeley & California.. whether it's through my volunteer activities, attending Bancroft Roundtable events, book festivals, readings, other historical society (California, OMCA, BAHA, Berkeley) events.. Keep learning and growing.. and keep reading and looking for more opportunities to gather knowledge.
The Neverminds:
10. Creative Writing class. I've returned to school.. and at some point I'll be taking English 5: Critical Thinking in Reading & Writing course.. so.. yeah. Plus the history classes I'm taking require papers so writing is something I'm doing as part of the coursework. My thought is that I want to key in on how I'm writing & encourage my instructors to hopefully give me feedback whenever possible, (so many of these folks have heavy loads & I don't expect them to have time to really talk to me, let alone give me tips or constructive criticism.. but I can ask right??)
11. No longer looking for bio siblings. People who were looking found who they were looking for. I do want to learn about Native American orphanages of the early half of the 20th Century and how they worked and why they even exisited. Not in a rush.
I'm actually in a pretty happy place in my life. When I look through my list I don't see anything that jumps out at me as difficult or not doable. I think of other things I'd like to do.. like getting out in the parks again to continue my photo tour of Berkeley City parks, or returning to the hills to walk.. these are things I just need to allocate time for. They aren't challenges so much as things I enjoy that I've been putting on the back burner. My main focus recently has been school and the volunteering.. Finding balance between the things I need to do and what I want to do (often these are the same things!) could be proabably be a 12?
Happy New Year!
Unseasonably lovely weather to be had Monday.. Cool, but not cold.. the sun wanting to burn through.. The fog creating a blanket obscuring the sun in South Berkeley..
Ashby near Wheeler... beautiful Berkeley.
Walking to the library Wednesday Morning.. the fog was misting over the hills. On some of the side streets off Shattuck, the leaves were coloring the neighborhood south of campus..
Beautiful Berkeley..
Today was the holiday book sale at Heyday Books.. They were offering 25% off books online as well at their HQ on University. Added bonus was a table with selected titles at 75%.. Of course I had to go! I was hoping to pick up a couple books for my 'keeper' shelf..
today's book purchases..
A couple I've previously read & loved.. and a couple are newly published work I'm looking forward to reading for the first time. =)
We're rather limited on bookspace these days, so I have to be careful about what books I invest in. Heyday has so many fantastic titles though, it was difficult to narrow down my selections! I have several of their books already and I've enjoyed every one. I think I would have gladly picked up another half dozen titles if I thought the spouse wouldn't be annoyed with me for going crazy at the sale. ;) We have a pretty good California travel/history shelf but I'm always looking for titles I can adopt and keep forever.. things that will be of pleasure and a useful resource as time goes on. I think I managed to do that, and I picked up a couple titles to be inspired by perhaps. All books are fun (the pleasure & knowledge one acquires from the process of words).. even moving, inspiring and intense books. I already have a large selection of books I would like to finish reading (re-start at this point) and now I have several to add to the list..
As an aside, I'm so grateful for publishers like Heyday.. While I'm persuing lower level studies at the City College, I still have access to really great writers of California history and cultural studies whom I can read at my leisure (even while I wait to take the type of classes I really want to take.)
With the Fall Semester winding down (or cranking up if you think about all the stuff that has to happen in the next week before the winter holidays begin) I've been very distracted from writing anything that doesn't involve school. I have so many things I'd like to post or write about and have yet to really find the time to clear my head and get it down.. Maybe after next Tuesday.. It's not as if I've not been anywhere lately..
Places I've eaten & would love to post about:
-Elevation 66 (Albany)
-Sconehenge (Berkeley)
-HandleBar (Berkeley)
-Imm Thai Street Food (Berkeley)
-Saul's Deli (Berkeley) (although I go here pretty often.. It would have to be a new angle besides food)
-Triple Rock Thanksgiving (Berkeley)
Other ideas..
- Thanksgiving in general.. although now that I think about it.. meh.
- a random piece about coffee makers and the style and need of coffee..
- something about how freaking awesome maps are & why people might love them so much.
- National Adoption Month/ Day came & went.. I was thinking about writing something semi-coherent about that. oh well.
- something about social media & its varied uses. although..
- books.. books I'm reading or have read.. or things that are of interest to me.
- Heyday is having a sale on the 6th.. that would be something fun to post about. I guess we'll see.
- Bicycling around Berkeley.. if I ever get back to it.
- My "Y" experience maybe.
- Death Indexing.. not so much the indexing but some of the fun things I've come across in the Berkeley Daily Gazette while looking for death notices & obituaries.
- Hiking up into the hills on a nice day.. or heading to a nearby park. I miss my favorite tree. (ok it's not mine but it's a pleasant place to read and feel the breeze and the earth & see the sky for a bit) There's still other Berkeley Parks I've yet to photograph.
- Take a bus up to Tilden Park to spend an afternoon walking around.. I'm usually too worn out by the time I get up to Euclid & the Rose Garden to want to walk any further than back down to Vine Street Peet's (lazy, I know!)
They all seem like interesting topics when I think of them in the middle of the night.
When I can't sleep I make lists of things I should have done or need to do, things I wish I'd said to people, or not; things I want to accomplish the next day. Somewhere in there, blogging ideas pop up and I think "yeah that might be intresting" but then I fall asleep and forget about. At least I fall asleep. If I can't, I start reading.. ;)
It's our first Thanksgiving owning our own place, and it's Throw-back Thursday! Not so much a Berkeley post.. Then again I doubt the 2 or 3 people that show up reading this really care, and hey! It's been a month since my last post! (that's another post tho..)
I give you my first Thanksgiving:
(photo credit J. Hesselink)
Here we are in our Norman Rockwell 1973 splendor.. My brother Bob is wearing his headgear at the table.. I'm sitting next to him, then my mom.. Despite it being our original home in Indiana, it's Gramma at the head of the table taking charge of "Grace" and my dad carving the turkey from the opoosite end.. My Aunt Violet sits to her left of Gramma and there's my brother Craig.. I'm pretty sure my Uncle Earl was there (Violet's husband) but not in the shot. My dad took this with one of those neat Poloroids where you had a time dial and then could peel the photo off it's chemical backing when the buzzer went off..
*not our house..
One of the more spirited homes in South Berkeley all decked out for Halloween!
walking home tonight passing Triple Rock.. Shattuck Avenue has lovely holiday lights (and in some cases, decorations) wrapping all the trees on either side of Shattuck Avenue..
Out of milk, so headed to Berkeley Bowl to get a little something to tie over til the weekend.. and what do I spot front and center with the Berkeley Farms milk???
eggnog!!?? It's not even Hallowe'en yet!! *argh!!*
Though I do love the stuff.. it's just TOO EARLY!!!
