Brimming with Optimism

I'm 43 today, or as Annie Lamott would say, I'm 30-13. (I know it's Anne, I think I started calling her Annie because of Dillard. Now I call her Annie because I like to pretend that we're good friends, like how Angelina's friends actually call her Angie.)

I'm suspicious that people might be praying for me, because I'm feeling optimistic, which has been uncharacteristic of me for the last few weeks.

43 is an auspicious year:
1. It's a prime number
2. It's Troy Polamalu's jersey number
3. It's the number of things listed on one of my favorite sites, 43things

So I'm going to make a 43 Things list just for this year:

This will be the year I:
1. Start jogging again, no matter how slowly or poorly or whatever.
2. Make that video about the Birthday Girls (my mom's lovely, lovely friends)
3. Grow a lot of lavender, and harvest it, and hang it everywhere to dry until the smell of lavender reminds people of my house
4. log 100 hours of language learning
5. Read the Bible, and then some (must-reads spiritually speaking, apocryphal books)
6. Walk my dogs regularly.i.e. be a better dog owner
7.  Forgive people, like that Year of Jubilee idea (releasing people from debts)
8. Let people take pictures of me and quit lying and telling them I think it takes a piece of my soul when really I'm just self-conscious (THIS IS HARD TO EVEN WRITE. I don't know about this one.)
9. Dance somewhere at least once
10. participate in that Write-A-Novel-in-a-Month thing that all my friends do.
11. Make scrapbooks of all my 'nostalgia' stuff, even if it doesn't look nearly as good as the Creative Memories people.
12. Go somewhere awesome with my Mom and everyone: like Dollywood or Nashville or something.
13. Get acupuncture.
14. Wear a bathing suit at the beach.
15. create/obtain/whatever it takes to own a treadmill desk.
16. Cook food and bake food, following Catherine's example (when she's hungry, she looks up recipes and gathers ingredients and plays classy music and actually cooks good food. it's so HEALTHY, in every way.)
17. Take a class.
18. will be a GRACEFIEND.
19. Write letters (I kinda started this,but I want to keep it up)
20. either have one of those houses that's already reasonably clean, or quit caring that my house isn't
21. Go to 34th street at Christmas time
22. exercise my gift (which i believe is encouragement) intentionally, often, joyfully
23. stretch my imagination to include the idea that guys can be nice and maybe even trustworthy, but you can still be really cautious about these guys and i don't have to pretend it's likely or anything, just possible, like a science fiction story.
24. go somewhere awesome with my sister for her birthday
25. pray
26. accessorize
27. manage my RA holistically
28. finish my braces vlog
29. start my new vlog (jabba the hutt)
30. assume better things and act accordingly
31. read daily
32. use my commute better
33. hang the rita hayworth picture up at work
34. hang the rita hayworth picture up in my room
35. start wearing GLOVES as a fashion accessory (hides my hands, looks cool)
36. go to at least 3 art shows (scottie's was wonderful)
37. start wearing more makeup, like that lady from Pittsburgh encouraged me to
38. intercede
39. write my dreams down
40. remember: what i love doing, the joy of my salvation, the good things
41. my family: start some traditions and actually enjoy the holidays (i was always bad at this...common in circumstances like ours - holidays sucking - but i want to redeem this..i can feel like now that they're grown, it's too late. but it's not..)

42. my family: legacy
43. love people well