I Resolve

I'm not much for New Year's Resolutions. Are you?
I think the New Year is a good time to take stock, but I hate how people criticize themselves so much.
Of course, I want to eat  healthier, exercise more, be a better wife and mother, write more...
But instead of making and breaking resolutions, I've made two simple promises for this year.
The first is to not use plastic bags from stores. All I have to do is take my own cloth bags with me everywhere I go. If I don't have a cloth bag, I'll have to take my merchandise without a bag. I think I can do this one fairly well, as long as the insistent bag boys don't force me to take plastic bags for my meat.
My other goal is to spend about an hour outdoors most days, even in the winter. That shouldn't be too difficult if I get out and run in the mornings. I'm usually outside for an hour running. I like the idea of spending one of every 24 hours in nature, even if it's in the city and running along a street.
How bout you? Will you change anything in the coming year? What are the odds you'll stick to it?

Fair-Weather Friend

This morning after my run, the sky was still dark and I lay down in the hammock. I used one leg to swing myself as the sky brightened and I could make out small dark clouds that skittered across the gray.
Sometimes when I run early in the morning, I'll look up and see the moon. It always makes me smile. I'll say, "You're still there?" like the moon is an old friend I haven't seen in awhile, but there whenever I look for it. On Tuesday the moon was just a crescent and Venus was twinkling brightly above it.
I lay in the hammock thinking that I should spend more time outdoors. The outdoors is rejuvenating really, especially now that it's hot enough for the air conditioning. And soon the summer will be gone and I'll wish I'd spent more time basking in the sun or feeling the cool breeze on my cheeks or even running through a downpour. Instead, I'll be in my house ensconced in a Snuggie.
Even as I thought that, yes, my goal for the next few weeks will be to get out and enjoy the weather, a mosquito landed on my upper arm. I turned toward it and blew, forcing it to move on. It landed again on my forearm.
Then the sweat from my recent run trickled down my face, into my ears and started to interfere with my iPod headphones, so I got up and came in the house, to the air conditioning.

Enjoy This Moment

I stood there 90 feet up in the air, ready to jump and slide among the treetops. "Wheeeeee!" I yelled as I zoomed along. But on the ride, whooshing along a cable that stretched between multi-colored trees in the Hocking Hills, I had to remind myself.
"Pay attention! Enjoy this moment!"
So much of my life is spent planning the next step in my too busy life. I don't even write down much of it, instead filing it in my head until it is too full to hold it all. Two kids to swim. One needs new shoes. Don't forget the orthodontist appointment. Need to grade those papers and don't forget to plan for Wednesday's class.
The thing I have the hardest time with, as my husband can attest, is living in the moment -- putting away all of those extra things and concentrating on the pleasure or pain that awaits me. I have a hard time with now.
So, as I was zipping through the trees on a brisk fall day, I remembered to remind myself. "Concentrate!"
And I did. I felt the cold air sting my cheeks as my mouth opened in a yelp and a smile. I forgot about being a mom and a wife and a teacher for a little while and just enjoyed the thrill of jumping off a platform to fly over a chasm below.