An Update

So, I think I can cross some stuff off the list.

3. Get up by 7:30am every day for a month.
I've got this one covered. I am now a morning person. Sleeping in to 7:30 is, well, sleeping in! I know. That's pretty crazy, but totally true. Most mornings I get up at 6. The early morning thing has been going on ever since the move to miramichi, give or take a day here or there.

4. Participate in a marathon.
It might not have been what I originally intended when i put this on my list, but the juvenile diabetes research 5K counts, and I did it, so there you go.

49. Watch no television for a week.
And again. This I do consistently. The only thing I'm watching on tv is coronation street, all at once on a sunday morning . . . and some weeks i even miss that.

99. Sell, donate or throw away 101 items.
For the fundraising yardsale i purged yet again. i could only find 57 items. that's it. that's all i have. i'm officially decluttered.

Thoughts on #4 . . . Did I REALLY Say Marathon?

As in physical exercise? As in running? Yikes! But yeah, I said it, and I'm damn serious. As some of you already know if you've been following my regular blog Living in Limbo, I have arthritis. At one point I was in such a terrible flare I seriously doubted I would ever be able to walk like a normal person again, let alone dance or run or comfortably take the stairs and so on. It took a really long time and a major shift in my approach to listening to my body, but I am now living a drug-free, sometimes pain-free, walkable, danceable, runnable, taking the stairs two at a time kind of life. I often feel like I've been given a second chance, like I magically escaped. Every time I walk to the post office I think, "Wow! Here I am! Walking!" I don't take that simple act for granted anymore.

For a couple of years I've been thinking about doing a walk or a run or a marathon of sorts, just to celebrate myself, my ability to do it. The more I thought about it I thought why not do it for other sufferers as well. So, I started investigating the Arthritis Society's Joints in Motion Campaign. And the more I looked into it, the more I wanted to do it. But this year has been impossible. There was no way I could undertake such a huge endeavour. I mean besides getting in the physical and mental shape to do the thing, you also have to do a lot of fundraising (the point afterall). So, I declined Amsterdam :-( Said so long to Hawaii and Arizona :-( and told organizers I'd have to wait until next year. And now begins the task of simplifying my life to the point where I have room for a great big old marathon (I'm hearing rumors of Athens, yay!) Life is going to have to become Job, Personal Writing and Marathon, c'est tout! No volunteer. No freelance. No extras. Totally feasible.

I think this will be one of the most important things I do in my life.