A big ol' slice of monotony

Have you ever noticed how much of our lives we hurry through? Monday through Friday we count down the days until the weekend. We wish away 5/7s of our lives. That’s over 70 percent, people!

And it’s not just weekdays we wish away. As children, we all long to be adults. At least I did. I wanted to be old enough to make my own decisions, have my own things and operate on my own schedule. I don’t know how many times I glared at my parents, secretly (or maybe not-so-secretly) wishing I was out of their house and making my own rules.

And now that I’m actually here, doing all of that stuff, I sometimes wish I was still just a kid. Because as an adult, I have bills, house work, yard work (which I admittedly do very little none of) – and I have to be accountable for all of the decisions I make. And that’s not always fun, is it?

Sometimes, I just want to curl up on the couch with a bowl of Chef Boyardee and watch Fraggle Rock.

Or read The Boxcar Children.

I want to get excited over T.G.I.F. shows on Friday night and wake up early to watch Saturday morning cartoons.

I miss the Pound Puppies.

And Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

I want to make crazy designs in my Lite Brite.

Being an adult has proven to be pretty boring in comparison to all of the great stuff I got to do as a kid. I think I’ve just let my life become too routine. I get up, go to work, go home, watch TV, eat supper, go to bed, then do it all again the next day. Talk about monotony! I’ve been throwing exercise in the mix lately, so that breaks things up a little – but I need some excitement. I need to spice things up a bit. Maybe if I found more things to entertain my time, I wouldn’t feel like being a grown up is so bland.

(Um, excuse me... but I think someone forgot the seasoning on my little slice of adulthood. Could I have some salt, please?)

Of course, given that the majority of people living in my town are senior citizens, I don’t know how much I can find to do. I hear there’s a weekly Bingo night. And a polka night (no joke). And I could always take my neighbor up on her offer to let me join her water aerobics class. I wonder if I get a neat little swim cap to keep my hair dry.

No matter what I do, I’m going to try to stop wishing time away. I’m going to start living in the now.

Besides, time goes fast enough as it is. I need to preserve my youthful appearance as long as I can, right? The quicker time goes by, the closer I am to wrinkles Botox and gray dyed hair.

My wild and crazy life

So, I know I haven’t posted much lately. I don’t know what the deal is. I’m usually so chatty. I just don’t have much going on to gab about.

Instead of any sort of structured post, I’ll just update y’all, bullet-point style:

• Friday night I rolled over in bed to find a disgustingly warm, gooey surprise. Apparently Toby got sick but was too lazy to get off the bed. Incase you’ve never had the pleasure of waking up with your hand in a pile of dog puke at 3 in the morning, let me assure you – you’re not missing much. YUCK. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep much the rest of the night.
• Saturday started with good intentions — I was going to get all of my chores done and FINALLY take down my Christmas tree. (Don’t judge me. It’s still up. I don’t know why I keep putting it off!) Instead, I read about half of a book and hung around the barn with Kevin, his dad and all of their horses. Productive, right? I know.
• So, Sunday started with good intentions… sound familiar?? I went to church and came home to do chores. Two loads of laundry in, I got distracted by the second season of House, which I was watching on DVD. Four episodes later… what laundry? Yeah, I should probably finish that tonight.
• I found out that I’ll be headed to Arlington for a week in March for a conference, and I’m pretty stoked. I know it’s a business trip and I’ll be in meetings for half the day, but I’m flying up a couple days early and coming home a day late, so that leaves plenty of free time for exploring Arlington and the D.C. area. Annnnnd, if I’m lucky, I might be meeting a very cool bloggy friend in real life. *Ahem* Diane…

And that, my friends, is it. I know my life is full of exciting twists and turns. “Will she read a book today?? Watch House?? Ooooh, maybe she’ll do laundry!”

My life is so fast-paced - I know you must be exhausted from trying to take it all in.

I’ll let your brain rest for now.

Life on cruise control

I don’t know what my deal is lately. I feel like things around me are moving at light-speed, yet I’m standing still in the middle of all the chaos. I can’t seem to get anything accomplished.

My house is in serious need of a deep cleaning. I have dishes to wash, laundry to do, floors to sweep, furniture to dust… the list is ridiculous. I just keep putting it off. And you know what? I feel severely unmotivated.

Then there is the whole Christmas shopping thing. I haven’t started. Not so much as a single gift has been purchased. I have a vague idea of what I’m going to get everyone, but I’ve made no move to actually do so. I don’t even own wrapping paper. Or tape. Or bows. I should probably get on that.

I don’t know where the year went. There were things I wanted to accomplish this year that I never got around to. To my credit, I did finally graduate, finish an internship and get a big-girl job. I guess that counts for something.

And there’s always next year. (Which is freakishly close.)

I’ve already started a “goals list” for 2009. (Inspiration courtesy of Hebba. That girl makes lists for everything!) Maybe if my goals are staring up at me in black ink, I’ll be more likely to work towards them. I might even share them with you guys. Then you can hold me accountable and force me to not be so lazy.

Overall, I’ve been feeling a little insignificant lately. (Not in the sad, pathetic way.) I just feel like there is so much out there — so many experiences, so many opportunities — that I haven't taken advantage of. I don’t want to lead a mediocre life. I know it sounds cheesy, but I want my life to really count for something. I want to make a difference. I don’t want to feel like I missed out on anything.

I’m getting tired of living life on cruise control.

Carpe diem, right?

Apologies but no regrets

Ya'll, I'm sorry for the previous post. Thank you for the comments reminding me that I shouldn't let stuff like that bother me. I'm too old for their high school mentality - you are absolutely right.

Today will be much happier, I promise. :)

I recently discovered through Hebba that MamaKat offers weekly writing assignments on her blog. I think they're actually supposed to be done on Thursday's, but I've never been a stickler for the rules, so I figured I'd try one out today.

The topic is: "If you could rearrange three things about your life what would they be?"

Once again, I'm going to break the rules. I'm going to tell you why I wouldn't rearrange anything about my life.

See, I am one of those people who truly believes that everything happens for a reason. The mistakes we make shape who we become. We learn, we grow, we move on and most importantly become stronger individuals.

Take my college experience, for example. Around my second year, I had a pretty big circle of friends that I'd stay out with all night - going to bars, fraternity houses, parties, you name it. I didn't want to miss a chance to have fun. Unfortunately, I didn't always make time for class and before long my grades showed it. I got put on academic probation and they threatened to take my scholarship away if I didn't pull my grades back up. So, I had to quit going out. I tried to refocus and be home at a reasonable hour. And you know what? It didn't take long to find out who my real friends were. I was surprised. Turned out, most of the people I hung out with were only around for a good time. Once I quit partying, they mysteriously disappeared. So what did I do? I picked myself up, made new friends, and got my act together. And somewhere in the process, I met Kevin, who has turned out to be one of the most important people in my life.

I learned how to tell people no, prioritize, and recover from losing people I considered friends. I also learned how to have open and honest communication with my parents. I found out that no matter how bad I screw up, they're still there for me. (They might be livid, but they're still there.) We became closer because of my mistakes. It's funny how that works.

Today, I'm happy with where my life is. I have a job I absolutely love and I feel like I'm becoming the best me. I've found a church full of wonderful people that help make me feel at home and I'm finally proving myself to be a responsible adult. I know I can handle anything that's thrown at me, so bring it!

Now I want to hear from you. What mistakes have shaped your life? Do you have regrets or are you happy with the way things turned out?