Saturday, April 03, 2010

March's Lion and Lamb

March for me came in like a lamb and out like a lion, with life getting crazier the last half of the month. It includes some big changes for me, and the intense desire for more. I think I'm more myself and closer to being on the right track, but who knows at this point.

  • Read 4 books - Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, Stardust by Neil Gaiman, and Angel Time by Anne Rice.  This puts me at 11 books so far for the year and 25% non-fiction.  I don't think I'm going to make it to 50, but I'm okay with that. 
  • Paid down more debt.  I'm now focusing on my second mortgage, and the interest rate on it pisses me off every day.  According to mint.com, my net worth is now more than my retirement savings.  This makes me happy because it means that right now I have a positive net worth.  Sure, it's only a thousand bucks or so, and it's only projected worth of my assets, but still, it makes me happy. 
  • Wrote 13045 words in March, the largest monthly tally yet.  I blew past the goal of 12000 words, but wrote a whole bunch on the blog rather than on finishing the NaNo novel.  I'm okay with that because I did a whole bunch of stuff in the latter half of the month that I wanted to share in this space. 
  • Made a healthy-ish blueberry coffee cake during my week to bring noms to work.  The guys really liked it, which always helps.  I even overheard a teammate bragging about it to someone visiting in the area later.  
  • Ran my fastest year-to-date 5K in 37:44.  Convinced a posse of friends and family to walk a 5K.  Passed 1000 miles on Nike Plus.  I want to be more consistent in my miles per week and in my nutrition habits.  For April I want to close the gap on my target year to date total miles. 
  • Saw some new places in San Antonio, which I'm counting for my artsy endeavors for this month.  The brunch at Alamo Drafthouse was pretty cool too.  
  • Had some great time with the family when Beth came down.  Above was a great family photo with my sisters and my niece and nephew.  They're so stinking cute. 
I made some big decisions in March.  Growing up is definitely difficult.  This is the first time I've had to make a hard decision because it's the right thing to do.  It was hard.  Even now when I struggle to go back to the easy way, I know it was the right thing and stick to my decision. 

I have had an intense desire the last half of the month to have a drastic change.  Ideas entertained include a tattoo, chopping off my hair, moving to a condo in Alamo Heights, and getting LASIK surgery.  The tattoo is something I definitely want, but need to go to the local tattoo convention in June to see first hand what I really want.  My long hair is too convenient to put back when I cook or run, and I want to keep it that way.  A condo is the next step for  me if things go according to plan, but there's still too much still to do on the house before it's ready to rent out. 

So that leaves LASIK.  I've known I've wanted to do it for a while, but planned on saving it as a treat for when I payed off all my debt.  I've gotten consultations and have discussed it with some people, and I think it's going to be a go for sometime in April.  I'm really looking forward to it.  It feels like a quick decision, but I think it's the change I need for this part of my life. If anyone has feedback on LASIK they or a friend have had, leave it in the comments below!

4 comments:

Amanda said...

Good luck with your surgery, if you decide to go through it. I don't know anyone who has so I'm afraid I can't be of much help there. I know what it feels like to want a big change though. I do that with cutting off my hair a lot. I'm really thinking about getting a tattoo too, but I think I want to do it in April so it'll be all healed and ready by the time I go to BEA. :D

BTW, have you seen the 100 mile fitness challenge? This quarter they're letting people sign up for 100, 200, or 300 miles for the quarter!

Walker said...

I had LASIK about 6 years ago or so. My vision was awful, and I don't think it ws as bad as yours. I thought the surgery was great. Although, I did notice that my nighttime vision isn't quite as clear (I seem more sensative to light), and I've been thinking I need glasses again. But my last job caused a lot of eye strain staring at computers all day, but I don't think that I'm in desparate need of glasses right now. It may just be overall fatigue. Overall, I'm happy that I had it done. Best of luck and take care.

Faith said...

I've never done LASIK, but I know multiple people who have, and they all liked the final result, but the process itself was difficult. Congrats on your 1,000 miles! And on your PR's! :) btw--I concur, growing up is difficult!

Ann said...

Amanda - Go get the tattoo! Yours probably won't need as much healing time as Brittany's.

Hmm.. I'll have to look into the challenge again.

Walker - Thanks for stopping by! I already that blurry nighttime vision because I also have astigmatism in both eyes. They warn that there still may be some "halo effect" at night, but I figure it can't be worse than it already is! I look at a computer most of the day too, and definitely prefer my glasses over my contacts when I'm at my desk, but then switch when I go into the kitchen or the gym. Glad to hear that it's worth it from someone who has gone through it!

Faith - The doctor I've talked to has been really explanatory so far, and the new gadgets they have for the preliminary exams are pretty cool. Good luck with your growing up. :)