Wednesday, January 01, 2014

Running In Place


The Visible Woman...is breathless.

While the world goes on, I seem to be stuck mid-stride. Not unlike the feeling from this solid sculpture of a running man. It appeared in January of 2013 (a year ago!) on Cesar Chavez along Lady Bird Lake. Then it disappeared. I have no idea what the story was. Like so many things in life. What seemed solid is suddenly gone but I'm treading along in the same spot doing things the same way in the same shoes. Well, occasionally I buy new shoes. But yeah.

I guess the new year is supposed to make you feel like you have a vast number of days ahead. So you make those resolutions and you think well you have 52 weeks or so, 365 days. You can develop new habits, slowly changing your life for the better. If you lose a pound a week you can lose over 50 pounds. (By the way, I think it would probably be unhealthy for me to lose 50 pounds. Now 20 or 30. Hmmm.)

In a way, though, it feels like an ordinary day. I'm up at my computers. Yes, I have two at my desk. Sure, I'm thinking of all the calendar related things I need to do. Update the family calendar online. Start a new budget for January. For this I need to review last year's. Of course, it's tax time. I've already worked on some of the tax time chores. We need to start new folders for organizing taxes. Once a year, once a month, once a quarter there are things to do.

I feel still. We have no obligations today. Although, besides the computer and paper work I do need to do some cleaning. There are dust bunnies in the hall. We will stop by a friend's house in the afternoon for one of those New Year's Day get-togethers. We used to give such parties in our old house, serving up black-eyed peas and a pot of sausages and Bloody Marys and champagne. We had people sign a guest book and also write their resolutions, hopes, dreams and memories from the year past in another book. I'm sure I still have those books. But where?

I do need to clean out and find things. Winnow things down, find the treasures. We have lived in this apartment over five years. We aren't likely to move or to remodel so we have to otherwise create an incentive to get rid of things and tidy up.

And yet I'm sitting here. Still. Drinking a second cup of black coffee. Just thinking. And typing. Perhaps I should resolve to do more thinking. Or less.

But no resolutions. Although I know I can keep pacts with myself. After all this is my 32nd entry for Holidailies 2013. I not only posted some drivel each day, but I resolved to read a few entries from other people and did it. I really want to continue to keep up with a few of them, too. Doris Mash, PJ Cleary, and Bev Sykes. This will give me a coast-to-coast and across the pond view of other people and their struggle and triumph. Whether I keep up Visible Woman is a big question. I think I probably won't do it daily. My hubby helps with Austin, Texas Daily Photo and we seem committed to taking its daily posts into their 8th year. Man. Time flies while I run in place.

Note: What did we do yesterday? (This space used to be a repository for the things done, seen, eaten and drunk every day.) I played tennis. It was quite cold at the beginning. I went to the Post Office and sent my passport renewal stuff by return receipt mail. And bought stamps. Price for forever stamps going up. I put gas in my Honda Civic for the first time in probably six or eight weeks. We went to see "American Hustle" at the theater around the corner. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Enjoyed being able to walk there. We'd managed to reserve the recliners. I worked the puzzles in the Times which were easier than Monday's. Hmmm. We went to an early dinner at Congress. The staff dressed in 20's outfits. The food was retro but gourmet. An aspic amuse. A pineapple upside down cake dessert. We walked home and I watched the A&M football game and listened as the fireworks boomed outside. (You have to go to the other side of the building to see them.) FFP slept. I was in bed just before it became 2014, reading my book about Charlie Parker. Oh, I accomplished a few things. I reviewed some tax time stuff and updated some financial spreadsheets. Made some backups. And...put up an entry on this blog.

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