How to Dress for the Last Night on Earth

(...and look like Michelle while doing it!)

Start with:
1. Your favorite dress (I'm currently rocking my large cat print shirt dress)
2. Cable knit sweater tights
3. Tacky costume jewelry
4. Bright lipstick
5. Good shoes

Avoid:
1. All other makeup
2. Brushing your hair
3. Shapewear of any kind

Remembrance

The following is something I wrote and read at my Grandpa's memorial service earlier today.

     As an adult, and even as a teenager, I loved and appreciated my Grandpa’s dry sense of humor. As a child, however, it was just over my head and so my first impression of him was that he was kind of intimidating. He was taller than anyone else I knew, he didn’t smile very much, and told jokes I didn’t understand. As I grew older, I began to see that he was hardly ever serious and that deep down, he was a softie.

     I remembered this first impression, however, when he was scheduled to talk to my sister and my’s high school history class. I warned all my friends ahead of time that my Grandpa was coming to talk to the class, and they would probably think he was scary, but he’s not. Well, not too scary.

     Elizabeth accidently gave him the wrong time to show up and he ended up needing to come to the school twice, so there was a lot of anticipation by the time the big day came around. He came to talk about his father’s experience in World War 1, and brought some photo albums and even a gas mask. All my friends were impressed and appreciated his visit, that wasn’t surprising. What was shocking was everyone telling me how cute and adorable my Grandpa was! “Cute” and “Adorable” were not necessarily the first words I was expecting to hear. At first I just thought they were trying to be nice, until one friend told me afterwards, “I just want to give him a hug!” “Really?” I responded. “Are we even talking about the same person?!”. Obviously we were, and it was just that all of them were able to see immediately what took me a little bit longer. Despite the fact that I can hardly remember anything he actually talked about in that class (aside from showing the gas mask) this is one of my favorite memories of my Grandpa.

Blog Series Part 2: I'm an Adult

I realized while grouping my next items on my “30 things I’ve already done, accomplished, or otherwised experienced” list that I could probably group the remaining items by different themes.  For those of you just joining me (or have forgotten) this list is a reminder of things I’ve already accomplished that I am proud to have done.  This is a list I can revisit when I have the blahs, or am feeling unaccomplished, or prone to comparing myself with others accomplishments. The first 5 items on my list are here.  If I had to retroactively assign a theme to the first 5 items, I suppose it would Experiential Learning.

I'm such an adult, that when David and I stayed at a B&B for our anniversary, the first thing I wanted him to do was take photos of me sitting on all the couches. Like a Boss.

6. Learned to schedule “me” time.

This started when I was first dating David. I was working full time, going to school part-time, co-leading a student ministry, and also working as a research assistant for a professor which meant very, very little time off. Add in a new relationship, with someone who lived a half hour (or more, yay Boston area traffic!) away, and I could have easily gone into full on breakdown mode weekly. However, given my work schedule (4 days/week) I began to schedule myself “Michelle Days”. These would be on my first day off and would last until around 5pm. I would often take myself out for lunch and eat some fancy grilled cheese sandwich at the coffee shop around the corner and read trashy magazines. I wouldn’t answer my phone, I wouldn’t do homework or housework (hahaha like I did housework anyways? No), and I would love it. One day, just for me, where I didn’t have to think or fulfill obligations. Once evening time came around I’d often head into the city to hang out with David, or do laundry, or study. But setting aside a big chunk of time for that year I lived alone really taught me the value of me-time. I don’t set aside a full day anymore, but I still make a point to schedule that time in, whether it’s in the form of going to a yoga class on the weekends or having 20 mintues to myself after work. Scheduling it into my days as an actual commitment made it so much easier to say “no” to things that would pop up in that time. Saying “yes” to those things, even things I wanted to do, meant saying “no” to myself and to the time I knew I needed to decompress from my week.

Recovery

It's been 55 hours since my wisdom teeth were yanked from their sockets, I have to say...I am recovering wonderfully. So wonderfully, I feel a little silly having put this off for as long as I have! Nearly the entire process has been easier than anticipated.

Nearly. There was a slight hiccup in the beginning. 

Extraction

In less than 12 hours I will have undergone my first sedation and, should all go well, be recovering from a quadruple wisdom tooth extraction.  I've been a fairly healthy person, so I've never had surgery or needed to take pain medication stronger than prescription strength ibuprofen. I'm a little worried. But, we have stocked up on ice cream, soup, and popsicles; setup a tv in the bedroom; and washed all of my pajamas and comfy clothes.  My oral surgeon helpfully pointed out that since I'm "not 16 anymore" my body will take longer to recover, but here's hoping all goes well!

In closing, here is a picture of the newest addition to our family, Mona the Mini-Pug!

Blog Series: 30 Things I've Already Done, Experienced, or Otherwise Accomplished

A mistake I made while composing my 30 before 30 list was looking at other randomly selected 30 Before 30 lists I found on the internet.  I was going through a bit of block halfway, and thought that reviewing the lists others have created would give me "inspiration". Instead, I managed to come away feeling unmotivated, unaccomplished, and old.

Some people's lists were clearly written in their early 20s, giving them nearly a decade to complete a highly ambitious list, such as managing to travel to every continent while earning advanced degrees and becoming successful in their field.  I glanced at my list (and the past few years of my life) and could feel self-doubt and disappointment creeping up.

I had already been feeling like I wasn't yet a "real adult".  I still ate dinner on the couch more often than at the table, because the table was too full of other stuff. My mattress had springs poking out and was currently residing on the bedroom floor, not a bedframe in sight. Real adults organized their mail, had regularly scheduled housecleanings and wouldn't be embarrassed if someone stopped over unexpectedly; real adults didn't have their mattresses on the floor.

The remedy, I decided, was to make a list of 30 things I've already done, experienced, or otherwise accomplished. 30 things I'm proud of, even if I accomplish nothing on the list I was working on. 30 things I can say I achieved before 28 1/2 (totally a real goalpost, you guys. Trust me).

So, here they are. Well, some of them. I'm going to be adding them slowly, discussing why each and every one of these items are things I'm proud to have accomplished. The order isn't leading up to the most important or anything, I just kind of organized it in a way that made sense to me.

Redefining Goals

The end date for my 101 list has passed, and I didn't end up reaching 50 completed like I previously posted about.  Regardless, I am still proud of myself for making the list; if nothing else it serves as a snapshot of what my goals were nearly 3 years ago. I've come a long way since then, even if it's not in all of the same directions I predicted.

Because I love making lists (and, let's be honest, expecting a lot of myself) I have made a new list of goals: the traditional 30 Before 30 List! Last week on Facebook I asked friends what they thought I should put on my list, and the results were entertaining. Below (and in the sidebar) is my finalized list. Some of the items are things that I've already done (museums) but that I want to do again before turning 30. I have 601 days (1 year, 7 months, and 21 days) to complete this list!

1. Maintain (or improve!) current GPA (3.7)
2. Start working in a library
3. Travel to the Pacific Northwest
4. See the Grand Canyon
5. Have trip to Czech Republic planned & budgeted
6. Go to a Natural History Museum
7. Go to an Art Museum
8. Take a train ride
9. Run a 5k
10. Have a more consistent yoga practice: 2x/wk for 6 months
11. Increase yoga skills (graduate from intro class)
12. Do 100 push-ups (even if they are lady push-ups)
13. Complete a 3 day cleanse (no processed food or animal products)
14. Either get a new tattoo, or have birds touched up
15. Continue to refine budgeting system
16. Take a photo in a photo booth
17. Watch 10 Hitchcock movies I haven't seen
18. Knit a garment
19. Begin regular housecleaning schedule: establish routine for everyday stuff and set a schedule for weekly/monthly
20. Buy a reusable mentrual product
21. Make bread from scratch
22. Take a gun safety class
23. Stop biting my nails
24. Buy a piece of art
25. Try freezer cooking
26. Go through all clothing 2x/year, donate clothes I don't wear to Goodwill
27. Create a better system for routinely going through non-clothing items, de-clutter and donate household items on a regular schedule
28. Eat at the dinner table (instead of the couch) more often
29. Buy a new mattress and bed frame
30. Volunteer