Dear Reader,

Oh my goodness.  This is my 100th blog post!  Ring the bells! Throw the confetti!  I have written down lots and lots of words on this computer screen 100 times.   Wow.   And, I have to take a moment to be so grateful for all that this blog has done for me.   I passed the "10,000 page views" mile marker a few weeks ago as well.   I don't think I ever realized how much I would enjoy writing out my thoughts and feelings and ideas here in this space.   It has given me focus and purpose.  It has re-invigorated my sense of the importance of gratitude and candour and discernment.  It has connected me in powerful and lovely ways with many old and new friends.   It has given me so much.    So thank you, dear reader, for coming back 100 or 25 or 3 times or however many times you have come back to this page to connect with me.   It means a lot.

On to today's discussion.  So, the universe and I have had several long, heart-to-heart talks in recent days.   And, we have come to a mutual conclusion that she (because OF COURSE the universe is a SHE) has been expecting a little too much of me lately.  She got carried away and took me for granted for a bit recently and rather over-estimated my ability to carry the world on my shoulders.   So, we've worked some things out.   Drawn up a new contract, as it were.   She has decided to let me off the hook from reporting my calories in and out on this page for another week or two.   She is going to let me stop looking at the scale for that amount of time as well.   And, I am not to feel guilty about greeting any new request for my time and energy with a blank uncomprehending stare.   In effect, she is giving me a doctor's note to play hooky on some things for a while.    She assures me that she will provide me with, at minimum, a lovely two full days and two full nights mini-vacation soon where the biggest decisions I need to make are what book to pick up in the bookstore, which restaurant to enjoy, and which scented bubble bath to pour into the hotel bathtub.

Funny story about me and the universe conversing whilst I was walking/running (wait, I need to tell you, dear reader, that I have started RUNNING.  Inexplicably.) yesterday on my neighborhood trail, almost completely unoccupied except for me and, in a move reminiscent of an absurdist play, a small dog IN. A. STROLLER. and its owner...  So, you know how we all have these impulses or urges to do crazy stuff all the time that we mostly suppress in an effort to appear socially acceptable?   Well, I had about a 20 minute stretch of my walk/run where I just decided to shake off my inhibitions and do anything that came into my head.   Please don't worry about my sanity when you hear what I did, dear reader.   I'm really OK.  It was just a little experiment.  So, here goes:  1)  I laid down on the ground in the middle of the trail and just stared at the sky for, like, 10 full minutes.   2)  I hurled about 10 sticks over a fence and into an open field with cows while yelling and screaming at the top of my lungs and - this is the best one, you guys - 3) I climbed a tree and jumped to the ground from a really high branch about 5 times.   On my last dismount, I pretty much terrified a middle-aged couple (yes, I am also middle-aged - I understand this) walking down the trail.   Yep.   I highly recommend this kind of behaviour to everyone.   Just be sure that the trail is not too populated when you try these things out.   Ha.

So, the universe also gave me some advice (she really can be so helpful when she's not busy burdening me with unreasonable expectations) yesterday.   She told me to make a list of things that I want to do this summer and here they are:

1) Walk.   Lately, I've been feeling like I'd just like to start walking and maybe never stop.

2)  Run.  Now, this one I'm a little cautious about because - WHAT?    I want to ease into this.  I'm still a little stunned that this is apparently something that I want to do.

3)  Swim.   At least 5 days out of every 7.

4) Read.  Every day.   Good, juicy, overflowing books.

5) Write.   Every day.   So, my friend told me, today, that I really need to start thinking seriously about doing some actual writing for, you know, other people other than on this particular page.  Like maybe I should start thinking about a book?   Maybe personal essays?  Like, with the thought that maybe I might even have it published?    I have to say that I might be interested in this.

6) Practice piano.   Actually, one of my next recital pieces found me over the weekend:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM_zQt4E1QM

And, I'm thinking about going on a blind date with this piece next week to see if we could make a go of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge1uw3UjoUQ

7) Do yoga.  Namasté.

8) Buy organizational supplies (bins, label makers, etc.) and organize the hell out of my house.

9) Cook meals heavily based on farmer's market items.

In addition, the universe told me to make a list of grand things that I'd like to get to in the next few years, had I no limits or restraints on me:

1) Spend a semester or year abroad on a teaching exchange.   Just pack up the kids and go to, ideally, England.

2) Take my big family camping vacation to Glacier National Park.

3) Buy a good, professional quality camera and take a photography class.

4) Buy a home.

5) Take a year off from my academic career and get an MFA in creative writing.  (Did I just write that down?  Whoa.)

So, dear reader, I highly recommend these talks with the universe.   It is well worth your time.   After we cleared up the whole unrealistic expectations thing, we had a good talk.   Thanks, universe.

In the short term, I am breaking out the fitbit later this week.   I am going to yoga tomorrow morning (boy, do I need it.  And, I WILL cry during savasana.  I need that, too.).   And, I'm almost finished with the ridiculous piles of grading on my plate.  I will get more before the weekend.

And, for the 100th time, THANKS for reading!