"Everything I know I learned after I was thirty." - Georges Clemenceaua

Alternate blog title - "After 30, a body has a mind of its own." - Bette Midler

So... I've been doing some thinking about a little spring "life" cleaning. I'm going to be thirty this year. 30. The big 3-0. And I don't know how I thought it would be to be a grown-up, but I didn't think it would be like this.

Not that life is bad. By any means. I love The Husband and The Dog. Wonderful families and lots to eat around the holidays. Love our house, how our lives have blended together, and I'm still liking my job after over 6 years. (Apparently I'm a company gal... Who knew?)

But I'm worn out. I'm worn out from friendships I thought were going to be solid in my life just sort of going kaput. I'm worn out from red meat and later-than-I-should-be-up nights. I'm worn out with myself and the things that bug me. Why do they bug me? Why am I so chill sometimes and other times so not?

Why do over analyze things to a point of ridiculous?

Is part of all that just ingrained in bein' a girl? Eh, I don't think so... I'm a obsesser from way back. (When I was little I was scared to fall asleep at night because people were going to break in and either kill us or rob us. But my staying awake kept them away. Also, I was scared if I didn't have a sheet on me, someone could shoot me. But WITH the sheet, bulletproof. And finally, the rickety loud fan above me was going to fall off and chop up my legs. Better sleep in the fetal position!)

But it's more than all that. It's more than just turning 30 this year... Yesterday, I watched this Bravo show my mom recommended on Christian Siriano, one of the Project Runway winners of seasons past. (And possibly THE most talented one of the group.) But he had such a passion for things. SO funny and the drive, the DRIVE, he has. Absolutely incredible. I remember how that feels... That burn to need to create, to invent, to make something - not always pretty but INTERESTING - that wasn't on this earth before I made it. And I feel like I've sorta lost that... That... Fire.

Whatevs. It's not cool to talk about it though. Time to be about it.

So, here we go, Lil Miss Internettie... We're going to make some changes over the next 30 days. And if I declare them in a slightly public forum (I say slightly, 'Nettie, cuz it may just be you and me here) I'm more likely to stick to it. And what's a month?

1. Health. At the mentioning of Lady B, I joined this great site (fatsecret.com) where you can keep up with all sorts of stuff. I love sites like this because I love lists and seeing progress. So Goal #1 - Drink more water. (Start with 24 oz a day and build. I know, I know. It's way less than I probably need but way more than I currently actually drink. Diet Cokes are just so good!) Tone up. Try to eat right with 1 free day a week. Exercise in some form 5 days out of 7. And keep track. Really, a perfect goal for the upcoming summer months.
   
2. White noise. There's just too much. Too much talk. To much worry about other people and what everyone is thinking and feeling and who's saying what nonsense bah-bah-bah-bah-bahhhhhhh. And then the TV is always going. Noise, noise, noise. It's like static in my brain. Make-a me crazy. Goal #2 - Make time for quiet. Turn off the gadgets. Be still. I'm going to start with 15 minutes a day. This is going to be a hard one for me because I'm always plugged into something or another.
   
3. Creative – My paintings. Don't know that they're everyone's taste but I love them. They're my babies. And each one speaks of a different page of my life that I look back on with great pride. Whatever even was going on, I made into THAT painting. It's time to start back. I enjoy that more than coconut shrimp and, to those that know me, 'Nettie, that's saying a lot. Goal #3 - New painting completed.

Goal Update: One month from today.

So there we go. Not huge steps but, hey, I'm not a crackhead-hamburglar here. It's just good to reevaluate now and then, right? Take stock and all that gobbledy-gook. Clean a closet. Plant a tree. Refresh your LIFE! Because it's like Ted Baxter said, it's not that you get up, you get dressed, you go to work... You get up! You get dressed! You go to work!

Okkkk. Got a little carried away there...

Alright, Internettie... That's more than enough for today. Stay classy out there when you get up! And I couldn't find that Ted Baxter clip, but this one sure is good too...