Goals for 2009

Last year, I had only two major goals beyond succeeding at my new professional path: Fitness and Spanish. I can't say that I succeeded at either. 2008 was an incredibly eventful year. While I wish I'd made more progress, I'm not sure that it was actually feasible.

#1. Fitness: holding steady at about 131 pounds and 22% body fat. I can easily run a 5K. This is not great, but at 40, not horrible either. I can and will do better for 2009. Where did my muscle definition go? I can almost see my abs but my back and arm muscles are long gone. On the upside - I can do 5 whole boy push-ups and 1 unassisted pull-up. I'm shooting for at least 10 and 10 this year, and abs. Darnit. It's not that hard; I just need to add some weights to my workouts. Perhaps my first triathlon. Perhaps some running races. I can do better.

#2. Spanish:Utterly lost in the shuffle. Jo no hablo espanol. Sigh. Rewind, repeat. I still have the CDs. I also now have the Apple iPod touch 32 GB (2nd Generation)on which to load said CDs. 2009 will be the year I begin to understand, if not speak the 2nd most common language in Colorado.

#3. Bliss: I learned this past year that life is horribly short and can be taken from us at any moment without warning. I will no longer be deferring opportunities for bliss until tomorrow or next year or next decade. There is only NOW. This year I will redo my scuba certification (I was PADI certified in 1990 but need a refresher) and go on at least one diving adventure. I may get chubby (#1); I may only ever speak English (#2); but my gosh, I will pursue the bliss. Life is short.

p.s. I still love my, no longer new, job! This year will see the ending of my career as a scientist. I keep waiting for the panic attack, the loss of identity, but it has not yet come. I have only relief for the burden and obligation that is about to be lifted.