Thursday, May 23, 2013

That's $20.00 out of my pocket.

When I wrote my Day Zero list, I knew that there would likely be things that I wouldn't get to complete.  That's why I wrote a motivator at the end, I made #100 "$5.00 for every item not completed."  If I did none of them, that would be $500.  So I'd best work on it, no?

Well, it's been over a year.  And I can already tell you that there's four items that I am never going to cross off the list:


#1.  Read Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.  I had this book in the house for years, ever since Oprah put it on her bookclub list.  I finally bit the bullet and instead of carrying the huge book around, I downloaded it for free on my tablet.  I'm about 12% through it and man, I am BORED!  I am constantly checking to see "how much further" I've gotten and dating other books behind its back.  I'm not in high school or college any more, no one can force me to read something that I'm not enjoying.  Plugging along with something that I can't keep the characters straight is not my idea of a good time. This is the "Day Zero" list, not the "Zero Joy" list.

#18.  Give up Women's Magazines.  I'll be honest, I was irritated with women's magazines when I wrote this list.  I was tired of reading the same articles, "Drop ten pounds by summer!"  "The scary condition your doctor isn't telling you about" and my favorite; gorgeous-looking delicious and fattening recipes, followed by ads for fad diets that involve consuming only powdered shakes and vegetables.  (not together, mind you) 

But I love magazines.  I have my upbringing to credit when I tell you that I am a magazine junkie.  My family loves magazines, especially my parents.  I remember, my junior year of high school, I had kind of a pompous, full-of-himself English teacher.  One of his first "lessons" was to lament on how little the American family reads these days and watches TV instead.  "I'll bet if I call on anyone in this class and ask how many magazine subscriptions their family gets, it'll be a sad, small number.  How about you, 'Crafty Mama?"  He picked the wrong kid, because after counting on my fingers, I'd come up with thirty subscriptions.  So I'm not going to give up magazines....I'm just going to keep the ones that I really enjoy and stop reading the ones that I'm not.

#35.  Get a tattoo.  I love tattoos.  I think they're artistic and beautiful, especially if they have meaning to the recipient.  My sister-in-law has a cousin who has a baby foot tattooed on the back of each leg, and the cool thing about them is that the tattoo artist used the footprints of her two ACTUAL children!  The problem is, I can't pick out something for myself.  I'm so damn indecisive.  I don't know where to put it, and I cannot decide what I want.  I thought about an old-fashioned key (I love skeleton keys), the infinity symbol into a heart, or my kids' initials.  I cannot decide.  So I will likely continue to enjoy the tattoos that others have.

#69.  Write my kids' letters for their birthdays every year.    Sadly, I wish that I had done this.  For Sean's first birthday during the day zero period, I didn't remember til I was in housing court that day and I jotted a little note on the back of the only paper I had on me, a bank receipt.  And for Will's birthday?  I forgot.  I know, Mother of the Year.  My kids know that I love them, they don't need a letter from Mama telling them so.  I mean, it's a nice touch. But I'm not going to go crazy over it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Love this post! I am with you on Anna Karenina...I've picked it up a few times in my life but never gotten more than a few pages in. And I loved your comment about this not being a 'Zero Joy' list. Good perspective! ;-)