How to clean your house. Lessons learned.

Here's what I've learned about how to clean a house on Diwali, rather for it :
1. You can never ever get ahead of the laundry. As long as you wish to be hygienic, there will always be something.
2. Dust can get into crockery EVEN IF IT IS BEHIND A GLASS CABINET WHICH IS NEVER OPENED! And that shit never just dusts away,no no, you have to wash everything with soap n water! Makes me want to eat off leaves and drink from my palms!
3. Dust is the enemy. Not religion or politics or corruption, just dust. Get it off of everything and you are going places!
4. When you finish cleaning one section of the house, and then proceed to another, be aware that by the time you are done with the latter, the former will be wanting cleaning again owing to DARK MAGIC. It is the evil in the world mocking you for mocking It.
5. The people you PAY to clean your house clearly dont do their job well so that's something to think about. I mean if i wanted to hover and make you clean I'd just do it myself! So I did!
6. Better to use your fancy China every single day. If it breaks then what the hell. One less dish to dust come Diwali.
7. Be sure to have a handy set of sitcoms on your lappy or hard drive to keep you cheered up because lemme tell you, you are bound to go into a rage once you see just how much work is there even with a maid!
8. The people you hire to clean stuff like fans or in my case cobwebs (I can't, where will the spiders go?) Won't do a halfway decent job. They will work in the evening after their usual shift and you won't be able to see clearly and you'll think oh good job and this is with your husband watching and agreeing (and he can spot dirt a mile away). The next morning, you will see the crap is mostly still where it was.
9. The nice news is the spiders are pretty tough little buggers. They come back!
10. Try not to fly off the handle when your mom mocks you over the fone saying hahaha I'm all done cos I do it myself everyday anyway! You should do it too. Yeah right.
11. If your little toes are fractured, it is not a good idea to kick the vaccum cleaner repeatedly when it pisses you off. Screen you Eureka Forbes. You sold us crap in a can.
12. Throw out all clothes (donate)that you haven't worn in the past year or ever! Detach from your worldly material possessions (except your books).
13. Keep at it. Come the festival of lights, feel satisfied and go to McDonald's. You deserve it.

Cleanliness is next to....is it?

So the festival of lights is coming up. And that means, above everything else, a complete and thorough house cleaning. And De-cluttering. This year since I am not cooking, I am going to go into cleaning overdrive and bring some much needed good energy to my home.

Naturally I started by making a list, a really long list at that. So thats done! Now all i need to do is execute it.

Ugh


I can also think of it as a workout in some ways. I guess I should factor in the gardening cum reorganizing of the plants I did yesterday. Lifting up cement pots all by myself really took it out of me and now my body is hurting like crazy. Back is out, one hip joint is out but that garden sure does look lovely! Got the maid to clean it too so it looks relatively clean. Repotted my lemon sapling, which I grew from seed!! Got scratched up separating all the climbing plants such as pumpkin, gourds etc from the other plants and thus preventing them from sucking the life out of them. put the tall plants in one balcony so nothing could climb on them and the shorter ones in the other. My maid aunty was horrified when she got to know I'd lifted the pots alone, she insisted we do it together next time. She is busy repotting my tomatoes and cauliflowers/radishes. she seemed pleased with the re-organization as well.


Called my MIL. Tried to make conversation with her but it was v.difficult. I couldn't think of anything to say and clearly neither could she. She had nothing to say and there was in fact a 3 minute silence, after which I figured I would have to ask something, so I asked  about her maid, how that was working out. Asked about her health to which as usual I got the standard, everything is great, no complains. Told her we were still kind of getting over the flu...told her I had got 2 okras from our garden.


It was difficult. I am not good at small talk. She also seems reluctant to share stuff or talk freely. I'm sure that is partly my own doing given how difficult I can get. But I can make the occasional call, its no bother. It is not as difficult to be cordial as one may think. I can do it. I can.

Monday onwards am starting my diet starts again, 13 days. Till the day before Diwali. The day of Diwali is a break/cheat day.

Lets hope I can do it well this time around! 

To Ladakh and back again

So Hubby and I went for a long 10-day vacation to the cold desert of Ladakh, a trip we have been planning since the beginning of our courtship. It was mindblowing! Truly exhausting however. The climate is really chilly, with cold cold biting winds nipping your nose all the while. The nose crusts and bleeds, it is difficult to walk and talk at the same time and there were 3 additional road trips in between in order to see the other more beautiful lakes and valleys. which were a part of the district.

It was easily the most beautiful place I've ever seen bar none. There was a certain peace of mind to be had from gazing at the milky way and  the millions of stars shining brightly every night. Clear blue skies, nearly no pollution, polite and well mannered people around us. A bit of shopping. IT was actually my hubby's Happy Birthday and this year much as I racked my brains to think of a way to make it special I could not!

This was the only thing that came to mind and He wanted a road trip but due to ongoing tensions in Srinagar (en route) it was inadvisable so we flew back and forth. We were on a lot of medicines to prevent acute mountain sickness which has claimed to ruin many a trip. We beat that for sure but first I had a terrible cold and on the last two days of the trip hubby caught the flu. I tell you, the pleasure and peace I saw on His face made the difficult parts of the trip all right and totally worth it.

Still recovering. No running, no workout, just taking our dog for his twice a day rounds and a bit of regular minimal housework. No energy no stamina. It feels like the exhaustion has settled into my bones and refuses to leave. Plus Diwali is coming and I need to get started on deep cleaning the house. It is the main part. Usually each year I cook a lot of delicacies, sweet and savoury, to celebrate but this year I wont. Mainly because I want to prepare for the 6K race (Airtel one is out as we missed the registration, but there are others) and I need to workout properly for it. I am determined. The end of this year is my weight loss target and for a change I plan to go home to my folks place in dubai for my birthday. My dad has graciously promised me a whole new wardrobes so I'm just going to land there with some empty suitcases. I can't wait. It has been over a decade since I've celebrated my birthday at home with my parents. I can't wait!

There was a day in Ladakh, when looking at the barren but painted landscape, nearly towards the end of the trip that I wept quietly. Of course hubby saw and asked me what was wrong but I didn't tell him. What could I say and how would he take it? would he understand? That I almost didn't want to go back home because I was fine here with no cell reception, cut off from the world, it's judgements, expectations and so forth. I was so anxious when we boarded the flight home because voila I would get cell reception again and I just didn't want it. I did not want someone counting how often I called or visited. Or comparing with other people they know who call their relative more frequently and visit often. The fact is, when people silently judge you, these judgements sooner or later have a way of becoming known. And someone like me doesn't expect judgements from the people she loved. And then I just get stunned. And then the wall builds up around me because it feels better to guard my thoughts. Only trouble with that is that I am also no good at small talk.

Oh well. 

Better late than never!!

Hello!!!!

I know, I've been irregular. In my defense a lot has been going on here! For one thing a couple of days after I spoke to my mother, she landed in my city with my Dad! Met them, clarified a few things and am now in possession of a lighter heart. Isn't that the best feeling? Patched up with lil sis as well. Plus my Mom in law managed to charm me into being my former self with her by talking about some of the things we have in common. So things are good on the family front. Sister in law messaged me asking for some help and I complied , not because I give a damn but because I never refuse help if possible, it is a principle I have followed since high school and still do. Sure sometimes I get taken advantage of but that's alright because for one thing, their karma is on them and another I have finally figured out where to draw the line.

Now I have not been able to run for almost 3 weeks. Mainly because I was laid up with the flu, and when I was better Hubby was sick. So mothering the poor boy and now he is better.

Best part? We are going on vacation! To Leh in the state of Jammu & Kashmir, India. Hubby and I have been planning this trip for over a decade. Granted we had originally planned to make it a fun road trip but the route lies through Kashmir, where clashes are ongoing so no go. We're flying to and fro and going for a period of 10 days. Vincent, my over friendly GSD with be going to a boarding house where his former friends live and so should be quite comfy. Although we keep looking at him and feeling guilty and sorry for ourselves 'cos we will miss him. He is our shadow. He has gained enough weight so I can't see or feel his ribs jutting out anymore and that makes me please as punch.

Still haven't told our families about him. However my parents maybe coming to visit soon and they will know then. My hubby hilariously predicted the reactions of both sets of Moms pretty accurately I think. I just don't care.

The other day He and I were slow dancing to "Fools rush in" in our PJs and we dipped towards Vincent twice and he got all excited and put each of his fore paws on our wrists and danced with us. It was the most beautiful feeling in the world. We repeated the same performance later that day.

Happy birthday to The King of horror!! (my BFF told me about that and is sending me IT!! I wanted it for my next bday but man that chick is prompt. Gotta love her and thank the Lord for giving me such a pal.)

My mom even noticed that I'd lost weight!! And I have, 14kgs to be precise, nearly 20kgs to be almost exact. I started checking  only about 6 weeks back so that's pretty good progress! Hubby was so pleased he had moist eyes. Gotta love the man.

Lights will guide you home....

One of my childhood friends wrote about a song she felt was special. She thought the post was blah but I strongly disagree.

For instance listen to this one.

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try....fix you.
- Coldplay

I'm sure this song needs no introduction. When it plays, my heart is at peace. Goosebumps all over.

I feel there is a higher power out there. I'm not sure how to define it exactly. But when you listen to this song, close your eyes now, and just feel. Then it is like someone is saying to you, I'm here for you. Someone, something, far more powerful than we can imagine any human being. It will make you shiver. It will bring you comfort. It says listen to me follow the lights (not in LOTR way). They will bring you home. Perhaps it is what people describe dying is like. Lots of light. We all need lights in our lives. Dispel the darkness. Keep us sane. Deliver us from our worries.

Yesterday I had one of those wonderful things called heart to hearts with my best friend from school. At the end, she said very wisely (BTW she has been wise since we were in 7th grade), that yes we would do well to make friends with life, instead of fighting it. If we fight it, it makes things more difficult. We were speaking in the context of how to successfully do the backstroke while swimming. Somehow it made sense that this principle applies to life too. Strange eh?

Look for the lights good people. In your life, in your hearts, in your path.

On why we must question absolutely everything.

"To identify oneself with a particular race, country or with certain ideologies yields security, satisfaction and flattering self importance. The worship of the part instead of the whole, cultivates antagonism, conflict and confusion" - J.Krishnamurthi, 4th June, 1944

Too often we tend to follow(somewhat blindly) other people's philosophies. Mostly because it is all handed to us on a platter. So there is no need for us to think. Worship thy parents. But why? They chose to bring us into the world, to bring us up. We didn't ask for it. Then why is constant obligation heaped on us? Why are we made to hear of all the sacrifices made during our care? Just because one is a parent doesn't make them worthy of worship. They make mistakes too, in their own interest. Their mistakes affect their children more than anyone else in the world. Do they pay for their mistakes? In some ways by Karma's laws probably. Do they ever admit their mistakes? No. Well not in my experience anyway.

Worship God and you shall be set free. But according to several religious books, apparently God had set us a bunch of rules. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. Thou shalt not to this and thou ought to do this. If worshiping God is going to set us free then why are all these rules set up to keep us bound during our lifetime? I don't think a God would bind us, He/She would want us to be free, always.

Do this prayer, pay this amount to a priest, convert your religion, marry only once, marry multiple times, give your wife an orgasm every Friday, abstain from sex (do it only to propagate), die killing the heathen and you will go straight to heaven, fight for your rights, thou shall not commit murder, love everyone, thou shall not commit adultery, God is ever with you, Thou shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.

None of it makes sense. But people do what they will do regardless.

What does make sense? To me anyway?

Being kind when you can
Compassion
watching the petals of a flower unfurl
Seeing the blades of grass bend in the wind
Helping anyone you can, indeed going out of your way to do so.
Love. Not possessiveness, pure love.
Being good to animals.
Being good to yourself
Forgiving others even when they don't apologize or indeed see any issue with their actions
Forgiving yourself for what you consider your failures
Being happy. For no reason whatsoever.

How come no one ever talks about being happy? Isn't that one of the most important things in the world? I would have thought given how unhappy we are, so much so that we need to take happy pills, how to be happy in one's skin is the most important question of the hour.

But it's' not. Well, not unless we make it.

We sometimes fear to question the principles put forth by people considered the "higher authority" on spiritual matters. I think it maybe mostly because of the horde of unthinking masses standing behind them Questions are not welcome, for fear that one day someone will ask a question so deep it will defy every superficial answer there is. And then of course there is the chance that someone from the horde will wake up and starting finding a valid point or two in the questions.

Do not let that deter you one bit. Better to stand away from the crowd and be using your own brain than meld in and depend on someone else's. 

Once someone I know (who follows a given ideology) informed me that according to their principles, a soul only enters the body of a fetus once it is 7 months old. I said for me there is life the first time I see a patient's fetus's heart beating on the ultrasound monitor.

What I didn't say at the time (because the lady in question was pregnant), was that in the case of women who miscarry, the pain, the grief is just as difficult to bear in the first trimester as it is in the last. Someone who has miscarried, will carry that unborn kid, the hope that died within, for the rest of their life, no matter how many other children they may bear.

Who would mourn a soulless being? OF course I do know of people who mourn the scratches on their car just as they would anything else. But still.

It is important, to question. Question everything. Use your brain. No matter how many people tell you no to think so much or doubt (the preferred word) the path, still I urge you to question. And if the "higher authority" has no answers, do not despair. Answers will come to you if only you care of look. To keep searching, to read. I cannot emphasize the importance of reading. Read, understand, read again, understand differently...keep reading. And if the books you read fail to provide answers, still don't worry, don't worry at all. IF you are searching, the answers will come to you of their own accord. You are all so don't doubt the knowledge that comes to you once to start to wake up and think.

Wake up. It is time.

(*winter is here* hahaha)

Of a happy husband

There are few things that gladden your heart as much as seeing the ones you love happy because of you.

I had the wonderful chance to make my husband happy. And it wasn't because of the Changezi chicken I made.

No indeed. We had an in depth discussion about why I was refusing to speak to any of my family. And when I planned to do so. Because you see, it was obvious to him that I was miserable anyway. So why no let my heart be lighter by at least trying to start talking to them? By them he meant both sets of parents. I said because they are not sorry about how they treated me. He then told me how sad my in laws were every time he went to visit them and I wasn't there with him. He told me how his mom once mistakenly saw her mobile ringing and thought it was me and her heart was filled with joy. He told they had told him to come with me or to not come at all.

So I called my parents first. I had a word with my mother who blatantly claimed all the things I felt bad about were in my imagination and never happened. So there wasn't much to it then. She spoke to my husband and that was that. I called her again today and told her I loved her and missed her and was sorry if I had hurt her feelings. I didn't get much of a response. Of course it stung but what was I to do?

I called my mother in law and spoke quite normally. Asked what was for dinner, how she is and what was going on. for the most part she sounded stunned. But she did try hard to talk as normally as possible. Then in her eagerness she asked me what we were doing the next day and to come home and I hesitated and said her son wanted to speak to her. I hear her thanking him profusely.

So that was that. I miss home dearly. Both homes. They are equally precious to me. But I am not ready to go there yet. It is good to know they are there though. For the time being that will do.

I cannot tell you how relieved my husband was. He said a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he was most pleased. He said its ok if I'm not ready to meet anyone. I can take my time. Which I appreciate. I wish to meet my in laws on the 20th of November. After I run that race. When I have something to show for my time spent in relative solitude. Maybe that day I'll send a picture of myself to my parents as well. IF I look fitter they too will feel as if a weight has been lifted off their shoulders. Perhaps. One can only speculate.

Meanwhile last night being my one cheat day in the week my husband surprised me with cheese balls as well as cheddar cheese microwave popcorn for our movie night. I said but I didn't follow the diet so strictly this week. To which his reply was that we can at least do justice by the cheat day. Most amusing. I had taken out our double comforter which had been in the wash and put away the single ones we were using and we had great cuddlytimes. Truth be told it was the most fun I'd had in months.

Here's to love, and to being the bigger person.

Of course my sister and sis in law had called in the past but I refused to answer so in their case I'm small. Just don't want to be hurt again.

Off track

It is easy to get tired of the difficult path you are supposed to travel on and give yourself a break. Particularly when the other areas of your life are also in disarray. But the important thing is to keep pushing.

And that is exactly what I have not been doing. It is so easy to get distracted, fall into the well of self pity and what not. Then I sit and weep and not amount of sitcoms can help! That really is rock bottom.

But today I slept a lot. A LOT. After I finally woke up, I felt different. Not sorry for myself or my situation. Just normal. And guilty as fuck. Yes thats a feeling ingrained into us. If not being productive, must feel guilty. I swear sometimes I wish I had been born European. They chill out without even having done hard work prior to!

Anyway, I can sense the dark shift in my husband's mood. He got me my dog, he is letting me be and is supporting me in every possible way so as to help me achieve my goals and As of now I'm at a standstill. Well I will see his face turn into my parent's disappointed faces no more.

Enough said.

Vincent - the over friendly German Shepherd

looking out the windows of his little house :)

So we took Vincent to the vet today as he has been walking with difficulty since last night. The vet was kind and after a thorough check up felt that my boy was suffering from a muscle sprain. He has advised medications and feels that in sometime he will recover.

The vet said that he has suffered in his life, he maybe between 5-7yrs of age, from what could be made out from his teeth, but due to him also suffering from gingivitis it was hard to tell. He also has a swelling in the distal part of his foreleg and the vet wants us to get it x-rayed to get an idea of the mass. His worst fear is my own as well. Cancer. Bony cancers are difficult to manage and I am praying it is benign. His muscle mass to bone ratio is also skewed and I am trying my best to help correct it by giving him a good diet. He is already on a lot of medicines so the doctor didn't want to put him on anything too strong right now.

Vincent was a total champ throughout the examination. No muzzle required. Not once did he snap or growl or express pain or displeasure. He is in pain I know, I can see it but he refuses to stop following us around the house. He was very friendly with the vet and his assistants and they rewarded him for his cooperation with a biscuit after eating which he promptly tried to climb up to the larder in search of more.

I am very worried. It doesn't bother me that he maybe older than I had first thought, its just that the very thought that I may have lesser time with him than I originally hoped for saddens me. But I am going to try my best to help my boy regain his health. After what he has been through he deserves all the happiness in the world.

Vincent Van Gogh the second

That is my dog's name.

He is an adult rescued German Shepherd dog. He was once someone's fluffy bundle of joy, I guess. Till he wasn't. He was abandoned and found wandering the dirty bylanes of the slums with a ear that was half eaten by maggots, several wounds and raging tick fever. He was taken to a shelter and thereafter rescued from there by a kind woman who added him to her menagerie at the pet boarding house she runs. He was treated, cared for and loved. However she strongly felt he was the type of dog who would bond far better with a human of his own as opposed to the other more rambunctious dogs who were happy in each other's company. She tried very hard to get him adopted but because of the missing ear there were no takers.

So hubby and I brought him home to be the third member of our family.

From the day he has come he has surprised us with his gentlemanly nature and good manners. He is leash trained. Toilet trained. In the month and some days that he has been with us he has only peed twice in the house. He is a fast learner as long as there are treats in sight or smell. He has learnt how to come when called, to sit and say hello. He is trying to learn how to stay and lie down. Little children come to our house to play with him!!

After we got him, in a week I realised something. He already loved us. A week ago we were complete strangers to him. For a week we had fed him, loved him, played with him, given him his own house and a warm bed. That was all it had taken for him to become our shadow.It was so easy for him to love us and show it in his sometimes obvious, sometimes hidden manner.

Then there are people. No matter how much we love them or for how long they don't get it. They don't understand the value of love.

And then I get asked why I prefer to be the one talking to the dog at a party instead of mixing in.

On missing people

I suppose it is important to have people who love you unconditionally in order for you to feel...replete, shall we say.

Be forewarned, this post is a tad pensive, as am I at present.

See the thing is, I rather miss talking to the people I love. My parents, my sister, my in laws and even my sister in law. I've stopped communicating with all of them a few months back, I had explosive situations with all of them in the same month. My parents refused to take my calls. My sister refused to acknowledge her extreme display of disrespect. My in laws, well, I don't quite know if they realize why exactly I am not speaking to them, And my sister in law neither loves me nor cares whether I am in her life or not. Just so long as her brother is.

Ironically, each of these people I have loved (and still love), like I've never loved in my life. while I am not one for small time chit chat over the phone, nor for sharing what is on my mind or why I maybe feeling down in the dumps unless inclined to, I have always, only ever thought about the welfare and happiness of these people. And I tried in any and every way to help them fulfill whatever they desired at any point in time. Interested in learning how to bake? Here's an assortment of cookbooks. Like birds? Here's a birdhouse for your garden. Don't splurge on yourself? Here's an expensive pair of sunglasses. When I learned to crochet, the first thing I did was make stuff for my family to use. Scarves, sweaters, beanies...and so forth. It has been 2.5yrs since  and I've yet to make anything for myself.

It is limitless, the list of things I have done and ways in which I have tried to show just how deeply I care. These things I'm aware, sound extremely superficial. However in order to get them I squashed deep down my own desires. My own wants. My own possible luxuries.

A few months ago I realised, shortly after the hideous occurrences, that something was very wrong with me indeed to have let things get this far. To be taken so much for granted. I mean you always take the ones you love for granted but things had reached another level. And it reflected strongly in the state of my health both physical and mental. I had no sense of self worth, extremely low self esteem and was very unhappy. It reflected in my weight which had ballooned to 150 kgs. I had to do something. I had to look after myself first. I would die shortly otherwise.

My father once said to me, that people probably look at me and snicker because I look like a "freak" I was that fat.

Up until he said so I still possessed a sliver of self confidence/esteem. Thereafter I lost what I had and am still struggling really hard to get it back. Truth be told I don't quite know how to recover.

So I stopped communicating with everyone all at once. Maybe someday my parents may miss me and want to call.Maybe they will go beyond my flaws and see me as I am and love me anyway. Maybe someday my sisters will let me know they're sorry and mean it. Maybe my in laws will realize I love them like i do my own parents treat me like their own daughter.Maybe they will stop doing or saying the little things that hurt big. Maybe my husband will understand why I can't bear to meet them.

Maybe they won't. Any of them.

I however have to persist in what I am doing. I have to take care of myself and I am really trying,
Only thing is I have almost no one to talk to and theres a void, see, inside my heart. But I am getting better I think. Maybe. Or numb.

Lonely.

Anyone would be lonely if the people they talked to almost everyday or every week were absent. It is a hole nothing seems to be filling. A diet rich in good shit and not in McDonald's doesn't help.

How to be happy, That is the question. That is the path. That is what I am traveling.

Running for my life

So I abhor exercise. I hate gyms. With the thin people working out, the trainers giving incorrect and often damaging advice and horror of all horrors, all the mirrors.

I love swimming, its the only thing I appear graceful doing. I get compliments all the time. However monsoon season is here and that isn't an option anymore so I downloaded an app called the couch to 5K and started doing what they asked me to.

See I'd heard of someone cholesterol levels go from really abnormal to ridiculously normal in a matter of 6 months after they took up running. Plus the levels didn't change no matter how much shellfish they ate as long as they kept running. Sounds like the perfect situation.

Now I've always wanted to be one of those women you see running along the road, wearing really hot outfits and looking like they need to be force fed french fries. SO I figured why not give it a go. It was an 8 week program and currently i am in my 6th week. I took longer than most people I guess. Given my current lofty weight reading I think I'm doing ok.

So far the best thing that has happened because of it is that my resting heart rate has gone down from over 110/min to 80/min which is good.

I'm sure the rest will follow. They had better. Of course I'm not quite sure what they are but you get the drift.

I run at odd times. Earlier it was in the peak afternoon, but I got so tanned you couldn't tell where my hair started and face ended, so i changed to running at night. The main intent was i did not wish to be seen. Or mocked. I look rather like the Gym workout balls rolling along. Also my run is more of a bouncy jog than anything else, but its what I am able to do so far and it sure as hell beats sitting on the couch watching soaps.
(Riveting as they are I've cut my cable connection to avoid them)

What followed was a desire to run the race I was supposed to last year. Not with the intent of winning because I dont believe there are prizes in my category but just to run the entire length of 6 Kms.

Last year I didnt think I could do it. This year I am going to. For the first time last week I ran 3 Kms and i could, for the first time, picture myself running and finishing! It was a lovely picture.

How I am going to end the year

Since the year 2001 I've made the same resolutions every year.
Every year I fail, albeit spectacularly, to achieve any of aforementioned goals.

This year is different

The goals are more or less similar to their predecessors. However my approach has altered dramatically, It is what a great friend of mine calls "Being Awesome".

Consider the following aspirations :

1. Reach my goal weight (a recurrent goal) and change my lifestyle (Sigh. I will sorely miss being lazy and eating McDonald's meals)
2. Reverse Non Alcoholic Steatotic Hepatitis (Fatty liver caused by being overweight, quite reversible, I almost never drink. It eating that may kill me)
3. Rid my dog of the tick fever bug (he is a rescue German shepherd with only one ear hence named Vincent after Van Gogh. He has a resistant strain of Babesiosis)
4. Run a short race in an upcoming national half marathon in my city wearing apparel from Nike ( Ironically, not designed for the obese and those really in need of a workout)
5. Obtain edible vegetables from my new kitchen garden (already got some spinach! )
6. Learn how to bake delicious cookies
7. Have as much sex as I did 12 years back (a lot, a LOT. More effort required)
8. Wear Jeans (stopped in 2002 when I saw how I looked)
9. Finish my outline for the children's book I have in mind  (sometimes a plot comes up and then goes, usually by the time I've left the John)
10. At least try to apply what I've read (and continue to read) about the meaning of life and meditations and the path to spiritual awakening (AKA the best cup of coffee ever)
11. Oh yeah, get over my fear of mirrors and other assorted reflective surfaces
12. Don't sweat the small shit. Or the big. Just don't sweat, period.
Yes, that about sums it up.

I have almost until the end of 2016 to sort this shit out. The race is on 20.11.16. I had reached up to getting my running bib last year but did not go for the actual race. This year I shall.

Welcome to my journey ladies and gentlemen.