Quirky Fantastic

Each month in 2017, I'm choosing at least one goal to focus on. That main goal is for another project that I'm working on, but I'm thinking about adding a secondary goal and maybe even some smaller goals to track here. Since this year is my year of Transformation, setting clear goals for myself seems like a good way to achieve that. I'm thinking about a few possible secondary goals for March: Making progress on a Couch25K program. I used to jog more frequently than I do now. My main form of exercise is kung fu, but I think that adding in more conditioning might be helpful in my training. I don't really enjoy jogging, although it's tolerable if I listen to podcasts. Still,   Ditching the snooze button. I always hit snooze multiple times, and I'm not sure that makes for the best mornings for me. Ideally, I'd wake up without an alarm. More realistically, I'd like to roll out of bed the first time my ocean waves alarm goes off.  Writing snail ...

My condo and I have had a bit of a bumpy start since I moved in late last summer. The purchase process had a lot of hiccups, although I really like my realtor. Overall, it wasn't terrible. It was just that a lot of what could go wrong, did. I enjoy living alone for the most part, but I had a hard time adjusting to the move. My condo meets all of my requirements: top floor, great location, parking and storage included. I just haven't really adjusted to the idea of living here longer term. Embarrassingly enough, I haven't even fully unpacked, much less started doing many home improvement projects. I'd like to change that. One thing that I did do after moving in was hire a second inspector, Suzanne from Sound Advice Home Inspection , to create a home maintenance plan. She was fantastic, giving me a crash course in construction in addition to writing up a lengthy report with different items and their relative importance. I have a much better idea of what I need to do ...

Each year for the past several years, I've chosen a word of the year. In 2013, my word was Peace.  In 2014, my word was Growth.  In 2015, my word was Vibrant. In 2016, my word was Nurture. This year, my fifth choosing a word to guide me, I chose the word Transformation. 2016 was a year that was full of transitions, some that I chose and some that just happened. I usually have a difficult time with change, and this previous year was no exception. My word Nurture was a great support as I progressed through 2016, but as I considered a word for this year, I went in a different direction. I decided to choose a word that encourages me to consider my life and purposefully make long-term, lasting changes. Hence, Transformation. I also chose two supporting words, Shift and Ease. Shift is to remind me that transformation can happen from within and can be spurred by something as simple as a change in mindset. Ease, which I haven't fully explored yet, is something that I hope for...

As people close to me know, I'm an avid reader. My tastes run the gamut from journalistic non-fiction to LGBTQ romance to apocalyptic YA to religious memoirs. I'll try most books, although I tend to go through phases. I also have a hard time with anything that I perceive as a "classic" or "required reading," which is probably a throwback from my middle school days. I track my reading on Goodreads so that I have a record of what I've read and can see what other readers enjoy. Last year, I read 83 books, down from a high of 119 books a few years back. My goal is 52 books for the year, or the equivalent of a book a week. I try to read at least a few minutes each day, but I do tend to read in spurts that roughly correspond to school breaks.  In 2017, there are a few additional goals that I'd like to focus on in terms of my reading. 1. Focus on quality, not quantity. I read quickly, but I can read so quickly that I don't fully process what...

Today during my snow day, I decided to go through my list of dreams, which is like a bucket list but more dynamic. I’m making pretty good progress on the list, but I’ve been neglecting my dreams related to writing. I realized that this might be a good time to recommit to writing a blog regularly, so I searched out the info from this old blog and decided to bring it back to life. I still love the name, Quirky Fantastic. I debated leaving up the posts from my previous attempt at blogging back in 2013-4, but I decided to revert them to draft form. That way I can still view them, but others can’t. That’s mostly because I look back at the posts, and it’s hard to recognize who I was then. In just the past few years, I’ve grown immensely as a person, but it’s like the tone of my life has changed. Back then, I was fresh out of a work situation that took a huge toll on my mentally and physically, I was just getting more involved with social justice organizations, my family was in good health....