February's projects have nothing to do with a sack of bile.

I think the correct word may be sac. Anyways, cholecystectomy (fancy term for gallbladder removal) recovery is easy as pie. Although, I haven't really tried to eat pie yet... we are re-exploring foods. So far, eggs, avocado, pizza, and potatoes au gratin are all good (you know, all the important food groups). The secret seems to be moderation. Damn. Another thing I already knew.

So, to keep the wheel turning, it is time to implement the February projects. I usually like to use 3 projects, but I expanded to four, because it's one more than eleven, or actually less than eleven, which is what I would like to tackle given unlimited attention, time and money. But four seems nice. My family unit of origin. A box. A square. Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

One: Read a romance. I am in the middle of 1Q84, but I am sure I'll finish it soon (or, rather, that my electronic loan from the library will end and my e-reader will automatically return it for me, thereby ending my experience). You know, for February. Something inspiring, so that I can believe in love for 300 pages. Suggestions are welcome.

Two: Plan and pack lunches for Richard and I. Frankly, this one kind of makes me angry. I shouldn't have to create lunch for a grown man. But if I am making myself a lunch, it's not that much harder to make two. I will also benefit from the organization it will require. We'll see how it goes.

Three: De-clutter. I need to let go of some things. Some of them are actual objects, and some are ideas. I want to spend 15 minutes every day letting go of something. It should be challenging, because I am already avoiding the task by blogging instead of clearing out the guest room for a guest next weekend.

Four: Love. I want to confess my love to someone every day. Besides Mr. Awesome the cat, of course.

I'm trying not to be too literal here, but I failed yesterday, and today's not looking good either. I'm thinking it could be an offhand comment, or a nice note on the social network, or something like that, but maybe that's too nebulous?  I want to spread the love, but without a knife, you know? Because where is the shame in someone knowing how much you like them?

The checklist will remain essential, as December and January have proven. I was excellent in December at documentation, but January kind of slid off the road, if you follow snow analogies. I blame it on surgery, although there was nothing on that list that would have conflicted with my recovery (reading, sleeping, daily exercise?). But I've got four-wheel drive, so we're digging out of the ditch and moving on.

So, let me know if you've got a good romance I should read, or you want some crappy craft supplies, or you need some love. February = fantastic, because we shall make it so. 

Happiness Projectile

I just finished reading Gretchen Rubin's "The Happiness Project" because I love to read books that I could have written but didn't. Since I am not particularly original, at least I can steal some ideas, right?

The saddest part is that I actually kind of do that stuff anyway - pick a theme of improvement for the month, list three focuses, blog about it occasionally, worry that I sound self-absorbed. I did not, however, have an actual checklist. Checklists used to be my favorite thing at the library when I was 15. Shelf reading was the most boring task in the entire reference room (examining a shelf to confirm that it remained in Dewey Decimal order, and if not, re-arranging the books to match). However, some genius page had designed a checklist with nice big boxes for your initials. You could draw an entire picture in that box - and we did. We felt possessive of entire shelves of books because you could create a multi-box picture that way. Even though shelf reading made your average high school student want to stab themselves with a golf pencil, the checklist made it all worth it.

So, I'm modifying my own approach. I'm making my monthly foci actionable. I'm going to actually print and carry around the checklist. I'm going to take great joy in coloring it in. It's the perfect time - the first of December, before all the January flagellants appear and state pessimistically that resolutions never work and why make them?

For December, I picked Exercise, Loving gestures, and Meditation. I have recently been slacking on the exercise, and just calling my two dance classes sufficient. Which they are probably not. So, I'd like to add some walks, some dance practice, some stretches, and on a daily basis, so that it becomes a habit.

Loving gestures means, well, being nice to Richard. It's easy to take a spouse for granted. So far I bought him a burrito after a hard, long work day, and I didn't get all snappy when he called me repeatedly at work today about passwords for things that I don't have memorized. This is the hard one.

And this is the boring one, again. Meditation. But on a chart!