My Year of Meaningful (2011)

I've gotta say 2010 has been pretty damn good to me so far.  I'm convinced there is something to this whole positive attitude thing.

For example - what are the odds.... I mean WHAT ARE THE ODDS.... that the 4th love of my life (after The Mr. and Mick Jagger and Levon Helm), Tom Petty, has decided out of thin air to release a new album (due out on my birthday!) and schedule a summer tour for the same month I'm planning to be back in the USA!?  And on top of that, to schedule his ONLY REMOTELY CLOSE-TO-MY-STOMPING GROUND date for my familial homeland (KC) within *1 day exactly* of when we had planned to be there en route to California???   Bust my britches.   The Mr. has wanted to see him live for a long time too, and although it won't be my first time, having this be a possibility is in itself enough to make me want to live to July!!  My brother better be prepared to babysit, that's all I'm sayin.

In other "My friends are the coolest EVER" news, I was blown away to get an email from The Other J's (aka S&M) this morning that included probably the best-yet bid at my job (of supreme holiday planner No. 1) for our upcoming trip to Aus, Part 1   (the east, better known as Sydney & Newcastle).  It looks so fantastic I simply must re-print it here for posterity.

• Monday, we meet you in Sydney hang out around the CBD, see the sights, hang around, etc, drive back to Newcastle for some takeaways for dinner (I am thinking Thai).
• Tuesday, go up to the valley to the wineries. Leave after a relaxed breakfast, hours drive or so, arrive for a morning coffee, taste some wines, have a picnic lunch on the hill at Audrey Wilkinsons, taste some more wines, have some cheese, drive home, have toasted sandwiches for dinner. Or better, a bbq.
• Wednesday, see how we are feeling, maybe drive up to Nelsons Bay (45 mins - 1hr drive) and go on a dolphin cruise, or just hang about and go to the beach and go the shops or something, go out for dinner.
• Thursday, play it by ear. Chill out, go for coffee by the beach, go for a swim, whatever, then....... you guys go to Darwin.

Ahhhhh  it is all just so exciting and makes me giddy just thinking about it.  OK not about the part where we have to sit on our butts for like 24 hours GETTING there, but you know what I mean. 

Now I just REALLY need to get LJJs Aussie visa taken care of.  It's bugging me because I have to send her passport to freakin' PRETORIA since there's no consulate here, and after all we went through to get the damn thing, I'm having a hard time letting it go.  But I better do it toot suite since it takes an average of 10 days to process now.   I thought my own homeland was bad, but even the Aussies now are threatening to deny visas if you don't include things like "character references", bank account details, names and addresses of people you know there, etc etc etc.   Luckily The Mr. and I come from countries where we can just slap in our names and passport details and they'll do it electronically, but the poor baby has to be vetted and authenticated right down to her bowels just to get in for a 2 week holiday.   Good times, good times.

So it looks like it just so happens that the Snow Gods have dumped it big time on NYC, where my 'rents are forecasted to be flying into tonight, and out of tomorrow.  ruh-roh.  I can tell you one thing - if they get delayed by more than a day, that's gonna be pretty much a case of "longer trip than time spent at destination". My dad will be climbing. the. freakin. walls.   **insert uncomfortable silence here**

Right, anyway, I've had a bad case of insomnia lately and I think it's about to be cured by the passing of summer into autumn.  Hot damn!  I just simply cannot wait.  I even wore jeans today hoping that my auspicious dressing would move the season along a little bit.  Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a crisp glass of Chenin Blanc, a sweet White Muscadel over crushed ice, or a nice chilled Sauvignon Blanc on a hot afternoon in January, but enough is enough.  Since it cosmically *IS* really all about wine, can I just say IT'S ABOUT TIME TO BRING BACK THE SHIRAZ, GOD!!  CAN WE GET A MOVE ON, HERE?  I've got a crock pot/slow cooker on my kitchen shelf, gathering dust already!

That brings me to my next goal in life which is to find the one place on earth where it is pretty even-keel autumnal conditions year round, or as close to year-round as possible.  Then I will move there.  I am so OVER summer right now.  Bugs and flies and mosquitoes and sweating in your bed have their place in time and that, in my book, should not exceed 3 months.  Hence the reason that I love my home state so much.... 4 perfect seasons and each one is over not a minute too soon.

And finally, I am fearing March (except for the tempering of the temperature) strictly for the fact that it means my pushups count will go to 30.  I'm not afraid of the 40 x crunches, but the pushups?  Ay, papi!   My arms are currently quite bulge-imous (for a girl of my stature, anyway) at the moment and I'm rather happy with the results but I'm worried that if I don't continue on with my plan, I'll get the guilts and not only that but I'll go from all to nothing and can kiss my progress goodbye.   But dang!  20 proper pushups is already hard!  What the hell is 30 going to be like?  I've been adding an extra 5 onto the count for the last 7 or so days, trying to make the transition a wee bit easier for myself next week.  But as we like to say in the greater St Louis Metro Area, "I'm scurrred"!