Be honest, don't you, at least a little bit, in secret, still think of August as the BEGINNING of something? Do you feel a compulsion to go buy a few new outfits and some shiny, white tennis shoes? Office supplies? A cool new binder that you decorate with your favorite pictures? For me, seeing all the "school supply" sale papers has thrown me into at least a little of a spiral of wanting to go "stock up" on things I don't need and wouldn't use.
Along side wanting to buy school clothes and new binders, however, I also feel a need to start FRESH when school starts. I guess it comes from new teachers, new classmates - the ability to rewrite yourself at least a TEENSIE bit at the start of each year. The glistening hope of improving your grades, of it all being easier, of never forgetting homework, or never (GASP) getting in trouble for talking. (That last one NEVER once happened for me.)
And thus, that mindset is still ingrained in me. I feel the need to get a fresh start in SOMETHING every August.
The hubs and I spend the last week on what can only be called a crash diet (literally one of those that you look at and KNOW any doctor would tell you it's horrible) knowing full-well that it was horrible, but also knowing that in the past, it was a great jump-start for weight loss AND helped us break some bad habits and form some new ones. So my first NEW for this school year is starting 5 pounds down from where I was last Sunday.
I also was inspired to try the "Couch to 5K" training by a friend. Now, I am going into this with low expectations - of myself, not the program. I HATE running. I don't mean I hate it like "Ugh, it's so inconvenient and I get sweaty and have to take another shower" hate it. I mean hate it like the stomach flu, morning sickness, and say, having my left pinky removed with a dull table knife and no anesthesia hate it. Even when I was a little worm and weighed in at a shocking buck five (that's $1.05 or 105 for those of you who don't speak the ridiculousness I do), I hated running. The hatred is as ingrained as my knowledge that it's "I COULDN'T care less" not "I COULD care less" and my love of "The Princess Bride". It's been there for as long as I can remember and it's not going "gentle into that good night."
Hate. Seriously. Loathe. Entirely.
BUT, I know it's good for you. It will help me lose weight. It will help my bones get stronger and my muscles get bigger. It will teach me some kind of determination (if I'm determined enough to stick to it, that is). If nothing else, it helped me clean off (for the 100th time this year) the treadmill that gets anything that needs to be "out of the way" in the garage put on it.
Fresh. New. *sniff, sniff* Sweaty.
And this morning, still dripping from my jaunt into jaunting (did you know that on m-w.com, this word means both "to make an unusually short journey for pleasure" and "to trudge about"? I love words that can mean either side of the coin. Both versions apply to my time on the treadmill this morning - short and trudge) the hubs and I took our little 2 year old sweetness back to her first day of daycare for the school year. She's in a NEW class with NEW teachers and on a NEW hall. (She's moved off the baby hall finally. boo. hiss.)
And the newest of ALL news, when we walked into her new classroom full of mostly new kids and new stuff and a new teacher, she walked off, starry-eyed without even glancing back for a goodbye. No tears. No worries. No kisses. NEW attitude. I liked it, minus the no kisses part.
So tell me. What are YOU doing fresh to start the new school year?
Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie
3 comments:
I do think of September the start of school as the start of something new. It just is. Fall is the best season. I have heard so much about this couch to 5k. I hate to run too...but I need to check into it.
I'm so excited for you! And I hope that you discover, as I have, that maybe you don't hate running quite as much as you think you do. I've learned that I mostly hate the IDEA of running. Once I'm out there with my music and the wind in my face, it's not so bad. But it took a little while to get there, so don't be discouraged. And on the weekends, if you can, try doing some of your running outside...you may find that it helps. I'd rather have my pinkies sawed off with a butter knife too than run on the treadmill, but outside...that's another story. Keep me posted!!!
I love new school supplies, and I can't resist buying new pens and paper even though I have no real need...it's a problem!
I also plan on starting the couch to 5K program as soon as I'm cleared from the doctor, even though I HATE running as much as you do.
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