#18 and #19: 40 days of fun (or something like that)

I wanted to give a sneak peak into my next two adventures but be sure I will keep everyone posted on my progress, or lack thereof.

I can't ever remember giving up anything for lent. Can you? Well this Lenten season I will give up one thing and take on another. The next 40 days just may break me and if they don't, I'll be a heck of a lot stronger for surviving them.

What I'm giving up for Lent:

#18: Give up dirty words

Holy sh#t! (no pun intended) It's true. For the 40 days of Lent I will be giving up those 4 letter words that have always brought so much joy to my life. This was my mother's great idea. I had originally planned to give up either sweet tea or mayonnaise.

What I'm taking on for Lent:

#19: 40 Days to Personal Revolution

Starting March 6 I will be embarking on a 40 day journey, courtesy of Southern Om Hot Yoga Studio, to discover clarity of mind, body and spirit. I will learn more this Wednesday but essentially my next 40 days will include daily yoga practices, meditation, a cleansing eating plan (scary) and healthy thinking.

I'll be sure to update these posts as things develop. So keep following!

#17 Acupuncture

Not as painful as it looks...

I've spent the last few weeks planning out the rest of the 30x30 list. The tasks ahead are daunting, or maybe it's just the completion of them that is. And, moment of truth here, I had my first tremblings of an "almost 30" freak out. I hear they say you can have a quarter life crisis at twenty-five, so is thirty a third life crisis? And if so, where do these third, fifth, eighth...whatever crises end??? If I run into a fifteen year old complaining of a 1/6th life crisis, I will have no choice but to slap him or her.

With that said, I felt the need for some balance in my life. I'm still working on my yoga practice and #18 on the list will also be an effort to center my life. However this Thursday I decided to try yet another Eastern approach, acupuncture.

A clinic co-located with my gym offers "Group Acupuncture" several times a week. I know. Acupuncture sounds scary enough, why does it have to be a group thing. And no, there's no needle sharing going on.  It's just a circle of six lazy boy recliners in a room. I was the only patient for most of the time but was later joined by several other characters.

Baby needle in my hand.
Those are NOT my feet in the background!

So here's the scoop. After an assessment of your needs and issues, the therapist applies the hair-thin needles into the nerve points that coincide with your needs. I ended up with 7-8 needles from the base of my big toe to the top of my head. At insertion it feels like being poked with a pine needle but afterward its just a feeling of pressure.

The result. I felt enlightened and definitely more focused. Am I a newfound acupuncture junkie? Well, that's yet to be seen.

# 16 Riding a Bike

Look mom, no shoes!

Growing up, I was the kid that always had some type of cut or scratch (stitches, concussion, bruises, what have you). The one most violently burned into my memory was that of my first bike ride on my brand new big girl bike.  Most girls can easily picture the bike. It was a Huffy one-speed with a banana seat accessorized with pom-pom streamers on the handlebars, a basket, and those damn clinky things on the spokes.  This was well before Xzibit and Pimp My Ride existed but I think he’d be impressed even now.

That's not chocolate on my lip.

On our virgin voyage, the fancy new bike and I went for a tumble. Being the speed demon I’ve always been, I took a turn too fast and face planted into the asphalt. The end result, a busted front lip as well as some nasty knee and palm scrapes. I did ride again but handed over the bike for rollerblades as soon as I could.  So some 20 years later and in the spirit of new adventures, I climb back on the bike for the ride of a lifetime. (Someone please punch me for saying that).

On a recent trip to San Francisco, I thought that a bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge would be a great idea. After hitting up Wikipedia, I learned that the bridge itself is only 1.7 miles so we’re looking at 5 miles max in my mind. NOT TRUE. The entire ride was 8-9 miles which still isn’t that far. But like any good tale, there’s always some mischief involved.

First of all, I am by myself on this ride without clearly marked paths and one very misleading map. A few miles in and I take a wrong turn and venture up a very steep San Francisco hill. Not sure of my move, I asked a few transportation workers their advice and well, they were wrong. After a few miles I knew this couldn’t be right so I found my way back to the original path. The only problem was that this involved picking up the bike (I’m guessing 30 pounds) and carrying it down several very steep flights of stairs. By this point I am beyond angry and a part of me wanted to just throw the bike down the stairs but I didn’t. I conquer the stairs only to find myself at the base of a monstrous hill. The idea of calling a cab starts floating around in my head. That was, of course, the first of many calf-screaming hills and not the last time I thought about calling a cab.

I made it across the bridge and down to Sausalito without incident and celebrated with a heavy beer and a sandwich on fresh sourdough.  Good times!

Fake smile!

Almost there!

I'm on the bridge!

And done! (real smile)