Revisiting and Revamping

For a long time I considered shutting the old blog down since I wasn't sure what to say after my last post. Instead of creating something brand new, I decided to keep the same format. Why? Well, let's just call it laziness keeping things simpler. There's so much on my plate these days and I truly don't have the time to reinvent the wheel. You know who invented the wheel? The Sumerians, and I say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." I digress...

Today marks day two of two days in a row of exercise. Yeah, I know what you're thinking: "How long will she stick with it this time?" I have my doubts, too, however, there's been so much change in my life the past six months that I figured I should return to some old habits like exercise. I've been feeling so blah lately and I completely realize that if I reintroduced exercise back into my routine, I'd feel better. I know this to my core, but sometimes getting my ass off the couch or stopping myself from doing every chore under the sun is difficult. What I realize is that exercise is for me. Me, me, ME! I make the bed, I do the dishes, I fold the laundry, but I don't take care of the thing that's most important: me. This seems to be the story for so many of us, especially for women (you know who you are). I realize I'm a total caregiver, almost to the point of being a martyr (which is a super bad character flaw, by the way). Today I say, "Enough!" Okay, well, yesterday I said this since this is day two. Anyway, you get the point.

Beyond exercise, I'm seizing control of my career. Many of my readers know I am applying for the PhD program in Visual Studies at the University of California, Irvine for next fall. I'm taking the dreaded GRE next Thursday and have been in contact with the pertinent people at UCI regarding what I'd like to accomplish there, if accepted. Beyond that, I submitted a pretty kick ass (that's what people I've shared it with tell me) abstract for a paper that hasn't been written yet for the yearly meeting of the Art Historians of Southern California in November. If accepted, this will be the first time I've ever presented anything to a professional audience full of colleagues and peers... *gulp*

So, this year is the time to move out of my comfort zone and shake things up a bit. I've lived far too long in the shadow of other people and doing things for other people. Does it seem to selfish to say this is the year of me? Because it kinda is. And I don't feel bad about it. Not one bit.