Now that I'm flying solo on apartment living, I'm able to take the many lists and Vogue/Elle/Harper'sBazaar/National Geographic/Travel Magazines cut-outs that were stacking up on my desk top and put them on the walls with the sticky-tack that we use to hold up worksheets in the academy. That stuff is absolute magic. It's nice, not only because I was never one of those girls who could get away with posting my interests all over my bedroom walls in constantly rotating boy-band bulletin format, but also because I have officially moved myself into what was once Niall's room, which is larger than mine and has a peachy paint color that makes it seem brighter and far more open. Other benefits? A larger closet, full-length mirrors, a creepy view of the neighbors' apartments, and power outlets that are closer to the bed. Aside from those things, and more importantly, the light bulb in my old room was dead and now I don't have to bother to change it. You better hope your kids are never as lazy as me.
Maybe at some point I will post a picture of my shrine wall to editorials, but for now I'll give you the text of what is on the hand-written pages pinned up on the closet front where I can always see it. Written on yellow legal pad paper that I bought at the airport, I sat down and wrote this on my very first evening "home".
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Okay.
I know that you're not looking forward to the next three months nearly as much as you should be, but remember that if you fail to take advantage of every moment of it, the only loss is yours. Set goals for both routine and spontaneity!
- Go to Logroño more often
- Get in touch with your pals from Zaragoza and coerce them into going dancing
- Get off of the bus in Navarette and explore
- Take more pictures for your parents' sake and your own
- Be sure to get to Seville! (and Granada and Toledo and San Sebastian)
- Take more walks. Know this village better than you know your own hometown.
- Set a goal to run 4 times a week
- Cook something new and exciting every so often, try for once a week
- Spend your evenings on worthwhile things
- Keep the apartment spotless
- AND Make it home! Bring in the candles and the cheap stick incense!
- Really dedicate yourself to your work, both in teaching and in preparing for it
- Do NOT countdown
- Use your planner religiously
- Do NOT put things off- organize properly and promptly
- Find Make time in your day for God (Also, why is this halfway down the list! Priorities, kid.)
- Write letters promptly
- Mail letters within two days of writing them… not a month and a half later
- Work on some free writing contests
- Trytrytry to do your back exercises at LEAST once a day
- Set goals for your evenings, lest you end up wasting them
- Dress well - look good - be clean and professional
- Speak Spanish as much as possible
- Let yourself relax at night and turn the computer off if you aren't writing
- Read. Readreadread.
- War and Peace
- Great Expectations
- A Game of Thrones
- En la Sombra del Viento
- Go to sleep earlier
- Wake up earlier- sleep past nine only on the weekends! You are wasting day!
- Lights! "This isn't a counsel house"
Each day happens once and each moment in it? The same.
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I can't avoid the great yellow eyes of the list staring at me from wherever I stand in my room, but it's good to write them down a second time. Am I missing anything?
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