Ladybug Pushpins

Growing up, we would visit Granny and Papa's house quite regularly and I have more memories that I can count of time at their house. While I was visiting a bookstore a while ago, I came across something that made me very nostalgic for their house. You see, Granny and Papa had a big bulletin board in the hallway with all kinds of fun things on it. And most of them were held up with pushpins that looked like ladybugs.

When I saw these I couldn't resist.

It's not quite the same as at Granny and Papa's house, but I think they look pretty cool on my bulletin board.

Music Monday -- ABBA

I have pretty eclectic taste in music, but some of my favorite music comes with just a little bit of nostalgia. I listen to ABBA fairly often, but some of the songs still take me back to the summer of '78. Mom was driving me to my summer ceramics class at Fairmont Jr. High, but she let us listen to "our" music on the radio. My older brother knew ALL the words to this one. I can still hear him singing "take a chance, take a chance, take a ch-ch-ch-chance."

Awesome!

I love Ted Talks. They're inspiring, informative, and interesting. The most recent one I've watched on the trusty internet was about awesomeness. We all need more awesomeness in our lives. The good news is, you really just need to notice the awesomeness. It's already there. I promise you that you will love the next 18 minutes if you spend it watching this Ted Talk.

Neil Pasricha: The 3 A's of awesome | Video on TED.com

Let's hear it for attitude, awareness, and authenticity.

And, if that wasn't enough, check out the speaker's blog of Awesome. I dare you not to feel a little better about your day after reading a couple of entries.

An Accounting

In 2010, I accomplished the following physical goals:

• Lost net 13 lbs
• Ran an entire 5k for the first time ever (at the Valentine's Day Dash) -- actually, I had never been able to run for a full mile when the year started, much less 3.1 miles
  
• Participated in two triathlons
• Had more training sessions than I can count
• Started participating in Saturday boot camp workouts

The physical goals were huge for me in 2010. I have more goals for 2011. I'll be participating in the Danskin triathlon and several 5K races again, but I'm also adding the Vancouver half-marathon to the list. It should be a good new goal.

I'm thinking about other goals to focus on this year, but these are the ones that are easiest to share.