I had a lovely (LOVELY) bike ride this afternoon after finishing my chores.  Rode up the High Road and to the footbridge at the causeway.  It was gorgeous getting there, gorgeous actually there, and gorgeous on the way home.

I’m just full of gorgeous….  So, while I’m in this feel-good moment, I thought to have a look at my 2009 To-Do List.  You know, check off some things, see where I’m behind, etc.

• A reliable, used Subaru Outback - preferably with manual transmission.  Truthfully, I don’t want to own a car - I want a bicycle or a horse and buggy (seriously!) - but I live in an area where the nearest place to buy vegetables is a car ride’s distance.
• A bicycle - reliable, used would be okay, something vintage looking with a wicker basket.
• A small house to rent with an organic garden and a washing machine.
• Freelance full-time.
• A laptop.
• An iPod Touch.
• Excellent health for my family, my friends, and myself.
• Pitch at least one article every two weeks.
• Have at least one article published in 2009.
• Sign 6 new writing clients in 2009.
• Sign 4 new bookbinding clients in 2009.
• Organize my office and my studio.  In Progress
• Sell my creations on Etsy.  In Progress
• Sell my creations at a craft fair.
• An Ashford Joy with extra bobbins and travel case.
• Learn to spin flax and weave linen - in other words take a couple classes at the John Campbell Folk School.
• Attend Fiber Frolic, Common Ground Fair, and the Fiber College.
• Master the bodhran.
• Learn to play and sing one folk song a month.
• Fall in love (and be loved in return).

Yep, you heard it right - I have transportation…. with actual wheels on it… No hoofing it for this girl anymore.  Behold my vehicle:

Twenty-four gears and two wheels of pure leg power!  I’ve even souped it up with brakes, reflectors, lights, a basket, and rear wheel rack!  Oh yeah, baby, I’m riding in style!  And the best part of all is that I’ve bartered for it - trading computer help desk services with the bike shop for the bike.

It’s been almost 15 years since I rode a bike, so I’m relearning to ride again.  What amazes me is that I used to be fearless on my bike.  Now I’m full of fear.  Seriously.  I was practicing in the bank parking lot riding in circles and the first time I approached a turn I had to talk myself through it.  When did I become such a coward?  Of course, after that I was fine with turns - but appalled by my fear.  I really don’t understand it, but I know it goes beyond the bike.  I’ve been fearful in other situations recently and just pushed forward, but it’s been over big existential stuff.  This is bicycle riding….. what is there to be scared of?  This is freedom…

**SPOILER ALERT**  If you have not seen The Sixth Sense or The Life Before Her Eyes, you may not want to read this post…. yet.

Okay, I’m becoming dimmer as I age, and this does not sit well with me.  Right now I’m thinking that door hinges are smarter than I am.  I just finished watching The Life Before Her Eyes (really good movie, btw) and had to go to the Internet to have total strangers explain the ending to me.  ME!!!!??????  You have to understand - I have felt the pseudo-warmth of smug intelligence since I saw The Sixth Sense and figured out early in the movie that the psychiatrist was dead  (people, when a woman is mad at her significant other and he tries to lamely come up with excuses, she would only be able to ignore him if he were actually dead).

Now I’m cold.  So very, very cold.  And apparently very, very stupid.

It’s a wonder I can still construct a complete sentence.  This will have to be a short post - don’t want to overtax what’s left of my brain.

Last month I wrote about the independent bookstore in my community closing its doors.  Today I had lunch with some of my lovely store colleagues from the past year and a half.  I feel I have known them for much longer than that and, as I looked around the table at their faces, I realized that I came very close to never having known any of them.  And not to have met them would have been my great loss.

Among them are a former dancer, a singer, a fiber artist, an actress, and a former dean of students.  Another of my colleagues who couldn’t be there because of illness is a man of letters who speaks fluent Russian.  They are interesting, kind, and have wicked senses of humor.  I have watched them with the customers - going beyond customer service to providing customer care.  And I have seen how they take care of each other, providing a network of strength and safety to colleagues who have lost or just seem at a loss.

At lunch today - our “farewell” lunch - the owner of the bookstore asked us to share our fondest memories of the store, and I didn’t take the opportunity to say all that was in my heart because I didn’t want us all to cry (okay, it’s because I didn’t want to cry - I hate crying in public - I’d rather pull out my eyelashes and use them to dust the bookshelves than cry in public!!!).

But I’ll say it now.  To my beloved colleagues - Marcie, Amanda, Candi, David, Carol, Vesta, Laura Lee, and Jan - with you I have shared all of my most favorite memories from the store and, indeed, from the past year and a half.  You are the reason I enjoyed coming to work.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

C. d’B.

It is tradition in my house NOT to make New Year’s Resolutions.  Statistics have shown that most people abandon their resolutions some time around February.  And even if the statisticians manipulated the numbers to give veracity to this claim, they probably did so in March after resolving December 31 of the preceding year never to manipulate the numbers again!

So I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions - I make lists.  Lists of the things I wish for in the new year with a “to-do” list of actions to help me achieve my goals.

Here is my wish list for 2009 (in no particular order):

• A reliable, used Subaru Outback - preferably with manual transmission.  Truthfully, I don’t want to own a car - I want a bicycle or a horse and buggy (seriously!) - but I live in an area where the nearest place to buy vegetables is a car ride’s distance.
• A bicycle - reliable, used would be okay, something vintage looking with a wicker basket.
• A small house to rent with an organic garden and a washing machine.
• Freelance full-time.
• A laptop.
• An iPod Touch.
• Excellent health for my family, my friends, and myself.
• Pitch at least one article every two weeks.
• Have at least one article published in 2009.
• Sign 6 new writing clients in 2009.
• Sign 4 new bookbinding clients in 2009.
• Organize my office and my studio.
• Sell my creations on Etsy.
• Sell my creations at a craft fair.
• An Ashford Joy with extra bobbins and travel case.
• Learn to spin flax and weave linen - in other words take a couple classes at the John Campbell Folk School.
• Attend Fiber Frolic, Common Ground Fair, and the Fiber College.
• Master the bodhran.
• Learn to play and sing one folk song a month.
• Fall in love (and be loved in return).

The list is always a mixture of personal enrichment and professional accomplishment.  Now I’ll take this list and create sub-lists  of actions in an effort to “make my dreams come true.”  (Cue uplifting, motivational music)