Three Kisses

I am in a rut.

It's not a bad rut.

I've joined Weight Watchers, which is going well. I am losing weight in a gradual, healthy way--which feels great--and the plan is pretty easy to follow. But I'm not getting enough exercise, and with colder weather on the way, I know my exercise-motivation-quotient is headed down the drain.

I am piddling around with my thesis. Pretending to accomplish something, but not really making much headway. And no one is bothering me about that, at least for now. But I have a 16-20 page chunk due the week after Thanksgiving, and I know I have to get serious about this.

And Mark and I are happy and contented middle-aged people. We get along fine, and life just keeps going along.

Like I say, I'm in a rut.

So yesterday I set some goals for this week.

Exercise: Ride the exercise bike for 20 minutes a day. Lift weights for 10 minutes a day.
This is do-able. I'm not committing to do it for a month, or the rest of the year, or the rest of my life.
Just one week. I started yesterday, and it felt so good to get my heart rate going and use my muscles. Of course, I'm giving myself a day off today since it's Sunday, but tomorrow I'm back on it again! (I was tempted to excuse myself from the exercising tomorrow since I have yoga class tomorrow night, but I don't want to let myself think I can make up an excuse for every day. So every day--except Sunday--it is.

Thesis: Write one page a day.
Again, this is do-able. It's not a chapter a day. It's not forever. I wrote a page yesterday. And I'll be writing another one today.

Relationship: Kiss Mark three (or more) times a day.
Haha! Does that sound silly? I set this goal because I realized that we had drifted into a pattern of just giving each other a good-night kiss on many days. It seems a little strange to think about because we are together ALL the time. We both teach at the same high school, we are assigned to the same teacher office, and some terms we even share the same classroom! (I teach in Mark's room during his prep period.) So you'd think we'd be plenty close enough. And we are, on an intellectual/thinking level. But you know, life just goes along, and before you realize it, you haven't checked in to make sure you're giving your sweetheart the attention he deserves. Did I meet the goal yesterday? Am I on track for today? Hahaha--are there bears in the woods?

So I made a little chart for myself and hung it up on my bedroom wall. I didn't mention it to Mark. But then a couple of hours later he found me in the kitchen and said, "You have a goal for kissing me?" And I said, "Sure, why not? We're in a rut. I think we need to kiss more often."

And he looked at me like I was nuts.

And then he kissed me.