It begins.

I have been festering for two days, trying to figure out how to begin this blog. The good news is, I can mark “Start a blog” off my 43things.com list. The bad news is, this isn’t a very interesting way to begin this blog. Also, I hate the word blog. It sounds like some sort of German food that I wouldn’t want to eat and arrives at the table covered in sauerkraut with a warm beer. Gross. It also reminds me of something that could be toilet-related. Like during some toilet emergency, “Bessie! Run and grab the blog! We’ve got a blockage!” Nonetheless, “online journal” seems too junior high and calling this my “online Moleskine” will reveal my unshakable bourgeoise tendencies. So blog it is.

Today I made a commitment. A commitment to my kitchen. Which is odd, as I am going to be moving out of my current place and into a new place and neither of the kitchens belong exclusively to me and they are shared with other people therefore my commitment to kitchens is a bit of the Mormon polygamous nature. Today I bought dishes. Beautiful, clean, simple, white dishes. I’ve been living on my own for almost six months, and I have no dishes. My current roommate has lived in his house for over 9 years, and encouraged me to travel lightly, as he already had a house-worth of stuff. “All the necessities,” he told me. I later discovered that was a lie, as he had a type of can opener that only hobos living under train-track bridges in movies use. Also he had no Magic Eraser, but that is a topic for another day, worthy of it’s own blog post.

So I found myself at “Old Time Pottery” today, which is a store that makes good people do bad things. Imagine every conceivable plate, dish, cup, fork, knife, and spoon. Now imagine them in a GIANT warehouse at bargain prices. Flash forward 2 hours and that is how I ended up with EIGHT complete sets of serving ware for under sixty bucks. Normally that would be great, but I don’t even know SEVEN PEOPLE in this town. Let alone seven people I can invite to a sit down dinner. Oh yeah. I forgot. When my roommate said “All of life’s necessities,” that was code for “I don’t own a dinner table.” So now I can invite seven hypothetical friends to eat off of my lovely new plates on their laps in the living room or perhaps the dining room next to our 2 arcade machines under the watchful eye of the naked black lady holding her boob painted on black velvet and hung on the wall.

Perhaps not.

The “score” of the day were two unusual pieces, a butter dish with a cow lid, which looks a lot like the white porcelain cow that lays in the manager of our nativity scene near the llama (don’t ask, I don’t know if there was really a llama when the baby Jesus was born, but it was always the epicenter of childhood fighting between my sister and I … screw the donkey! I want to put the llama in the manger!”) The pièce de résistance, which I could not turn down at a whopping $7, is a casserole dish with a lid in the shape of a bunny rabbit. While, at first glance, it may appear looks as though you have a white rabbit resting peacefully amongst your plates, SURPRISE! It is really macaroni and cheese!!! Oh how my seven guests will be surprised and amused at the whimsy of the macaroni rabbit.

I have decided to make some changes for myself in 2008. 2007 was the year of slacking off and being lazy, although at the tail-end, I took some steps forward. While it wasn’t unpleasant, I did not make the most of the 365 days of ’07, nor did I take care of myself (mentally or physically) like I should. I coasted through it and came to the end of my 26th year feeling as though I could have done much more. Therefore, 2008 will be a PRO-active year. I would like to focus on a theme each month and spend those 30/31 days focused on the task at hand. And if the trial-runs go well and the habits stick around, then I will be all the better for it.

I have decided to call this mission Project LYLA (Live Your Life Awesomely).

March will be the month of living as frugally as possible. That means no excessive or unnecessary expenditures, and challenging myself to minimize and simply those that are considered necessities. Although my debts are minimal, I would like to eventually return to zero debt, and plan to use the money saved by this experiment to contribute to the reduction of my current debt.

April will be the month of green living. Spring rolls into town and starts to bestow all the gifts that nature has to offer. I think it’s a good time to think about giving something back to Her.

May will be the month of getting outside to do more active things. Admittedly, I am a person who neither likes to sweat nor freeze, therefore using that as my excuse for not getting outside as much as I should. Whether it be taking a walk, going to an event, or heading out to take pictures, May is a gorgeous month in Ohio – not too sweaty and not too cold – therefore my excuses are useless.

…there will be more on Project LYLA to come as I decide what the forthcoming months should include. Any blog readers are not only welcome, but encouraged, to make suggestions and nominations.

Happy Superbowl Sunday and belated Groundhog Day. February is strange. Stick your hand down a groundhog hole, yank him out, and see if he’s scared … then slap your fellow teammates on the spandex-ass and go out there and KICK SOME ASS!

God bless America.