I heart Smokey Fontaine.

Ash Wednesday

Where's that LL Kool J chapstick?

Beckie loves Terry Tate.

T-Shirt Tuesday!

Stuff I want to enhance my life...Part 2 (SIWEML )

I realized I never actually completed my SIWEML list. I got so focused on setting the standard for measuring, I never got beyond the Landrollers. So back to the list!

* New cell phone - For the longest time I've been whining about how I miss my smartphone, my Palm Treo. But in my quest to purge unnecessary/frivolous items/people from my life, I've realized a smartphone is not what I need. It certainly doesn't meet the SIWEML test, and I just don't want to be that efficient anymore. But what I do want is a CUTE phone! I want a phone that has colors and creatively placed buttons and has moveable parts. If I were an engineer, I would design a phone that looked like jewelry...the earpiece would be an earring or ear charm, the microphone would be embedded in a necklace. You could have a bracelet as a key pad. In my world, all this looks very chic and well-functioning. Watch, someone will build it.

* Rolling briefcase - I don't travel much for my job, but when I do, I want to look like I know what I'm doing. So now I want a briefcase that has an extended handle and rolls. Hmmm. This may be edited later and filed under Stuff I Buy and Never Use. Note to self: rethink the Landrollers too.

Three reasons I'm in a good mood today

1. My checkbook is balanced.

2. There are no bedsheet marks on my freshly painted fingernails.

3. All my work files are in alphabetical order. All the ones I care about anyway.

Stuff I want to enhance my life

Along with my goals for the upcoming year, I also keep track of "the stuff" I want/buy. I do this as a way of making sure "the stuff" is essential; I have been known to buy things I don't need, want or even like. The items on this list have to pass my litmus test. If it isn't career advancing, money enhancing, spiritually enlightening, esteem inviting, or nutritiously exciting than I probably don't need it.

Item #1 Landrollers - Cesar Millan, the male Latino version of Oprah to dogs and their owners, uses these when he skates with his pack. I "heart" him! Apparently word on the street is these skates are easier to use than inline skates, glide over uneven terrain better, and have better maneuverability. They cost more too. So how do they pass my SIWEML test? Here's why:

• Career Advancing - No, my job does not involve skating, but it does require me to be healthy. I view any exercise as career advancing because if I'm too out of breath, tired or really ill, my career is one step closer to praying to the porcelain gods. I need to lose about 30 pounds of fat and gain about 10 to 15 lbs. of muscle. Skating will add variety to my exercise routines.

• Money Enhancing - At practically $200 a pair, ummm, not real sure how the landrollers advance this goal. But, since I'm cutting back on other expenses over the next few weeks, it should even out. yeah, I'll go with that for now.

• Spiritually Enlightening - If you've ever read Cesar's books, you'll already understand how this works. For those of you that haven't read or aren't dog lovers, this will be harder for you to comprehend, so maybe skip ahead. My puppy, Rockey Rockstar, has been the best thing that happened to me this year. He was on a list of "things I want before I'm 40". I never had an opportunity to have a dog until now. Spending time walking Rockey, watching him figure out his space in this world has been a sheer delight. Mother Nature is a powerful, beautiful thing. When I'm outdoors, I feel free from all man-made and self-made anxieties. I feel peaceful and happy. I think rollerblading together will be an experience Rockey and I both will enjoy.
  
  
• Esteem Inviting - Esteem. I love that word. Too bad people don't use it anymore. I love the scene in Sense and Sensibility when Emma Thompson as Elinor Dashwood says of Edward Ferrars played by Hugh Grant, "I greatly esteem him." Some dictionary defines esteem as, to regard with respect, to have a high opinion of. How will Landrollers invite esteem in my life? I predict I will feel better about myself physically and emotionally as I bond with nature, my dog and myself. I will have quiet peaceful time to reflect on what and who matters most to me in my life.

• Nutritiously Exciting - umm, nah. I'll stick with the esteem and career stuff I just mentioned.

So there it is. Maybe this is just a way to convince myself it's ok to spend $200 on a pair of roller skates. I wouldn't doubt it. A good friend of mine says she can talk herself in and out of all kinds of things when she puts her mind to it. So can I. Time will tell.