Present day

I have at least one more Guatemala post in me, but at the moment, I want to acknowledge that this year has started well. I haven't made any resolutions, but there's one that's sort of made itself, as it keeps hopping around in my brain. My brain, unsurprisingly, is telling me to listen to myself.

This sounds very hippy-dippy, I know, but it's at the heart of any other resolution I might make. So far this year I have turned down food that would make me too full, turned down a drink that would make me feel bad, done spontaneous yoga, done a monkey school show I hadn't thought I could do, and cleaned my apartment.

I didn't just clean it (in fact, parts of it are still pretty dirty), I made it more livable. I cleaned the shelves in my bathroom (an alley find) so I won't hesitate to use them, rearranged the shelves in my closet so I can reach them better, and stored the AC unit that's been sitting ugly in my bedroom for too, too long.

Also, I agreed to show up Monday morning at 7am, outside, to participate in strength and endurance circuit training with two of the toughest people I know. I mean, seriously, he's a mountain man who teaches rock climbing. She tends to get cast in roles where she kicks people's asses and ends up covered in blood. Um.

Honestly, I'm only listening to part of myself on this one. The other parts want to know what I'm thinking. But it won't kill me. Probably. And it might be funny. Or inspiring.

[UPDATE: Rachel did not make it to strength and endurance cross-training. If Rachel ever learns to go to bed before midnight she might give it another go.]

I haven't been keeping track of what I'm reading here, mostly because I'm still reading The English Patient. I love it, but nothing about that book says, "read me fast." In the meantime though, I've also read Unwind by Neil Shusterman, and I'm currently plowing through The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson, two books that scream, "read me, read me now!" Both are speculative and pretty dystopian books about worlds coming apart, which I'm reading for a book discussion at residency -- led by my advisor Uma Krishnaswami and my upcoming workshop leader (yes, yes, yes) Cynthia Leitich Smith. I cannot wait.