Happy New Year!

I was talking with my friend Rowan yesterday to wish her a happy Halloween, and in the course of the conversation, she mentioned that Halloween (or Samhain, to pagans) is actually the end of one year and the beginning of another.  Well, with the amount of new "projects" I'm starting up today, it sure feels like New Year's to me!

First of all, in his quest to help me feel better, Hubby has rigged up an impromptu light box for me to try out to see if it alleviates my Seasonal Affective Disorder.  It's not exactly elegant-looking, but wow!  It's bright!  (I think he said it's 300 watts?)  So I'm going to try it twice a day, for thirty minutes each session, and see if it helps.  Occasionally, I catch it in my peripheral vision and wind up seeing stripey spots for about three minutes, but if it helps, I'm game!  (I almost fell asleep in class one day last week.  Not good!)

Secondly, today is the beginning of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and this year I'm certain I'm going to make it past November 3 without falling behind!  Although I have another story screaming at me to be written, I've decided to start something brand-new, partly so that if it doesn't go where I want it to, I won't have invested so much thought into it ahead of time.  Let the games begin!  This afternoon the SaintJohnNoWriMos are having a tea party / write-in, so I may drop by, but I did get almost 900 words in before I went to bed in the wee hours of the morning.

And thirdly, partially spurred on by my trip to Ottawa two weeks ago (yes, the one you're still waiting to hear about -- I know), I have begun my quest for a healthier (and down-sized) body.  This is something that I've been building up to for the last five weeks or so.  I have been participating in Craving Change, a six-week workshop on curbing problematic eating.  Also, some nursing students at the university have begun their own version of The Biggest Loser, and although the prize would be nice, I've mainly signed up in the hopes of having some time talking to a personal trainer and a nutritionist.

But what cemented things in my mind that I need to be smaller came from, of all things, NASA-TV.  A few weeks ago, I was watching the coverage of the return of Canadian Space Flight Participant Guy Laliberté to Earth.  I just had NASA-TV on in the background, and they were talking about the Soyuz capsule that brings the astronauts home.  Well, the commentator mentioned that the seats in the Soyuz have an upper weight limit of 208 pounds.  And I was immediately crestfallen.

Do I think I'm ever likely to be able to afford a flight to space?  No.  But knowing for sure that I can't go because of my weight hit me hard.  In short, it's unacceptable.  (It's the same reason I buy lottery tickets.  I don't expect to win, but I know I can't unless I have a ticket.)  So that's my goal, folks.  I'm going to lose weight because I want to go to space.

Happy November, everyone!