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Sit ups and wedding photos and other jibbajabba

I truly hate my laptop. I spent the last few hours editing wedding photos for a couple of friends of mine and couldn't even surf the net at the same time (although it would surely have taken more than a few hours if I had been able to multi-task). Aaaannnndd, my cell phone had died to boot.

I need a new laptop really badly, but I don't know which direction to head. The only lead I've got so far is that Toshiba offers a discount because of who I work for.

Moving on, about a month ago I joined a 12-week challenge of doing 100 sit-ups a day. Yes, I'm whackadoodles. It started out five people strong and from everything I can tell, there are two of us left. Yes, I'm still going. It's not easy - hell, it's not even fun - but I did commit to it and I'm going to try to fully execute.

Speaking of commitments, I briefly touched on this before, but I'm  going to reignite my fire for daily photography. I used to say I was burdened with my shitty laptop, but I was really excusing my laziness. I may have an idiot laptop, but I have an incredibly smart phone. On the days I can't take my big gun cameras out, edit the photos, and share, I'll still have my cell phone to help meet my goals. And I recently discovered an effective and appealing photo editor app called PicsArt that I love so far.

Speaking of goals, the company I work for -- more directly, the location -- has just gotten area-wide recognition for a game we play daily to help us focus on our big picture goals. As a team, we aim to fill each category on our spread with at least one entry a day. This alone will not singlehandedly bring us to goal by the end of the month, but it generates both an awareness of what we need and inspiration to keep one-upping each other. It's friendly competition and helped bring us to the top of the leaderboard in bonuses for last quarter.

It is this mentality that has helped me refocus on my personal commitments. I can definitely take one photo a day. I can certainly do one round of sit ups. And I am going to apply our work game to my personal life. I've been discussing it at work and have inspired a coworker to go back to the gym and have motivated my boss to drink more water. Seeing my goals and personal challenges inspire others makes me excited to power toward my own success and makes me feel a sense of obligation to those who are inspired by me.

That is why I loved SparkPeople so much. Everyone leaned on everyone else - and that phenomenon left no one to feel the weight of all pressure. Speaking of things I used to do - I should visit that site from my phone more. Anyone know if they're going to develop into a mobile site any time??

Another thing I'm excited about, you know - since we're on the topic and all, is that when I buy that house - and I say when because I love optimism - I am rejoining the gym and dusting my bike off. The way my life is set up now (yep, here comes an excuse), there is no place safe to ride a bike, and certainly no gym nearby. And yes, I pass a couple on my way home, but as it stands now, if I leave straight from work, I don't get home until 7pm. When would I ever see my family, or even eat dinner, if I stopped off for a work-out on my way home?!?! Living closer to work, by about an hour commute time - for the record, will give me that hour of time to go to the gym to swim, or run, or lift weights - or even go home and walk my doggies and ride my bike through the neighborhood.

All these opportunities excite me. The only hing that doesn't is that I won't be spending every morning watching the local news with my dad before work. As it stands now, that's is my daily routine. I stop at Mom and Dad's to join him for breakfast and news before I go to work. I love my dad so much, I'm truly not sure what I'll do when I'm not seeing him every single day (maybe I'll call and we'll talk over our own, lonely breakfasts...).

By the way, just wrote this from my incredibly smart phone. Check out the 365 blog for updates! And it's good to be back.

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