The Omelette

Ahh, summer. I do love summer. No school, no students, no practices, no (for the most part) commitments. Two and a half months off was a deciding factor in the profession I chose, after all. Life is easy this time of year. I wake up when I want, go to sleep when I want, take a shower when I want...

Unfortunately, along with the relative ease of summer life and the general lack of structure inevitably comes...boredom.

And what follows boredom?

Laziness. Sloth. Sluggishness. Lethargy. Alcoholism. Weight gain. Self-loathing. (Do the last three happen to other people?)

So here I am, on the second day of summer vacation, face to face with another day, another 16 hours stretching out before me like a canvas begging to be painted. Please, Amanda, don't leave me blank again today.

And then came the decision that will, hopefully, change my life.

I decided to make an omelette.

I've never made an omelette before. Successfully, at least. I tried once a few years ago but attempted the fold too quickly and it all fell to shit, and I gave up on all things domestic for a while.

But this omelette...this omelette was different. It was made of egg whites. It was accompanied by an e-how article with pithy instructions so that I didn't eff it all up. I was patient. I followed directions. And in the end, it turned out beautifully. It folded. It was cooked through. And as I sat at my breakfast table and admired it, the proverbial light bulb was illuminated and two hours later, here I am, writing this blog.

So everyone has a "Bucket List", 100 things they want to do before they die, etc. I am no exception; there are a million things I still have left to do before the big day comes.

However, those things take time and money. And while I certainly plan to drive a Volvo through the Italian countryside and drink Guinness in Ireland someday, I'm not quite financially able to do that yet. But what I am able to do is think of all the simple things I've never done that don't necessarily cost money, and don't take a lot of time, but are still valuable and inspirational.

So, thanks to three egg whites, a frying pan and a spatula, I have a new and brilliant plan. Every day this summer, I will pick something simple I've never done (ex: rollerblade, watch Casablanca, make a cake from scratch), complete it, and check it off my list. And I plan to blog about each item on the list.

I'm still in the process of coming up with items for the list. I'm about 1/3 of the way through, thanks to some great friends and their creative little brains.

So what do I hope to gain from all this?

1.) Well, first of all, I'm two days into summer and bored as hell. So my practical side tells me that by having a plan, maybe I will gain structure and not weight.

2.) I haven't done a whole lot in my life. I was very shy as a kid and self-conscious, so there are a lot of things I could have done by now and just never did because I didn't like to fail in front of others. So, yeah, while I've traveled to a few fancy places, there are a lot of simple things that other people have done that I just never have. So I hope to gain some pride, I guess you could say.

3.) As I compile my list, I notice that most of these items either require someone else's help, or will be better shared with another person. So not only will I feel proud, and accomplished, and powerful, I hope that, most importantly, I will gain some new, fun, and special memories with those I love the most.

Day 1 down. Here's to: following through, new ideas, being brave, putting yourself out there, and of course, a very special egg-white omelette.