Typically here, Monday is Must-Read Monday. However, between finishing up my deadline (yay!) and the fact that I'm in the middle of judging books for the RITAs (and can't reveal which I'm judging), I haven't read any new books I can share with you.
So, today I thought I'd change it up a bit and have Must-Do Monday. No, this is not a list of hot mancandy. ;) But rather a list of the things I hope to do or learn at some point. This is not an exhaustive list--we'd be here all day--but some realistic ones I want to tackle.
Photo by Steven Depolo (Flickr cc)
1. Become a tea person
So I was talking about this on Twitter last night, but recently I decided to get off of sweeteners. Since I hate coffee, don't drink soft drinks, and love caffeine, I end up drinking 3-5 glasses of iced tea a day. That's a lot of Sweet N Low. I didn't want to replace it with sugar because that's a lot of calories to add in, so it's pushed me to start looking beyond my basic Lipton black tea and experimenting with different flavors. My current fave combo for iced tea is regular black tea bags, a green tea bag, and Tazo's Wild Orange tea. It gives a great flavor.
However, I know there is a whole world out there of hot tea I haven't explored. Plus, I know there are countless varieties and loose leaf options. So this weekend I bought a kettle, a loose-leaf steeper, and a tin of loose lead Earl Grey (figured I'd start simple.) I also picked up a Red Velvet variety of bag tea. So we shall see. But it would be nice to truly learn about the ritual of tea and experience the different flavors.
Photo by Slawek Puklo (Flickr cc)2. Learn more about photography
I have always been interested in photography. It's one of those creative pursuits I "hope to learn" one day not for career purposes but for a hobby. But especially after my blog photo lawsuit debacle, I now am REALLY interested in learning how to take my own photos. I've gotten a few fun apps on my Iphone, but obviously that's very limited.
And I know a DSLR camera would be the next step, but those are expensive and at this point, I'd have no idea how to operate it. So I feel like I'd need to take a class if I decided to invest in that pricey of a camera. So this one has some cost involved. But I'm still really interested in pursuing it.
Photo by Tony George (Flickr cc)3. Get more advanced in yoga.
I love yoga. It's the only exercise I don't dread. However, I'm still at the beginner stage with most of it. I strive to be able to do the more complicated stuff. And this one is totally on me. The more I do it, the better I'll get. I recently signed up for a membership to My Yoga Online and that's been great. I dropped my gym membership where I used to do yoga because I wasn't able to get over there enough. Now I can get the yoga in my living room (I mirror it to my TV via Apple TV so that I can get it on a bigger screen.) And unlike buying DVDs, this gives me new routines every day so I don't get bored.
So those are my three, mostly achievable Must Do's. What are some of yours?