Monday Meh, Thursday YEAH!

This week was uninspiring and mostly meh, unfortunately.

Aaaaand I have nothing else to say, except........

TOMORROW'S MY BIRTHDAY!
AND I'M SUPER EXCITED!

I don't care that I'm turning 27 (a particularly uninspiring year, it seems), I still get excited over birthdays. Maybe that enjoyment will start to fade later in life, but I hope not. Being born was one of the best things that happened to me. Makes me feel like partying EVERY YEAR. :)

A very appropriate photo, as Darby and I share the same BD! (She's a former fellow ESL teacher, who left a while back for the States)

Totally just did this on Super Better.  A perfect way to celebrate my bd. :)

Another way I boosted my self-esteem today? Reading Urban Dictionary's definition of my name.

ANNA:

The name for the most awesome person ever, It is impossible to fit so much awesome into any other person.

You think your as awesome as Anna? well you cant be because Anna is so amazingly awesome.

Who knew U.D. was so freakishly perceptive? :D

Getting SuperBetter!

"The time has come, the time is now!" - Me

Recently, I've been focusing on making positive lifestyle changes. I'm sick of my own laziness, indulgence, carelessness and thoughtlessness. My 27th birthday is in ONE week (!), and changing my brain and habits is only going to get harder with each passing birthday. I've heard this desire and worry echoed in the words of several friends around me, so I know I'm not alone in wanting to make some serious changes to my lifestyle. I have a lot of things going for  me (health, job, etc), and I don't want to just accept them with a lazy wave. I want to take all these gifts and MAKE something out of them. I want to make my healthy body stronger, I want to use my job to teach me discipline, I want to spend my free time pursuing the things I actually care about...

So, here I go:

I've joined a hip-hop dance class, as of one month ago (go ahead and laugh, Mary - me dancing "gangsta" is hilarious. The words "dang, Anna's looking really thug!" - said by no one, ever. ^_^)

I'm drinking more water.

I'm starting off each morning with 25 sit-ups, right off the bat. (Adam, too!)

I COOKED a dinner last week. It might even happen again - p.s. it tasted frickin' fantastic.

Aaaand, I joined this website "game" called SuperBetter.

It's not really a game, per se, so much as a "healthy living encouragement tool" - though I think it could easily be expanded into a true game format, if they wanted. Basically, this program is designed to help you improve your physical, mental, social and emotional health, and make you feel, well, better. It can be used to achieve a particular goal or overcome an injury or trauma, or just to become a better you. So far I've chosen my secret identity, a set of daily goals and a future "epic win" challenge to move towards.

It may seem a little "hokey" (Rob's words), but it's doing it's job so far, and actually making me Super Better. To a degree, it's keeping me accountable and allowing me to track my accomplishments and progress.

Neat, no? It all began when I watched this really interesting TED Talk, prompted by a friend here in Korea.

I joined the website immediately after.  I'm in. I'm all in.

To my friends & fam: I'd love your encouragement and help! One of the best motivators is having people you love, respect, and admire cheer you on towards a goal. If you're reading this, chances are high that you're someone I love, respect and admire. Help me make this stick (for once!)! A quick and easy way to do that is join SuperBetter as my Ally, and send me messages, suggestions, love, challenges, etc.

If you join and then decide to start your own quest towards a future Epic Win, I do solemnly promise to become your ally, and help you accomplish whatever it is your little heart desires. :)

Of course, if you don't join, I'd still love messages, suggestions, love and challenges, etc. And I promise to write you back.

Scavenger hunting at the Gwangju Kimchi Festival last weekend - we came in 7th place! It was fun AND good exercise AND a way of mingling with fellow teachers. (physical, social, mental, emotional -- check, all)

Taking time to stop and smell the roses... good for the liver.

Huge happy moment this week - a BD package from my grandma :)  Thanks, Mama B!

p.s. Happy Monday! Ok, it's Thursday  now, but I started this post on Monday, so it counts. The first 3 days of this week were mid-terms for my students, so it was a Mellow beginning to my week. Except for the SUPER INTENSE GETTING BETTER part...

Multiple Mondays

October the 1st was the best Monday I've had in a long while.
Not only was it a holiday (the day after Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving), but it was also the first day of my favorite month,October - indisputably the best month in the calendar year.

It was glorious. The weather was glorious (blue skies, cool breezes, chill nights for snuggling). We had a glorious amount of NOTHING to do. We read glorious books. We ate glorious food. We overslept, gloriously.

I attended my tri-weekly hip-hop dance classes - these are my 2 zany instructors :)

It's dance class + a show with these two mugs

Tiny food! I found another human who shares my obsession for all things tiny, and so we made tiny banana splits together.

Presentation needs some tweaking, but they tasted mini-licious.

Adam and I attended our first Korean baseball game - what a riot!  You're allowed to bring your own food into the ballpark, and there are lines of vendors at the entrance selling fried chicken and drinks. The crowd's exuberance was overwhelming at times, and thoroughly enjoyable.

We remembered to stop and sniff the flowers, even... ^_^

In contrast with today's Monday, last week feels years and years away...

Today was a regular manic Monday, complete with sleep deprivation, skipped breakfast, crash-and-burn first class attempt (my poor students who have the first period class on Monday morning - they always have the rough version of the lesson.), and general grumpy feelings.

I remember when I was younger, I never understood why Garfield hated Monday so much. In retrospect, it still doesn't make sense for a housecat (who doesn't have to go to work), but at least now I can relate. :)

That said, I still feel happier than any Monday grump has any right to be. Not even my ruefully awful school ID tag has made me lose sight of how good life is right now.

It could be worse. Having a mile-high forehead is not as bad as having a pimple explosion or looking  drunk/stoned...