On the list of a dozen self paced homework options are two “pass” days.

Today is one of them.

For the first time in weeks months, The Mc wasn’t working into the wee hours. He wasn’t even distracted by the fact that he wasn’t working until the wee hours.

So I slept.

My duties as Most Wonderful Girlfriend on the Planet are vast. To fulfill the one that specifies I help him relax at the end of a long day, I think I passed out around 7:30.

Truth be told, I had every intention of finishing the laundry and packing for our weekend in Asheville (Gwen’s wedding!!) and didn’t; which means when the kitty alarm went off this morning I rolled over and said “I can’t work out, I have to pack.” Moving said laundry, I could feel my lats and my abs from yesterdays measly fitness spaz fest. If I hurt from 375 jumping jacks, the rest of the month is going to be incredibly interesting. It’s actually nice to feel my thigh muscles engage when I walk again. I’d forgotten I had any.

The sleep and exploitation so early of the “pass” is shameful, really, and a perfect example of the self discipline I lack that has resulted in the poundage and the requirement for bootcamp.

There’s irony in there somewhere, but I’m too tired and lazy to point it out. I blame it on the lack of queso and margaritas.

On a related note, I had to cook last night. Me. Cook. In a kitchen. With fire. Baked chicken breast (with loads of garlic), rice, steamed broccoli, even some salad.

I might die of malnutrition.

I usually avoid these things. If you send them to me, I don’t send them back – they’re sucked into my black hole of laziness and apathy and you get a demerit for sending it in the first place.

This one though – I like (via my seester). Tag, you’re all it.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36.Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes134. Read The Iliad – and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

There’s a 4 day self paced introduction period prior to the first “real” boot camp at the park. Enrollees are given a list of twelve choices for homework assignments over the course of the month long camp, and on non camp days you’re expected to pick one of the twelve and post your results on their site.

This morning my choice at 5am was an experiment with my fitness and my self discipline. Neither of them showed up.

75 jumping jacks, plank for 25 seconds, shake out arms (no resting) then lather-rinse-repeat 5 times. Not as easy as it sounds when you’ve been sitting on your couch feasting on a steady diet of Velveeta, M&M’s and Mr. Pibb for two years.

This is gonna hurt.

Somewhere around my 14th year, my father bestowed two sets of boxing gloves upon us. In an Irish family of teens and pre-teens, it’s the kind of gift that keeps on giving. Plus it lessens the chances of jacking up all the work done by oodles of loot and hours in an orthodontic chair.

Over time, one of the sets of gloves was lost (maybe Brian packed them when he went away to college?) which left Kevin and I with one glove each and a hand behind our back. Not an entirely bad deal, since Kev is right handed and I’m a lefty.

We had two futons in our otherwise sparsely decorated basement which usually lived about two feet from our hoss of an RCA TV. They were the single seat variety that laps over itself, and they didn’t weigh so much we couldn’t pull them into the middle of the room. When two of these are laid out flat and set side-by-side, they make an impromptu ring of just the right size for an after school sibling grudge match. Hellz to the yeah.

We had a semi-regular habit of going a few rounds in the late afternoon with his friends ringside, taking sides; and many of them would eventually decide after watching us dance and whack the hell out of each other that they had the skills required to take me down.

I was a sophomore and had only recently transferred back to the mainstream public neighborhood high school from the semi-private alternative school I’d been in. I was full of angst and always ready to prove myself. Most of the time, unfortunately; I didn’t know who I was or what I was trying to prove.

On a particular afternoon in our sleepy basement on the hillside in Anchor-town, one of Kevin’s friends – I’ll call him Sal – was in attendance. Sal was the senior class president, a ladies man with stringy blonde 80′s band hair and a weight that nearly matched my own.

Sal issued the challenge and stepped into the ring after being reminded of the rules. We squared off, each of us throwing several solid jabs and hooks, bouncing around and bobbing and weaving and building up a fine appetite for din-din.

A punch came at me that knocked my brain about a bit and I leaned over, facing away from him. My arm was raised, under my face as if playing a game of Heads Up 7-Up with an invisible table. He stepped closer and asked if I was ok. I didn’t respond. When he asked again in a quieter voice, I stood up, pivoted on my feet like the ballerina I never was, and roundhouse clocked his ass.

Sal went down, and he stayed down.

My signature move had been played to perfection, and a reputation I would never outrun was born: I’d KO’d the senior class president. For reasons of vanity the true details of the match were never disclosed by Sal or his buddies. Which was worse: having your ass kicked by a girl, or showing vulnerability and then having your ass kicked by a girl?

All work and no play makes Maigh miserable. Luckily there’s always something shaking on campus to keep me giggling that – more times than not – ensures I don’t neglect presenting the dork I truly am.

Working on the theory that everyone comes into your life for a reason and that you have to be open and ready for it, I introduce:

Cindy who I met via a work related cross functional team brainstorm project. Shooting the $hit following our final meeting Wednesday night, I told her about my upcoming Boot Camp adventure over my delicious and soon to be illegal adult beverage. She asked which one I was doing and when I told her (6am at Piedmont Park) she said something along the lines of “Oh yeah, I used to be an instructor for that one. I’m going back as a student in a couple of weeks.” If I didn’t kow better, I’d have guessed someone put her up to that and there was a wee camera in a beer tap a few feet away documenting me in all my gullible glory.

Alas, it’s reality, and we made a wager on who would be kicking who’s ass. I plan to win.

Annie who is a fellow Atlanta MetBlogger and I met last night at a social to get to know our co-authors. She’s tenacious and funny and has an eerily similar background including (but certainly not limited to) the desire to participate in a sprint triathlon. This is something that remains on my list of goals, even though I’d lost sight/interest/hope/inspiration for it well over a year ago. Leave it to the universe to deliver someone to help remind me where my path is.

I don’t know that I’ll be as ready as she (who is running 11 miles today, thankyouverymuch) by the time Lanier (in May) or Callaway (in June) roll around, but damn if I’m not going to try.

Here goes nothin’, kids. You, me, friends in unexpected places and the universe givin’ me a good swift kick in my ever growing behind.

Today is the birthday of my older brother Kevin (aka Bosskat), who is a whopping 15 months my senior.

There were days beyond those where we played with Fisher Price toys on the shag carpet of our house on Mars Drive in Anchorage where I wasn’t sure who he was or who I was or if we’d ever get along. Days where he put his fist through drywall next to my head in an attempt to restrain himself when I pushed him just a wee too far, as little sisters are wont to do. Days where our worlds were a little too close and a little too different from each other to coexist peacefully.

Discord aside, he was always quick to jam a quarter up his nose to make me smile, and today continues to deliver laughs via random one line emails and serves as an inspiration for my (semi-defunct) dedication (even if he doesn’t think himself worthy).

There were plenty of accidents along the way that I wasn’t sure he’d make it through, but he did and we did and today despite approximately 4,300 miles and a 4 hour time difference and the plain ole’ rush rush rush of our lives that keeps us from talking as often as we should – he’s one of my best friends.

He’s a remarkable brother, friend, father, husband, cyclist, mountain scrambler, humorist, storyteller and nature lover. He’s a rockstar, and I only hope I’ve been for him a fraction of what my parents intended when they made me.

Happy birthday, Bevis. Love you.