# 19 A Sad Affair With A Horse, A Man and Daughter and Holden

Reading a good book--one of the finer "to dos" in life. I can't seem to get enough of it and not surprisingly, it was #1 on my goal list to read 6000 pages. I have passed the half way mark, however, goal # 32-- read 6 books published in 1951--has been successfully transferred to the done pile. The six were selected from a list of the best books published in 1951 ( I love the search engines on the internet!) Below are the books and a brief comment on each one.

1. The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Stories by Carson McCullers. This book was definitely not a happy read, but the stories were gripping and unforgettable. The author's life was as sad and tragic as her writing.

2. An Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury—Martians, Mars, and yours truly were not a good combination, but I did finish it with no malice towards old Ray.

3. The Black Stallion’s Fury by Walter Farley--Ride, baby, ride. Give me a horse book any day--even if it is children's literature.

4. The End of an Affair by Graham Greene. Read it, enjoy it, and marvel at Greene's writing.

5. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger— There has been plenty written about this book so all I have to say is thank heavens we survived the teenage years without a "Holden" in our lives.

6. A Daughter in Time by Josephine Tey--Better than Agatha Christie, but not as well known. It was a compelling mystery with historic twists throughout the novel. Quite appropriate read while the royal wedding was taking place.

Lessons learned on this goal--Discovering books published in another decade can be enlightening and; skip the science fiction genre--sorry Ray.

#18 Yikes Skypes!

Goal # 27, Skype children sixty times--done! I will admit this was one of the easier goals to complete--they all couldn't be mind expanding, soul searching, or physically challenging activities as I venture into my new decade. Skyping (is that a new word?) my children seemed like the perfect complement to some of the other grueling, I mean, ambitous tasks.

With this technological wonder of the 21st century I was able to comment on Maggie's new California haircut and visually communicate with Aaron and Gillian while they were living in a foreign country. Unfortunately, David does not have internet access or cell phone service for that matter--he is living the 19th century life--so he wasn't a skyper (could this be yet another new word in my ever expanding vocabulary?).

It amazes me that in just sixty years, I have gone from watching black and white TV to seeing and conversing with my children on a computer screen as they sit in their homes thousands of miles away. Doesn't it make you wonder what the next sixty years will bring to our lives? I envision a body traveling through the internet; so instead of commenting on Maggie's haircut, I could actually cut it for her myself. Yikes, skypes! Now that, my friends, is a scary scenario on all accounts!

# 17 PUSH UPS--Check!

Ah! The push ups. A pain in the neck and the doubters thought that this was an impossible task especially since I insisted they would not be "girl" ones. By the way, who came up with that name anyway? A more appropriate label could be the alternate pushup or how to do pushups without killing yourself. I divagate from my original thought. Goal #14 states: Do 60 pushups at one time with 60 second breaks every 10 pushups. Well, well, well, that goal now seems to be a tad wimpy on my part. I am pleased to report that I officially did 40, took a 60 second break and finished with the last 20 in a blaze of glory! Rob stood by counting as I pushed my body to do just one more, then another one, and finally the number 60 surfaced and I collapsed with the crowd going wild. It wasn't quite as dramatic as that (the crowd numbered one plus two dogs) but I do think the dogs, although not actually cheering, were smiling at my success. Not only have I finished it, but the flabby part of my arm that starts waving (you know that part) has now been reduced to a little baby wave. Phew! Completed, but not stopping as this goal and sit ups have been added to my daily morning exercise routine. I am determined to defy the floppy arms and podgy stomach syndrome that plagues my generation.

The next completed goal was lucky #13--run 60 miles--outside. I began running with my friend, Nancy, while we were in warm sunny Tucson this winter. The miles began accumulating until Rob recorded my last run and, bingo! I passed the 60 mark. Running for me has been a love/hate relationship but I will have to say, running with a friend makes it move more into the "love" category than the other. Maybe love is too strong of an emotion, so tolerable would be a better fit. With that said, I have been motivated to do the Crazy Legs race the end of the month. To Nancy and friends--get your running shoes on because there is no stopping now!

Time now for reflection and evaluation on my progress thus far: Nearly four months into the new year, ten goals completed, eight months to go, and fifty unfinished goals. FIFTY UNFINISHED GOALS!!! Do I feel panic creeping in on me? No, I dare say, I do not. After this short amount of time I have learned that I need to focus on one step at a time while slowly counting to sixty; and before I can slap a high five with my unflabby arm, the list will be reduced to a mere forty!