I have two completely insane goals:

1) to walk the L.A. Marathon (just 31 weeks away!)

2) to volunteer at a vervet monkey sanctuary in South Africa next summer (their winter)

I know, I'm not sure what's gotten into me, either, but I'm very, very excited about these goals. Part of me hesitated about writing them here; I'd feel like a major tool if I backed out. Then I realized, hey, that's a good thing! That means I'm less likely to back out! Also, why have an online journal if I'm not planning on sharing my crazy schemes with you? So, there you have it. Marathon. Monkeys. Giddiness from head to toe.

The marathon idea came about just a day or so ago. I was reading about walking events and training on one of my mailing lists. One woman is recovering from an injury and planning on doing a marathon in a year. I didn't realize you could walk in some marathons, so I said to myself, and later, the list, "Maybe I'll look into the L.A. Marathon." And something about seeing the pictures and clicking through the links made me really want to do it.

"WHY?" Joe asked.

I had a hard time telling him. I tried using other people as an excuse - "At least I'm not the only one! Look at all these people!" I had pulled up a photo gallery shot from the website.

"LOTS of people are crazy!" he pointed out.

This is true. And I guess I'm one of them!

I used to want to run a marathon (I saw people do it on t.v.; what can I say, I'm very impressionable). Then my feet got all screwed up, and I thought I'd never be able to do it. Now that my feet are doing so much better and I'm really enjoying walking, I am so excited about the prospect of actually doing this! I love feeling this excited again, like it actually is a goal within reach!

Why do I want to do it? Hard to say. Maybe it's the tee shirt. Or the MEDAL! Really, it's that I just want to feel what it's like to cross that finish line. That must be incredible. I'm going to do it!!!

As for the monkey sanctuary, well. I love monkeys! But that's not why I found the site. I remember a while ago reading about people who volunteered to help sea turtles in Mexico for two weeks. I was looking for something along those lines - helping animals, mixed in with a bit of travel. And that's when I found GVI's website and read about the monkey sanctuary! It sounds freakin' incredible! And I have a year to raise the money, read about South African travel, and basically get prepared for the trip. I also have a year to figure out if it's a big scam! I'm crossing my fingers that it'll be awesome, though! I'm already planning on how to get my future monkey sanctuary entries online. Oh yes, there will be journaling involved. And pictures. It could, in fact, be the coolest thing ever!

My goals may be insane, but they're also incredibly exciting! This is going to be awesome.