Introduction

This is my new blog. It's called "Five New Things." It was supposed to be called "Six New Things," but that address wasn't available. Amazing how the whole course of my life can change because of some dude who signed into Blogger back in 2005 and never once posted an entry.

Over the next few months, I'm going to try six -- wait, never mind, five -- new things and hope that one of them eventually becomes a hobby. Because I, my friends, am in desperate need of a hobby.

For many years, I was a runner, and in recent years, I became a triathlete. Training took all of my time, energy and money (you try affording the mortgage when you have a $2,500 bike and memberships at three different gyms). In early 2007, I injured my knee. I'm sure I'll get into the specifics at some point, but let's just say that it may very well be a career-ending injury. ("Career" in the sense that I once finished second in my age group at a local sprint triathlon.)

I still do the occasional pool swim and weight workout, but without my daily, three-hour workouts, I'm finding that I need something else to do. Even with a full-time job, a 90-mile (round-trip) daily commute, a husband, two cats and a house, I'm...bored. It's not so much an issue of having too much free time, because I don't have much free time. It's more of an issue of feeling that without a hobby, my life has no purpose. No meaning. I've been sitting here for the past few months feeling all emo and dramatic and sorry for myself. So I've decided it's time to do something about it.

So, that brings us to the six -- five! Five new things I'm going to try. Over the next few months, I'm going to force myself to step out of my TV-watching, pajama-wearing, cat puke-cleaning comfort zone and do stuff I've considered doing but thought was lame. The only rule is that I have to try each "new thing" once, and if I really don't like it, I don't have to do it again. Oh, and no new things involving exercise allowed.

So, welcome to my world. Take off your shoes, pour yourself a cup of tea, relax, and enjoy the ride. But try not to fall asleep. That will hurt my feelings.