A Fresh Start

There's something about Easter Sunday that calls to me to make "New Year's Resolutions". It feels like a fresh start, a rebirth, a time for growth -- so why not implement that personally, in my life??? Really, there's something dreary about January 1, trying to turn over a new leaf, when you can't see any leaves at all! But today, Easter Sunday, everything wants to grow and bloom!


If you've given something up for Lent, and are now "resuming" the habit -- you know that you *can* control it, you can live without it, and if you choose to indulge now, it is from choice, not habit or need! (Those of you who gave up Facebook games, or Facebook entirely, or FanFiction...)

Of course, I love a "new beginning", any time of the year. I can make a "New Year's Resolution" for New Year's day, as we begin a new year. I can do it on my birthday, the beginning of my personal year. The beginning of spring is a good start - although Spring Solstice usually feels a lot like winter still, here in Maine. In the fall, as the start of a new "school year" begins is another chance to start over. But I think that Easter really feels like the most wonderful time to start fresh.

So what are my new "resolutions" ?? Mostly, to live the way that I want to live. To live each day with a fresh start, and not be down on myself for the failures of the past days or years. Eat right, move more, take care of myself, so that I'm able to take care of my family. Pick up after myself, and teach my children to pick up after themselves. To stop tolerating behavior that I should not tolerate. (My kids won't like this, since I plan to FORCE them to pick up after themselves, I will no longer tolerate the stuff staying where it lands when it gets brought into the house...) Ok, so maybe that doesn't sound fair - my new Spring Resolution is that my kids will pick up after themselves -- but hey, it's my house, my rules! :)

Other "resolutions" ?? Hmmm... maybe to blog weekly. We've seen where the daily blog goal got me, it was not reasonable and attainable, at least at this point in my life. But that doesn't mean I can't set a new goal, using what I've learned -- that's the beauty of multiple "fresh start" dates - I don't have to wait until next January 1 to put a new action plan into place, having learned from one that was not a success.

I may adopt a past resolution from a friend, to try at least one new recipe each week. I'm thinking of a weekly meal guideline for my family, and following it... if it's Monday, it must be chicken!

And it's a daily resolution to live kinder, be nicer... a friend once said about a mutual friend who was driving us crazy -- "but I've never heard her say a bad word about anyone!". That has inspired me for the past ten years, that I would *LOVE* to have someone say that about me. I'm not sure it's true -- but I've tried to limit the negative, and a fresh start at kindness is never in error. I'm going to keep my comments about my friends, neighbors, and family all in a positive light, that will help me to keep my thoughts positive!

I have wanted to set a goal to write handwritten letters. I know how wonderful a letter in the mail can be, and I am afraid it's becoming a lost art. I've sent a couple of packages recently, and I've loved knowing that they brought smiles to the recipients. I'm hoping to continue that, also.

And finally, I resolve to get enough rest.... mostly by setting myself a bedtime, and maybe an internet curfew!!!!

Good night!

Sunshine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was a beautiful day!!! 

First, I could sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeep as long as I wanted.   Ok, so I woke up at 7, dozed a bit more, and was up and moving at 8 ...  but it was *my* choice!  :)   It was a beautiful, sunny morning, and I got the laundry from the washer on the line, another load washed and on the line, and started the third load.   I mixed up a double batch of banana bread, made it all into muffins, and had banana oatmeal cookies ready to mix.   That was all before the Girl and I went to 10:30 church!

Came home from church, put that third load on the line, fed the gang lunch, baked the cookies, used my dustbuster-on-a-stick to vaccuum the stairs, hallway, Boy's room, and my room ...   Then went outside, cut down the lilacs that were sprouting under my clothesline (there's supposed to be a PATH for my clothesline!).  The husband was nice enough to get the Alligator Loppers all cleaned and oiled for spring, so I could do that, and then he put the screen door on the back door.   Good thing, since the dog kept wandering out the open doors.   She just goes out and sits in her regular run area, she's a good dog....   but still shouldn't be wandering in and out at will!  

Made spaghetti this afternoon, the Boy had some for supper, and they can warm it tomorrow for supper.   Overall, a VERY productive day...   Just had to brag!  

Now to plan for my Tuesday/Wednesday...   it's supposed to be nice weather again.   I wonder how much I can accomplish then!   I really want to get things done inside the house -- but with the nice weather, I have to get outside, too...   Today was a nice balance of in and out, with hanging laundry and cutting trees.   I love getting exercise AND accomplishing something! 

Next, put myself to bed early enough that my 10 hour Monday doesnt wear me out!

And maybe even to think about putting Blogging back on my schedule.  Maybe not daily - weekly might be more attainable!  (and maybe post those recipes to my recipe blog...  !!!)

Magical Vanishing Blog...

Ok, so those faithful readers (all 2 or 3 of you!) may have noticed, I've been absent for nearly about a week.

I decided that sleep outranked blogging.   I somehow thought I'd find more time EARLIER in the day to write.  Somehow, that never happened.... so here it is, nearly 11pm again... ug.

I wrote a whole blog in my head.   Maybe a few, even, over the past week.   I need to have a more portable laptop, I guess.  Maybe one I can take into the bathroom, since so many of my brilliant ideas pop up there!!!   

For tonight, let me just say ...  good night...    but not good bye...   I shall return!!!!!!! 

Oh yeah, the blog...

Oops.  Almost forgot.

Got busy taking care of things.   Checked email, had to go to a web site to take care of something.   Went to another web site...   Then figured I may as well check FB.   Next thing I know, it's an hour later and I still haven't written anything here!
I had to update flash.   That may have fixed something that wasn't working right...  but it definitely broke something else -- my quicker-clicker ...  I had an auto-click program to make my monster farming go faster, and now Flash isn't recognizing those mouse clicks.   Bummmmmeeeerrrr...    So maybe I will have to stop playing that one, since I'm not going to click that many times -- that's a sure sore-hand idea!  

So it's two steps forward, one step back...  all the time...   and still not in bed at 10pm.  And I still have a list of things I'd like to do - including getting that list out of my head and onto paper!!! argh.

But for tonight, this is enough.   At some point, I have to just decide it's enough.   We are there now.

cold...

brrrr....   cold.....

things i hate about the cold.
being cold.
cold feet.
my stupid dishwasher.  
ice.
drafty windows.
drafty windows that i've caulked and are still drafty.
windows that are drafty and i know this and i usually have plastic on but i dont.
cold plates and cold mugs and cold breezes coming in the cupboard.
trying to run my dishwasher once i get the water to run in - only to find it won't drain. :(

i hate my house in january.   i would love to insulate it and make it cozy .... 
if i could spend one winter's worth of oil $$ on weatherproofing, it would save a ton of money.
but it would be cold without that oil.

brrrr

did i mention, i hate cold???

does this count?

Wow...  it's gotten late.  So far, I haven't missed a day.  So I am still counting this for Saturday!!!

It has been a busy day.  got my new glasses today, and I can't see a thing with them...   Ok, so I can see... but not great, I've heard it will take getting used to.  But I find that if I push them way down my nose, I see well.  Hmmmmm 

I got the deal at Target on the WeightWatcher SmartOnes frozen dinners - that should take care of lunch at work for a while.  Good deal, too -- Target coupon, Mfg coupon, on sale, and a $5 Target Card, plus 5% off for my redcard....  so for the 10 dinners, only $7.40  -- lunch for two weeks, for the price of a day?  Sounds good to me!   Also got the deals at Staples, the portable file bin with 100% back in rewards - now I don't have to move 2011 to storage, I can just start a new bin for 2012!

Spent a small fortune at Sam's Club...   hope the dog appreciates the dog food....   did get some people food, too... but not cheese balls.  I wanted cheese balls.  I thought about the cheese balls...  but I didn't get the cheese balls...  despite wandering around drooling over them for a while....   :)

Now it's LATE LATE...  I've done a bunch on the Middle School Yearbook, listening to the Boy, the Girl, and my Mom playing "Encore".   and suddenly it got to be past midnight.... so I'm off to bed - but not before meeting my goal (yet again!) of blogging SOMETHING every day.   It's not tomorrow yet....  :)

Monty Python ... and memories...

Monty Python is one of those crazy things  -- seems like you either love it or you don't.

We watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail last night, the Dad, the Girl, the Boy, and I ...  and we have created monsters...   the children have quoted from it incessantly today, I hear...   and we were regaled with YouTube clips this evening, Boy and Girl alternating finding and sharing them.

I posted a clip on my Facebook page today -- and had friends posting quotes as comments on the link!

There's just something amazingly quotable about Monty Python.

My first exposure was watching visiting a friend who moved away after 4th grade  (yes, you know who you are!!!), when we were in junior high or high school and I would go visit her...   staying up late, watching black & white TV in her room (what a luxury!), late at night.   I didn't quite get it then.   I am still not sure I get it.   But it still makes me laugh.    All but the dead parrot sketch.  I just think that goes on too long.  Of course, I have always loved the lumberjack song...  :)

You know, I think that same friend introduced me to Saturday Night Live, and probably pretty much anything late night ...   I stayed up WAY later visiting her than I ever did at home!!!   Not to mention, some of the music that always makes me think of her ...  Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, among others...

And we have lost touch a few times through the years... but somehow, we manage to connect again.  Of course, our most recent re-connect is through Facebook.   Amazing how true it is, now matter what changes, some things stay the same.   I love to see her post Cheap Trick songs on FB!  :)

Yes, and I call her my OLDEST friend.   She is only a month or so older than me....   but we go back to the days when we were 6 or 7 years old...  and she had the COOLEST toys - like the Operation game, and a Chrissy doll, with hair that could grow longer or shorter, and the neatest little porcelain tea set...    I can still picture her gigantic bedroom when we were kids -- with the closet that was big enough to be where her big sister could sit with her crystal ball, dressed as a gypsy, and tell our fortunes for one of her birthday parties!  

I guess I should stop meandering down memory lane now...   maybe I should go write her a letter!

Blank...

Ok, so I am drawing a blank.   Nothing to write.   It hasn't stopped me yet...  but it might soon.

I cannot believe how fast time flies by.   Another week over, tomorrow...   and I am sooooooooooooo  ready for a weekend!  

vacation...

So today I said to the husband, maybe we should all go to Florida on vacation.   not sure why i said that...  know what the response was??    "Why?"  ....  

my response -- good point.  maybe I should just take the kids.

And we discussed vacations a little bit, and then the Girl came in and sat down.   I said "I told Daddy we should all go to Florida on vacation".    The girl's response???   "Why?"


argh.  she is her father's daughter...   I think I need a vacation. 

I will be going by myself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

choices

so, life is made up of choices....  good choices, bad choices.

writing in the blog...  or today, just checking in.

Making a choice to close the computer now, and head to bed early.

zzzzzzzzzzzz

Deadlines!

so it's 11:15pm...   and if I'm going to post today, I have to do it soon.... 

So why do I set myself up with this deadline?  hmmm   does it matter, if it's my own internal deadline?   It's not like anyone out there is REQUIRING that I write something...

Or does it matter more???  

Aren't my own ideas and plans at least as important as those imposed on me?

Who decides what's important, anyway...

I've realized, I normally move all of my "InBox" into a separate folder each year, "InBox 2009", for example...   but I don't think I did that in 2011, to move off 2010.  And now there's another year's worth there!!!   I *do* delete occasionally, but I do keep a lot in my email archives- fun to search through.   I also keep pretty much EVERYemail that I've ever sent - but again, USUALLY separated into yearly folders.   I think it's time to do that again.  I do love the feeling of a fresh, new InBox.   Of course, that may  be why I have SEVERAL separate "IN" boxes, and filters that fill them...

-Coupons -- this InBox gets all of my deals, etc...  they automatically go in there, and then when I'm in the mood to scan through, I can do so.   Or, I can just delete - since anything not used within a few days becomes old, obsolete, useless.  

-MyInbox -- this InBox gets anything that my email program recognizes the Sender from.   This is my "real" email, and where most of what you send me goes to.

-LindaSub -- this is where anything to lindasub @ my email address goes -- any newsletters I subscribe to, etc...   again, for leisure reading, or pretty much simple deleting. 

-Facebook - another easy-to-clear folder, it gets all those notifications from Facebook.   I can sometimes just scan through this folder and know what folks are up to, without getting sucked into Facebook!

- InBox -- where all of the un-sorted email goes.

There are few others, for specific tasks.   but that's my secret to keeping up to email...   I love filters.  they help me to sort out the important, from the less important, to the unimportant.

And isn't that one of the most critical tasks -- deciding what is important, so that it can be taken care of, and what is not important, so that it will not distract ???  

So, is this blog important?  Yes.  Why?  I think that is a question for another day.

Sunday

I guess I'm ready for another workweek...

no, not really...   but it's here.

I'm getting used to dividing the days, and knowing that I can't just do something "tomorrow".   But that's ok - I just have to make good decisions about what to leave for "tomorrow" or "not for a while".

Today we played another new game we got for Christmas.  That was fun.    And we had our typical supper of pizza in the den, and watch a movie -- this time, it was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.   I do love that movie.   Earlier, Bob & Teresa were watching League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.   I do enjoy watching Sean Connery.   :)

So there were chores, and fun...   over all, a good day.   I even thought about rebelling, and not updating the BLOG today...   but it's better to keep it a habit...  and even if I dont get all the words down on paper (or computer!), it does get me to think about it, at various points in the day.   So even if I don't share it all with you, sometimes by the time I get here to type, the words are disappearing, at least the thoughts get formulated, and they WILL eventually get here!!!!!  

For now, it's bedtime...   good night....

Making a list...

This morning I made a list.   It was a to-do list.   I had a few things that I really needed to get done.   So I put them on paper...    Get kids haircuts (before 1pm),   Get to DUMP (before 3pm), make meal plan, make grocery list, get groceries, do laundry.   But I also put on the list - Play T's new NCIS game that she got for Christmas.  

What good is a list, if it's just stuff you don't want to do.   Not that I mind making a meal plan, but it's not really a fun-family-activity.  Well, bad example, that one actually *is* a fun family activity - well, it's fun for ME when it's a family activity!   I hate to sit here and try to dream up food that they will all like.   When I go around the table and ask each one to make a suggestion, I know that at least SOMEONE will be happy if I make that meal!!! 

But in my ever-restarting-quest for balance in my life, I decided that I need to WRITE DOWN the fun things we need to do, just as important and the chores that need to get done.   Life is too short to wait to do the things you want, spinning your wheels in the "must-do" before you do the "get-to-do".   I try to make the "must-do" be fun, or at least be brief and non-intrusive.  

Every morning is a new chance for "New Year's Resolutions".   I can't imagine promising to do something every day "forever", or even "all year" -- but I can manage "Just For Today" - and by doing that, every day, somehow it gets easier.   Like this BLOG thing...   yep, here I am.   And the words are coming easier, and starting to show a little more reflection and less of a "to-do, been-done" tone.  

And who do I write for?   Mostly, myself...   knowing that there ARE words that are for certain target audiences.  Knowing that one day I may hit blogging gold, like the Herding Cats blog about the word Retarded....  it's just gotten its author her 15 minutes of fame!   Or the college student who wrote about welfare fraud, and had her column go viral.   One of these days, I'm going to write something that people  - lots of people - want to read.   (I just hope that I've figured out how to make a few bucks when they do!) 

But I don't blog for cash...   not for fame...   I blog, partially because I like sharing my thoughts with my friends and family...  which is why I've liked Facebook .   But I like this blog, because I am in full control of what is visible, not some secret algorithm.   So as Facebook moves toward its timeline, I will be creating my own timeline, here...  outside of their control.   And you get to watch it happen!  :)

Welcome.  Once again, welcome.   Every day is a new day.  I am going to get a new, fresh start tomorrow, on all of the things I want to do, on living the way I want to live.   Every day above ground is a good one!

Ephiphany!

Today is the Twelfth Day of Christmas !!!    Which basically means, I can take my tree down...    That will happen this weekend, I think...   hopefully the kids are as good about taking it down as they were about putting it up!

My car is in the shop.... brakes didn't feel right - turns out, brake booster pump gone and leaking.  I don't ignore "not right" feel.    They found another problem, too, so it will be another day before I get it back.   Working means I can feel better about the repair bill - but means I need to GET to work!   Husband gave me a ride to work this morning (in snow... ug!), and husband and kids came to pick me up.   We did have supper out, on the way home....   YUM. 

So now I have a WEEKEND!!!!!!   YAY!   But so much to do, so much to do... ug...  I really don't konw that I like this full-time thing, it just seems like the days go by SO FAST!!!     Maybe this weekend I will have time to write a real, thoughtful, blog-like essay.   Yeah, maybe.   Or maybe I should do a cool mostly-pictures blog like Aunt Gracie or Cousin Renee.   Nah, I dont think I'd get that done....   But at least I am WRITING SOMETHING.   I think....   Or is this just babbling...    I may need to re-subscribe to FlyLady and get some good routines going.  I kind of miss her nagging....  :)

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

yep, once again, i dont know enough to go to bed....


but it's been another good day.  ended the workday taking a direct transfer phone call...   i had been doing chats, which i love doing.... but there was a cranky customer who complained she got dropped when transferred the normal way, so i took the call.   she was a very nice lady, we figured out her problem, got things going well...  at least so it seems...     always nice to end on a good one, even it it did start iffy, and it did keep me late.

my DEAR DARLING DAUGHTER had supper ready when i got home.   and my mom arrived in time to sit and eat with us.   life is good !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    got to play with my mom's new ipad -- very cool, but it could definitely make me seasick.   phillip got to watch a youtube video on it, i can tell that the graphics and sound are much better than my computer.  maybe i do have to drool over one.

and we played another couple rounds of bananagrams before my mom left...   that is more addicting than facebook games.   maybe because the girl, my mom, and i have such fun giggling over the words and the nonwords.   none of us is very competitive -- when one runs out of letters, and the round is over, we have to help each other finish up the letters, just because we have to.   more compulsive about making words than about winning.

so tomorrow will be really hard to get up and moving.   ug.    but just one more workday, and then i am planning to sleep in on saturday.   hopefully !!!!!!!!!!!!!   and maybe not be writing after 11pm.   i did manage to go upstairs earlier yesterday but then read for a half hour or more....   i can't read, when i do, i can't stop.   i need to find short books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this isnt really a blog.  it's a rambling.  sorry...  thanks for your patience, if you are still reading.   it will get better, i promise.   i have topics in my head, and they are starting to push to the forefront....   but i still believe it's more important to write about nothing, than to write nothing.

4 in a row... way to go...

Yep, the only way I am motivating myself here is with a negative influence...   I don't want today to be the day that I MISS writing!!!

I have decided that maybe there aren't enough words in my head, that's why it's hard to write.  So I will put more words in my head.   I picked up a couple of paperbacks in the bin at the grocery store tonight.   .50 each, it's a United Way donation -- and I can drop them off when I'm done, if I want!!!  Or maybe I should release them into the wild, with a BookCrossing number... hmmm...   anyway...

I saw the comment about Confessions of a ShopAHolic - which I thought was funny, since that is one of the few books I've read in the past few years -- AND...    one of the books I picked up tonight was by the same author!  So, maybe it is (as another friend would say) "kismet" ...  and I really am going to read that book!   Although right now I have already started the other one, it's a book of 3 stories, I think in the category of "trashy romance" ...  I like to call it "light reading".   :)

But at least it's reading.  It's putting words from someone else, through my eyeballs, into my brain.   Maybe when mixed up with all the words already in, I'll have an overflow, and be able to share.   I know, most people would say I never lack for words.... but somehow, words on paper are different....    so I'm going input more of those, and then I will have more for output....   Or so I can hope!!!!

Third time's the charm!

It is January 3rd...   day # 3 of writing DAILY in this blog ... GO ME!!!   :)

Another busy day...   stopped at the dump on the way to work, tossed in trash - always good to get it out of my house!!!   An interesting day at work, back home to the smell of beef stew cooking ... mmmm ....   even if I did have to make it before work, and just have Teresa put it on the stove after school.  

Then a visit from my Mom, sorting through some clothes, watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy (time-shifted, courtesy of the DVR!) and even a game of Bananagrams.

I sure know how to live!!!! 

And admiring pictures on Facebook of my newest cousin...   I'm glad to have Facebook, because otherwise it might be a while before I saw pics - but with FB it is instant!   I have definitely caught up more with cousins through facebook.   It's nice to be in touch - but makes me miss them all more!!! 

Another "made another day" -- remembered to take a vitamin.  Such a small thing - but it is something to do for myself, and good to remember.   I'm not interested in making "New Year Resolutions", but I do like to add new good habits to my routine!   Daily vitamin is a good thing.   Blogging regularly is a good thing! 

I'm thinking about the GoodReads "how many books do you want to read this year" goal...  not sure i'm ready to commit to that, but thinking about it.   Thinking about what the first book I will read this year - and when I will start it!!!    I need to find short books, that I can read in just a couple of sittings ...  I don't have the patience to wait to find out how it turns out!!!

completeness...

So, what is completeness?   what will make this blog "complete" ?

is it just being written in every day?   Or does it take something more...

That's the question I have now, today, January 2, the second day of this year.

For lack of a better answer, I will write today - simply to keep myself in the habit.  However, I think I need to do this EARLIER in the day...   because it's now WAY PAST when I should be in bed... 

I have accomplished most of what I need to for the day, though... including a Cumby's run for milk (and cheez-doodles, technically Cheetos tonight!) which was a fun experience, since I had company for the ride.  Teresa tossed on sneakers and a jacket over her nightgown, and came along...   she got a peppermint hot chocolate for her trouble, and I bought $5 of scratch tickets...  on the LAST of the 5 (yes, I only buy $1 tickets!), she scratched off a $5 winner - so we broke even, and had some fun.   (don't tell the official folks that I let my daughter scratch a ticket, I'm sure that's against some rule...)

I really need to set an alarm to go off at 10pm and tell me to go to bed....   I should NOT be awake now...  maybe I will have to get out my electric blanket, and power-sleep.   something about sleeping under the blanket on "high" seems to help, if I am very over-tired and really need to crash!

So maybe this BLOG thing will have to move to the earlier part of the day, if I'm to string words together in a way that makes sense.....

Blogging is better than Facebook!

Ok, I'm going to take Sara's example, and blog again... spend those hours I waste on Facebook in the Blogosphere...

I've had fun with Facebook, and I really like to be connected with a lot of people that I've lost touch with. But then again, that's also the way of the world -- you lose touch, connect again... but I can't possibly be in CONSTANT contact with the hundreds of people who have touched my life, in one way or another.

And now Facebook wants to change ... again ... so I'm coming back here, to a place of comfort... where *I* control what is visible and not visible... I may delete *ALL* of my facebook content, rather than have it do a stupid timeline. I'm not sure that the whole world really needs to know my whole life. You each get a piece of it, that part that matters. I'll fill you in on the history, I don't need Facebook to select which parts you get shown.

There aren't as many distractions here... no games clamoring for me to click on them... just words to read, and words to write. I used to envision myself a writer... back in the days when I used to be a reader... Now that my time is controlled by an outside force, I find that I need to choose more wisely how I spend the moments I do have.

So I will come back here, blog... really...

and please comment, so that I know that someone is reading!!!