Saturday, January 31, 2009

A few sad things

The first sad thing:

Our friends Tyler and Megan have a bunny named Ginger. As a matter of fact it's their fault that we have any bunnies at all because they got theirs first and it was just so stinkin' cute I had to have one of my own.

Anywho, Tyler and Megan wanted to breed Ginger before they had her spayed. I'm not sure why and I didn't ask questions. We just supplied the stud in the form of Milton. There really wasn't a choice here as Brunswik has already been fixed. I didn't post about it here because it's kind of a delicate subject. I'll just say that on my end it was much funnier than passionate. Ginger body slammed Milton a few times in the process. I guess she just wanted to establish the rules before she gave up the goods.

Look at this face.
Why wouldn't you want more of
these running around?

Everything went according to plan and Ginger had reached her maximum number of gestation days this week. Tyler and Megan got concerned that she hadn't had bunnies, so they made an appointment to have her induced. How crazy is it that they can induce a bunny?

Andy called me tonight and told me that they have induced her and so far she has had two bunnies. Both of the bunnies are dead. Apparently, it's common for bunnies to have their first litter and for all the babies to die.

How freakin' sad is that? If all the bunnies die I might cry. I'll keep you updated.

The second sad thing:

I'm pretty sure my car is sending me a message. That message is: "Why don't you just let me die a quiet death and find another car to torment for the next 10 years?"

I've had my car since the spring of 1999. It's 18 years old. It has over 200,000 miles. And I think it's ready to retire.

Remember back when my alternator died? Well, ever since then there have been a slew of small problems. All things that were easily fixed and usually cost little to no money, but now the new alternator is having issues. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I know what your thinking; it's been less than two months since we put that sucker in. Return it and get a new one right? Well, yes, that does seem like the obvious fix, and Andy thinks that perhaps a wire is just loose.

I just can't help but think maybe there is something else going on under that hood besides a faulty alternator. The ole' Jeep just doesn't have the same pep in it's step anymore. It's been a long happy journey (pun intended) with my car, but I think it's about time to make a change. And that makes me really, really sad. I will definitely cry when I have to give it up. (It pains me to even type it now.) I'll probably be inconsolable for a while, and whatever car takes the place of my old jalopy will have to do some serious work to earn my respect and live up to it's predecessor.

For now though, my response to my car is this: "Just hang in there a little longer old friend. If I can ever find a full time job on this gosh forsaken mountain I'll do my best to let you die respectably and not go out in a blaze of glory."

The following is a video from a favorite Gilmore Girls episode. Ok, really all of them are my favorites. But this one is relevant because this is pretty much exactly how car shopping will go for Andy and I. I couldn't find the clip that I wanted by itself. The only relevant part starts at 2:12 and ends around 6:56, so you can fast forward if you want. Or if you just love Gilmore Girls as much as I do, go ahead and watch the whole thing. Also, you have my permission to go ahead and start feeling sorry for Andy.



The third sad thing:

Today Andy went to the coffee shop and got me a medium mocha latte. We were both working today, so I took a little break and went up to his office to drink my coffee.

Somehow, and don't ask me how because I'm still trying to figure it out, I spilled my coffee all over myself, and when I say all over I mean it; there was even coffee in my hair. And to answer your next question, yes it had a lid on it.

Thankfully we live about a quarter of a mile from the shop. I had to go home and change my entire outfit.

This is sad for two reasons. The first being that a lot of really good coffee was wasted today on my clothes. The second is that I am a grown woman who apparently can't have a morning cup-o-joe without soiling herself.

I didn't cry, and I won't, but I still think that's really sad.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

The amazing flaming oven

A few posts back I mentioned something about pouring water in an electric oven and promised to fill you in. I've been meaning to post about it for a while, but I've been to lazy to sit down and write this story out. Finally I decided to make it a two parter because there are two stories that need to be told and I don't want to condense either of them. So here's the first part.

Every now and then Andy and I go through a funk in the kitchen. Meaning that neither of us wants to have to cook and clean up so we end up eating out a lot or grabbing something out of the frozen food isle at the grocery store. Usually a frozen pizza or two. Early on in our marriage this happened a lot. We singlehandedly kept the frozen pizza industry in business that year.

We each have our own way that we like them cooked. I put it on a pan and Andy prefers to just throw the pizza on the oven rack. I don't like this method for a number of reasons, but mostly because of the following story. I have since learned how to cook his pizza to his liking without having to use the "on the rack" method, but that doesn't really have anything to do with my story.

On one such occasion we had purchased a square frozen pizza. It was cooking on the rack and all of a sudden we smelled something burning. We had positioned the pizza just so that when it melted and started to cook one side bent over and a few of the toppings had fallen into the bottom of the oven. There wasn't a whole lot we could do at the time so we just left it, finished cooking the pizza, and had every intention of getting the burned toppings out of the oven when it had cooled.

Fast forward several weeks:

I'm home alone. Andy is out with the guys for the night. I have purchased another frozen pizza and had a big evening planned of sitting on my ass in front of the television shoving as much junk food in my mouth as my body would hold. And my body will hold a lot of junk food.

The oven was preheating (key to making sure the pizza crust is crispy) and I was folding some laundry. I could see the kitchen from the laundry area, but wasn't really watching it because usually a preheating oven doesn't need to be watched. I just happened to glance over my shoulder and caught sight of the smallest amount of smoke coming out of the stove eye that vents the oven. I though maybe it was just some food that we had spilled on that eye cooking off, so I went about my business. Five minutes pass. The oven clicks letting me know it is successfully preheated. I look over and there is now smoke barreling out of the vent eye and the top of the oven door. What the heck!!!!!!!!!

I run over open the door and see the rogue pizza toppings have burned to a crisp to the point that they caught on fire. Having never encountered a fire in an oven that wasn't gas, I started to panic. Now, I'm sure you're thinking that there was no need to panic. The oven is supposed to get hot anyway and as there were no other flammable objects in the oven the fire would have eventually burned out. I was perfectly safe as was my apartment. But you couldn't have convinced me of that at this particular moment.

So of course I grab my cell phone and call Andy. He didn't seem the least bit concerned that I was at home facing a rolling inferno small fire. He told me to pour some water on it. His whole reaction infuriated me. I wasn't about to pour water into our electric oven and cause it to explode. What I really wanted was for him to come home and fix it, because I'm totally rational like that. It didn't matter that it would have burned out in the hour it took him to get back home, he was the man, and fire was his thing.

I hung up the phone, realizing I was on my own, and spun around in a few circles in the kitchen. I think I was looking for something to put it out with and only came across a kitchen towel. I really like my kitchen towels and though I knew it might smother the fire, I wasn't willing to burn a hole in a perfectly good towel. At this point I had also realized that it hadn't gotten any bigger and was just getting annoyed. I was really hungry and this thing was seriously hindering my night of sloth. Fire was not part of the plan.

Suddenly it hit me. What did they teach in elementary school fire safety? How were you supposed to put out an electrical fire? Baking soda! We had just bought two boxes of it. So I grabbed one, tore it open, and proceeded to dump about half the box onto the tiny little fire in the oven.

The day was saved. The fire was out. The only problem now was that the bottom of my oven was covered in white powder. So I took out the oven rack and after trying to excavate with a few different kitchen tools, I settled on sweeping it out with a pastry brush. Then I had an ingenious idea. There was a crack between the door and the oven, so what if I just spread paper towels on the floor and sweep all the burned food and baking soda out through the crack? Martha Stewart's got nothin' on me!

I proceeded with the spreading of the paper towels, swept most of the mess to the edge of the oven and then, slowly so as to avoid more mess, I edged it over the crack. Do you know what I heard? It wasn't the sound I should have heard if the charred pizza bits had hit the paper towels covering the linoleum floor. Instead it was the sound burned pepperoni makes when it hits metal.

The drawer under the oven, where I stored all my baking pans, had been in the way of the floor and the baking soda disaster. Now, not only was there a giant mess in my oven, I was going to have to wash every one of my baking pans and the metal drawer that held them. And if you've been reading this blog for any length of time you know how much I bake. I have a lot of pans.

At this point I was on the brink of passing out from either anger or starvation. So I shut the drawer, picked up the (still clean) paper towels, and turned the oven back on to re-preheat. I decided that my valiant efforts in putting out the fire were enough and Andy could clean up the mess. And I was so angry at the whole situation I needed to just walk away before I threw something through a wall.

I have since been able to have a good laugh at this story and I laugh every time I tell it. Andy, of course had a laugh at my expense when he got home and saw everything, and you can guarantee that anything we drop in the oven gets taken out immediately now.

As I said earlier, this isn't the end of the flaming oven saga. Stay tuned, part two will be up in a couple of days.

Monday, January 26, 2009

A scrapper's paradise

This weekend I attended a marathon crop with some of my scrapbook friends. In case you don't know what a crop is, it's when you get together for a period of time with other scrapbookers and work on your various projects while spending time together. We usually get together one Friday night a month for a few hours. But every winter there is a weekend long marathon crop. It's good for completing things from the previous year and getting everything in order for the year coming up.

I've never been to a marathon crop before, this was my first one. It was exhausting (I'm still not fully recovered), but also a lot of fun and I did manage to get some things done. I also took a break from all the tedious work to take a few pictures of everyone. I think total there were 20 women who were in and out both days. So here's my proof that I was there and so were they:

This is just one side of the room
Look at all that stuff!!
Our lovely and gracious planner/hostess,
my mother-in-law, Kathryn

Proof that a good self portrait can be madeMy workstation,
spread out to work on my niece's albumKyrie and Laura hard a workOur cutting station
2 cricket's, 2 sizix cutters,

and a multitude of shape punches,
among other things.This is Gail...She has a lot of stuff...When the people next to her left
she spread all her stuff out over two tables.
Those are six foot tables people.
Father-in-law, Jack, stopped in to visit
and have dinner with us on Saturday night.
****************************************************************
And now for something I like to call Veronicaisms.

My niece is quite the character. I've talked about her before, but usually in context with her brothers and something we had all done together. She is six and a half and you could make an entire "Kids Say the Darnedest Things" show out of one day spent with her. So I've decided to make a record of all the cute stuff she says so one day we'll have proof to embarrass her in front of friends and future boyfriends.

Some of her most recent:

On finding out her mother is having another girl (this March!):
"Her name should be Unicornia."

On viewing a picture of herself as an infant:
"Oh, I was such an adorable little baby."

On viewing a picture of Andy and I receiving our college diplomas:
"Hey Aunt Joanna! That's you congraduating!"

My grandmother/her great-grandmother gives her a cough drop. She sucks on it for a while, then responds with:
"I don't know how much more of this I can take."
She is given a tissue to spit it out:
"Those things are for old ladies."

I don't get to see her as much as I would like, but I get showered with these every time, so I'll be sure to report back whenever I can. There will come a day when she might force me to erase these from view of the whole world, but for now, they're too darn cute not to share. And a note to my brother, who I know reads this blog, if you have any to add, please feel free to drop me a line.

Friday, January 23, 2009

It's one of those days...

You know the kind. When it's the perfect comfortable temperature outside and you don't have anything in your wardrobe that is suitable. Currently it's 55 degrees where I live. I know to some of you that sounds pretty chilly, but compared to the single digit temperatures we've endured in the last week this is a freakin' tropical heat wave. I've been sweating for a few hours now.

Normally, on a day like today, when I don't have to work I'd just put on as little as made me comfortable and loaf around the house. Instead, I'm running around here half dressed trying to figure out what to put on my body. Because I have a function this weekend. So not only do I have to plan an outfit for today, but I have to plan one for tomorrow too. I have to pick two perfect outfits that I can wear and be both presentable and comfortable.

To make matters worse, I'm going to my hometown for said function. Now, this town has infinitely more humidity than my current place of residence. Any time of year. You can guarantee my sweat glands will be working over time trying to cool me down as soon as I cross the county line. I'm not kidding even a little bit.

So I decided to take a time out from destroying my closet to come here and complain to you. I would just dress in layers, but I'm already hot. And I also don't want to wear anything that will make someone say, "Does she know it's 60 degrees outside?" Whether it's too much or too little clothing, I don't want to get that reaction.

Oh, I also smashed my finger this morning and it's beginning to throb as I'm typing. I guess that's my signal to get my ass up and put some clothes on already.

Wish me luck.

Belated

Yesterday (or rather two days ago as it is after midnight) one of my very most favorite people celebrated a birthday. I celebrated with her, I've just been delayed in posting about it.

I'm talking about my mother; the woman who gave me life. I could write for days and days about how much I love her and how wonderful a mother and friend she is. I won't, at least not right now.

I'm just going to leave you with a few pictures I have of her. I won't tell you how old she is because it isn't polite and I think she'd kill me. I will tell you that it was a milestone birthday, but I won't dare you to guess it because I don't think you can, she looks much younger than her age. Everyone says so.

Back in the day
My step dad says she looks like Captain Hook
With my Grandmother
This picture looks the most like me of any I have
I don't really look like my momFamily photoI'm not sure why she isn't looking at the camera
Clearly I wanted to make a good impression
With the oldest grandchildAt my college graduationWith her mother and siblingsWith my brother at my weddingMotherly advice
Actually, I think I was telling her I felt like I
was going to throw up.
With my grandmother
The Blue Ridge in the background
Up, Up and Away!!!Christmas, two years agoLast summerLast summer at my step dad's birthday celebrationThanksgiving '08.
I always look sleepy when I do a self portrait

Happy Birthday Momma!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Just a few notes

  • I know I said I'd post pictures of the snow we've been getting, but I had a slight problem producing said pictures. Once I finally got the time to get out and take them the sky had clouded over again and started to dump more snow on us so I couldn't really get a picture of anything pretty. I'll do better tomorrow.

  • I have some new snow boots that I got yesterday. They are 700 fill down and light as a feather. Basically I never want to take them off my feet. But I'm not used to my feet being warmer outside in the snow than they are inside in my socks. I've had cold feet all night, so I think I'm going to order the house slipper version.

  • Apparently I don't live in a snow state. I forget this as I grew up in the foothills and have lived in the mountains for most of my adult life where we see snow pretty regularly. The rest of North Carolina? Not so much. It snowed all over the state last night and today causing my fellow N. Carolinians who live in the flat lands to seize up. Seriously, I think most of the state stopped functioning. I mean, I know six inches is a considerable amount of snow, but it's nothing to be afraid of. At least, nothing for me to be afraid of. Thank God for four wheel drive right?

  • If your oven catches on fire, and it's electric, it's ok to pour water on the fire as long as the oven is turned off (more on that later).

Monday, January 19, 2009

It's time

Tomorrow we say goodbye to President Bush, and say hello to a whole new era in American history.

I'm excited. For many reasons, and not necessarily because I think President Elect Obama is the answer to all our problems. Mostly because of what this new fella says about our country. About how far we've come and how far we still have to go.

I'm also super excited about all the snow on the ground right now, so that should tell you something about my attention span (pictures to come tomorrow).

Goodbye W. It's time to give someone else the opportunity to screw up.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

An interview with the birthday boy

JRS: So Brunswick, how do you feel about being a year old? How has your first year of life been?


B: Oh it's been just fine mama.

JRS: Is there anything you would change about your life so far?

B: Not really. I'm pretty happy with how things are going. Although, it'd be nice if you could control that brother of mine. Sometimes he's pesky.

JRS: You don't like Milton? You guys seem to get along so well and you look so cute when you're cuddled up together.B: No, I like him fine, sometimes I even enjoy having him around for company, but he's got an awful lot of energy. It makes me tired just to look at him. You know how I like to take naps.

JRS: Oh I do know indeed my sweet boy. Sometimes I get worried that there is something wrong with you because you like to sleep so much, but I know it's just your laid back personality. Say Brunsie, is there anything special you would like to have for your birthday?

B: Well, I hadn't really thought about it. Maybe some extra treats like the ones you and daddy got me for Christmas. Those were yummy.


JRS: Do you just want treats or would you like to have some extra carrots too. I know how you have always loved carrots.


B: Mmmmm. Carrots sound good. Maybe you can make me a carrot cake, but without all the flour and stuff because that's bad for me.

JRS: Well, then it wouldn't really be cake would it? So maybe just some extra in your bowl. How about a party with hats and stuff? Doesn't that sound fun?

B: Um, a party would be great, but I think I've had enough hats for a while. I'd like to let my head rest.JRS: That sounds good. But we have to give you a bath if we're going to have a party so you'll look your best for our company.

B: I'm not to crazy about baths, you know that. I can clean myself up real nice, so if you don't mind we'll just have a party with our little family and skip the bath, ok?


JRS: Ok birthday boy, it's your special day. I just wanted to let you know how glad I am that you came to live with us. I still remember that day almost a year ago that I found you in the pet shop and knew you had to be mine.


B: I remember too mama. I was so glad to see you. I knew right away that you were the human for me.

JRS: Aw thanks little guy, you're making me blush.

B: You're welcome. I love you mama, and I love daddy too.



JRS: We love you too Brunsie bear. Happy birthday!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

All time low...

During these long winter nights, when Andy often isn't home, I can get quite lonely. I have to find things to entertain myself. There is only so much useless TV I can watch and sometimes I read so much my eyes feel like they might pop out of my head.

Just now though I had "Grease" on in the background while I was wasting time online. Olivia Newton-John was belting out "Hopelessly Devoted" and I sang along while I got up to put another log on our fire. Milton came out to see what all the commotion was about. So I scooped up the little fur ball, cuddled him in my arms and danced around the living room while I sang to him. All the while he had this look on his face that said, "This is it. She's finally lost her mind and she's going to eat me now."

Delicious Disaster

When you make breakfast does it make a gigantic mess in your kitchen?

Andy and I love breakfast for any meal. We had brunch today and when he left (to go back to work of course) I stood in the middle of the kitchen and was in awe of everything I had to clean up. I do this every time we make breakfast. It doesn't matter what we make, there is always double the clean up compared to any other meal I make. Double the dishes, double the utensils, double (sometimes triple) the counter space to wipe down.

But somehow we keep coming back to this old stand by. Like I said, we love to eat breakfast. And today's meal was superb, if I do say so myself. Just the other day Andy was saying how he loves English muffins and how he'd like me to make them for him sometime. He wasn't making a demand, he just knows how I like to bake and I'm always up for a new challenge. Andy just takes advantage of this hobby of mine so that he can have his favorite eats without buying pre-packaged, preservative laden food.

Lo and behold, the next day Food Network aired an old Good Eats episode with an English muffin recipe. Wish granted.

I wouldn't exactly call this baking though. I guess to a degree it is because it included flour and yeast, but I cooked the muffins on an electric griddle. Either way they were delicious and well worth the natural disaster in my kitchen.

Here are some pictures of the finished product. Sorry they're a little blurry, my camera and I were having issues and I couldn't hold Andy back any longer. He wanted to eat.

Slather some of that butter on there and toast 'em up!
With sausage and egg and cheese (on Andy's)

Friday, January 9, 2009

Ch-ch-ch-changes

One day, when I was in the fifth grade, our school nurse came around to my classroom and announced that all the girls in my class should form a line at the door and the boys should all stay put. I proceeded quietly down the hall with my female classmates into another room where I found every other 5th grade girl in my school. We all crammed in together and of course the whispering began. What was going on? Why were we all here? There were those among us who already knew. You see, one or the other of their parents worked in the school and had forewarned their daughters of what was going to happen that day. There were murmurs around the room that we were about to learn about having our periods and S-E-X!!

What!?!?!?!?

A very distinct atmosphere filled the room, half excitement and half terror.

The nurse proceeded to the front of the class and, as she passed out booklets, confirmed our worst fear. They were indeed going to tell us all about or menstrual cycles. Then someone turned out the lights... thank God. For about the next half hour we learned all about our bodies and how they worked. At least as much as the administration would allow a school nurse to tell a room full of impressionable girls. As far as I remember we didn't talk about S-E-X (that didn't happen until 9th grade), but we did, very briefly, go over the diagram of male reproductive anatomy. At which time my face turned about twenty different shades of red. Along with everyone else's face in the room, I'm sure, including the adults. But, like I said, the lights were out... thank God.

I left that room thoroughly enlightened. My mother had discussed certain things with me, but I'd never had it projected on a 10'x10' screen and given a full color illustration book. I shared that book with my mother when I got home that day. She was horrified - no - pissed that the school took it upon themselves to tell me about the birds and the bees. I don't remember any follow up discussion about what I learned. I'm sure I told her all about it and she corrected anything that I had gotten mixed up. What I do remember is that she was so upset that she took my book to work the next day to show her one an only female co-worker so that they could commiserate in anger against the school board. I never saw my full color illustration book again. She lost it. She lost it in a building full of men. Men I'd grown up around and who I didn't want knowing that I was about to go through puberty. It didn't matter that they probably could figure it out on their own. What mattered was that I didn't want them knowing that I knew what was coming. Clearly, I've never forgiven my mother for this misstep.

But, I digress.

None of this is the point. What I'm circling around to is that in that classroom they failed to mention that your body never, ever, ever stops changing, ever. They lead me to believe that puberty would only last for a short time and I'd come out of it with boobs and a menstrual cycle.

I'm sure all of you are getting very uncomfortable at this point. You're wondering if I'm about to tell you all about my girlie bits right here and now. Well, no I'm not. I'm just a little disgruntled that I had to figure out so much on my own. The "changes" they told me about came and went, but new ones set in. I guess you could call it aging.

If you're a woman you know all of this. You know that your hips spread. Not just once, but several times, and I don't mean they get fat, I mean that your hip bones literally spread apart in preparation for the babies you may or may not be having. Your body gets curvier. The acne never really goes away, it just lessens and changes. And your metabolism slows. None of this is true for men. Except the acne part.

That slow metabolism thing is what really gets you. One day you wake up and realize you should have changed your eating habits about 10 years ago in order to accommodate the metabolism that you will have, not the one you do. I'm a creature of habit and I'm used to giving into my every whim. If I get a hankerin' for junk food I've got to have something. Cravings kind of take over my brain and I can think of nothing else until I've satisfied it. Pair that with a mouth full of sweet teeth and you've got yourself an ugly picture, or at least someone on their way to something ugly. Namely, me. I do try to not buy junk food. Andy and I have always been on a strict "junk food is too expensive" grocery budget. I plan our meals very carefully and rarely allow myself to stray from my list in the grocery store. I'm not denying the occasional late night trip to satisfy a craving. As a matter of fact, just last Wednesday we kind of went over board on a quick trip to the grocery. That couldn't have been good for my midsection and it definitely wreaked havoc on my dreams, think M. Night Shyamalan.

Do you know what is totally and completely unfair about all this?

Andy put on a little weight after college. He has kind of yo-yo'ed up and down about ten pounds ever since then. Until last spring. He decided that he wanted to cut down on his alcohol intake. Not to say that he had a problem, he just decided that it wasn't very good for him and he wasn't going to drink very much anymore. He didn't change anything else about his dietary intake but that. He is now down to the weight he was when he started college. When he was 18.

I could get really upset about this, and the only thing stopping me is my other blog. This is the year of gratitude and I'm working hard not to be bitter about anything. Bitterness makes it hard to find the beauty in life. So Andy can drop weight without trying. So what? I've put on some weight since I was 18. Ok, I've put on a lot of weight since I was 18. Look at me here:

Who the hell is that stick with Andy?
Oh, yeah. That's me.
Sweet holy Moses, this was taken a long time ago.

At least now I've got some curves to show from all that sugar intake.

Something else they don't tell you in 5th grade? Men's ears and noses never stop growing. So when we are old and gray, my hips are all spread out and I've lost the ability to make any babies, my face will still be in the same proportion as it is now. A little saggier? Yes, but still in proportion. Andy, on the other hand, will have giant features with gray hair growing out of them.

So, God really does make everything balance out after all.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Finally winter

Though not the blizzard I was hoping for; it did indeed snow all last night and through the morning. The ski slope is now entirely white, rather than white with patches of brown. As far as I'm concerned it can keep on snowing, but it looks like I'm going to have to wait a couple of days for more.

Sun setting on the skiers
(please excuse the power lines.
I'm not that good at photoshop yet)
It's a good thing we have a stack of dry wood.
I guess we should move all this huh?
This flower has been holding on for a while now.
I just can't bring myself to cut it down.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Awake!

I've already talked about how much I love fall. It's that special time of year that just really gets me going. But winter holds a special place in my year as well. It gives me such a feeling of newness. A sense of anticipation for things to come. Exciting things. I feel invigorated and refreshed. I think for many people this happens in spring time rather than in winter when everything is dead. But for me the start of a new year is really exciting. Whatever happened last year is gone. It's like in Anne of Green Gables when Anne says that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it. No mistakes yet.

We've just been given a blank slate to write on. I know that the past isn't really gone. It's always there to recall all the good or bad things that have happened, but now we have so much to look forward to. I'm brimming over with anticipation of what this year holds. I have a feeling that it's going to be extra special.

Friday, January 2, 2009

The other one

I decided to go ahead and make another blog to use as my gratitude journal. Here's the link if you're interested:

Grateful to Be...

Thursday, January 1, 2009

The resolution

How has this new year been to you all so far? I can't complain. I've had a busy, tiring day, but I did manage to prove someone wrong today and I do so enjoy being right. (By the way, don't ever tell me I can't install a doorknob because I'm a girl. You might find yourself eating crow and being forced to face my awesomeness every time you open the door with that knob. But, that's another story, for another day.)

Last night was blissfully laid back. I could spend every New Years Eve like the one last night. I lounged in my pajamas drinking cocktails and watching When Harry Met Sally. Then Andy and I opened the curtains to our big picture window and watched the fireworks display on the ski slope while Dick Clark counted down to the new year in the background. I couldn't have asked for a better night. It was perfect.

I've been swishing around the idea of a resolution in my head today. I'm not big on resolutions. I feel like new years resolutions are a plot to make people force unpleasant things on themselves. Carrying out a resolution is usually difficult and causes unnecessary stress when you don't hold up your end of the bargain. I think if you resolve to do something it should be spontaneous and not forced upon you by society's standards. Why don't we have half year resolutions? Why do we always have to make them on January 1? Also, if you do manage to stick to this promise you make shouldn't you get something out of it? Shouldn't there be some kind of gratification to go along with all the self sacrifice? As you can see, I haven't gotten very far in convincing myself to make a resolution.

Then I found this, or rather it was pointed out to me by Whoorl. What a great idea! After having gratitude month in November I felt so blessed to be me. It has kind of stuck with me all the month of December and for once the grass hasn't been greener somewhere else. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of things I'd still like to see/do/experience in the future, but I've managed to not dwell on the whens and focus more on the nows. So I'm going to jump on the bandwagon. I'm making a resolution. For 365 days I'm going to find five things every day that I'm grateful for and I'm going to post them. It's possible that I'll make another blog to post them in, just so I don't clutter this one up too much, but I'll keep you posted on how that develops.

Everyone else feel free to join in. You don't have to share it with the world in a blog. Go get yourself a notebook and keep it all to yourself. The point is to make you happier, not everyone else.

So here we go! Day 1:

  1. Ice cold water right after I brush my teeth
  2. An evening curled up on the couch with Andy
  3. Flannel pajama bottoms
  4. Mocha Lattes
  5. Filling up my car for less than $30