The Lesson Learned

Happy New Year!

That is all.

To Do List

I need to do these things this afternoon:

1. Stop at the grocery store.
2. Quick stop at Wal-mart.
3. Make cheese and meat tray.
4. Make veggie tray.
5. Make ham rolls.
6. Make sandwich tray.
7. Pack chips and miscellaneous food stuff and booze.
8. Pack clothes—don’t forget slinky, black party dress!
9. Check boys clothes to make sure they’re bringing the right stuff.
10. Load the car and head to the party.

Running Commentary:

Yikes! It's almost 2:00 p.m. and I only have two things completed. Better get busy!

Double Yikes!! It's now 3:00 and where I'd hope we would be on the road now, we're not even at the halfway mark. Yes, we. I've forced elicited the help of the boys.

3:30 check in. We're smoking now! It's funny how mentioning the little fact that we will have more time to swim if we get there earlier motivated the boys into helping more. Funny thing!

And, yes, I realize that we would be finished faster if I shut up and quit blogging about it, but how fun is that? Not very, if you ask me!

Tick tock, tick tock,
It is freaking 4 o'clock!

Enough with my sad attempts at poetry. We're getting close now, I just need to throw in a few toiletry items and we are off. I'm taking, not one black party dress, but four. Four party dresses, three are black--two have never been worn and still have the price tags. Taking three pairs of shoes, one has never been worn and still has price tags on. Is it a bad sign when you shop so much that you find items you have purchased, but you have no ides when you bought it or even knew that you even owned said items? I'm thinking it can't be good.

J.r., does this mean I need to make another resolution? I hope not.

And with that, we're out of here!

Have a wonderful and safe holiday celebration! Here's hoping for a very happy New Year for all of us in 2004!

Resolution Resolve

I’m rethinking the whole resolution thing. Normally I’m a staunch believer of setting resolutions each year. In fact, I cannot recall a single year when I did not have a long list of resolutions to pledge for the upcoming New Year. Not one. And the average list contains at least twenty items.

My resolutions generally consist of goals such as learn this or do that. They’re rarely about change, but more about growth. I normally have such a list that I would realistically need to morph into Super Woman in order to complete everything. I realize this fact when I make the list and I only expect to complete half the list. And I’m pleased to polish off half the list. That’s an accomplishment each year.

As the New Year approaches I find myself contemplating various new and carry-over resolutions and I can’t help but wondering if I’ve been going about this wrong. I’ve been wondering if this is one of those cases where I perform a routine because it is the norm, but it is just that-- “the routine”--and maybe there isn’t any rhyme or reason to it when I really think it through.

For a change, I won’t make as many resolutions this year. Because most of my resolutions are actually goals, I’m thinking that maybe it would make more sense to focus on breaking those goals into smaller, achievable, specific, and measurable goals. And I will resolve to stay on track with meeting them.

This year, my one resolution will be to make it happen. I will accomplish all of my goals instead of only some of them.

“Making it happen” will be my motto!

Holiday

I love holidays. Okay, I admit that I have been a little Scrooge-like this Christmas, but I’m speaking historically here. I’m summing up all the holidays of the past and, generally speaking, I love holidays.

I especially love holidays where the main focus is food; however, there is one exception. The holiday I adore the most does not revolve around food or dining. The holiday I love the most is, of course, New Year’s Eve. Sure, the bubbles that are champagne are a major part of the festivities. I absolutely adore the sweet, frothy, bubbles that make up champagne.

But what I love most about New Year’s is the promise. I love the shiny, bubble-wrapped, sweet promise of starting out with a clean slate. I love the possibilities. I love that one can make anything of the year that is of his or her choosing.

The possibilities are endless. Time to celebrate.

Until Next Year

The tree, lights, ornaments, and all other Christmas decorations, save a few snowmen who get to adorn the living room for another month, have all been boxed up and returned to their respective locations on the shelves in the storage room. We only had the tree up for a total of twelve days. I think I’ve set a new “Grinchy” record. Ordinarily, we break out the Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving and they stay up until after New Year’s.

However, in the bah humbug fashion that seemed to cling onto to me, I just wasn’t in to it this year. The cats always wreak such havoc by swatting at the ornaments, climbing the tree, and/or eating the fake needles from the tree and I didn’t feel like babysitting them this year. So they were able to wreak havoc during the twelve-day window that the decorations were on display and now we’re back to business as usual.

Besides that, the boys didn’t request or harass me to deck the halls. About mid-month my husband finally inquired about the missing festive decorations. It seems that he most missed having a place to store the wrapped presents, since he did the majority of our shopping on line. He single handedly, pun intended, clicked his way through our shopping list leaving very little for me to scrounge for in local shops and malls.

It was great not having to worry about it for the most part, but maybe that’s why I never caught the holiday spirit. Whatever the case, I’m glad we have an entire year before we have to break out the bulbs and all the hassle that comes with them.

A Fan

I’m not a Packers fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I must say that I love Brett Favre. I love his grace, style, athletic ability, and above all, his sportsmanship and class.

He rules.

The Resolve

What do you resolve to do or change in 2004? Do you do resolutions?

Bookworm

I am a bookworm. Or rather, I was a bookworm as a child. As an adult, I find myself too busy to read. Maybe the truth of the matter is that I do not make reading the priority I should.

Oh, sure, I read Newsweek and PC World religiously, but I read those publications to stay on top of world news and the object of my obsession, technology and computer news. And they hardly count as book reading. And, lest I forget, I read blogs. I stay on top of the happenings of my favorite bloggers and favorite sites. You can count on me to know the ins and outs of what is happening in your life or what you share on your site, anyway.

But I don’t read as much as I should and that is something I plan to change in 2004.

Let the establishing of the resolutions begin.

Lesson Learned in Blogging #2

Remind me to never plan a “to be continued” entry ever again. Even when it’s my idea, it simply seems like too much work for my rebellious mind and I must procrastinate and prolong the entry. It’s silly, I know, but I do think that made the entry unappealing to me and made it difficult to find the right words or energy to post them.

I’ll just have to say it in one sitting and that shouldn’t be a problem as long as what I have to say is worth saying. That’s always debatable, of course.

And now, we’re settling down to watch the Pirates of the Caribbean movie that Santa generously stuffed into one of the boys' stocking.

Good night, everyone!

Blogiversary--Part 3 of 3 (Bound and Gagged By Fear)

So you have your site and you’re free to talk about anything you want. But do you? Can you honestly say that you’ve shared your every thought or even every thought you’ve had the urge to share? Do you speak your mind in spite of any consequence? Do you think there could be potential backlash for speaking freely?

I have my site and I thought I would feel free to run my mouth about anything and everything.

But I do not do that. For one thing, I realize that I tend to be a somewhat private person. Sure, I believe in being open and honest and what I share is 100 percent open and honest. However, I keep quiet the issues that bug me the most. Long time readers may notice that I’m always yammering on about the youngest son and the crazy things he has going on now and then, but rarely mention the oldest son. Does this mean I do not care about him? No, I care very much, but while there is zero strife or issues with the youngest son, there is much strife in my relationship with the oldest and it is a never-ending ongoing battle of the wills between the two of us. We may be too much alike, I don’t know. I rarely speak about it because it is a source of much pain for me. I equate the pain and strife with weak parental skills and don’t mention it much here because that would be a downer. Why bring this site and my loyal readers down anymore than necessary?

So, even though I’ve honestly shared what I felt that I could, I cannot say that I share every thought or everything that I would like. Some things I choose not to share are painfully personal, but to be honest, there are other things holding me back. I like to share what I like and I love receiving comments from the very nice people who read my site. I’ve been lucky to receive mostly positive comments, but I know that’s not the case for everyone. I know that in the past year, particularly during spring when the troops first began fighting in Iraq, I’ve censured myself for fear of the backlash of saying something that is not perceived as politically correct. Sometimes, I just want to tell it like it is, but the truth is that probably wouldn’t go over too well and because I’m selective about what battles I choose to fight, the bottom line is I don’t want to fuck with it. I can still think my politically incorrect, but in my opinion 100 percent correct, thoughts and I don’t have to share them for the whole world to see although that might be interesting.

Other issues I do not discuss in much detail are work related issues and those involving family and friends. Lets face it; Google caches have a longer shelf life than dirt. Sometimes I would really like to share a work-related issue or problem but the nagging little voice in the back of my mind cautions me that it may not be worth it. I really do enjoy my work even though I complain endlessly there’s the occasional issue. Ultimately, I don’t want to risk losing my job over venting some problem on my very public web site. And though I’ve never posted anything that I think I would be fired for sharing, I wonder about what other ramifications could potentially take place if the wrong eyes read the wrong thing and connect it with me.

Yeah, I probably worry too much. I’m afraid.