Catch up

Ok so I skipped some days, but I was trying to condense 13 days into 30 minutes… it’s the best I could do for my 5th blog of the year…….


December 1 – One Word. Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you? (Author: Gwen Bell)

2010: Uprooting
2011: Reformation

December 3 – Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors). (Author: Ali Edwards)

How can you not feel alive after witnessing something so amazing as the birth of this little (or not so little) precious baby boy…

December 5 – Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why? (Author: Alice Bradley)

I let go of a lot this year… a longtime work environment, my house, a lot of stuff in the house after a garage sale, donations, and the free storage in my old bedroom, a whole city, my friends, my home… sometimes I think I let go of a little too much...

December 6 – Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it? (Author: Gretchen Rubin)

Santa brought a fancy new toy, so I made Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Drop and Butterscotch cookies yesterday. Even though the butterscotch batch happened by chance, they both were well liked at work today.

December 11 – 11 Things What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life? (Author: Sam Davidson)

1. Monotony
2. 25 pounds (or 30 before I am 30)
3. Excuses
4. Crutches (the emotional kind)
5. Three closets full of clothes in sizes 2-6
6. Anger
7. Regret
8. Fear
9. Futility
10. Debt
11. Repetition
(And Jenn, to help you out, I will take those 299 books…)

December 13 – Action When it comes to aspirations, it’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen. What’s your next step? (Author: Scott Belsky)

One action at a time… today, finally emptied the last two boxes of books, then alphabetized… still not sure if I should have separated fiction from non-fiction, but then I started thinking about real literature vs contemporary fiction, memoirs vs true stories, textbooks vs anthologies etc. So basic alphabetizing was my solution. This by the way is the excitement that is my life :)

The action...

Only Fifteen

So it has been too long, but I don’t have too much to tell. So taking my cue from the ubiquitous trend circling social network trends, here are my “25 Things” for now…well narrowed down to only fifteen because I have to go to bed. (see http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2009-02-04-facebook-25random_N.htm?csp=usat.me for more information).

1. Moxie likes tofu. So if I could figure out how to cook it maybe I would eat more at home. Any ideas?
2. I bought a treadmill, or as everyone else likes to refer to it – an expensive clothes hanger. So far it is perfect. Running in a climate controlled environment with the tv on is my kind of running!
3. We hired a new person in my office – with no experience. So hopefully she will be a blessing in the long run, but until I can get her somewhat trained, more work for me! Yay! (Please note sarcasm here).
4. I am looking forward to Swiss Days and seeing the whole family, but I have to decide this week what days to fly. My credit with a certain airline expires on Saturday. So I was thinking Wed to Tues?
5. I really hate getting up in the morning – can I pretend tomorrow isn’t Monday?!
6. When I fixed my tv, I had to renew my subscription and now get movie channels free for three months. I have so much stored on my dvr, I don’t know if I will ever catch up! Right now I am watching The Lake House, so far so good.
7. Today was nice – warm and sunny. Moxie and I say on the back porch for awhile – until I got bored reading of reading The Grapes of Wrath.
8. Related to #7, maybe my goal of reading books I should have read already needs to be narrowed to books that are actually interesting!
9. My favorite teacher is retiring this year. Some past and present students are putting together a memory book, so I am attempting to write a letter. That and the eminent ten year reunion this summer have me thinking a lot about the past. Some really funny memories! And maybe some not so good. But I guess that is how we get to the now…
10. I really am ready for summer. I hate cold weather, I love flip flops, and I hate never seeing the sun. I leave for work in the dark and get home in the dark. Maybe I need to live in southern California with the growing Burli family!
11. Lately, I have been hanging out with my friend that lives in the city. It makes me realize how isolated I am in suburbia. I don’t even know my neighbors’ names. I get home late and leave early. I don’t have anything to talk to them about, and when I want to go somewhere, it is usually in the city. So hopefully I can sell my house this year!
12. This week I am going to attempt to exercise in the morning before work – we’ll have to see how I actually do. The snooze button is my friend!
13. I have absolutely no food in my house - and I am not exaggerating. I am trying to make a list of healthy foods I can manage to cook, but than every night it is just easier to stop somewhere. Does anyone have some links to quick, healthy recipes?
14. This Saturday, I am not working! For the first Saturday in four weeks! I am thinking sleeping in and catching up on all those movies!
15. So that’s all I have for now – hopefully my computer stays in good shape and I can update more often!