Happy New Year!
I was both relieved and disappointed that it didn't snow as much as forecasters were insisting it could. Disappointed because it's not winter without snow -- having a little whitestuff on the ground makes winter less dismal, I believe. Relieved because we didn't have to drive home from the in-laws in a white out at one in the morning.
I have to say, we had a great time last night. In past years there's been a lull around 10:45 or so, where the adults were actually starting to tire out. :D And when my SIL suggested coming over around 6pm for a casual dinner, I thought that was going to make for a really long night....I was also wondering how many arguments I was going to have to break up amongst the kids and chiefly between my two....but everyone got along swimmingly. It was a real "family night" and I think this year I'd like to make an effort to do more casual get togethers like that. Not necessarily all nighters or anything, but maybe a Friday night dinner and game night.
avengangle, the Wii rocks. :D I was thinking "just another video game console" but it was a riot. Easily amused as I can be sometimes, I had fun just creating Miis. I made a likeness of Thor, the Asgard Supreme Commander from Stargate. DH used it as his persona on the games. All we used were the sports games on Wii Play (I think). DH and I, and then later my SIL and I, boxed. To quote Wil Smith from Independence Day: "I have GOT to get me one of these!!" My arms are a little sore today - like I actually worked out! Enjoyed the golf and bowling too. Not enough room in the living area for tennis doubles, though. The kids played Mario Galaxy for a bit too.
My younger niece has Guitar Hero for her XBox or something...she apparently has the "high note" record at the moment.
Anyhoo....I used one of my Christmas gifts last night. It's an electric party platter...a chip and dip tray that you can plug in and keep queso or spinach-artichoke dip warm. The chips get warm too. I LOVE this gadget. My DBro is getting one next Christmas, and probably my cousin Steve and his fiancee Cherie for their wedding. My SIL, who gave us the tray for Christmas, said, "I think I have to go back out and get one of these for myself." Could be dangerous though....it's TOOOO easy to make queso, toooo easy to eat it and tooo easy to have it go straight to my backside.
So the evening was fun...and I've been giving a lot of thought to the coming year....not analyzing the hell out of it, but just thinking about it.
I really liked what my friend seph_ski had to say about setting too many goals with specific deadlines. There's too much pressure and it's too easy to feel defeated if the quest doesn't go as planned.
But I find that I still need goals and something to strive for. And I thought about what really makes me happy.
Being home with the family makes me happy.
Spending time with friends and family make me happy.
Writing makes me happy.
Feeling strong and capable makes me happy.
Being inspired and creative makes me happy.
Laying down my burdens makes me happy.
Laughing makes me happy (think about it -- you're in a crappy mood but then you see a movie or hear something that makes you laugh and it's hard to stay in a crappy mood).
I have had days where I felt like joy could and did radiate from the center of my being...optimism, encouragement, determination....joy. It's been buried under an avalanche of uncertainty for about six months but I truly have felt it return. I said to a friend of mine, "I have found my soul." Maybe that had to do with returning to church for the first time in ten years. Maybe that had to do with, as I said to indigokittish, slamming the lids on a bunch of Pandora's Boxes....closing the lid on the past, letting go of people and events that make me sad, angry, negative, or feel worth less than I am so that they are no longer barring the way to the future and I can hear my Self. Maybe it has to do with learning to be patient with and understanding of myself. Maybe a little of all of it.
Do I have specific things I'd like to do in 2008? Sure. I want to write more personal essays and that requires making the time to write. My DH said something to me a few months ago that did inflict a wound, but I realized he might be right. I may not be a fiction writer...at least not right now. And oddly enough, I'm all right with that. I may be a memoirist or essay writer. My literary destiny may lie with helping others fulfill their publishing dreams through my editing skills and I can absolutely live with that. Maybe I'm on the road to creating my own agency, my own small publishing house, or being an editor-agent. I'm just going to seize the joy and see what happens.
The woman who cuts my hair and covers my grays, Pam, knows that I write and she's read a few of my drafts. She's known my husband's family for years, and I've been a client of hers for at least 12 years, maybe longer. On my last visit to her last week, not only were we talking about writing, we also talked about some of the fun stuff I've found out in my genealogy research. When I finished telling her about it, she raised an eyebrow and smiled and said, "You're going to write a book about that you know." Yes, I'm sure I will...but there are miles to go (literally) before I sleep. Miles that will take me to Corry, PA...Springfield, IL....Charlotte, NC....possibly Breznovica in the Czech Republic....and hopefully to the Scottish Highlands (well, I want to see Scotland, whether for genealogy research or not). It will take me to libraries and records offices and museums and maybe across fields on which our ancestors slept, walked, fought and farmed.
Among my Specific Goals for 2008 is losing 10 or 12 pounds (Yeah, I know....I keep whinging about this....but the facts are none of my pants fit and I can't afford to buy more). Recommitting to martial arts (there's that "strong and capable" thing again), getting to the gym and/or just getting out of my desk chair for a few hours a week will go a long way toward removing the excess. I know what needs to be done....like writing, I need to MAKE the time for this.
There are certain ideas that make me feel giddy-happy....including becoming a personal trainer-fitness instructor. So I am going to investigate this avenue more seriously and combine it with the martial arts...perhaps into something unique, perhaps into a partnership with my mentor.
I am running in the Girlfriends Half to Run half-marathon in October in Vancouver, Washington. I am effing NUTS as I have trouble running around the block, let alone 13 miles. But I'm doing it....and training begins tomorrow. I plan to keep a diary about the training process...and it may be an essay, a book, or a series of articles, who knows? And I may never run another 5K, let alone anything longer, after this but I can say "Been there, done that, had a great time." It helps that I'm going to run with about 20 other people that I know, respect, and admire...who are (in some cases) literally half the size they used to be...who have redesigned their lives with sweat and tears.
The half-marathon is the only thing that has a specific "do by" date on it. The rest of it is fluid....and it's the journey that gives me joy.
I have to say, we had a great time last night. In past years there's been a lull around 10:45 or so, where the adults were actually starting to tire out. :D And when my SIL suggested coming over around 6pm for a casual dinner, I thought that was going to make for a really long night....I was also wondering how many arguments I was going to have to break up amongst the kids and chiefly between my two....but everyone got along swimmingly. It was a real "family night" and I think this year I'd like to make an effort to do more casual get togethers like that. Not necessarily all nighters or anything, but maybe a Friday night dinner and game night.
avengangle, the Wii rocks. :D I was thinking "just another video game console" but it was a riot. Easily amused as I can be sometimes, I had fun just creating Miis. I made a likeness of Thor, the Asgard Supreme Commander from Stargate. DH used it as his persona on the games. All we used were the sports games on Wii Play (I think). DH and I, and then later my SIL and I, boxed. To quote Wil Smith from Independence Day: "I have GOT to get me one of these!!" My arms are a little sore today - like I actually worked out! Enjoyed the golf and bowling too. Not enough room in the living area for tennis doubles, though. The kids played Mario Galaxy for a bit too.
My younger niece has Guitar Hero for her XBox or something...she apparently has the "high note" record at the moment.
Anyhoo....I used one of my Christmas gifts last night. It's an electric party platter...a chip and dip tray that you can plug in and keep queso or spinach-artichoke dip warm. The chips get warm too. I LOVE this gadget. My DBro is getting one next Christmas, and probably my cousin Steve and his fiancee Cherie for their wedding. My SIL, who gave us the tray for Christmas, said, "I think I have to go back out and get one of these for myself." Could be dangerous though....it's TOOOO easy to make queso, toooo easy to eat it and tooo easy to have it go straight to my backside.
So the evening was fun...and I've been giving a lot of thought to the coming year....not analyzing the hell out of it, but just thinking about it.
I really liked what my friend seph_ski had to say about setting too many goals with specific deadlines. There's too much pressure and it's too easy to feel defeated if the quest doesn't go as planned.
But I find that I still need goals and something to strive for. And I thought about what really makes me happy.
Being home with the family makes me happy.
Spending time with friends and family make me happy.
Writing makes me happy.
Feeling strong and capable makes me happy.
Being inspired and creative makes me happy.
Laying down my burdens makes me happy.
Laughing makes me happy (think about it -- you're in a crappy mood but then you see a movie or hear something that makes you laugh and it's hard to stay in a crappy mood).
I have had days where I felt like joy could and did radiate from the center of my being...optimism, encouragement, determination....joy. It's been buried under an avalanche of uncertainty for about six months but I truly have felt it return. I said to a friend of mine, "I have found my soul." Maybe that had to do with returning to church for the first time in ten years. Maybe that had to do with, as I said to indigokittish, slamming the lids on a bunch of Pandora's Boxes....closing the lid on the past, letting go of people and events that make me sad, angry, negative, or feel worth less than I am so that they are no longer barring the way to the future and I can hear my Self. Maybe it has to do with learning to be patient with and understanding of myself. Maybe a little of all of it.
Do I have specific things I'd like to do in 2008? Sure. I want to write more personal essays and that requires making the time to write. My DH said something to me a few months ago that did inflict a wound, but I realized he might be right. I may not be a fiction writer...at least not right now. And oddly enough, I'm all right with that. I may be a memoirist or essay writer. My literary destiny may lie with helping others fulfill their publishing dreams through my editing skills and I can absolutely live with that. Maybe I'm on the road to creating my own agency, my own small publishing house, or being an editor-agent. I'm just going to seize the joy and see what happens.
The woman who cuts my hair and covers my grays, Pam, knows that I write and she's read a few of my drafts. She's known my husband's family for years, and I've been a client of hers for at least 12 years, maybe longer. On my last visit to her last week, not only were we talking about writing, we also talked about some of the fun stuff I've found out in my genealogy research. When I finished telling her about it, she raised an eyebrow and smiled and said, "You're going to write a book about that you know." Yes, I'm sure I will...but there are miles to go (literally) before I sleep. Miles that will take me to Corry, PA...Springfield, IL....Charlotte, NC....possibly Breznovica in the Czech Republic....and hopefully to the Scottish Highlands (well, I want to see Scotland, whether for genealogy research or not). It will take me to libraries and records offices and museums and maybe across fields on which our ancestors slept, walked, fought and farmed.
Among my Specific Goals for 2008 is losing 10 or 12 pounds (Yeah, I know....I keep whinging about this....but the facts are none of my pants fit and I can't afford to buy more). Recommitting to martial arts (there's that "strong and capable" thing again), getting to the gym and/or just getting out of my desk chair for a few hours a week will go a long way toward removing the excess. I know what needs to be done....like writing, I need to MAKE the time for this.
There are certain ideas that make me feel giddy-happy....including becoming a personal trainer-fitness instructor. So I am going to investigate this avenue more seriously and combine it with the martial arts...perhaps into something unique, perhaps into a partnership with my mentor.
I am running in the Girlfriends Half to Run half-marathon in October in Vancouver, Washington. I am effing NUTS as I have trouble running around the block, let alone 13 miles. But I'm doing it....and training begins tomorrow. I plan to keep a diary about the training process...and it may be an essay, a book, or a series of articles, who knows? And I may never run another 5K, let alone anything longer, after this but I can say "Been there, done that, had a great time." It helps that I'm going to run with about 20 other people that I know, respect, and admire...who are (in some cases) literally half the size they used to be...who have redesigned their lives with sweat and tears.
The half-marathon is the only thing that has a specific "do by" date on it. The rest of it is fluid....and it's the journey that gives me joy.