Out with the old, in with the new

2013 is quickly approaching. For my family and me, 2012 was pretty good. The highlight was likely my husband getting a new job. He's happier with more challenges, learning new skills, and a new change of scenery. Overall, I had a good year. No big changes, but nothing bad. We have our health thus far, love, family, friends, jobs, money for all of our needs and wants (but we don't want much).

I try not to do resolutions because I suck at them. Let's see an example of a resolution:

Resolution: I will be nicer and more patient.

Works quite well until 11am on January 1st. Then I attempt to go to a grocery store. Someone cuts me off, I swear in my head. (Resolution violated.)

If I got past January 1st with a resolution intact, it would be a miracle.

Instead, I'll try to aim for goals rather than resolutions. It's really just semantics.

2013 Goals (not resolutions)

1. I will increase my turn signal usage.

2. I will exercise on the elliptical at least 2 hours per week. Or run. Or do weights. (Basically, get off my butt.)

3. I will do once-a-month cooking--when you cook several different big meals and freeze them in meal-sized portions.

4. I will read at least 30 books. (I would love more Goodreads friends: www.goodreads.com/studyhard )

5. Keep up smoothies (especially with kale and spinach!) and chia seeds. Find more substitutes for the unhealthy food I eat.

6. Max out tax-deferred retirement - both 401k and Roth IRA.

7. I will volunteer with Miss J. 

Fill in the Blanks

1. I want to...publish a young adult novel.
2.  I’ve never…been to Jamaica.
3. I believe…in true love.
4. My mind often wonders…so many things. At this moment, I'm wondering why the French musical Beloved is so popular on instantwatcher. I just don't get.
5. Last night I dreamed that…I don't remember my dreams from last night. I slept like the dead.
6. This morning for breakfast I ate…turkey, black beans, tomatoes & chiles. I don't like traditional breakfast food.
7. My love life is…intense. lol
8. I enjoy…cookies, candy and people. And reading essays about the hideous Elf on the Shelf: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-open-letter-to-the-elf-on-the-fucking-shelf
9. When I was a child I used to…eat pencils all the way down to the lead.
10. When I’m in the kitchen I…want to bake. 
11. My favorite exercise is...elliptical, walking, tae bo.
12. When I travel I…bring my favorite pillow.
13. My friends would tell you that I am…sarcastic and reliable.
14.  If I had to eat at a fast food restaurant today I would choose…Wendy's. Their cheeseburgers make your hands smell interesting.
15. My favorite animal is a frog.
16. My home is…spacious and pretty.
17. I read…a LOT!
18. The last movie I saw was….that awful French musical Beloved. #4 up above.
19. Music makes me feel…almost any emotion possible.
20. All I want for Christmas is…freeze dried bananas and socks - yep, that's my list.

The Journal

In 2002 I started a written journal as an adult. I wrote each entry to my as-of-yet unborn child(ren). The reason behind it was that I have never really known my parents. Sure, I know my mother was born in 1950 and had an older sister, that kind of stuff. But I know nothing about what makes her tick and WHY certain events shaped her so much.  She's so very closed off about many parts of her life. So was my dad. The result is that I know very little about either of my parents. The info I've gotten has been gleaned out of my uncle, and he didn't know my mother that well. At least he can fill in some parts about my dad though.

I urged myself to be more open with my own child(ren). I wanted to confess my mistakes, acknowledge them, and then show how I've used those events to change or, in some cases, explain why I likely won't ever fully get over them. 

I plan to give the journals to my child when she turns 18. There was a dilemma I had if I ended up having 2 kids because there would only be one copy. But, alas, it turns out that I will very likely only have 1 kid, so that's not a problem now.

My problem has been that I've slacked off on the journal writing. My last entry was in 2008, a few months after she was born. Yep, I slacked for a whole 4 years! We all know why. I've been blogging more and physically writing less.

I didn't rave about her first steps, her first words, etc. It's okay. She probably realizes that I'm not that kind of mom. I'm more of the mom that looks at her and wonders about the 143 ways I'm going to screw her up and hope she can somehow thrive nonetheless.

Fingers crossed.

Recipe for good sleep

I've read a lot of exercise advice, which was likely written by people who get up at 4am. They all advocate waking up at 4am and exercising first thing in the morning. They claim that you get it done early in the day, and then you're good for the rest of the day. If you exercise at night, it's apparently a sin. And then you stay up all night.

They also advocate running, but everyone I know who runs has knee problems. Coincidence? I think not.

I just want to say that, for heaven's sakes, do what works for you.

Last night I wanted to watch a movie. I popped it in, and then I decided to work on my newly-arrived, replacement elliptical. (By the way, it works a heckuva lot better than the awful one it replaced.) My logic being that if I could exercise while watching the movie, I would be multi-tasking and could maybe burn one or two cookies off.

I did the elliptical for 90 minutes, the length of the movie. The movie ended at 10pm. I got into bed and read 5 pages of my book before I felt too tired to continue. After brushing my teeth and whatnot, it was 10:10pm. I fell asleep right away and slept all the way through the night. Hallelujah!

A good night's sleep. Burning extra calories. No need to travel to a gym.

I ♥ my elliptical. And, no, I hate exercising in the morning. And I hate running.

An introvert's worst nightmare

Whatta week, and it's not over!

Saturday is an all-day training. Last December I gave a 4-hour training to 20 people, and then in April I gave a 4-hour training to 40 people. This Saturday I'm giving a 3-hour training to 30 people and then a 3-hour training to another 30 people. So 6 hours of me yakking to 60 people total. All by myself.

Keep in mind that I'm very much an "I" on the introvert/extrovert scale.

I'm going to need 3 weeks to recuperate.

And I should probably go over my lesson plans before Saturday.