January 2011

This has been the LONGEST month of my entire life. It feels like it has been January for at least 90 days. I don't know why that is, maybe it's because we've had a full week of snow on the ground, and then yesterday it felt like Spring... even my Easter Lillies are trying to start coming up!
This is just a quick post, but I had a brilliant idea recently. I was putting Christmas card photos that we'd received in a photo album, and I remembered that we didn't send a Christmas card the first Christmas that we were married because we were so busy writing thank you cards from our wedding. Remembering this, I couldn't help but think of an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Next Christmas I could send a picture of us from our first Christmas because there are quite a few good ones to choose from, and 6 years ago we were cuter, thinner, & younger. I wouldn't have to say the picture was taken in 2004, and people that don't get to see us often would think, "Dang, those two must be living in the fountain of youth!" Here are some of the options ;)

Moving on Up

Yesterday after church Jon & I did a bit of spring cleaning around the house since it was 76* outside. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the sky was BLUE (which I've decided is my favorite color for it to be because most of the month it has been grey like today & I'm just not diggin' it). We got a new TV last week (WOO HOO the other one was knocking on 20 something years old & had a lot of FUZZ) so that called for a bit of rearranging of our den/TV room. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about our new boob toob! We have joined the new decade & got Netflix! Oooh Ahhh! For $7.99 a month we can watch all the movies & TV shows we want, when we want, & we don't have to go by a Redbox or anything. Sometimes you just want to watch a movie, but you don't really want to own it. I have a feeling we're not going to be buying very many DVDs anymore, which means it will pay for itself. Jon & I are so obsessed with this new little gizmo that the first couple of nights we stayed up so late that we ended up with black circles under our eyes. I know it's awful, but remember when you were a kid & you finally got that toy that you'd been begging for. You'd be so excited that you could hardly sleep because you just wanted to play, well that's us. We're not really 27 & 28, we're more like 7 & 8. So here is what we've been watching so far...
Death at a funeral was pretty funny, but I liked the first one (the British version) better.

BBC version of Anne Frank- Jon & I both liked it a lot!

About a pregnant 15 year old girl, we've seen 2 episodes has a bit of a 7th Heaven feel.

Hidden Palms- from the maker of Dawson's Creek... it's OK, but it doesn't come anywhere near The OC

We are both loving 24, we are at 9:00 in the morning.

Lie to Me Season 2- This is our favorite show ever!

I have a bunch of foreign films lined up in my instant queue to watch when baseball season starts.

Honestly...

The past several months I have become completely obsessed with learning more about how to read people. It all started with watching the show Lie to Me & Sherlock, which then led me to do some research, and I have been reading Joe Navarro's What Every Body is Saying. You know how people always talk about how uncanny female intuition is... Well it isn't really intuition, it is your limbic system. Since Jon & I got married I can't tell you how many times after visiting people he has asked me questions like, "What did you really get from that?"

I've asked myself many times, am I crazy, why is it that I seem to pick up on things about people? What is it that I'm seeing that is causing me to be able to make assessments about people? We all do it, some of us do it to a greater degree than others, but we all form opinions about other people. It's part of our survival insticts, which aren't just "Fight or Flight" (they are actually Freeze, Flight, & as a last alternative we Fight). Our brains are so unbelievably complex. I'm thinking, typing, breathing, smelling, hearing, and at the same time I'm tuned in to what all is going on in my house at the same time. I am also always on the alert for things that aren't ordinary, or would indicate a problem. As soon as someone becomes a parent, I think these instincts kick into overdrive, not only are you constantly aware of your own well being, but that of a child (How is it that children seem to come with an endless capacity to get themselves in danger?) I've really been enjoying learning more clues about what people are REALLY feeling. While people might believe they are good at lying, their bodies are saying something different. We may be able to control our eyes and our voice, but not even realize what we are doing with our feet or how we are knodding our head in contradiction to what we are saying.

We should all make a life long commitment to learning or trying new & different things. This is my latest gig. What's yours?

A Christmas Carol

My favorite book of all time is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It was originally published in 1843, but somehow this story has stood the test of time with a message that is as vital today as it was when it was first printed. I remember my dad reading this story to my mom, sister, and me when I was young. Since then I've read it at least 5 more times. I've seen most of the movie versions including animated, real, and puppet. They are all really good, but believe it or not I think my favorite version is the Muppet version with Kermit the frog.

My favorite part of the story is when Bob Cratchit has just returned home from church with tiny Tim, and his wife Martha asks him how Tim behaved.

"As good as gold," said Bob, "and better. Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see."

I'm sorry folks, it just doesn't get any better than that. No wonder Scrooge was so touched! How can anyone create a better character that so much embodies what we should be mindful of at Christmas and throughout the year!

Our family had a great Christmas, I hope yours did too.

New Year Rise & Cheer

In the past I have not been a big fan of "New Year's Resolutions" so I don't usually make them. I normally don't get all that pumped about setting some sort of goal that I'll only want to forget about in February. Last year however was different. I decided that I had to do something about re-straightening out my gophers (that's teeth in our family). So I suffered through 9 months of braces on the top & 11 months on the bottom. I also decided that I wanted to get some debts payed off. So I paid & paid & paid some more. I decided to start a blog, and 134 posts later here I am. That's 3 out of 3, so maybe resolutions aren't so bad after all. You just have to make some rules before getting started. #1- Weight loss goals aren't allowed in a New Year's resolution. #2 Exercise goals are not allowed in a New Year's resolution. #3 Anything involving how I do or do not do the laundry is not up for discussion. & #4 Continue to refer back to rules 1, 2, & 3!

3 is a good number of goals for me. 3 is a number that I can remember & not get completely overwhelmed by.

I've been giving it some thought about what I want to do this year.....

1. Finish Cleaning out the back part of Mom & Dad's garage & turn it into an art studio.

2. Now that I've paid off debts, I would like to save up enough so that I won't have to worry about any regular / monthly payments.

3. ___________________________ is still up for discussion. Any suggestions? Remember you have to adhere to the rules. ;)

Hip Hip Horray for Snow Day!

We have been loving this beautiful snow, and I have been enjoying having Jon at home with me & all the pets. We got 7.5 inches of snow yesterday! Yes we were skeptical when we heard the weather forecasters, so no we didn't go all nuts buying groceries. Unfortunately I am the world's worst grocery shopper. Seriously, ask Jon I'm the type of person that ought to live in London because when I do go to the grocery store I don't want to have to get anything other than the BARE Necessities or the exact ingredients of what I'm cooking! Unfortunately this does not make for fun snacks or meals on a snowy day. This morning we were down to yogurt, tomato sauce, cream cheese, and the last of a loaf of banana nut bread so I had no choice but to slip & slide on over to the grocery store. Hope those of you who got snow are staying bundled up & cozy.

Shoes Shoes & more Shoes

Like many of you I got so busy in December getting ready for Christmas, visiting with family, and work that I didn't have any time to read or write any blogs. I'm just going to pick up where my camera memory left off. At the first of December, or the 2nd night of Hanukkah Jon & I went to the Cable One advertising Christmas Party at The Ace of Clubs house downtown. Jon & I both remember going to the historic house as small kids on school field trips, but this was the first time we have gone back as adults. The house is built in the shape of a club because the man who built the house won the money to do it in a poker game. When I was little all of it's curved walls and funny nooks and crannies fascinated me. The thing I really enjoyed seeing was the enormous shoe collection that the lady of the house, whose name escapes me, had. I enjoyed taking pictures of them. I can't tell you how many pairs of Ferragamo shoes that woman had. The museum curators only recently put all of the shoes on display. Jon & I both remember them being in boxes stacked up to the ceiling when we were kids. The family also had a lot of railroad money, and wife had a serious shoe fetish. She used to sit in her bed, and Neiman Marcus would come to her house with models so she could shop while sipping her coffee & looking at the newspaper. I have a feeling she would have appreciated the invention of online shopping! These pictures are just a few of her collection.