Month: January 2015

If you’ve known me long enough, you know about New Food Fridays.   If you don’t, you can read about how I got my kids to try something, ANTYHING new in this months issue of Family Fun (that’s me in the yellow oval).  I’m so proud…

 http://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/positive/picky-eating-a-fun-solution/

 

I wish I’d cataloged all the snow people I’ve made over the  years.  I remember being a young girl rolling giant balls of snow, first the big one, then the middle one, and finally the topper… and the face.    My  brother gave me lessons in rolling this way and that through the snow until I had a nice round boulder.

All bundled up, I could barely move in a black wool coat buttoned to my chin and my favorite hat tightly tied with pom pom strings. I set out in the storm to build a perfect snowman.   My father was there to help assemble and decorate, and as I look back I find it remarkable that he did almost everything while holding  a lit cigar between  his teeth.

The most memorable snowman I ever made had no name because I, like the weather bureau, only recently started naming winter fallouts. Making that snowman seemed like an all day affair and I remember how hard I worked.  The snow was a little dry so dad  sent me in for a bucket of warm water.   He rubbed the  water over each snowy body part to make them stack better which I guess was some kind of magic boy scout remedy that only he knew about.   The snowman once assembled felt ten feet  high  (probably because I was only three feet tall) and  had the perfunctory hat and scarf, stick arms, and button eyes.

My mother stayed inside.  She had all the power over the snowman adornments.  After much debate, she gave me the lone carrot that was intended for the middle of the meatloaf.  She handed it over grudgingly and with a warning that the meatloaf just wouldn’t hold up without it, but I needed a carrot nose, nonnegotiable.

Proudly  we stood back to admire what we built and I will never forget when my father, who’s cigar was now reduced to a mere nub,  walked over,  took the slobbery chewed up end from his teeth and shoved it right in the mouth of our snowman,  snow-dad.

We stood there, my brother, my father and I, and nodded in sync at the creation, then my father picked up the empty bucket, put his arm around me and back in the house we went where we could smell the meatloaf baking in the oven.

I’ll only admit now that I missed the carrot.   Everybody said it was the same but it wasn’t.   The carrot was back for the next Sunday supper but that afternoon it’s absence was unimportant.   The meatloaf took one for the team.

January 1st brings me the same kind of hope as Monday mornings.

Invariably throughout the year I decide to eat right and exercise my body and brain better, maybe try organizing a closet or fix the household budget, and Monday  is almost always a good day to start. So I go to sleep Sunday night fully prepared to turn over a new leaf right?   Then things deteriorate  (or never get started) as they sometimes do and I surrender for a fresh start on the next available Monday.  But today isn’t a Monday morning, it’s the first day of a whole new year.    There are colossal things to change, to build, to overcome,  to do!  But sadly, the enthusiasm will wane and my colossal ambitions are most often also colossal failures.   This year however, things will be different.

Last year I divided my annual “what could I improve” list into three areas:  Home, Health, and Hobby.   I will rate myself a 5.5 for overall all success since life is about the journey after all.  Here’s my report for each of the three categories.

For home I inventoried the house, I made  a list of all the things that I thought needed to be done and prioritized them  as a  1,  2, or 3.   Between my husband and I we did most of the 1’s, some of the 2’s and I’m not sure what happened with the 3’s because we lost the list.

To improve my health I squeezed in a physical on December 29th and no surprises there.   My cholesterol is too high.

As for hobby, look for my article in a soon to be released issue of Family Fun Magazine! I revived my blog, started a new Facebook page and have two regular writer’s groups… go me.

That all sounds pretty good but I still think that in 2015 I can  still be more successful.   Not that I feel bad about last year but can’t we all find room to improve?  So in an effort to find some coaching and inspiration, I turned to some self help books and here’s what I discovered.  There is help for  everything  and it only takes  30 days!  I mean they claim a total transformation in just 30 days.  I’m not kidding about this.

When it comes to home, there are many 30 day programs to help you declutter, fung shui,  or clean up.    Here’s my favorite all in one -   How to fix your cluttered, messy house in just 30 days

According to the book titles in the health category, you can fix your waistline, your heart, memory, buns and butts in thirty days.  This book however claims it will take you to perfection.   Click here for perfection 

Hobbies are always good idea. In addition to writing, I enjoy a good crochet project,  a card game, maybe even a game of chess,  or I can continue to work on my favorite thing and  finish my novel in just 30 days.   All good links, go look.

 

But the mother lode of change – habits – can be address in this  30 day remedy!    I’ll have to see if it’s in the library and break my worst habit of one-click amazon shopping.

Good luck to everybody with your quests to self improve this year.  I  know it’s possible, after all, look at all the books they’ve written!

Happy New Year 2015, good health and happiness for all 365 days !