Jan- Big Goal-- find a part-time job to help ease the financial pressure we're under right now. YES AND NO. I babysit two Friday nights a month. It's not much, but it's something.
Smaller
goals: practice listening intently to people and not interrupting or
overtalking them . I DO BELIEVE I have improved in this; at least I am very much aware that I talk less, listen more, and still pretty much hate it when people interrupt me or overtalk me. Funny how critical one can be of others who share the same bad habits.
xercise 3-4x/wk; NOPE. lose 8 lb. NOPE. send 8 cards by snail
mail YEP. finish the gift for my mom's b'day. YEP (a scrapbook of their 50th; she loved it).
Feb-
Big Goal: lose 8 more pounds NOPE and crave good colorful food. YEP How? Eat 5
different colors of fruit and/or veggies every day. This plan really works. I love color and I love just about all fruit and vegetables, so it's not hard to crave. It's a bit challenging to keep going to the store for fresh items, though. I loathe grocery shopping.
March--
Big Goal: Get Ben happily married off! YEP. And he is still happily married after 3 months, aren't you glad to know? :) How to get him happily married off (meaning he is happy and so was I in the midst of the wedding wackies). ? Do everything possible
within me to live peaceably in the midst of stress. GOD really graced the wedding and protected my heart from "sweating the small stuff." For things I pondered later that I would change if possible, well I have three more children to marry off (if God will) .
Smaller goals:
lose 4 more pounds. NOPE. (See a theme here?)
April- Big Goal: To rekindle the romance in our relationship and celebrate it. How? Take a trip together, just the two of us. NOPE.
May-
Big Goal: to improve the aesthetics in one room of the house for under
$50. NOPE. How: Thoroughly declutter ,deep clean, repaint, change fixtures
and/or furniture as necessary.
June- Big Goal: walk the dog 4x/ wk for 15 mins minimum. How? With the leash:) We unexpectedly got a new dog a week ago and I have walked her at least 4 times. The other dog loves to retrieve tennis balls that I throw off the deck. He will do this over and over and over and over and over, up and down the stairs, into the woods, over the fence if necessary, and so his exercise is plentiful.
I've thought about making some more goals for the summer, regardless what my original plan was. The top 5:
1. Send 3 cards or letters a week (hello, get well, sympathy, thank you) as appropriate. It feels good to send and receive snail mail.
2. Do at least two fun things a week with or for my youngest. (Note to new readers: our three oldest are self-contained for entertainment; the youngest is sort of an "only child" most of the time as he is 10 years younger than the thirdborn.)
3. Complete a small makeover project of some sort with items I already own. NOTHING NEW till I've dealt with the old.
4. Scrapbook 6 pages of photos. Any subject, any occasion. Just do it.
5. Sponsor a boy and write to him. (Compassion or Covenant Mercies, not sure yet.)
How about you? Are you a goal setter? Short or long term? Are you usually successful and how do you handle not meeting your goals?
I will count it a success if I:
-make good memories
-make a home improvement
-make a personal goal happen
-make a difference in someone's life
To that end, I am off to make memories today with my sister and nephews, my daugher and youngest son. We are going to lunch at a favorite decades-old summer sub-and-ice-cream shop, play a round of miniature golf, come back and "chill" at the house, and then see "Hello, Dolly!" at the community college theatre this evening. It's the same theatre where I played Amaryllis ("Music Man") when I was in fifth grade. So many good memories because my dad and older sister were also cast members. I love live shows and this should be a really fun one. So, let's hear it for starting with a fun goal !
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Horsing Around With the Hodgepodge
Saddle up! Put your feet in the stirrups, secure your cap, get your crop ready, and listen for the sound of the starting gun.
Well, actually, it's neither that complicated nor that exciting to be a jockey here at my Hodgepodge today. But I do hope you "jockey for a position" in front of your screen and keep reading!
Thanks, Joyce, for once again charming us with your veritable Chex mix of questions.
1. How many students were in your high school graduating class? Did you know most, if not all of them?
Well, actually, it's neither that complicated nor that exciting to be a jockey here at my Hodgepodge today. But I do hope you "jockey for a position" in front of your screen and keep reading!
Thanks, Joyce, for once again charming us with your veritable Chex mix of questions.
1. How many students were in your high school graduating class? Did you know most, if not all of them?
I
think it was about 300, and no, I did not know most of them. I had
switched from a small Christian school to begin my junior year (just
because I wanted to go to a prom). At that school, I knew everyone. But
not so for my public school graduating class. I knew most of the
seniors, some of the underclassmen. Of course everyone belonged to one
clique or another. Jocks, preps, potheads, nerds, brains, and a vague
unlabeled group of people. That was my group.
2. What was the last thing you photographed?
I
took a picture of my youngest child receiving his Excellence in Art
award yesterday. (And no, I am not his art teacher!) His teacher said
he has a natural gift for art, is good at following directions for the
project, but then excels at making the project uniquely his. Oh, wait.
The wasn't the last thing I photographed. He spent two hours making a
huge Soccer Championship MVP trophy out of cardboard and aluminum foil.
He took it to school and at recess yesterday, presented it to a
classmate who scored two goals and had one assist. I was really proud of
his thoughtfulness, perseverance, and creativity. The boys in his
class are very competitive, but have a keen sense of fairness and
terrific camaraderie. They were all very jubilant when the boy who
deserved the (homemade) trophy actually won it. They didn't argue about
it.
3. Pickles-love 'em or loathe 'em? If it's love, what's something you eat that needs a pickle?
Hmm.
I neither love nor loathe pickles. I have to be in the mood for a
pickle, and when I am, I crave them. Bread and butter pickles straight
out of the jar remind me of my grandma's canned pickles. A dill spear
is the perfect accompaniment to a grilled cheese sandwich, and I love
chopped sweet pickles in tuna salad.
4. What's a stereotype you seem to perpetuate without meaning to?
Women
drivers. I sometimes drive "in a daze," cut people off as a result
(not on purpose), parallel park a good thirty inches from the curb and
forty feet from the car behind me. (My depth perception rots.)
5.
Ever been horse back riding? If so is it something you enjoy? If not,
do you have any interest? Did you watch the Kentucky Derby? Will you
be watching the last leg of the Triple Crown this weekend?
My dad, Ben, and Sarah atop Brandy
I
love--or should I say--loved (past tense)--horseback riding. When I
lived in Kansas, my favorite horse belonged to a boy named Darren. The
horse's name was Chocolate and we got to ride him about once a month or
so in the summer. My friend Barb and I also "borrowed" a couple of
Shetland ponies from a mutual friend one Sunday afternoon and took them
for a trot through the cemetery when my parents were napping. (I had
told them I was just going over to Barb's to play, which was fine with
them. I knew they wouldn't be fine with me doing what we'd really
schemed up to do.)
If you've never trotted a wild pony over 102 gravestones on a Sunday afternoon with a very loose saddle, then put it on your bucket list. But put it last. It could be your last day alive. Sure felt like it might've mine! I mean, if the ride didn't kill us, my folks surely would, and right back to the cemetery we would go. "Here she lies because she lied."
When I was 12, I took riding lessons for a couple of years, and my parents bought us a horse named Brandy (a Thoroughbred-Morgan) who lived for 26 years. She was primarily my sister Andrea's horse (the natural blonde in this picture). Andrea has always been the "horse person" and animal whisperer. This picture was taken when my aunt and little cousin came for a visit when my folks still had the farm, my sister was fresh out of the Air Force, my prepubescent son wasn't fearful of straddling a horse bareback, my daughter was just as precious as ever, and I had colored my hair for the second and last time ever.
About the races: I watched replays of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness and plan to watch the Belmont. I am so praying for I'll Have Another to win the Triple Crown. So much excitement! I think our nation needs something to get worked up about other than politics. Give us equestrian ecstasy, I say, and this country will be on the right "track' to reform. That said, I'll have another Republican President for a change, thank you.
If you've never trotted a wild pony over 102 gravestones on a Sunday afternoon with a very loose saddle, then put it on your bucket list. But put it last. It could be your last day alive. Sure felt like it might've mine! I mean, if the ride didn't kill us, my folks surely would, and right back to the cemetery we would go. "Here she lies because she lied."
When I was 12, I took riding lessons for a couple of years, and my parents bought us a horse named Brandy (a Thoroughbred-Morgan) who lived for 26 years. She was primarily my sister Andrea's horse (the natural blonde in this picture). Andrea has always been the "horse person" and animal whisperer. This picture was taken when my aunt and little cousin came for a visit when my folks still had the farm, my sister was fresh out of the Air Force, my prepubescent son wasn't fearful of straddling a horse bareback, my daughter was just as precious as ever, and I had colored my hair for the second and last time ever.
About the races: I watched replays of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness and plan to watch the Belmont. I am so praying for I'll Have Another to win the Triple Crown. So much excitement! I think our nation needs something to get worked up about other than politics. Give us equestrian ecstasy, I say, and this country will be on the right "track' to reform. That said, I'll have another Republican President for a change, thank you.
6. What's your favorite 'wedding' movie?
The Wedding Singer was pretty darn funny. Most wedding movies are too cheesy for me to sit through.
7. What is one 'tourist attraction' in the USA that you'd like to see in person?
Mount Rushmore.
8. Insert your own random thought here.
May I share three random thoughts? Sure, I can. It's my blog.
1. We're getting a new (old) dog on Thursday. More on that later.
May I share three random thoughts? Sure, I can. It's my blog.
1. We're getting a new (old) dog on Thursday. More on that later.
2. My sister will be visiting us from TX on Friday.
3. We must be nuts.
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