A New Year, A New Outlook, and Eternally 39

I've never been a big believer in turning over a new leaf on New Year's Day. Probably because I never once followed all the way through a goal set then. But here it is, the new year, and against my will, a desire for change has come upon me.

I find myself no longer tolerant of my previous habits, destructive desires, or lack of follow through. Maybe, at the beginning of the year where I will turn 39, I have finally accepted adulthood, and all that means. That my life is my responsibility, that if I don't do the best for myself, my husband, and my children, who will?

And so, though I've made nothing concrete, no STATEMENT OF INTENT followed by a workable plan, I am moving forward with the plan to just DO BETTER. I know what I need to do to be a better person, I've just avoided doing it for years because I DIDN'T WANT TO. (How juvenile is that????)

As to being eternally 39, it's a joke in my family that if you ask my parents how old they are, they will say 39. And have been that age for 25 years, give or take. The realization that I am at that age, that I will turn 39 in a couple of months, and though according to the government and my children I will continue to age, if anybody ever asks me after March 15th how old I am, I will always be 39. And my life, such as it is, needs to stand for more than my inborn selfishness. So I will indulge myself in this one last selfishness...I will not age beyond 39.

Happy New Year to All, and may all your nothingconcretewithnostatementofintent goals see the light of day!

And Then There Was December...

So November came and went, with a late Thanksgiving, and early activities, and suddenly it's a month later and I've blogged nothing. Not a thing. And now Christmas is a week away, we're not done, and, well, I'm just sitting around feeling overwhelmed. So my post is this...we're here, we're alive, we're enjoying the holiday, and hope that it's a joyful holiday for all of our friends and loved ones!

(P.S. Here are the two calendar pages I put together as part of a family calendar that will be a gift for my parents this christmas. I'm a total newbie at this, and I'm sure my siblings' will be much better, but it was still fun to put together.)

Specific Instructions

This week has been one where I discovered that in fact my children cannot read my mind, and when I say something (or don't say something that is obvious to me), I will reap the rewards of my lack of proper communication.

Example 1: Benji has started toilet training. But if I do not say to him the right words, the bathroom is sprayed with urine. Yeah. 'Nuff said.

Example 2: On Wednesdays I am gone in the afternoon from 3:30 to 6:30, when I take Peter into Salt Lake for Salt Lake Children's Choir rehearsals. I usually have something already to put in the oven or cooking in the crockpot on these days. Last week I made up a recipe for a breakfast casserole, with a hashbrown base and and egg, cream and cheese mixture poured on top. I left it on the oven, covered in Saran Wrap, and told specific instructions to Sarah on when to put it in the oven, how long to cook it, etc. It was a busy evening, as we were going to attend the wedding reception of my niece, Kacey, and there would be little time to do anything else but stuff down a few bites before running out the door.

When I came home, everyone told me how yummy dinner was, and that saving any for Peter and me was difficult. I ate quickly, thinking that it was odd that it hadn't browned after an hour in the oven, and that the liquid must have over flowed it a bit, because there was a slight film around the edge of the pan.

Eventually I got around to cleaning it, and realized that the egg film was NOT egg, as I had supposed, but Saran Wrap, melted, and eaten, by my entire family, myself included.

It had never occurred to me that I had to specify removing the plastic wrap to my daughter. But I have learned my lesson. If I want something done a specific way, I have to say things like "Please point it into the toilet," or "Remove plastic wrap before putting it in the oven."

Just thought I'd give you all the benefit of my experience so this doesn't happen to you.