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Thursday, January 17, 2013

Wow! Two posts in two days? What's going on?!

I figured it was time for my annual "I hate making new year's resolutions" post since it is 3 weeks into the new year.

So, have I mentioned I don't believe in making new year's resolutions?

Ya. I hate it.

So I don't do it.

But in my head I have ideas of things I may like to change at some point in the coming year. Some sooner than others.

One is getting on a regular exercise routine. (Wow, really? I know... an exercise resolution. So... predictable.) I improved my exercising quite a bit last year. I went from practically nothing to an average of about 2 to 3 days a week. (Ok, maybe closer to 2 than three. Don't judge me.)  And I was very physically active during the summer and fall. We went on lots of hikes and bike rides and walks. But I really want to get to where my body is craving sweating and heart-pounding activity. Right now... not so much. It doesn't help that I break out into horrible itching every time I run. Like, crawl-out-of-my-skin kind of itching. I read somewhere that this could be an allergy to adrenaline. Ya, see... I always knew I was allergic to exercise! However, it seems to go away about 20 minutes into the workout, so I just grin and bear it.

Another is to eat a LOT healthier meals. I'm not talking super low-fat, no sugar, tree-bark and berries washed- in- mountain -streams- on- the- first- night- of- the- new- moon type of healthy. I'm talking lots of vegetables, lean meats, more fish, and healthy snacks like apples and peanut butter, carrotts and cheese sticks, raw almonds, low fat cottage cheese, orange slices, etc. I've been keeping fresh fruits and veggies in the fridge and it really helps to have healthier things on hand and grab those first.  I don't want to say it's a "diet", but more just "cranking the healthy" up a notch. We ate fairly healthy meals before, and now they are even healthier.

And the other is to be much more consistant with our family scripture reading. We did pretty well last year, actually. This is more of a "keep it up" type of goal. And maybe adding a little "we can still do better" in there as well. I accept that no family is perfect, and we don't want to be the only perfect ones out there, though there really is no danger of that at this point! (You catch the sarcasm in there? I certainly hope so... we are sooooo far from perfect it isn't even funny.... and then it is!)

Soooo... that's it for my "put down in black and white" goals. Everything else I will let rattle in my head and see what sticks. It's like the lottery! I never know what is going to come out and make itself known. "Hey! I'm that goal you thought about making! Remember me? Well, I'm here to do something! Wanna give it a shot?" It makes every day just that much more exciting!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

This in no way should reflect my spirituality or what I learned at Stake Conference this weekend....

Some observations from  Stake Conference this weekend:

1) "Adult" session in no way infers that all who attend are, in fact, adults. My husband's and my attendance at said meeting proves this fact.

2) We are a very long way off from having the "Heavenly Home" the speaker referred to. (A home where there is no arguing? Is there such a place? I have a very hard time believing there are any normal marriages on the earth today where there isn't SOME arguing, whether voices are raised or not.)

3) I have about a 38 minute attention span when sitting on a hard, cold, metal folding chair.

4) Stake Conference begins at 10AM twice a year for as long as I can remember, and we arrive at about 10:18 twice a year for as long as I can remember. Apparently time gets sucked into some otherworldly vortex on Stake Conference Sunday at our house and we absolutely cannot make it any earlier than 10:18.

5) Old people don't just cough, they hack up a lung and part of their upper digestive tract. Please, oh please don't let me get old!

6) Old people are physically unable to whisper.

7) If the hymn is taken too slow, my  husband will sing it at his own tempo and finish about 2 minutes earlier than the rest of the congregation, causing me to laugh, rendering me unable to complete the song at all, and making me have to use the bathroom. And he says I'm irreverent when I sing "Come, Come ye saints.... no toilet paper here..."

8) I am very sure now that there is no possible way on earth I could have been a sane mother of 5 or more children. Or 4 or more.... or maybe 3....

9) I wish I could still pack a church bag with fruit loops and crayons and cars and fruit snacks and books....

10)  I have about a 38 minute attention span.... (oh, did I mention that already? Well, it's true.)

Friday, January 11, 2013

Stuck in my head....

Holy Loads of Snow, Batman!

I got up at 7:00 AM this morning to shovel snow so my son could get out to his ride and so my husband could drive his car. (He's been sick so I didn't want him shoveling anything today. Wow. What a great wife I am. Too bad he never reads this blog!)

When I saw how much snow there was- over a foot where we live- and how much sidewalk I had yet to shovel- we live on a corner- and how little snow I could get with each shovelfull, I thought I'd better think of a song to sing to make the work go faster. (After all, I'm always telling my son to sing a happy song while he does his chores. "It makes it so much more fun!" Ya, I know- one of those made-up-parent kind of sayings. I figured I'd better practice what I preach lest I be labled a hypocrite.)

A hymn popped into my head. I don't usually think of hymns, but today I did, and it was a beauty:

Does the journey seem long-
The path rugged and steep-
(And here's where I got very creative in my song-thinking-capabilities... hold on to your seats...)
Are there piles of snow in your way?

Does the load heavy seem-
You are called now to (something....)
Is there no one your burden to share?

Just then, my son popped his head out of the front door, and with his red boots on, he came out to help me shovel! He even let me have the good shovel!

2 hours of shoveling later, I am sitting here in my warm house with a heating pad on my back because the very last shovel full I bent down to scrape up some ice and twinged my back a bit.

But, school was cancelled for my son, the walks are all clear... for a few hours anyway... and I have hot chocolate in my tummy. And a hymn stuck in my head for the next several hours. Yay!