There are only about 12 hours left in 2009. I'm not entirely sad to see it go. I guess it wasn't the worst year I've ever had... certainly wasn't the best either. But overall, I can't complain. I got a new job, moved to a new apartment, rekindled some old friendships. My brother got married, so I have a new sister-in-law. Nothing truly spectacular happened to me. Then again, nothing awful happened either.
Right now I'm relaxing with a cup of coffee before I get ready to go out for the night. I've been trying to think of something deep and profound to write, but I'm blank. Lol. Last day of the year and I've got nothin'. Although, I have been giving a lot of thought to New Year's resolutions. I always say I'm not going to make them, and then at the last minute, I feel compelled to do it anyway. I think it's something about the "clean slate" feeling of a new year. Like opening a brand new journal for the first time and seeing all those blank, white pages just waiting to be written on. So for now, I have a list of resolutions in my head. I think I might put them in writing, but not yet. Perhaps tomorrow.
Goodbye, 2009. It's been a pleasure.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Simplify :)
I haven't blogged in ages, but I've started a new project and I feel like writing about it will motivate me to follow through. We'll see. (Plus, I really miss writing. It's therapeutic.)
Lately I've been feeling overwhelmed by a lot of things: new job, money, apartment, physical clutter, emotional clutter. I decided that I needed to simplify my life. That sounds like a huge undertaking, but if I start small I can make it manageable. Baby steps.
My first "chore" was to go through my make-up, jewelry, perfume, and body lotions and get rid of what I don't want/need/use. Many of those things were gifts from former students, and I kept them out of guilt. It's hard to throw away a perfectly good bottle of body lotion... even if it's a scent I'll never use or a brand that makes my skin break out. So I threw away anything that was more than half empty and the rest went into a box. I'll figure out what to do with that later.
The next thing I did was sort out my new Christmas gifts and put everything away. I even took all the Christmas cookies that I got as gifts and put them in one container - eliminating all those little plastic bags made me feel better :) I went through the fridge and freezer and got rid of anything past its expiration date. I even went into the cabinets and organized the food. All of the baking supplies (chocolate chips, sprinkles, extracts, food coloring, cupcake papers) went into a clear storage box so that they're all together and out of the way.
I know I can't do it all at once. In fact, if I tried to do it all at once I'd get more overwhelmed and more stressed and I'd probably give up the whole project. So I'm going to make a plan for the next few days and then take some time today to let myself decompress.
So... the plan for the next few days is to go through my closet (specifically shoes and clothes) and to organize my desk and paperwork. I also want to go through my cookbook and plan out some meals, and then make my grocery list based on those meals so that I don't overbuy and clutter the fridge with stuff I don't really need.
I feel good about this. I hope I can keep it up.
Lately I've been feeling overwhelmed by a lot of things: new job, money, apartment, physical clutter, emotional clutter. I decided that I needed to simplify my life. That sounds like a huge undertaking, but if I start small I can make it manageable. Baby steps.
My first "chore" was to go through my make-up, jewelry, perfume, and body lotions and get rid of what I don't want/need/use. Many of those things were gifts from former students, and I kept them out of guilt. It's hard to throw away a perfectly good bottle of body lotion... even if it's a scent I'll never use or a brand that makes my skin break out. So I threw away anything that was more than half empty and the rest went into a box. I'll figure out what to do with that later.
The next thing I did was sort out my new Christmas gifts and put everything away. I even took all the Christmas cookies that I got as gifts and put them in one container - eliminating all those little plastic bags made me feel better :) I went through the fridge and freezer and got rid of anything past its expiration date. I even went into the cabinets and organized the food. All of the baking supplies (chocolate chips, sprinkles, extracts, food coloring, cupcake papers) went into a clear storage box so that they're all together and out of the way.
I know I can't do it all at once. In fact, if I tried to do it all at once I'd get more overwhelmed and more stressed and I'd probably give up the whole project. So I'm going to make a plan for the next few days and then take some time today to let myself decompress.
So... the plan for the next few days is to go through my closet (specifically shoes and clothes) and to organize my desk and paperwork. I also want to go through my cookbook and plan out some meals, and then make my grocery list based on those meals so that I don't overbuy and clutter the fridge with stuff I don't really need.
I feel good about this. I hope I can keep it up.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
I'm back!
I'm so bad at blogging. I used to do this all the time, but now it's something that I rarely think about. So here's the deal. I'm gonna try blogging again, but you need to read it. And comment. Comments are key.
It's been quite a weekend. Turned out to be a long one, too. I took a personal day on Friday for a job interview (read more about that here), and had the rest of that day free, which is a rare and glorious occurence. Saturday was spent at my parents' house playing with the dogs (Tasha, of course, and Doug's dog Mabel) while I was trying to upload Quicken. That wound up taking much longer than I expected, because my computer decided to be a bitch and freeze every three minutes. Finally got things working and all was well with the world. I fully intended to go home, relax and go to bed EARLY, since I had to be up early today for Confirmation. And then Joe texted. He wound up coming over to the apartment around 10:30, knowing that I wanted to be in bed no later than 11:30. We wound up going for a 6-pack at 11:20 (Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, yum!), so needless to say, I did NOT make it to bed at a reasonable hour. Four beers and one shot later, it was 3 AM and the salsa music was cranked up on the laptop. Sadly, Sam went to bed before the dancing started. I'm sure she regrets missing out on the fun, lol.
Thankfully, I was not hungover when my alarm went off at 8 AM. Confirmation was held during the 10:30 Spanish Mass, and it was actually really nice. I've never been to the Spanish Mass before, but I definitely want to go back. The music was awesome! This was my first time being a sponsor for Confirmation... no wait. That's actually not true. My godsons were both confirmed at their baptism, so I guess I was technically a sponsor for them, too. Okay, so this was my first time being a sponsor for a Roman Catholic Confirmation. Pretty cool. The girl I sponsored is a former student. Hard to believe she's in 6th grade already! After the Mass, I was invited to lunch at the convent with the other teachers, the pastor and the bishop. By the time I got home, it was close to 3 PM, and I was exhausted! The rest of the day was spent watching movies... "Princess Bride," "Dirty Dancing," and now "Shrek."
And the best part? Tomorrow is a "professional development" day, which means no work! Gotta love it :)
Okay, I think that's enough weekend update for now. Later, gators!
It's been quite a weekend. Turned out to be a long one, too. I took a personal day on Friday for a job interview (read more about that here), and had the rest of that day free, which is a rare and glorious occurence. Saturday was spent at my parents' house playing with the dogs (Tasha, of course, and Doug's dog Mabel) while I was trying to upload Quicken. That wound up taking much longer than I expected, because my computer decided to be a bitch and freeze every three minutes. Finally got things working and all was well with the world. I fully intended to go home, relax and go to bed EARLY, since I had to be up early today for Confirmation. And then Joe texted. He wound up coming over to the apartment around 10:30, knowing that I wanted to be in bed no later than 11:30. We wound up going for a 6-pack at 11:20 (Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, yum!), so needless to say, I did NOT make it to bed at a reasonable hour. Four beers and one shot later, it was 3 AM and the salsa music was cranked up on the laptop. Sadly, Sam went to bed before the dancing started. I'm sure she regrets missing out on the fun, lol.
Thankfully, I was not hungover when my alarm went off at 8 AM. Confirmation was held during the 10:30 Spanish Mass, and it was actually really nice. I've never been to the Spanish Mass before, but I definitely want to go back. The music was awesome! This was my first time being a sponsor for Confirmation... no wait. That's actually not true. My godsons were both confirmed at their baptism, so I guess I was technically a sponsor for them, too. Okay, so this was my first time being a sponsor for a Roman Catholic Confirmation. Pretty cool. The girl I sponsored is a former student. Hard to believe she's in 6th grade already! After the Mass, I was invited to lunch at the convent with the other teachers, the pastor and the bishop. By the time I got home, it was close to 3 PM, and I was exhausted! The rest of the day was spent watching movies... "Princess Bride," "Dirty Dancing," and now "Shrek."
And the best part? Tomorrow is a "professional development" day, which means no work! Gotta love it :)
Okay, I think that's enough weekend update for now. Later, gators!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Date Night
On a whim, I decided that I was going to make tonight "Date Night." I have a date with myself. I decided to spend my night doing things that make me happy, just because I can. (And because I have the apartment to myself). So I stopped at Target on my way home and bought my favorite Bertoli meal (pork with corkscrew pasta, spinach and sundried tomatoes, in a creamy sauce) and some garlic bread. I also picked up a package of something that looked quite delightful... brownie bites. It's break 'n' bake dough that makes little bitty brownies. Sounded too good to pass up.
I also perused the entertainment section and bought a few things on impulse: "Chocolat" and "Mamma Mia!" on DVD, and a James Patterson book called Sundays at Tiffanys. (A quick sidenote: So many people RAVE about James Patterson, but I have yet to read any of his work. This one looked fairly interesting and will probably be finished in a few hours, lol. But I was in the mood for a sappy easy-read.)
When I got home, I threw on my most comfortable outfit: a pair of old sweatpants and a super cozy long-sleeved t-shirt. Sloppy ponytail? Check. Ratty slippers? Check.
I ate dinner while watching "Jeopardy" (best gameshow ever), saw the episode of "Seinfeld" where the gang goes to India for a wedding (classic), and now I'm baking my brownie bites and watching the beginning of "Fiddler on the Roof" on TCM.
(The brownies smell amazing...)
Plans for the rest of the night include a glass or two of wine with some brownie bites and a movie... perhaps "Mamma Mia!"... followed by a few chapters of a book. I'm currently reading The Geography of Bliss, but I might actually start the Patterson book. And I'm pretty sure I'll pop onto facebook and read some blogs.
And that's Date Night in a nutshell.
I also perused the entertainment section and bought a few things on impulse: "Chocolat" and "Mamma Mia!" on DVD, and a James Patterson book called Sundays at Tiffanys. (A quick sidenote: So many people RAVE about James Patterson, but I have yet to read any of his work. This one looked fairly interesting and will probably be finished in a few hours, lol. But I was in the mood for a sappy easy-read.)
When I got home, I threw on my most comfortable outfit: a pair of old sweatpants and a super cozy long-sleeved t-shirt. Sloppy ponytail? Check. Ratty slippers? Check.
I ate dinner while watching "Jeopardy" (best gameshow ever), saw the episode of "Seinfeld" where the gang goes to India for a wedding (classic), and now I'm baking my brownie bites and watching the beginning of "Fiddler on the Roof" on TCM.
(The brownies smell amazing...)
Plans for the rest of the night include a glass or two of wine with some brownie bites and a movie... perhaps "Mamma Mia!"... followed by a few chapters of a book. I'm currently reading The Geography of Bliss, but I might actually start the Patterson book. And I'm pretty sure I'll pop onto facebook and read some blogs.
And that's Date Night in a nutshell.
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