Another Year Older . . .

During the time I was out dealing with planning the memorial service for Mr. Random's mom, I turned 39 years old. One year closer to the big 4-0.

I guess my feeling is encapsulated by the incident below . . .

After the memorial service was over, Mr. Random, his sister, his cousin and I were all cleaning up the hall and gathering everything together to go home. All of the guests had left at this point, and it was just the four of us - all around the same age: late 30's-early 40's. I looked around and thought to myself, "Aren't there any grown-ups around here to help?"

Then came the realization. Wow. We're the grown-ups now.

I guess this is one of the experiences that marks one's true entry into adulthood - when you look around and you find yourself having to be the one to answer the questions and do the hard work. No longer can you look up to "an adult" because . . . well . . . you're it.

It is very scary and very sad and very empowering at the same time. Mr. Random no longer has parents around to help him. And while my parents are still alive (and have been awesome at offering Mr. Random advice and support, and are truly taking him under their wing), they are getting older and one day I'm going to have to go through all of this wrenching, emotional turmoil again.

I am not looking forward to it at all. I hope the day is very far away. Mr. Random said that he is certain that his parents raised him to be prepared for this day - and I think that is what most parents want for their children. But this experience has taught me that my awesome parents have given me the tools to handle it too.

And I am very thankful for that.

Wearing Black

Yesterday morning, Mr. Random's mother died.

While she had been in the hospital for a week, by all accounts she had been improving, so this was quite a shock to us all . . . and is still quite a shock.

She was a lovely, lovely woman - quite brilliant, very kind, very loving, very proud of her son . . . and she was rather fond of me and was quite encouraging of my returning to school.

Mr. Random's father died rather young about 15 years ago.

Please send good thoughts our way. This is going to be very hard.

It is very hard.

A Fall Day

 

I am standing in front of my office window, leaning with my head pressed against the glass, looking out of the tops of the swaying trees - far in the distance are more office buildings and construction.

 

It's a cool, cloudy day and the wind whips up every now and then, blowing the treetops back and forth like blades of grass. I look down, down several floors to the ground, where the lawn is dark and littered with dead leaves and broken acorns.

 

My eyes look up to the clouds. Big gray clouds with shafts of light shining through, here and there.

 

I close my eyes. And pretend for a moment that I am not where I am. Now I am outside feeling the strong breezes, walking on the grass with acorns crunching under my shoes. I am not inside the dark, quiet office with the oppressive negative energy.

 

The day after Labor Day, everyone at the Random Non-profit returned from the holiday - rested, ready to work, having dropped little ones off on their first day of school or having made a committment to have a positive attitude this Fall. We'd gotten used to the furlough and the loss in income, and while not happy, at least a normalness was starting to settle in . . .

 

By the end of the day, seven people were no longer working here: Told behind closed doors their services were no longer required. Only one day to pack up and leave. Some people had celebrated their eighth anniversary with the organization and were moving towards nine. Some people's spouses were unemployed too. One was the admin person in our department of three. Many tears were shed. People packed and went away.

 

On the third day, those people were gone. The halls were quieter. Those who were left felt hollow and dead and fragile. Then - so quickly - that morning three more people were let go - some of the supervisors of the other folks, people who had just caught their breath and were beginning to try to figure out what to do next, how to get on with fewer people.

 

Ten people were let go in total. Plus two others who left shortly after - lucky people! They had found other jobs! - now we are down by twelve. One third of the staff - gone. Same work though. Just get it done, we are told. Figure out what needs to stay and what needs to go. Double up. Be glad you still have a job.

 

Scary stressful. Heartbreakingly sad. Mission? What's the new goal? Is there any? Why are we here? Head down, keep going. Think positive! New opportunities!

 

I am too tired to do this anymore. I cannot keep a happy face. I have tried for almost a month. Not happening. My schoolwork suffers. I cannot concentrate. Walking though the door is hurtful. Trying to pick up where other left off - trying to figure out *what* was left off - overwhelming. Difficult. Draining.

 

I am at the window, looking out into the gray skies. Looking down at the trees and the ground. It's so far down to the ground, to the acorns, to the grass. A black squirrel scampers up the branches in front of me and grabs an acorn off the very top of one of the limbs. He cracks it open, gobbles it down, and then races back down to the ground. Life is out there. Life is not in here. I do well to remember that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just In Hibernation, Not in Hiding

Hi, everyone!

 

I know that I've been scarce for several months and you all have wondered what the heck's been going on with me.

 

Short answer: A lot.

 

Longer answer: So many things have been going on that it has been overwhleming to write about AND process. Good things have happened, but also worrisome things.

 

Good things: Finished my summer class, saw King Lear with Stacy Keach, saw 6 plays at the DC Fringe Festival, been to Shenandoah National Park, found an awesome new used book store, will be taking two classes starting next week.

 

Worrisome things: At the Random Nonprofit, we all received 20% salary cuts and are furloughed one day a week. May be facing layoffs in the next month. Did not get enough money in student loans to go full time this year. Money is a huge concern.

 

So that's what's been going on with me . . . I will try to write more (I have been dying to write a review of this year's Fringe experience!) and maybe even try to freshen up the blog a little.

 

I do hope you all are doing well and that you are looking forward to the Fall! Until I type again . . .

 

Waving madly :-)

 

The Smell of Charcoal

 

Today is Memorial Day. In my family, it was always a weekend of family reunions, of groups of people coming down to Virginia and hanging out at my family's house for three days. The barbecue grills (my dad has two) seemed to be perpetually cooking *something* from Friday night through Monday afternoon. Hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, hot sausages, spareribs: all of these things went on the grill and came off of the grill, heaped on platters, placed on the dining room table as various family members waited in anticipation with paper plates ready, buns open. Around the platters sat bags of chips, containers of condiments, various bags of buns, piles of paper plates, napkins, and plastic forks. In the kitchen on the stove, pots of baked beans, collard greens, corn-on-the-cob in buttery water, sat simmering on the stove. In the refrigerator, there were large bowls of homemade potato salad, macaroni salad and the usual iceberg-lettuce-with-tomatoes-and cucumbers. For dessert, in the freezer sat boxes of popsicles – both the creamy kind and the colored sugar-water kind – and on the counters sat cupcakes and pies and the occasional sheet cake, usually to commemorate one of my many cousins' graduations from high school or college.

 

People filled the house. People were everywhere. You could barely find a quiet corner, people were in almost every room – a crowd of six older women in the hot kitchen, huddled around the kitchen table gossiping. A group of six to eight younger women sit and stand in the living room doing the same, but on different topics. A group of uncles in the basement – some watching some sort of sports or movies on TV, four sitting at a card table by the sliding glass doors leading into the yard, playing numerous games of pinochle, occasionally arguing and yelling. My dad would flit in and out of the yard, checking on the contents of the grills and conversing with the folks at the table. My mom would be wandering back and forth, making sure everyone was taken care of, and that no one needed anything else. My sisters would either be hanging out with one of the groups or outside, with still yet another group of young cousins, running around in the front yard. Older relatives would be in our bedrooms taking naps, leaving yet another part of the house off limits to hide from the noise and the hustle and bustle.

 

I was not fond of the groups and the noise, you see. It was always so overwhelming being around so many family members at once, all asking the same questions of me all the time – about school, about what I was doing – and me hating to answer because most of the time I really had nothing to say. Especially when I was younger, what could one say? Yes, school is fine. I'm doing OK. Until it wasn't, and then I didn't want to talk about it, or my job which was not very interesting and I hated to explain about. I would much rather have been in the corner with a book, using the few totally free holiday days that I had to not have to do something that I didn't want to do. It seemed every day I was doing things I didn't want to do, in places I didn't want to be, with people who didn't seem to understand why I didn't like any of the above. People may have thought that I thought I was too good to speak to anyone, but the real reason is that I didn't have anything to talk about. It was painful for me to talk about me. And talking to everyone else, hearing their tales of midnight bowling in the city, or trips to the mall for shopping, or hanging out at their houses with other cousins and friends . . . I couldn't relate to any of it. I was always broke and hated shopping. By the time I did start taking myself to museums, no one seemed interested and no one wanted to come along.

 

So the family cookouts became times where my feelings of alienation and misery were amplified. I dreaded them with a passion.

 

Fast forward 20 years to today. This Memorial Day I spent remembering the fallen soldiers of wars past and present and being thankful that my Army sister is back in the States, safe and sound. So much loss. So many young men and women who aren't here today and should be. That is the most important thing about today and all other problems are secondary.

 

I am married now and have don't have to go to those cookouts anymore. The long weekend is still a rare time when I can catch my breath and take a moment to not have to do the long lists of things that need always need to be done during the week. But today I also got nostalgic to have a grill of my own to throw some burgers and chicken on, to invite my friends over and have them fill my house with noise and conversation while I fill them with meats and potato salad and baked beans. But at this point in my life I still have no yard, no room for a grill, no room to have mobs of people in the small condo. I always dreamed of having my own people over, on my own terms, and yet it still feels like a dream . . . so close and yet so far away.

 

It seems so petty to write . . . but it is a part of me and where I am today and I need to be open to it, I guess.

 

I hope your weekends were happy ones . . .

 

 

Random Rumination on the Concept of Worth

  

OK, this is one of the more annoying things I have read today. It's a blog post from a supposed marketing guru who has sold tons of books and has loads of devoted followers who hang on his every utterance. I think he's full of soup, as my grandma would say, definitely chunky-style, but whatever. (I'm not big on business-type books because they all pretty much say the same obvious things or tout some business fad that five years later will seem ridiculous.)

 

Yes, I do understand the idea of sunk costs , but there are also cases where the "rational" decision isn't necessarily the "right" decision for a person. For some decisions, it isn't about the money . . . and, you know, that should be OK.

 

In his Springsteen tickets example, you've bought the perfect tickets for a pretty decent price. Someone comes up to you and offers you a ton of money for them. Do you sell? Well, that depends on how big a fan you are and if you want to go through all the trouble of trying to find another pair of perfect tickets. Do I want the money over having the experience? If I took the money, what if I wasn't able to find another pair of "perfect tickets" because even with the extra dollars the remaining "good" tickets are going for $1200? Would I really benefit? What if I then miss the concert but have the money and then (heaven forbid!) something happened to Bruce and there were no more concerts? (Which is fairly likely: all of these guys are getting older, the road is hard, and they sometimes don't take the best care of themselves . . .)

 

And no, the tickets are not now worth $500, in so much as my condo is not worth $300K. Just because people were dumb enough to pay that much for similar ones at one point, doesn't mean that that's what it is really worth. I mean my condo will be worth whatever people what to pay for it *when I decide to sell it*. That's partly the cause of the economic collapse – people basing assumptions on assets gaining ever-increasing value and procuring loans and selling securities on what people *thought* things should be worth and not what they*actually* were. (They also weren't taking into consideration that values can and do go down. So. Freaking. Stupid.)

 

OK, that's been my economic rant for the day. There do seem to be larger questions that tease themselves out of this scenario, such as "What is something's true worth?" and "Are experiences worth more than money?" and "Is the most efficient thing to do necessarily to right thing to do, depending on the person?" And now we're getting in the realm of philosophy, which I think I need to study a lot more of . . .

 

Ugh. There's so much that I don't know! It gets frustrating sometimes . . .

 

 

Let the Sunshine In!

(I watched the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin on Saturday, so this song has been stuck in my head . . .)

I took this week off from work, trying to decompress after my final exam. It turns out I ended up with an A- in the class, which I consider a miracle. I was not unhappy with the way the final went, which is always a good sign, and I think I figured out what the professor wanted for the final paper. For my previous paper, I gave too much background and explanation for his taste, which upon further thought made sense, but at the time greatly upset me because I tend to be a very bare bones kind of writer. I’m used to writing and thinking in Economics terms and not in Psychology terms – and they are definitely two different ways of thinking. Which is rather funny, because the whole field of Behavioral Economics is reinventing the wheel in terms of studying how people act and react to specific situations, while Social Psychology already has studied a lot of these same topics? I guess the Econ people don’t want anything to do with the Psych people, which makes *no* sense at all to me . . .

Anyway, this was my week off. The goal was to give my brain a rest. Of course, it has poured down rain the entire week, except for today. We had a leak in our bathroom ceiling, so we had to be home for the roofers to investigate. I checked my work e-mail each morning, just to make sure nothing funky happened that might have fallen under my purview. We had trouble with our car, which was another irritant. I could not wind down properly until . . . well, today. I feel like the whole week was just a warm up to an actual vacation, but one that won’t happen. I’m rested enough to get some rest, if you know what I mean. I have stacks of books to read, but have had no sense of concentration until now.

I go back to work on Monday and dread it terribly. So much to do: much of it I’ve done before. Things happen in cycles and sometimes dealing with the same cycles over and over again gets tiring.

I hope to get new running shoes soon so I can get back into running. I feel like I’ve gained 10 pounds over the course of the winter. My clothes still fit, but I definitely could look better in them. Besides, I need to work off some of this stress that’s been building and I also need to stop making myself feel better with bags of chip-like substances.

Summer is a time to think positively. I probably won’t be able to go on vacation, but hopefully there will be a few day trips in the future. My Army sister is now firmly settled in the Boston area and I look forward to visiting her at some point. (LOVE Boston!)

I haven’t been to any plays lately and I’m getting antsy. There are a couple of contemporary playwrights being showcased this summer, so maybe I can see one of those. The Fringe Festival is coming up in July and that is usually the highlight of my year. I need to start making plans for the Fall and determine what my next steps are.

So much going on! So little time!

To end, I should probably share a little bit of what I’ve been reading lately. I’ve been horrible at keeping up with everyone’s blogs, but I have attempting to read blogs and websites that relate to my studies in some way, to keep up on what’s going on in the world and in my chosen field.

Baseline Scenario (http://baselinescenario.com/) – If you want to follow the financial crisis, this is the one blog you should be reading. Simon Johnson has been *everywhere* - even on The Daily Show – and he is one of the most straightforward, knowledgeable and personable economic communicators I’ve ever seen. My dream is to do what he does, albeit on a smaller scale. I’m totally a groupie for him!

Understanding Society (http://understandingsociety.blogspot.com/) – This is an amazing blog on the social sciences, and I must admit I don’t keep up with it as much as I should because each post has leaves one with so much to think about . . . it’s not something you can scan quickly. Very worth the time.

The Fluent Self (http://www.fluentself.com/blog/) – I love this blog. It makes me realize that I need to be gentler to myself, and what that actually means day-to-day. It is helping me work through a lot of my “stuck” issues, although I have a long way to go.

That’s me for today. I am cheerfully waving to you all!

Almost, but Not Quite

 

My final exam is tomorrow, thus ending another overburdened semester. This spring seems to have brought to a head a host of issues that I though had been long buried - hit every button and insecurity and weak spot that I have had over the course of my life - and it hasn't been fun. That's partly why I haven't been writing because who wants to write to whine all the time?

 

I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to take another class this summer, how my work schedule is going to shake out, and if I'm going to have surgery done which would mean a month off work, but not for pleasant reasons . . .

 

Much to mull over. But tomorrow I have a final exam to worry about, so for today I will focus on that.

 

I am glad you all are still here, and I wave to you all . . .

 

 

 

 

Is This Going to Be on the Final Exam?

This is a test post to see if the e-mail posting function still works on this thing.

If so . . . freakin' awesome! I might actually be able to post more frequently.

Hope everyone's doing well . . . have a lot of stuff to catch you all up on . . .

The Cranky Lady Speaks!

Today I was working in my Random University library. They are now starting to box up shelves and shelves of reference materials – bound journals, archived magazines, technical dictionaries and the like – and send them to a central consortium storage place. You will still be able to access the materials by requesting them through the college library and there is an easy method to do so though the college computer system.

However, seeing all of the volumes being put onto carts and taken away makes me incredibly sad. One of my favorite pastimes in libraries is walking randomly through the stacks, pulling down books or topics that look interesting at the moment, and finding very surprising, fascinating bits of information. For example, one day in Ye Olde Colonial College’s stacks I found a series of bound women’s magazines from the 1940’s through the 1980’s. To look through all those volumes and see the ads and fashions of yesteryear, all of the articles of housewife-y information and advice, was quite a treat. Another time, I was wandering though and started reading old business magazines, marveling at the predictions and business practices from decades ago.

I know that in writing this I sound incredibly old fashioned, like someone nostalgic for the good old days, not sufficiently appreciative of the current technologies that allow people to access any information from anywhere. Well, I *am* appreciative – especially as a student and a researcher of sorts – but as someone who is always interested in a wide range of topics, and who sometimes depends on random connections to spark creativity, I think that the disappearance of the physical books from the scene can be considered tragic.

On another blog, someone was talking about how, as a kid, he would pull random books down from his parents’ shelves and read them as they struck his fancy. If we all have kindles or e-readers, will that moment of random discovery ever happen? Will everything in the future have to be purposefully sought out? What does this mean for future generations? I mean, I know that Wikipedia has a "random" function, but that supposes that you are constantly connected to a computer. I prefer not to spend huge amounts of time staring at a screen, and a tiny one at that! (And gee, can you tell that from my sucky posting these days?)

I also wonder why one technology has to push out another so quickly. I'd much rather continue to have choices of how I'd like my information, but it seems that especially in the newspaper realm those choices are being made for me, even though I'm willing to actually pay for the format I prefer.

These are some of the things that occupy my brain these days. Do you agree? Or do you think I need to adjust my tinfoil hat? Inquiring minds want to know . . .

Rumors of My Demise are Greatly Exaggerated

Hi, all! Yes, it's been a while, but in the interim the hard drive died on my laptop right after Inauguration Day, thus my fabulous post on freezing the the cold with 2 million other people evaporated into the ether.

Also, my social psychology class is is full swing and, while it doesn't have as much reading as my Money and Banking Econ class, I still have a lot to keep up with since it is not very intuitive to me. Or rather, the subject matter is a little TOO intuitive and I need to work on differentiating between similar types of definitions and explanations. I'm both excited by the class and befuddled by it at the same time.

My ESOL class has started up again and this semester we are using a more useful new textbook and accompanying workbook with our students. I love the new format, but it does take some getting used to. I also have fewer students in my class this semester (8 instead of 17), so we're are able to do a lot more discussion exercises and dialogue work without it taking up most of the class time.

Work at the Random Non-Profit continues to be a source of stress, as we lose more people and our financial situation becomes more precarious. Recently they instituted salary freezes at Mr. Random's Random Publication, which is worrisome, but given the state of a lot of other publications, we'll be happy with that for now.

I've also been continuing to have medical issues, which takes up a lot of karmic energy trying to get things sorted out. I've had a few meltdowns recently, due to the extra stress of not feeling well on top of all the stuff I'm trying to do. I am developing a hatred for doctors and for tests and am losing the energy to keep seeking answers, although I know there must be some.

On the plus side, I have been able to fit in a few more plays with my friend J, who continues to be quite a help in keeping my spirits up. We saw The Winter's Tale and The Cherry Orchard - branching out from the pure Shakespeare and going into other writers. The Winter's Tale was especially interesting because we sat next to the lovely wife of one of the actors in the play, whose comments and explanations added another dimension to the performance.

Also on the plus side, I've been to the Campus Career Center and started to do some work to figure out what I really want to do and how I want to go about doing it. It is a slow process, but I am trying to stick with my plans and not to get too discouraged. I am getting a bit frustrated at the pace - taking one class a semester is driving me bats - but it's the best I can do for now, since having and keeping a decent paying job is kind of key these days . . .

So that's what I've been up to since January! I hope you all are doing well?

Waving hello to you all . . .

Opening Unlocked Doors

One goal I have for this year is to post more. In order to do that, I have to get less hung up on writing full-fledged posts and, as often as I can, do more sharing of the random detritus that runs through my head. Thus the Allison Krauss song - which is still running through my head. Help! I need something to replace it!

My new favorite blog: Serious Eats – www.seriouseats.com . It’s torture when you are hungry, but has a multitude of great ideas and information. For example, I now know not to waste my money on a *$ Tea Latte. I’ve already slowly weaned myself off of their Chai, so this should be fairly simple. Currently, I stick to the peppermint teas. What? Yes, I know that I’m basically paying for hot water and two tea bags, which I can easily do cheaper and more efficiently for myself at home. But sometimes I’m out and about and want a warm liquid, but I don’t want any caffeine or sugar. Ta da! Also, scroll down the front of the web page for recipes for homemade Girl Scout Cookies. Yum!

On Saturday, J and I went to see Twelfth Night, maintaining our two year old streak of seeing every major production of a Shakespeare play rolling into the new year. Yay! We watched a movie version of this play a couple of years ago, featuring Ben Kingsley as Feste and (I think) Nigel Hawthorne as Malvolio. The production on Saturday was SO much better. I was able to understand intricacies of the plot more and thoroughly enjoyed the acting throughout. We now have been to enough of these plays that we can recognize the actors from other productions. We can knowledgeably compare the merits and the failings of different productions. Our sophisticated theatergoing continues to get more sophisticated!

Did I mention that I’m not on my church’s Pastoral Search Committee anymore? Oh, yes. I dumped that activity a couple of months ago. Luckily, it was right before the Committee started meeting regularly and decisions were still being made about who else would be on the committee and who would chair it. I had delusions of being the Chair, but at this point I was in the middle of papers and exams and teaching and other draining, busy tasks, so I wised up and said, “NO. I cannot handle ONE more thing!” Of course, I felt horrible about resigning, even though those involved understood. Now, I am so relieved to not have another slate of meetings on my plate for the next 6 months.

There’s some lingering drama about whether I’ll be able to afford to take another class this semester. Don’t classes start today? Yes. Didn’t I already buy the book for my Social Psychology class? Yes. I am hoping upon hope something works out . . . which probably means it won’t, but I have to hope.

What else? I had a very lovely holiday. It was odd because Mr. Random went out to California to visit his family, but I remained alone in the DC area. I was much too worn out to want to spend two weeks visiting in-laws – my brain was simply fried and I just wished to revel in peace and quiet for a while. (Oh, by the way, Random Cat is much slimmer now than when she started on the “cat-kins” diet. However, she now acts as if she is starving all of the time and will take any opportunity to steal food off of your plate or out of your hand.) I did get to spend a lot of time with my own family, since both of my sisters were home for the holidays. It was nice to just have the Maiden Name girls together for a while.

Activities are slowly starting to ramp up again. I miss the quiet and self-directed-ness of the holiday break. Now it’s back to school and teaching and work and figuring out what the heck I’m supposed to be doing in this world . . .

Just so you know, I got an “A-“ in my Money and Banking Econ class. I worked my fanny off, so I feel I truly earned that grade. I’m rather disappointed that class is over. I thoroughly enjoyed both the professor and the topic. I have to figure out how to do incorporate more of those subjects into my current state of being so I don’t lose the knowledge I gained . . .

To end for today:

On Saturday, my friend J told me a story - the kind of story that comes up when you’re taking about random stuff and usually contains some larger, obvious truth that when you hear it you think, “I need to remember that!” I am hoping I get the story correct – I think I have most of it.

Some time ago, J had watched a show where there was a hypnotist. One of the things the hypnotist did was hypnotize a guy who was led into a dressing room at the store. The whole thing was filmed. The hypnotists told the guy that the door to the dressing room would be locked and that he wouldn’t be able to get out. Now, in reality, the door was NOT locked at all, but the man THOUGHT it was. The camera filmed the guy trying to get out of the dressing room and thinking that he was locked in, just working himself into a frenzy trying to get out.

How many times do we put “locks” around things that aren’t there? How many times do we have doors open in front of us, but for one reason or another we psych ourselves out of moving forward due to some imagined boundary?

After J told me that, we both thought about opportunities we had in the past that might have turned out differently if we hadn’t thought “Well, I can’t do *that*!” How many opportunities do I have in front of me now that I’m not recognizing?

I believe this is a good question to constantly keep in the forefront of my mind as I move forward though the year. Who knows, it maybe a good question for you guys too?

Waving warmly . . .

Let's Go Down to the River

Today, at the church I attend, the pastor discussed baptism as the theme of this week. As part of the service, he showed a scene from "O Brother, Where Art Thou" where the three guys come upon the scene of a mass baptism and one of the gentlemen runs down to the river to be saved.

That scene has one of the most beautiful songs that I know of, Down in the River to Pray, which is sung by one of my favorite performers, Allison Krauss.

Here is a BBC video overlaid with her singing. It is very peaceful . . .



There was a video of her singing the song live with Robert Plant, but that version seems to have been filmed by someone in the 30th row of the concert hall, with people walking back and forth in front of the lens and other people screaming "WOOOOO!" at very inconvenient points . . .

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekends!

Momentary Rumination

Mr. Random was away for Christmas and New Year’s, visiting the Random family, and came back home yesterday afternoon. This meant that I had the whole Random condo to myself for almost two weeks.

Am I a horrible person for enjoying the quiet as much as I did? The Random Cat and I had a nice routine going each day – she woke me up in the morning, I fed her, I gathered the morning papers and read them while eating breakfast and monitoring the Today Show. Then I would either start cleaning or organizing something in the house until I either finished or got sick and tired of it, then I would take a shower and then run errands or read or watch TV or nap.

It was a very easy going existence which I am going to miss horribly next week when work and school and teaching start to fill up the schedule again . . .

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2009, everyone! I know we are all thankful that 2008 is finally over and are looking forward to all of the opportunities that this new year will bring to us. I know that I certainly am . . .

I wasn’t going to have any resolutions for this year and just try to see how things unfold, but when I think about it further there are a few goals that I have for this year:

• Continue to see plays
• Continue to be adventurous
• Use my passport at least once – whether it is for a quick weekend in a Canadian city or to finally make it to London
• Continue to have a sense of humor about what life throws at me
• Continue taking college classes
• Continue to spend time with people I care about
• Find ways to best use my talents and gifts to help others

In other words, I’d like to continue on the path I’ve started and see where it leads. Even though I’ve been super busy this year, there are many experiences that I can point to that I am very proud to have had. I do want to try to write more on the blog this year, and I will do my best, but I’m hoping that will become a natural function of things that are already going on in my life.

Notice that I didn’t say “lose weight” or “find a new job” or anything that specific. I’m just hoping that finding my own groove will make me improve in other areas.

I’m wishing that everyone finds their own “groove” this year! I’m looking forward to hearing more about your experiences and thoughts and also sharing my own with you all. Happy 2009!