Taking Stock: Bridging 2017 to 2018

Happiest of New Years to you! We celebrated like rockstars last night by eating some fresh chocolate chip cookies and then each retreating to our own bedrooms to ring in the New Year our own way. Exciting, I know.

My buddy Cheryl posted her Taking Stock list from the list she got from Meet Me at Mike's. Seemed like a cool way to start the year.

Making: Very little progress in getting out of bed this morning. It's 60 degrees in my bedroom with two heaters running!

Cooking: Today is meal prep day for the next couple of weeks. I'm going to be making Fixate recipes of Macaroni and Cheese with broccoli and chicken and Stuffed Peppers. I'm also going to make homemade chicken stock with the carcasses from two rotisserie chickens we had for dinner last night and prepare all of my proteins for our meals the next couple of weeks. Busy day ahead!

Drinking: Right now I am sipping my coffee.

Reading: Just finished Kristin Hannah's Summer Island and am going to start a new book today. I am thinking Miss Julia Speaks her Mind by Ann B. Ross.

Trawling: I had to look up what this word means. It means "sift through as part of a search". It's a burning away of the chaff or peeling the layers of the onion kind of thing. I am allowing myself some time to dig to the core of who I am, embrace it, and celebrate it. I am ME, not who anybody else thinks I should be. Finding ME and then actually being ME is taking a huge priority in my life right now.

Wanting: A year of order and simplicity. Peace. Joy. Smiles. Family.

Looking: forward to this new year. I just feel that it's going to be a great one! I have intention for it to be so.

Deciding: One of my goals for this year is to make local family relationships stronger, to be more active in my family.

Wishing: More than anything I want my children to experience love and positive growth in their lives this year.

Enjoying: Now that I work part-time every day and keep Bennett each afternoon and run Brynne to and from public school activities and homeschool Eli and try to be a help to my adult children, I really realize the importance of days off with nothing on the agenda. There is always so much to do ... cleaning house, laundry, organizing, planning. But mixed in there is also a deep need for rest and quiet. These holidays I have really enjoyed my days off, more than I ever have before. They are precious.

Waiting: I am tired of always waiting. You? Seize the day!

Liking: I have set up a health plan for myself this year that I really like. It requires a great deal of dedication and commitment, but if I'm not healthy I can't do anything else. I want to be around for a long, long, long time. But not just around. And certainly not a burden. I want to a be active and alive and happy and involved. I want to enjoy this last half of my life with equal doses of giving to myself and to others. I like my current plan.

Wondering: I do not spend a lot of time in the state of wonder. I guess I try to live in the now. But I do wonder where Dawson will get stationed once he is out of basic training and AIT. Where will I get to visit?

Loving: There is nothing more exciting than the promise of a new year. I love the giddiness I feel and the energy to get it going!

Pondering: The worst things in life lead to the best things when we look forward instead of behind.

Listening: I am not a good listener. I am a thinker, a talker, a doer. I want to spend more time listening to my family this year, and not just to their words but to their hearts.

Considering: Becoming a Beachbody Coach. Being a health and wellness coach of some kind, especially for us "older" ladies, has been a goal of mine for quite some time. After using the Beachbody workout programs for a few years and now adding Shakeology and Energize into my daily routine (believe me, I didn't want to like them because they have a cost to them), I have felt such great results that I think that being a Beachbody Coach would be a great starting point.

Buying: I am hoping to get my new car in the next couple of weeks! I have had my Suburban as long as I have had Brynne. The Burb is showing signs of her age and needs to go into retirement, only traveling on leisure trips with the family. She needs a physical and some vitamins, maybe a massage for all her years of service. It's time to replace her with something newer, smaller, and more economical.

Watching: I am going to get caught up on Game of Thrones seasons 6 and 7. I have them recorded on my DVR from HBO and am ready to dig in. Then I'm headed to Amazon Prime to finish up all unwatched episodes of The Crown and then to Netflix to go back and watch episodes of Call the Midwife I have missed.

Hoping: for health, prosperity, and wisdom to handle them both.

Marvelling: I am so blessed with my children, son-in-law, and grandson. How did someone like me end up with such great people in my life?

Cringing: Every time I hear someone, especially the media, call our President "Trump", I bristle. Even past presidents still have the title of President added to their name when they are mentioned, i.e. President Carter, President Roosevelt, even President Nixon! He is not "Trump", you jackasses. He is President Trump. The level of disrespect being allowed in this country makes my stomach turn. You don't have to like him, but you have to respect him for his position.

Needing: To climb out of bed and get another cup of coffee, but brrrrrr ......

Questioning: One thing that is eluding me right now is a practical way to make sure I get enough one-on-one time with Eli in his schooling. He assures me he is doing great with independent work, but I feel like we (or maybe I) and just missing out. There is definitely some tweaking that needs to be done, but I don't know what.

Smelling: Nature's Shield in my diffuser next to my bed.

Wearing: My t-shirt that says Cheers and my Christmas Eve plaid pj bottoms.

Noticing: That I am a cat lady. These kittens make me feel so calm. Dogs cause me anxiety with all of their neediness. But cats? Love.

Knowing: I know that I am thought of by most people as being a bitch. And, you know, I think I just am. I just have such a low tolerance for people and their people-y ways. Maybe it doesn't bother me so much that people are people, but that people want to be people in my space. Back off! Go be your rotten self somewhere else. I am a selfish person, but I keep my selfishness to myself. Take yours away from me! And shut up about it!

Trouble-shooting: One problem with being a working mom is that I really cannot do it all at home by myself. I have enlisted the help of Eli and Brynne in running the household. I do not require much of them because I want them to be kids as long as they can. But, we have started a set of chores each of them have to do each day/week. They are now responsible for doing their own laundry, keeping their individual sinks clean in their bathroom, cleaning their rooms from top to bottom once a week. Eli is additionally responsible for taking out the trash and recycling. And Brynne is responsible for keeping the kitty litter box cleaned and unloading the dishwasher.

Thinking: Two entries above I talked about how I am a bitch and have low tolerance for people. But on the other hand I would do just about anything for anybody if they needed me. How is it possible to be that same person? I guess the answer is love. I do have an incredible amount of love within me and  act out that love in a certain way. And I will love you that way with my whole heart. My love fades when you become entitled to my love and want it in your way. Maybe that doesn't make sense to anybody but me. But it's something I am thinking about.

Admiring: There's just not much to admire these days, is there? But we have to search! We have to aspire to admire or we are just lost and hopeless.

Getting: I am joining Michele at Faith, Family and Fridays on her 34 Weeks of Clean journey this year. I have started it in years past but then just didn't do it. But this year?? I have already started doing some purging and organizing and cleaning so I feel like I have upward momentum. I am committed this year. COMMITTED! First up is going through Christmas decorations. I will do these tasks on Saturdays, and next Saturday is Christmas decorations purging day. It's on my calendar!

Bookmarking: Have you read Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh or What Happens When Women Say Yes to God by Lysa TerKuerst? Those are my two go to read-every-year books. They ground me and guide me in practicalities of being a woman.

Opening: A New Year.

Closing: Last Year. Don't let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya!

Feeling: Sad that today is my last day off work before I have to get back into the daily grind again.

Dreaming: In the next couple of years I would like to go on a tropical vacation, maybe a cruise. I want to go as a woman, not a wife or mother and not have anyone have any expectations from me on the trip.

Hearing: In our house heaters are humming in every room. It's ridiculously cold outside.

Celebrating: Almost a full year of regularly working out in the mornings. I officially started February of 2017. I usually go pretty strong in the fall and then stop especially when it gets cold outside and not start up again until I realize again in about February how crappy I am feeling. This will be the first year ever, I think, that I will have continued for a full year. I feel better right now physically and mentally than I ever have in my life. And it KNOW it's due to regular workouts and good nutrition.

Pretending: That my grandma did not just call me and leave a message for me to call her back because I know she is going to want me to get out of the house and do something for her and it's -7 degrees outside (feels like -22) and I have a day planned of not leaving this house. (Thankfully my sister took care of her calls.)

Embracing: A new year of developing me into the me I want to be. Esse Quam Videri!