Ring in the New

Hello there, Blogland. I have been lurking and reading and spying on all of you, but I have not had the gumption to write anything (obviously). It's the usual excuse, so I won't bore you. But it's a drippy rainy day, and I don't have any work to do for the first time in weeks and weeks. So I got up, made breakfast, took The Dog for a walk, and am enjoying a leisurely morning. Next up ... yoga at the Y (I think they'll still let me in, even though they haven't seen me in ages).

No one was out this morning on the trails, the sun was reflecting off the clouds on the far horizon, and everything in the woods smelled wet and kind of musty and very earthy. It was heavenly. There was even a hint of mint, bay leaves, and perhaps pipe tobacco wafting through the air. (Listen to me ... I sound like some kind outdoors sommelier or something.) It's just been so long since there has been anything but dust in my nose, that I wanted to savor every smell. Even The Dog was sniffing everything way more than normal. It was a good morning. Aaaah!

I'm not one for resolutions, but this time of year I always make plans. I don't think it has so much to do with the end of one year and the start of another. I think it has more to do with the fact that it has been two months of craziness ... too much time at my computer, way too much food, no time to just sit and chill and reflect. But once HalloThanksChrisBoxUkah season finally ends, I feel like I finally have some time to breathe and think about how I want things to be a little different. Like taking The Dog for these morning walks. It takes all of an hour, he and I both feel better, and it's good for us. Which all beg the question, why the heck don't I do that every day of the year?

So these are my non-resolution resolutions:

• Get up and get out...whether it's first thing in the morning, a midafternoon break, or an after-dinner amble through the neighborhood

• Just do it...that little original motto of ours worked GREAT back in September, but we have drifted back into our old ways. The dishes wait until the next day, the laundry piles up, the QuickBooks lies untouched for months (eek). Time to get our Nike butts back in gear.

• Just breathe...The past few weeks, I've been working and cooking and working and hosting back-to-back-to-back gatherings and working and stressing about everything, and I find myself not inhaling or exhaling and just holding it all in my throat. I can feel it in my shoulders, head, neck, back. Ridiculous! So I just need to remember to breathe.

• Get some perspective ... I've been having little breakdowns over stupid little things lately and taking most of my stress out on poor Mr. J, who is constantly reminding me that these are not problems and certainly nothing to argue, stress out, or obsess over. So, back to the P word. Perspective, perspective, perspective.

• Maybe, just maybe ... write more ... Maybe if I were here or in my journal or anywhere getting these stupid little stresses out of my head, I would be able to just breathe, just do it, just keep sane. So perhaps you'll be seeing more of me.

But no promises!

Here's to the New Year. May the Mayans be wrong!

More Life and Stuff

I need to be true to my Blogger name. Last night, lying in bed, I had a great blog post all composed in my head ... right around midnight. But I was in bed, and my computer was down here, and now all is lost. So instead, I'll just ramble.

My little experiment in attitude adjustment got off to a rough start. After declaring all my good intentions online, I promptly returned to the real world and became a right pain in the arse. I am totally blaming it on sinus infections and PMS. Not a pretty combination. But when Mr. J confronted me and told me in no uncertain terms that I was being a horrible, nasty sourpuss, I finally came to my senses (antibiotics and loads of Advil helped, too), and I have been on the right track ever since.

In my defense, two other factors came into play as well.

Factor #1: I was getting completely stressed about the fact that I wasn't getting any work, not even from the guy who usually keeps me pretty regularly set with jobs. But it turned out I am a lamebrain (surprise, surprise) and simply forgot to update my calendar indicating how many hours I had available. Hmm, it seems that when you tell someone that you have no hours available, they won't send you any work. Go figure. So now I am inundated with thrilling topics like "Food for All People in Yemen" and "Choices of Coping Strategies." I'll take what I can get, believe me!

Factor #2 is the successful (so far) employment of Mr. J as a polysomnograph tech. A friend of ours is a sleep doctor (probably the cushiest doctor job ever) and offered Mr. J the job. It's not his dream job, but these days beggars can't be choosers. All I know, is that extra cash is going to help me sleep better at night!

So life is good and looking better all the time.

And now for today's look-on-the-bright-side event:

Came home from breakfast with friends to find that the overly loving, totally obnoxious dog we are watching jumped on my work table, knocked over a bottle of water (which I should have closed securely, or better yet, put back in the fridge), and spilled water all over (please, God, let the scanner and external hard drive be OK). After a lot of cursing and swearing, I wiped it all up, put away all the extra junk that had been accumulating on my little table, and even filed the stack of bills and receipts that I have been collecting for the past 3+ months. So, as long as nothing was permanently damaged, I am thrilled to finally have my workspace looking all adult and tidy and organized. So thanks, Ms. Roxie, for being so incredibly annoying!

I hope your day is equally bright-sidey!

Life and Stuff

I think there is a cosmic message out there, trying to get through to me. Blogs I read, posts on Facebook I see, movies I watch, and books I read all seem to have a theme of live life and enjoy. There is all sorts of crazy crap going on in this little world of ours. It's downright overwhelming, not to mention frightening. And it is so easy to get caught up in it all and to feel weighted down with woes of "How will we ever get through all this?"

But thanks to that cosmic message (plus a little pushing and prodding from Mr. J), I am slowly beginning to remember that there isn't much I can do about anything on a global scale.

What I can do is live the best life possible in my own little world and hope that it has the butterfly effect on those around me, which in turn works on those around them, and slowly makes its way around the world.

Of course, not having CNN or Fox or MSNBC in the house makes this goal all the more realizable.

So after my brief relapse into whining and moaning, courtesy of Las Vegas Airport, I am back to working on my don't-sweat-the-small-stuff attitude and my "look for the good things in everyday life" goal.

Today's good things so far: Walking with Mr. J and The Dog downtown to grab a 99-cent cafe au lait from Cafe de Paris; checking the PO box to find a check (yay!); running into a neighbor and chatting about river trips for 15 minutes, while our dogs lazed about in the shade; meeting another neighbor and getting lupine and spinach seedlings from her garden, as well as some basil starts; doing a walkabout through our own yard, planning where to plant the seedlings and what other things we want to do this weekend.

All in all, not a bad start to a Thursday!