change

Little did I know when I picked the word Change to be my one little word of 2011 that change would be on a large scale. I was thinking weight, change of attitude, change of decor but NO I instead get a change of location on a grander scale. The move is on. Last Sunday at the airport we signed the papers on the house in Texas. This Sunday we signed the moving company papers. This is happening amazingly quick. 38 days from today I will be leaving the home, neighborhood, friends and state that I have called home for the past 4 years. I know the time here was not near as long as the last time I uprooted but I still have come to be connected here. The good thing about doing this quickly is that you don't have time to wallow; you are just too busy. Now, off to sort something.

It's a really cold gray day here. One of those days that chills all the way to the bone. So to warm things up, I have decided on my word for the year. I am following the lead of some other bloggers and planners in choosing a word. This word will be one that I will fall back on and move toward for the coming year. It took several days for me to choose one. I kept coming up with great words but they just didn't seem right. The word I finally settled on was: change. Change in health, eating habits, exercise, attitude, work habits, and on and on. An action word for 2011. I have started this change by completing the first 2 weeks of South Beach so the march is on. I will continue this with some accountability goals/deadlines in the next few weeks. The first goal is to be 15 pounds lighter by March 3. This will precipitate a change in exercise habits!! So on we go... "You will never change your life unless you change something you do daily." -John Maxwell, Today Matters

Over the past year or so, I have started referring to Tuesday as the armpit of the week. The armpit is an unattractive, smelly unpleasant necessity. So is a Tuesday. It holds the week in check but...
Mondays are a pleasure for me not a dread. It is a new start to an unblemished week. The kids in my classes are normally tired and rather subdued on Monday which makes it easier on the teacher. Wednesdays are "hump day". You know you can make to the weekend if you get through Wed. for after all, Thursday is really Friday eve. Then the day we all look forward to: Friday!!! The wonderful end and beginning all in one. The end of work for a couple of days and the beginning of the wonderful "free" time. ( I will discuss the "free" time of weekends during another post!)

So you see Tuesday has no real merit. It just stinks things up. I need to find a new way to think of Tuesdays so that it can be more fragrant in my life.

Sundays are such a challenge for me. I long for a day to do nothing except read or craft and yet I feel so guilty not accomplishing all those things I should have already done. So normally I get some things done but I end up being very grumpy at not being able to just rest/relax.
If I would be more proactive during the week I might be able to achieve my goal of a guilt free Sunday. The problem is, of course, that the normal to do things crop up during the week. Thus I end up doggy paddling my way through the week to keep my head above water.

Teaching is not a career that you leave at work. There are papers to grade, plans to make and resources to find. I am not complaining because I love what I do but I wish I could use my time more wisely so that family time was family time without that nagging feeling that I should be doing work.
Enough with the whining. Time to make things happen so that the weekend next week is what I want. Wishing won't make it happen. I need a plan.

Low key Saturdays

Here we are on Saturday morning with the sun having appeared from behind the snow clouds. Yes the snow did materialize but only about half an inch. It started in the early morning hours and was beautiful coming down. (Because I knew it wouldn't keep us housebound). We headed out for some of our weekend errands and had no problems. The afternoon has been spent sitting by the fire reading, stitching, and making a grocery list while Matt builds with the Legos on the dining table.
We are very lucky to have time to recharge.

snow, no snow, a little snow...

Friday was a strange one around here. I got up in the middle of the night (around 3) to check for snow. But there was nothing. So... I prepared myself for a normal Friday but... as I woke up at 5:20 I switched over to our county tv channel and was amazed to see a 2 hour delay listed. As I crawled out of bed to see the snow piles I was amazed the on my back deck was barely any snow. You could still see the decking through the snow. The driveway was barely covered. So I reaped the benefits of teaching in a very geographically diverse and large county. It seems other parts got almost an inch. Starting school at 11 is very nice indeed.
After school Matt took me to Starbucks for my first cup from there in a week. (score for SouthBeach phase 1). We headed home and had a low key night at home anticipating more snow on Saturday. Would it come or not???

To have a resolution or not?

What is a resolution? Something to accomplish like a project or a change of mindset like eating better or is it a choice? I definitely want to accomplish some things this year ( but I always want to do this, not just when the new year begins). I am changing my mindset by keeping healthy foods available for eating but wait, isn't that a choice,too?
Evidently a resolution covers many areas. So this year I resolve to accomplish things by making the choice of changing my mindset. So there. I covered it all.

end of the year or start of the new year

This reminds me of the question, "Is the glass half empty or half full?" No matter how you look at this day of the year, it causes reflection and anticipation. Did I do the best job I could in managing 2010? What will 2011 bring? What changes need to be made? All of these questions beg to be answered and yet we don't want to answer them. Why not? Because we are afraid of the honesty it takes within us. As the year dawns upon us, may we strive to be honest enough to confront the things that need to be changed, content enough to enjoy those things that are working and proactive enough to know the difference!