Menu Night

In an effort to make my life easier, I have begun meal-planning. And not just for a week. Once a month, I plan it out. I use a free excel template. http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/meal-planner.html

I am able to look at what we have going on for the month and plan accordingly. I have also been able to start tweaking our diet. We’re moving away from so much red meat and toward more fish. I love that I can always answer the question “What’s for dinner?”

The fun of this, besides saving my sanity and money, has become what used to be leftover night. It is now Menu Night. I look in the refrigerator and then write out a menu with the choices. Julie gets a big kick out of eating out at home. I have so much fun playing waitress. Mark, well, I think he long ago realized that I am bit nuts.

Because of our schedule, Menu Night is usually Tuesdays. We clean out the fridge and no one has to cook. It is a fun night out, staying at home.

Menu Night is a simple thing that brings joy. I hope that you are able to find something simple to bring you joy today.

Sue's Birthday

One of my sisters birthday is today.

I admire her very much. She lives her life in a way that truly reflects her values and desires.

She has not been afraid to make mistakes.

Me? Well, I am stuck in safe mode. Most of us are. It is easier to stay in the rut than it is to forge our own paths. We are taught habits early on. Some are very good. I brush my teeth every morning and every night. It is ingrained. Some are not so good. I have struggled for years to stop biting my nails. Some habits are down-right bad. I have eaten my way to obesity and my health suffers for it. Some habits are deadly. People who smoke start out saying they can quit anytime. Unfortunately, it is not just a bad habit, but it is an addiction.

How do I obtain courage of my convictions? What motivates my sister to forge her own path instead of compromising herself and taking the easy way? Her desire to be true to herself shines through.

I let fear stand in my way. The world will not crash if I decide to forge my path. I know this. Yet, I know my rut better

Happy Birthday Sue! I hope to be more like you.

Gloves

Gloves are a good gift. Several years ago, my sister gave me a pair of warm and practical and beautiful gloves. I enjoyed them every winter. Until this past Saturday when events transpired that caused one to be lost forever. Today, the puppy destroyed the remaining glove.

Of course, it snowed yesterday and it was rather cold wiping off the car this morning with no gloves. How does being cold build character? Calvin’s dad (of Calvin and Hobbes fame) was fond of saying that being cold or wet or dealing with an unpleasant situation would build character. Calvin never quite believed him.

In my current gloveless state, I am inclined to agree with Calvin, not his dad. Being prepared is much better. Which is why I am buying 2 pairs of gloves. So I will have a back up. And I’ll never be in this situation again.

Being cold just makes me miserable. Being around someone miserable is not fun. I suppose if you can find a way to be pleasant in a miserable situation, then you would have shown yourself how to build character. Most people don’t do that.

I am watching the Winter Olympics. These athletes have character. How’d they get it? By having a dream, making a plan, and working hard. Not by be stuck outside in the cold with no gloves.

It has been more than a month since I made my New Year’s resolutions. My dream of making myself into a better person. My plans to be more organized and lose weight are in place and I am working toward those goals. I still need to work on my plans to yell less, watch less TV, spend less, save more, and stop procrastinating so much.

So I will build my character by not being miserable. I will keep you updated on how my resolutions are going. I will help my daughter and my husband build their characters by encouraging them to reach for their dreams.

And if you are miserable, try a pair of gloves. They may help. :)

Voting

A co-worker of mine was commenting about the energy at the polls yesterday. How exciting it was to see such a high voter turnout despite the snow and rain. She mentioned a little old lady who remarked that she was voting because she knew her vote was going to count this time.

I have a problem with that comment.

I believe that EVERY vote counts EVERY time.

Not just in special elections. Not just in close races.

I am happy for a high voter turnout, but that shouldn’t be newsworthy. Every race deserves a high voter turnout.

It is a privilege to vote. It is our civic duty. It is our right.

We honor those who died for our rights when we vote.

There are 4.1 million eligible voters in the state of Massachusetts. 2.2 million voted on Tuesday. Just over half the eligible voters. What happened to the other 1.9 million?

The official results:

Brown (GOP)
52%
1,168,107 votes

Coakley (Dem.)
47%
1,058,682 votes

Kennedy (Lib.)
1%
22,237 votes

Senator-elect Brown, 48% of the voters who bothered to vote did NOT vote for you.

We will be watching what you say and do.

New Year's Resolutions

Too quickly my tomorrows turn into my yesterdays. Which is why they say never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

Sometimes ‘they’ are right.

I am sitting here putting off doing things that I need to do and thinking about the upcoming year. 2010 seemed so far away once upon a time. The flying car is getting closer to reality. http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/30/smallbusiness/flying_cars/index.htm

So what shall I resolve for 2010?

USA.gov has a list of the most popular New Year’s Resolutions. http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/New_Years_Resolutions.shtml

Parent Center has given a good list of possible New Year’s Resolutions. http://www.babycenter.com/0_new-years-parenting-resolutions_67169.bc?scid=bigkid_20091229:2&pe=eZ2LE2

The FLY Lady made 2 New Year’s Resolutions several years back that not only changed her life, but that changed the lives of thousands of those who follow her. http://flylady.net/pages/column4909.asp

All of these suggestions are good. Most are completely applicable to my life. (I don’t smoke, so I don’t need to quit.)

Many, many years of breaking resolutions leads me to wonder ‘why resolve anything’? The optimist in me believes that I can change into a better person. And as a creature of habit, I hereby resolve to be a better person in 2010; to be more organized, lose weight, yell less, watch less TV, spend less, save more, and stop procrastinating so much.

Wish me luck!

Not Ready

So today is Wednesday and I don’t have a blog ready. I’ve 3 or 4 in process, but they aren’t polished to my satisfaction.

I am not ready for many things.

I am not ready for my darling daughter to be 7 already. She was just born!!!

I am not ready to have been out of high school for 20 years. I just graduated, didn’t I?

I am not ready for Christmas to be coming.

I look around and feel like so much is passing me by.

How do I stop time?

Of course, life has a way of making me slow down. Now that I feel I should be speeding up, gearing up for Christmas, my back got wrenched on Monday and the pain is forcing me to slow down. So the Thanksgiving decorations may be up a little longer. And my to-do list is going to have to wait.

Maybe it is what I need. Life is giving me the chance to wrap my mind around the 20 years that have gone by in a flash. And the 7 years that have taken just a millisecond.

Now where is that ice-pack?

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. A day set aside to be grateful for all that we have. Not that we can’t be grateful on any other day, but we really need to be reminded of what we take for granted.

We take our lives for granted.

We take our freedoms for granted.

We take our loved ones for granted.

>Warning – about to delve into Brenda’s mind – this ain’t going to be a Hallmark Thanksgiving Blog<

There is a song called ‘Who Says’ by John Mayer. The first line goes “Who says I can’t get stoned?” When I heard it for the first time, I thought, “When did the term ‘get stoned’ go from being stoned to death to getting high?”

A quick Google search of stoned to death reveals the following:

Nov. 17, 2009 Islamist rebels publicly stoned a woman, Haliimo Ibraahim Abdurrahman, 29, to death and flogged a man 100 times for alleged adultery in southern Somalia.

November 6, 2009 Islamists in southern Somalia have stoned a man to death for adultery but spared his pregnant girlfriend until she gives birth. Abas Hussein Abdirahman, 33, was killed in front of a crowd of some 300 people in the port town of Merka. An official from the al-Shabab group said the woman would be killed after she has had her baby.

Oct. 27, 2008 Mogadishu, Somalia - A 13-year-old girl who said she had been raped was stoned to death in Somalia after being accused of adultery by Islamic militants, a human rights group said. Dozens of men stoned Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow to death Oct. 27 in a stadium packed with 1,000 spectators in the southern port city of Kismayo.

Note the dates.

This is happening in our world.

This is happening now.

Tomorrow, when you are feasting, take a moment to remember Haliimo Ibraahim Abdurrahman, Abas Hussein Abdirahman, and Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow.

Don’t take your life for granted.

Don’t take your freedoms for granted.

Don’t take your loved ones for granted.

Go to http://www.stop-stoning.org/node/7 and see what you can do to stop this human rights abuse.

"As long as anyone is deprived of their human rights, none of us can be free." - Harriet Wacks