What Dear Abby has to say and some resolutions-lite.

Happy 2013 to you!
I've done quite a bit of resting and ruminating today {still getting over that cough...} and I have my "101 in 1,001" post all ready for you but thought I'd copy Dear Abby's New Year's Resolutions because I read them in the paper this morning and I liked them {yes, I happily read Dear Abby, Miss Manners, Heloise, I enjoy the Jumble, and I'm looking forward to our retirement condo in Palm Beach}.

And even though I have this monster list of concrete-I'll-do-betters lurking around the corner I still have some other not-so-measurable urges swirling around in my mind so I'll get those guys written down here for posterity's sake.

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Dear Abby's New Year Resolution; adapted by Pauline Phillips from the original credo of Alcoholics-Anonymous.

Just for today, I will live through this day only. I will not brood about yesterday or obsess about tomorrow. I will not set far-reaching goals or try to overcome all of my problems at once.

I know that I can do something for 24 hours that would overwhelm me if I had to keep it up for a lifetime.

Just for today, I will be happy. I will not dwell on thoughts that depress me. If my mind fills with clouds, I will chase them away and fill it in with sunshine.

Just for today, I will accept what is. I will face reality. I will correct those things that I can correct and accept those I cannot.

Just for today, I will improve my mind. I will read something that requires effort, though and concentration. I will not be a mental loafer.

Just for today, I will make a conscious effort to be agreeable. I will be kind and courteous to those who cross my path, and I'll not speak ill of others. I will improve my appearance, speak softly, and not interrupt when someone else is talking. Just for today, I will refrain from improving anybody but myself.

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Natty's thoughts for 2013; these are mostly goals that I'd like to hit for the month of January with the idea that with four weeks under my belt, some of these will have turned into a habit that continues...forever! into the following weeks {a month is a lot easier to tackle than the rest-of-time}.

1. Cut down on internet time. Allow an hour a day. If it's work-search related, then it's unlimited time, but aimless internet trolling is going to be down to an hour. I did this for Lent last year {I think I did!} and I would actually time myself with my phone timer so I'll be doing that again. I can easily spend many minutes online looking at blogs and recipes and "news" and I think that I can spend my time better than this. I also think that staring at an electronics' screen isn't good for my eyes or my serotonin {or something -tonin} levels.

2. Be in bed by 9:45 PM and up and dressed before 8 AM. I can read once I'm in bed, but I need to be in PJs and under covers before 9:45 PM. I can also be lounging and drinking coffee all morning {if I choose!} but teeth must be brushed, contacts put in, and clean clothing {that is not sleep/lounge-wear} must be worn after 8 AM.

3. Make five to ten minutes of quiet time for myself each day. No phone checking, no computer, no TV, no reading - just thinking. A timer will be involved as well.

4. Eat a vegetable with dinner each night.

5. Make our bed each morning. This does not require new or clean sheets {talk about a waste of water that would be!} but that the covers are pulled up and smoothed and that the pillows are fluffed.

6. Be a better listener. I can't begin to quantify how I can measure this but it is something that weighs on me each time I have a conversation with a friend or loved one. I'd like to come up with a reminder for each time I find myself listening to someone...what could I do?

7. Put reminders into my calendar so that they pop up on my phone. These would be reminders for calling people, dog walking, planning dinner, etc.. I also would like to clean up my calendars because I have a lot of random things programmed into my phone.

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Have you made any resolutions this year Reader? Are you refraining from making goals? Did you have a joyous celebration last night? Do you have any New Year's traditions?
 
xoxo, natty ♥

2012; a Year in Review.

I'm enjoying some high-octane cough syrup and a Z-pack and thinking about the year behind us. I could drone on, I'm sure, but I'd like to list my top 12 2012 moments/events/things {a blurb for each month!}. 

I've also been thinking ahead. My poor 101 in 1'001 has been languishing since, oh, June {?}, I believe. In hindsight, maybe I should have thought a bit more before compiling that list. When I wrote it last December I full well knew that we were on the verge of some pretty hefty life changes {job quitting, moving across the country, living in a new city...} but I took none of that into consideration and came up with my 101 as if we were going to continue living and working in San Jose, CA.

With that being said, I'm giving myself a pass. This pass is a chance to re-write my list and start over with the caveat that I realistically consider what our life looks like now and will look like in the next 1,001 days {September 28, 2015 FYI}.

For today, and to spare you from volumes of blog-post reading, I'll stick with my 2012 Top 12.

In calendar order.

January

After driving home from an Arizona Christmas and New Years we spent our first month in our new apartment as husband and wife.

I celebrated a birthday. I started making wreaths. We cooked {tortilla soup!} and ate out and just enjoyed being together.

February

Our first Valentine's Day as a married couple saw us to the beach for a winter's day visit. I made heart decorations for our apartment using my mother-in-law's old sewing machine. 

We also ate crab, polenta, and celebrated Mardis Gras.


March

I enjoyed my last Spirit Week {check it out each day} at school, dressed to the nines to coordinate with the five themes, and it all culminated with making my first diaper cake for a coworker's baby shower {it was non-edible}. We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a meaty and salty feast, went to Arizona to learn about hummingbirds and Spring Training, and then returned to California to get ready for Easter. 

Michael enjoyed a birthday.

April

I graded a lot, we celebrated several birthdays, enjoyed Easter egg coloring, visited the east coast {!}, and cooked a lot. 

We started enjoying some farmer's market finds and began to think about a cross-country move.

May

Michael decided where he'd like to go to school {and where we'd be living for the next two years!!!}: Washington, DC! 

I wrapped up my last school year, we celebrated several graduations, I made another diaper cake {still inedible!}, and we continued prepping for a Big Move.

June

We made the final preparations to move out of our apartment which included selling off all that we could and shipping the rest to DC. 

I began my last teaching stint with a summer school class, we CLEANED with the kind help of my mother, and got ready to say our goodbyes.

July

We celebrated my cousin John's graduation with a fun trip to San Diego before coming back to the Bay Area and officially setting sail. 

We camped for two nights, spent a night in Portland, Oregon, enjoyed a wonderful week in Home, Washington, and then trekked our way across the northern swath of our country to arrive at our new home in Washington, DC. The best part of our journey was being able to visit with dear friends along the way {St. Paul, Chicago, and Hershey : we ♥ you!}.

August

We got settled in DC. Mike began his career as a graduate student and I tried to get us moved into the amazing apartment that we now call home. 

I confirmed a job that would start in September.

September

We celebrated our first anniversary! Mike and I continued to get settled into our new city and got to know our neighborhood and new friends.

My mom visited us for two weeks in which she helped us SO much by cleaning and cooking for her two busy hosts. The Franciscan Monks blessed Guinness in honor of St. Francis and his feast day.

October

We drove up to New York to visit my cousin John at Elmira College; the leaves were beautiful the further north we got! The days got shorter and Hurricane Sandy brought several days of strong wind and rain to DC, though nothing like what New York and New Jersey saw. I signed us up for a CSA.

The Giants won the World Series!!!! And we hosted a fun pumpkin carving party that even included prizes. 

November

For such a short month we did quite a lot! We visited with friends, cooked a great deal of root vegetables {thanks CSA!} and enjoyed time at home. Family came into town for the week of Thanksgiving and we cooked {most of the meal} and hosted our first Thanksgiving!!! We all rolled ourselves to bed that night feeling very content and grateful for good food and even better family and friends.

I wrapped up my job and began to look ahead to teaching again; even though I thoroughly enjoyed my first few weeks without grading, in late September I started to think about how much I miss the daily engagement and interaction of being a teacher and that getting back into that classroom is where I'm drawn to.

December 

I continued running and cooking in DC. I also continued looking for teaching opportunities that might crop up in the latter half of the 2012-2013 school year {few and far in between}. We went out with friends and enjoyed being in the city leading up to Christmas. The tragedy at Sandy Hook happened and I, as well as many others I imagine, am still working through it. I think with the holidays happening directly after the shootings, my mind was occupied and that the next few post-Christmas/New Years weeks and days will bring me some time to think this over.

We arranged for Guinness to have a helpful friend/guardian/apartment-sitter for our time away; the dog was unimpressed. I got to San Jose before Michael joined me and then we trekked to Gilbert, Arizona, to enjoy the rest of the holidays with family.


Dear 2013 : I am ready and excited for you and what you have to bring, both the good and bad since without darkness there cannot be light {but I'm mostly looking forward to the GOOD!}.


May you all out there know that I am sincerely thankful that you are in my life {even if you're an internet lurker and I don't know you [Hi!]} and I THANK you for being a part of my journey. A Happy and Healthy 2013 to each and every one of you!
xoxo, natty ♥

Things to do when ill.

I'm pretty lucky {in many ways!} and I don't get so sick very often. It's usually just a little sinus situation or maybe a small cold but it had been quite a while since I've been decommissioned like this.

It's a good thing, then, that I'm very fortunate enough to be visiting my lovely in-laws in Arizona and to have them taking care of me.

My mother-in-law was generous enough to take me to Wal-Mart to pick up a prescription. While we were there I saw a man wearing a bathrobe over his clothes and he was not being facetious.

I've been enjoying A LOT of couch time, tea, and broth. There's also some football and card gaming involved.

I think my favorite thing to do when sick is to nurse a mocktail of gatorade and sparkling water with an Oriental flavor ramen on the side but for some reason I've recently switched over to cold apple juice and we made a happy stop at Trader Joe's after our Wal-Mart experience to get me some of this magic juice. I also picked up some less-sodium-rich Annie Chuns noodle bowls to replace the Top Ramen.

What's your favorite feel-better technique? Have you been experiencing some winter woes yourself? If so, feel better {that's YOU Becs!}!!!

xoxo, natty ♥

Ouch.

Still coughing and aching over here.
Let's rally for New Year's, ok?
And let's look at something pleasant to make us feel better.

Just look at that precious creature!!! He's being well taken care of by friends in DC and I miss him something FIERCE.

That's better.
Good weekend to you!

xoxo, natty ♥

Oh what a relief it is?

I am SO ready for this little coughing adventure to be over with.

 

Until tomorrow, over and out.

xoxo, natty ♥ 

New kicks.

Santa brought me something that I really needed!!!

Now if I can throw this horrible hacking cough that developed over La Navidad and I'll be getting back on the saddle!

Did anything nice come your way these past few days? Did you bestow lovely gifts upon your loved ones?

xoxo, natty ♥

Busy days.

It's been a few full days for us and I haven't posted much but that's the sign of a good time :) I'll be back in the saddle soon I'm sure but for now were gladly ensconced in Arizona after a wonderful time with my family in California. We miss them already and are looking ahead to our next visit.
Michael's family is also spoiling us and its going to be a wonderful time here.
Happy Boxing Day to you and let us enjoy these next few indulgent days before January brings some healthier dietary habits.
xoxo, natty ♥ 

xoxo, natty ♥

The other best day of the week.

If you know me then you know that I love the crossword and the Jumble puzzles.

I especially love Mondays because the latter is easy-peasy!

What's good about today for you? Are you getting ready for tonight or tomorrow? Or are you all set and just waiting for things to start? Perhaps you don't observe this holiday and are just enjoying some clear roads?

xoxo, natty ♥

Sleepy.

A great Sunday night.

We celebrated Christmas early with some family here since we're heading down to Phoenix on DX-Day.

Then Michael got tired.

It was a fun night and we love our family so very much!

xoxo, natty ♥ 

Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Today we drove my grandmother and some of her friends the 45-or-so-minutes to Carmel for a funeral.

It POURED rain on the ride over and I am forever grateful to my husband for braving the roads. When we pulled into the parking lot of the mission the skies miraculously cleared up and we were greeted with what you see above. 

Carmel is a beautiful place and the mix of eucalyptus, ocean, and just-rained was an intoxicating scent. I'm glad we got a chance to get in this little drive, even if it was harrowing and for a sad purpose.

xoxo, natty ♥

Good solstice to you!

The shortest day of the year brought us very brooding skies; what has it done for you?

It also brought some shopping and eating; what else is there to do this time of year?

xoxo, natty ♥ 

Running out of room everywhere!

I had lunch with friends today!
Mike got home today!
We had Indian food at our place for the first time since July tonight!
Yea!
I guess I'm pretty easy to please. I'm also running out of storage on my phone? Oh well!!

xoxo, natty ♥ 

Grocery Outlet Bargain Market.

xoxo, natty ♥ 

Now that's what I call a vacation.

I've been home several days and I'm thoroughly enjoying some glorious downtime that has included both Monday AND Tuesday crossword puzzles as well as the Jumbles.

What do you do to enjoy some easy time off? Does it also involve newspaper puzzles or are you a bit more virtuous and do you get out and about?

xoxo, natty ♥

Sneaky sneaky.

I still haven't upped my Google/Blogger storage capacity but I HAVE figured out that I can post pictures straight from my phone to a blog post without being denied.

Score one for me.

Me & Bo.

In other news...

1} I'm safely ensconced in the Bay Area. On Saturday I flew Virgin America for the first time and it was a lovely flying experience. Granted, it wasn't a full flight so there was an empty seat next to me and I had an aisle seat {thanks sweetie!} but I legitimately loathe air travel and the extra space {non-airline-related} paired with my own personal TV that had lots of free things {Portlandia!} to watch {very-airline-related} made for a Happy Me.

2} I got to see some former coworkers today.

3} I got in a good five mile run today after a few days off for travel and overeating. I'll need to keep this up considering that the heavy holiday gastronomic indulgences haven't even really begun.

4} I'm home so there's a real live Christmas tree in the house! The smell is intoxicating! We ended up fir-less in DC and this tree has made my days since being home.

5} So.much.stuff.to.do.in.the.next.week!

What's going on about town for you? Did you recently wrap up some Hanukkah? Perhaps you are paying homage to a Festivus pole? Whatever it may be, I wish you joy and peace in it all!

xoxo, natty ♥

Processing.

Though I'm home in California and enjoying {very much} my time here, I'm still processing Friday's events.
I think that my friend Becs summed it up very well and I agree that quiet time and talking it through is valuable for everyone when it comes to trying to understand and come to terms with the violence we've been witness to since Friday.
I know that I value my loved ones and I'm grateful for their presences and our relationships and memories.
I also know that concrete answers don't come easily outside the realm of, say, a math or chemistry class, and I think that putting one's faith in the power{s} that be is the best that can be done.
And so we attempt to move on.
xoxo, natty ♥

Back to California.

I'm here! It's great to be home ;) and I'll have more to report soon I'm sure.
xoxo, natty ♥

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

xoxo, natty ♥

 

Couch time.

 

xoxo, natty ♥