Cooking: First week

The forecast for tomorrow is 17 degrees and snow. 

I think that sounds lovely. Except that I have to go to work and I am still fighting the virus that has plagued me for the last few days. 

Still, I am looking forward to a lovely week of  back to normal with school, work and the gym (starting Tuesday.) We have been cooking like crazy all weekend (Steve has been, that is). Venison stew is in the oven as we speak. My house smells warm and is very cozy.

 

my mother-in-laws dog, Beau...I love him so much.

Dirt: What happened

As I start 2014 I am taking stock of a few things including my blog.

Blogging started as a way for me to keep track of my life and my life's goals. At the time, I was struggling to find my way. I did not realize it at the time, but I was lost. My kids were swiftly approaching that point where they really did not need me physically as much. I was looking for something fulfilling in my life and so, I started a blog.

My 40th birthday celebration and the reason I started this blog

Whatever: Happy 2013

Happy New Year!

Whew Doggie...this one is gonna be a great one if my New Year's Eve is any indication!

Not really a new year's eve kinda girl...but we had tickets to see Old Crow Medicine Show at the Ryman this year. The evening was one of those that either was going to make or break us.

We had the following go wrong or at least not according to plan:

#1 We left Chattanooga late

#2 The restaurant we planned on eating that DOES NOT take reservations, took them on New Year's Eve ONLY. (They were full, of course).

#3 I bought the wrong tights.

#4 The restaurant we decided last minute to go to was in East Nashville (East Nasty for those of you who are Nashvillians) and there was NO GETTING a cab to leave.

#5 Ticket Master would not sell us two tickets together. We had seats in different sections 6 rows apart.

#6 It rained. Hard.

#7 There were NO CABS.

Steve, Roy, Minni and me

Whatever: Where your heart lies...so is your treasure

Holy Macaroni (favorite phrase from one of my funnier friends)!

2012 is almost over!

How in the world did it go by so quickly?

Guess I need to order some of these beauties...

Seems like just a few weeks ago, I was planning my year.

Now, I am faced with a brand new blank year, with lots of possibilities.

Amazing how fast time flies, especially once you have kids (or more than one). I feel like I am on fast forward through my life anymore.

I have lots of plans for my 42nd year on this planet.

Some are long term and some are more easily one and done. Most are not life changing, but hopefully will be building blocks to a better and continually improving life.

Reading: The new year

Last year my reading was all over the page, so to speak. 

I read any book that I found interesting when I picked it up. Sort of a zen style of reading...whatever caught my eye or crossed my path, I read. Or I bogarted my best friend's book club reads. Vicariously being in a club is the way to go.

Source: swiss-miss.com via Anna on Pinterest

This year, I am going to read with more of a plan or purpose, I suppose.

I am compiling a list of 30 books I want to read. As that is roughly half of what I read this year, I figure it is a good number to start with. Last year, I threw it out on Facebook that I was looking for something to read. I got a lot of great suggestions and so I am starting with those. 

Also, there are some "classics" that I have not read or have not read with an "adult" mind. 

(Who am I kidding, I am no more an adult than I am a runway model.)

I have been thinking about this list for a month or so. I perused the Barnes and Noble yesterday. I hit the McKay's before I went to the beach and bought a few that I intended to save until the new year. I have put a few on hold at the library (my love/hate relationship with our library is ongoing, but I am going to give it another try.) Hopefully between my girlfriends, the library, the McKays, and the occasional purchase of a real, NEW book, I will read all the books I want to read. 

Do you have any titles that you intend to read in 2012? 

If so, please, please, please share them with me. As I fully intend to set my goal at 100 again, I will need more books to flesh out my reading list. Sister LOVES suggestions!

The List of Books, 2012 edition

1. Unbroken
2. The Hours
3. All the Devils are Here
4. Boomerang
5. Sarah's Key
6. The Sound and the Fury
7. Ulysses
8. The Omnivore's Dilemma
9. Middlesex
10. Bossypants
11. The Grapes of Wrath
12. In Defense of Food
13. The Poisonwood Bible
14. The Paris Wife
15. The Pillars of the Earth
16. Kisses From Katie
17. What the Dog Saw
18. Wuthering Heights
19. Steve Jobs
20. Atlas Shrugged
21. True Prep
22. A Simple Path
23. In the Garden Of Beasts
24. The Complete Idiots Guide to Understanding Islam
25. Jane Eyre
26. Stern Men
27. Van Gogh: The Life
28. Wolf: The Lives of Jack London
29. Salvage the Bones
30. Delta Wedding

Whatever: New year purge

I have spent the last two days feeling under the weather, so I took down the Christmas and holiday decorations and finally unpacked all but two of my six bags I took to the beach.

(Before you judge, I had one bag of clothing and five other bags of things 

like games, shoes, toiletries, electronics, food, etc.)

Now, I am moving onto actually cleaning my house. 

Beyond the floor that needs mopping, the toilets that need scrubbing and the light switches that need wiping, there is always something when you have a house that is inhabited by anyone other than yourself.If it was me alone, the house would remain spotless except for my chair in the bedroom I pile clothes on and my  cluttered desk.

 

But the three extra people, two dogs, and two cats make a giant mess daily.

Once that is done, I am moving onto purging. 

I did my own closet before Christmas as I couldn't find anything to wear.

Partly because I have no clothes, partly because I still have sweaters from the 90's in my closet, and partly because what I do have and actually wear was overcrowded. Amazingly, I got rid of three garbage bags of clothing. Now, I own a consignment business, so I knew what needed to go and what could be consigned. Most needed to go! (SAD)

I also did a little holiday purge of unused decorations. That was very freeing. 

Now I am moving along to the rest of my house.
And as I just got back from vacation where my worldly belongings was narrowed down to just 6 bags, I feel a fire lit under me to pare the rest of my life down somewhat as well.

My goal is to clear and clean.  

My family is hiding things as we speak. They all hate to get rid of things. 

My husband is the worst. I bet he has 200 t-shirts. ALL are special. 

Clearing the clutter is very freeing. 

It is like clearing your mind. Taking a deep cleansing breath. Losing weight.

New Year To Do List #1 

Clear the clutter.