Ok, one final post for this year [believe me, I won't make any more today; 3's my absolute limit].
So what's 2008 going to be all about? I know the election stuff is going to continue to bombard the news; so will the war, spending, and the usual same old day to day stuff that seems to always be with us.
But what GOOD stuff do we want to have happen? And not with 'just' the intermational and national goings-on [IS there good stuff there?] but what about closer to our homes and our hearts? Does anyone want to make some positive predictions for us?
What about these resolution things that so many people make this time of year, promising to follow them through? [yeah, right.] I do know that people mean well and they really do want to accomplish so many different goals and I don't blame them for trying.
Are people coming up with these resolutions just because its that time of year and they think they're required to? Do they keep the same one[s] on their list every single year? I wonder how generalized or specific these resolutions are; are they setting them up in such a way that they're able to see their progress in mearurable ways? Are they trying to do something that isn't easy to start in the cold [and snow] of winter [like being able to do a triathlon within 2 months]? Do they have a buddy to work on this with them, someone that won't be too hard on them?
Me, I've given up making up yearly resolutions. First of all, I have a thing with keeping all of my commitments, commitments to others as well as for myself. So what makes me think that I'll follow through on a NY's resolution?
Yes, I do make goals for myself from time to time. Sometimes I make progress on them, sometimes not so much, a few of them I keep trying and trying, wondering if I'll ever succeed or what would happen if I didn't, would I be ok with that?
While some people like to use the end of a year to look over their past to make plans and resolutions for the future, I generally start thinking about these things around other personal mile-markers. Like my birthday is one. Sometimes harder ones, too, like the anniversary of my divorce. Or this period of time that I'm out on disibility and not being able to work in the fields that I was trained to do. With some help this past summer and fall, I did get some insights from a professional, in what it might be like if I didn't ever work again. So, as a lot of us can see, we all deal with change as it comes [wanted or not]. We have to learn how to work through it and then resolve to work on a plan for our next step, the next project, the next phase of life.
So no, I don't make resolutions for the start of a new calendar year; at least in my life, it's too unpredictable to even consider this approach. However, it might be fun to at least make some predictions for 2008.
Anyone want to take a stab at it? Feel free to comment!
Monday, December 31, 2007
It wasn't ALL Bah Humbug
So what DID I enjoy about Christmas? Right now I can think of 3 things.
1.) Seeing my pretty 7 year old niece all dressed up in her Christmas dress and sitting on Santa's lap, telling him just one thing that she wanted him to bring her [and if he brought anything more, she wanted it to be a surprise]. And yes, Aunt Denise did take pictures.
2.) Being with/Watching my Mom at our family gathering. She is pretty far gone with her dementia and related health issues, is wheel-chair bound, needs to be fed, she sleeps lots and lots, etc. And in spite of her having a few rough days before Friday's event, she was a trooper that afternoon. She was awake and very alert for the entire time [which surprised us], she smiled like she recognized at least some of the group, she occasionally even laughed [more like a chuckle], and she did try and do some chatting, too, when the various individuals would come over and sit with her [though much of what she says we can't understand]. But it did appear that she had a wonderful time and that was great. Especially after a couple weeks ago after a rough stretch, my dad had said that he wasn't sure if she would even last the night]. So even if she DOES go soon, we're glad she had this Christmas with us.
3.) Ok, I hope you're not too tired yet of hearing about my artist trading cards. If you are, then bear with me for just a couple minutes. As I mentioned in an earlier posting, I was able to get some folks from my ATC [yahoo] groups to swap some holiday cards with me. And it's been awesome getting these cards back in the mail. There's so much divirsity out there, people of all ages and around the world creating these miniature 'canvas's' to create something of themselves. I bet I've gotten close to 30 holiday ATCs through this swap [and thus, I sent that many out]. I also had some extras, so I randomly picked some names/addresses from one of the group's RAK list [Random Acts of Kindness--where we sign up if we're willing to send and/or recieve these RAKs. It's different from a regular swap in that the recipient is not required to send one back, though many of them do.] So I sent a few out to other countries as well as to maybe 6-8 people here in the US. As time goes on, I plan on sending out more RAKs. I received a couple a few months ago and it's always such a nice surprise [and one of them sent me 7 cards; how cool was that??]
Ok, so if any of you want to post something in the comments here about one of your favorite holiday events, please do so!
1.) Seeing my pretty 7 year old niece all dressed up in her Christmas dress and sitting on Santa's lap, telling him just one thing that she wanted him to bring her [and if he brought anything more, she wanted it to be a surprise]. And yes, Aunt Denise did take pictures.
2.) Being with/Watching my Mom at our family gathering. She is pretty far gone with her dementia and related health issues, is wheel-chair bound, needs to be fed, she sleeps lots and lots, etc. And in spite of her having a few rough days before Friday's event, she was a trooper that afternoon. She was awake and very alert for the entire time [which surprised us], she smiled like she recognized at least some of the group, she occasionally even laughed [more like a chuckle], and she did try and do some chatting, too, when the various individuals would come over and sit with her [though much of what she says we can't understand]. But it did appear that she had a wonderful time and that was great. Especially after a couple weeks ago after a rough stretch, my dad had said that he wasn't sure if she would even last the night]. So even if she DOES go soon, we're glad she had this Christmas with us.
3.) Ok, I hope you're not too tired yet of hearing about my artist trading cards. If you are, then bear with me for just a couple minutes. As I mentioned in an earlier posting, I was able to get some folks from my ATC [yahoo] groups to swap some holiday cards with me. And it's been awesome getting these cards back in the mail. There's so much divirsity out there, people of all ages and around the world creating these miniature 'canvas's' to create something of themselves. I bet I've gotten close to 30 holiday ATCs through this swap [and thus, I sent that many out]. I also had some extras, so I randomly picked some names/addresses from one of the group's RAK list [Random Acts of Kindness--where we sign up if we're willing to send and/or recieve these RAKs. It's different from a regular swap in that the recipient is not required to send one back, though many of them do.] So I sent a few out to other countries as well as to maybe 6-8 people here in the US. As time goes on, I plan on sending out more RAKs. I received a couple a few months ago and it's always such a nice surprise [and one of them sent me 7 cards; how cool was that??]
Ok, so if any of you want to post something in the comments here about one of your favorite holiday events, please do so!
Moving beyond Christmas
It's the last day of the year and I'm ready to move on. Enough of the Christmas rush, shopping, post-holiday sales, and trying to be on our best behavior at the family gatherings [it's sooo much easier having fun with our friends' parties, isn't it?].
There's nothing wrong with the family gatherings; its the one time that most of us CAN get together since so many people are off work during this week. But it's always hectic getting ready for it and once everyone's there, it's so noisy with everyone talking at once, it's hard to figure out what's being said.
We had our family get-together on Friday [12/28]; we had 21 people hanging out and eating dinner in a private dining room in the retirement village where my parents live. The ages ranged from my parents [just 2 months short of being 80 and 78], down to 4 years of age. My parents had 4 of their 5 living children with them, along with their 3 daughter-in-laws, 7 grandkids, a cousin from Ireland with her husband and 2 kids, and one of my brother's nieces from his wife's side of the family. So as you can imagine, it was a loud and rowdy place. And we all were glad that we didn't have to set up the room nor tear it down; didn't have to cook the dinner, either.
The kids got together and did a dvd exchange while the adults did a book exchange and I think everyone went home happy.
I'm now all tired out from everything. I have difficulties with holidays in general [for reasons of my own], but besides the traditional holiday stuff, there is still the day-to-day routines to take care of. I still went to help with my mom as I do a couple times a week--but with the holiday, I was there an extra couple times [3 days in a row, 4 out of 5, and 6 in ten days, but who's counting?] And a few days ago, a friend wasn't doing well and I ended up having to take her to the hospital to be admitted. Went to see her today and she's doing better than she was but probably won't be discharged until the end of the week at the earliest.
Ok, enough for this posting...
There's nothing wrong with the family gatherings; its the one time that most of us CAN get together since so many people are off work during this week. But it's always hectic getting ready for it and once everyone's there, it's so noisy with everyone talking at once, it's hard to figure out what's being said.
We had our family get-together on Friday [12/28]; we had 21 people hanging out and eating dinner in a private dining room in the retirement village where my parents live. The ages ranged from my parents [just 2 months short of being 80 and 78], down to 4 years of age. My parents had 4 of their 5 living children with them, along with their 3 daughter-in-laws, 7 grandkids, a cousin from Ireland with her husband and 2 kids, and one of my brother's nieces from his wife's side of the family. So as you can imagine, it was a loud and rowdy place. And we all were glad that we didn't have to set up the room nor tear it down; didn't have to cook the dinner, either.
The kids got together and did a dvd exchange while the adults did a book exchange and I think everyone went home happy.
I'm now all tired out from everything. I have difficulties with holidays in general [for reasons of my own], but besides the traditional holiday stuff, there is still the day-to-day routines to take care of. I still went to help with my mom as I do a couple times a week--but with the holiday, I was there an extra couple times [3 days in a row, 4 out of 5, and 6 in ten days, but who's counting?] And a few days ago, a friend wasn't doing well and I ended up having to take her to the hospital to be admitted. Went to see her today and she's doing better than she was but probably won't be discharged until the end of the week at the earliest.
Ok, enough for this posting...
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
A Little Bit About Tea
As some of you already know, I am a big tea drinker. Iced tea, hot tea, Afternoon Tea [gotta love those scones, little sandwiches, the desserts, etc], tea by myself, tea with others. You get the picture.
I really miss the tea shop that I went to while living in Durham. And with it being only a mile away, I was there all the time. Besides learning the proper [best way] to fix tea, I quickly grew to love the loose tea that are a better grade than the regular stuff made by L&*%$n or the store brands [I'm not spelling out the L name since I don't want to get into any kind of legal problems]. I really do believe that many people that say they don't like tea, haven't had it brewed properly. It's definitely not a tasteless, bitter drink. And there are so many different varieties of tea [black, green, white, pekoe, pueher [sp?], varying caffiene levels or even without caffeine] grown in a variety of locations with various growing conditions from around the world. And of course, there is a variety of flavored teas as well, along with the herbal 'teas' [also called 'tisanes' because though they're LIKE tea, they don't have any of the tea plant in it]. And rooibus [also called red tea] is another great drink grown from a very similar plant as tea but is only found in South Africa. It doesn't have any caffeine and provides all kinds of healthy benefits [so healthy, it's even given to infants without any problems]. Personally, I'm not too crazy about the plain rooibus but do enjoy the flavored ones.
I've been running low on tea so I've been restocking some--I can't go through this cold, snowy and icey winter without my hot tea [I drink cold tea year round, too]. Yesterday morning, I had some iced chai. Today I had a holiday tea blend [by Harney's and Sons, one of the good tea companies]. I wonder what I'll decide to have tomorrow!?
If anyone would ever like to join me for tea, do let me know!
I really miss the tea shop that I went to while living in Durham. And with it being only a mile away, I was there all the time. Besides learning the proper [best way] to fix tea, I quickly grew to love the loose tea that are a better grade than the regular stuff made by L&*%$n or the store brands [I'm not spelling out the L name since I don't want to get into any kind of legal problems]. I really do believe that many people that say they don't like tea, haven't had it brewed properly. It's definitely not a tasteless, bitter drink. And there are so many different varieties of tea [black, green, white, pekoe, pueher [sp?], varying caffiene levels or even without caffeine] grown in a variety of locations with various growing conditions from around the world. And of course, there is a variety of flavored teas as well, along with the herbal 'teas' [also called 'tisanes' because though they're LIKE tea, they don't have any of the tea plant in it]. And rooibus [also called red tea] is another great drink grown from a very similar plant as tea but is only found in South Africa. It doesn't have any caffeine and provides all kinds of healthy benefits [so healthy, it's even given to infants without any problems]. Personally, I'm not too crazy about the plain rooibus but do enjoy the flavored ones.
I've been running low on tea so I've been restocking some--I can't go through this cold, snowy and icey winter without my hot tea [I drink cold tea year round, too]. Yesterday morning, I had some iced chai. Today I had a holiday tea blend [by Harney's and Sons, one of the good tea companies]. I wonder what I'll decide to have tomorrow!?
If anyone would ever like to join me for tea, do let me know!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Pre-Holiday Ramblings
There are still a couple weeks til the Christmas holiday and I'm definitely having mixed feelings about it. On Sunday, I was at the annual Christmas party at the retirement village where my folks live. Everything was all decked out nicely [Christmas trees and poinsettas all over the place, lots of garland, ribbon, holiday lights, etc], there were lots of snacks and [non-alcoholic] drinks to consume while listening to live holiday music... And my 7 year-old niece got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what she'd like this year. [Of course I took some pictures!]
So that was all fine and good. And I've been enjoying seeing the holiday lights in the neighborhood. But I'm not decorating at all. With having to downsize with my last couple moves, I had to give away all of the stuff I had [and some I've had for years]. Maybe I can find something at the dollar store or something [but yet, I don't want anything tacky, or to get stuff just for the sake of having something].
And baking... Holiday cookie baking was a big thing in my family during my growing up years. We'd make a big variety, then package up plates to pass out to neighbors and friends; that was always fun. And for a couple years before moving south, I hosted a holiday cookie exchange. I miss doing that sort of thing but I just can't afford to do any extra cooking or baking right now. Such is life; I can still recall the memories--with the help from my scrapbooks!
This is one of the big 'family' time of year... But as with a lot of families that are spread out all over the place and siblings that have family obligations on their spouse's side, it's not so easy getting together at one time [maybe that's a good thing for a lot of us; me included]. So we're not having our gathering until later that week. All of my brothers and their families will meet at one brother's house... But it looks like my younger sister won't make it home til sometime in January. And my parents can't make it because my mother can't travel. However, I heard awhile back that a cousin and family will be coming for a visit from Ireland. I hope that'll work out, I haven't seen her in years!
Ok, this is getting way too long and boring. I'm hesitating on even posting it but will anyway. I might actually want to go back and reread it some day. And if I don't post it here, I'll never find it again!
So that was all fine and good. And I've been enjoying seeing the holiday lights in the neighborhood. But I'm not decorating at all. With having to downsize with my last couple moves, I had to give away all of the stuff I had [and some I've had for years]. Maybe I can find something at the dollar store or something [but yet, I don't want anything tacky, or to get stuff just for the sake of having something].
And baking... Holiday cookie baking was a big thing in my family during my growing up years. We'd make a big variety, then package up plates to pass out to neighbors and friends; that was always fun. And for a couple years before moving south, I hosted a holiday cookie exchange. I miss doing that sort of thing but I just can't afford to do any extra cooking or baking right now. Such is life; I can still recall the memories--with the help from my scrapbooks!
This is one of the big 'family' time of year... But as with a lot of families that are spread out all over the place and siblings that have family obligations on their spouse's side, it's not so easy getting together at one time [maybe that's a good thing for a lot of us; me included]. So we're not having our gathering until later that week. All of my brothers and their families will meet at one brother's house... But it looks like my younger sister won't make it home til sometime in January. And my parents can't make it because my mother can't travel. However, I heard awhile back that a cousin and family will be coming for a visit from Ireland. I hope that'll work out, I haven't seen her in years!
Ok, this is getting way too long and boring. I'm hesitating on even posting it but will anyway. I might actually want to go back and reread it some day. And if I don't post it here, I'll never find it again!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Getting into the Holiday Spirit?
Ok, with it now being December, it's alright to start thinking about the Christmas Holidays. I know a lot of people would agree that the stores are trying to get us to spend before Halloween is unreal [well, unless you're one of the few that have their shopping done and gifts wrapped by Labor Day]. I am *not* one of those people that enjoy going to the mall and/or shopping just for shopping's sake. Do people really think that's fun?] [Well, it's only fun if we're talking book stores or craft stores; anything else, it's just another chore to me.]
But now, it's kind of nice seeing the christmas lights on in the neighborhood [I've already seen more lights up in my neighborhood this winter than I ever have since I was a kid]. Granted, some of the displays in people's front yards are kind of tacky, but some people must like them! And now when I hear any Christmas tunes playing on the radio, I won't automatically turn the radio off. There's at least one station in the metro-Detroit area that starting playing Christmas music in early November--so there was no way I was going to listen to that over and over and over again before Thanksgiving. But now I can start thinking about getting out my holiday cd's and select my favorites and burn them on a new cd.
I'm not saying that I'm a big fan of the winter holidays; for many years, I haven't been. But since they keep showing up every year, perhaps I need to start changing my attitude a little bit. I don't expect any major Christmas miracles or anything like that but perhaps I can find ways to have a little bit of fun without spending the money that I don't have to spend.
So there IS a project that I'm working on right now that I hope will get me in the right frame of mind. In one of my first blog entries, I mentioned Artist Trading Cards [ATCs]. These are similar to the sports trading cards but ATCs are made by hand [as individual pieces of art, on a 2.5"x3.5" 'canvas' of sorts] and are meant to be traded, not sold. There are multiple on-line trading groups with people to swap with [sometimes as part of an organized swap with a particular theme, or on an individual swap basis], as well as many local groups around the world that meet and trade in person.
So there are a couple on-line groups that I've been with since early summer. With each of these 2 groups, I'm creating some Christmas as well as some Winter-themed ATCs and am doing some individual trades with others in these groups. One can post a particular interest to the group and see who else wants to swap; I posted this week and I already have about 12 cards ready to mailed off tomorrow [and am waiting for addresses on a few more]. So I should start getting some ATCs back in the mail within the next week or two and I'm really looking forward to it!
I've also participated in a couple swaps where a host will pick a particular theme and asks for interested participants to send in X number of cards that somehow represent that theme. Then, when all the cards are received by him/her by a set date, she will then send you back X number of different cards on that theme. I have been really impressed by some of the creativity that people have. Some cards have been rather elaborate, others have been simple, and just about all of them have been great additions to my collection. I've been involved with trading off and on for several years now and I just love browsing through my collection book [using those 9-pocket pages that sports card enthusiasts keep their cards in, and putting them into a binder].
So, with tomorrow being another day in December, I hope to get a few more of these holiday cards created. And find more people to play/trade with. Maybe this WILL really get me into the holiday mood. It's fun, creative, and doesn't have to cost too much. I can go for that! [Anyone reading this want to do any trading? Even if you don't know how yet, it's fun and easy to learn; I'll work with you! It's addicting, too. :-) ]
But now, it's kind of nice seeing the christmas lights on in the neighborhood [I've already seen more lights up in my neighborhood this winter than I ever have since I was a kid]. Granted, some of the displays in people's front yards are kind of tacky, but some people must like them! And now when I hear any Christmas tunes playing on the radio, I won't automatically turn the radio off. There's at least one station in the metro-Detroit area that starting playing Christmas music in early November--so there was no way I was going to listen to that over and over and over again before Thanksgiving. But now I can start thinking about getting out my holiday cd's and select my favorites and burn them on a new cd.
I'm not saying that I'm a big fan of the winter holidays; for many years, I haven't been. But since they keep showing up every year, perhaps I need to start changing my attitude a little bit. I don't expect any major Christmas miracles or anything like that but perhaps I can find ways to have a little bit of fun without spending the money that I don't have to spend.
So there IS a project that I'm working on right now that I hope will get me in the right frame of mind. In one of my first blog entries, I mentioned Artist Trading Cards [ATCs]. These are similar to the sports trading cards but ATCs are made by hand [as individual pieces of art, on a 2.5"x3.5" 'canvas' of sorts] and are meant to be traded, not sold. There are multiple on-line trading groups with people to swap with [sometimes as part of an organized swap with a particular theme, or on an individual swap basis], as well as many local groups around the world that meet and trade in person.
So there are a couple on-line groups that I've been with since early summer. With each of these 2 groups, I'm creating some Christmas as well as some Winter-themed ATCs and am doing some individual trades with others in these groups. One can post a particular interest to the group and see who else wants to swap; I posted this week and I already have about 12 cards ready to mailed off tomorrow [and am waiting for addresses on a few more]. So I should start getting some ATCs back in the mail within the next week or two and I'm really looking forward to it!
I've also participated in a couple swaps where a host will pick a particular theme and asks for interested participants to send in X number of cards that somehow represent that theme. Then, when all the cards are received by him/her by a set date, she will then send you back X number of different cards on that theme. I have been really impressed by some of the creativity that people have. Some cards have been rather elaborate, others have been simple, and just about all of them have been great additions to my collection. I've been involved with trading off and on for several years now and I just love browsing through my collection book [using those 9-pocket pages that sports card enthusiasts keep their cards in, and putting them into a binder].
So, with tomorrow being another day in December, I hope to get a few more of these holiday cards created. And find more people to play/trade with. Maybe this WILL really get me into the holiday mood. It's fun, creative, and doesn't have to cost too much. I can go for that! [Anyone reading this want to do any trading? Even if you don't know how yet, it's fun and easy to learn; I'll work with you! It's addicting, too. :-) ]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
