2011 is Off and Running! I'm Just Trying to Keep Up!

Wow, it’s been a crazy busy week and it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down for the next few days.  I’ve been wanting to post but just haven’t had the time to dedicate to it.  So this is my “write a sentence whenever I get a chance” post.  In other words, it probably won’t make any sense.

So, those New Year’s resolutions… how are you doing on yours?  I’m weaning myself off the diet Coke, not as fast as I first intended, but I’m hoping that by making it as “painless” as possible I won’t fall off the wagon so easily.  My replacements for it are water and unsweetened iced tea.  Anybody have any other (healthy) suggestions?  I’ve never been one to just drink a glass of milk, it just doesn’t appeal to me, and obviously substituting the diet Coke with a sugary drink would just be trading one problem for another.  People have suggested flavoring my water with anything from fruit slices to Crystal Light, but I actually prefer plain water to flavored water for some reason.  So what else does that leave?  Wine!   Just kidding!

Another resolution of mine is the typical weight-loss resolution.  I got the P90X DVDs from a friend and intended to start them on Monday.  Then I woke up that morning with my back is major spasm and spent the day at home on muscle relaxers and pain pills.  So Tuesday was going to be Day One… until I ended up working late and then having to do the grocery shopping and dinner.  By the time I got finally home, it was almost time for bed!  I knew today was out of the question before it even started… straight from work to an eye exam to the first night of our Ladies’ Bible study.  I don’t even see eating happening anywhere in there, let alone exercising.  So let’s aim for tomorrow, eh?  I’m past due for an oil change and almost made an appointment to get it done after work tomorrow but I stopped myself: “No!  The car can go another day or two without the oil change; if I put off starting this P90X, it’ll never get done!”  So tomorrow it is.  I’m gonna be in soooo much pain on Friday.

My final resolution was to fix a broken relationship.  I won’t go into details but I am working on it and I think the other person might be, too.  Either that or I’m just wearing them down!  I’ve tried to fix it a few times before and whenever I’d see a glimmer of hope, Hubby would tell me not to get my hopes up.  At the time I thought he was just being pessimistic, but after repeated episodes of “I think they’re coming around” being followed by “I can’t believe they just said/did that to me”, I saw that he was just trying to be realistic because he didn’t want to see me get hurt again.  This has gone on for the better part of 2010 and my goal is to not have it be a part of 2011!

So that’s my resolution update… how are yours going?  Let me know!!!

Why Firestarter Was the Scariest Movie of My Childhood... I've Never Trusted Drew Barrymore Since

I think my brother is a pyromaniac.  Of course, I’m basing this on three separate incidents from childhood and have no recent occurrences to back up the claim, but I’m sure it’s true anyway.

The first related memory I have of this is standing in our kitchen with my brother sitting at the table playing with our mom’s cigarette lighter.  I was very small and the memory has faded, but I do know that it ended with my bangs significantly shorter, the smell of burnt hair in the air, and Big Bro saying, “Don’t tell Mom.”

The other incidents are clearer in my mind.  The first was at Christmas and we were decorating the tree.  This was the seventies, so we didn’t have pre-lit trees and anyway, we were still using real trees.  Maybe someday God will start making pre-lit real trees, but in those days, we had to string the lights on the tree ourselves.  Now that I’m writing this, I’m beginning to realize that it’s a wonder that house is still standing... But I digress.  Now, everyone knows you need to test the lights before putting them on the tree.  But not everyone (at least not Big Bro) knew that you need to test them somewhere other than on top of the highly flammable tree skirt.  Then again, if he is a pyromaniac, maybe it was all part of his evil plan???

Long story short, one of the bulbs blew when he plugged them in and it immediately caught the tree skirt on fire.  Dad was in the den, Mom was in the kitchen, and Big Bro and I were frantically stomping in the living room as quietly as possible, giggling as if setting our house on fire was actually funny.  I seem to recall another sibling in the dining room who probably witnessed the event.  If so, would you please step forward and confirm this?  You can remain anonymous (there are nine of us kids, so remaining anonymous in our family is actually plausible).

These two events seemed to me to be completely unrelated until I suddenly remembered The School Project.  Being several years younger than Big Bro, I don’t recall what class this project was for, or if it even was a legitimate project or just an excuse to do random dangerously stupid stuff and catch it all on film.  I know that this is a daily occurrence for teenagers today but back then, there were no cell phones and the average family didn’t own a video camera.  So most of the dangerously stupid things teenagers did could only be recorded in our memories, not on film.  But I remember Big Bro and his friends, one of whom had a camera, putting together some sort of film that I never saw but got to witness parts of it in action.  And what I witnessed was them setting one of our old outbuildings on fire and then putting it out with snow.  I vaguely remember those old sheds.  They weren’t really buildings, but some sort of giant storage crates that Dad turned into little rabbit hotels.  Lots of chicken wire cages filled with bunnies that I used to let out when no one was looking because I felt they needed to run free.  Well, the bunnies were gone by this time and the sheds were just sitting there slowing falling into ruin.  So they burned one down.  I don’t even know if they had permission to do it.  I’m gonna give them the benefit of the doubt on that part.

And there you have it; case closed.  Big Bro was a pyromaniac in his youth.  He now lives in a lovely home with his lovely wife and hasn’t burned it down yet, so I guess he got better.  Or maybe he just got smarter about what he sets ablaze...

P.S. If you know my brother and have any other related incidents, please let me know... maybe it’s not too late for an intervention!

P.P.S. Still working on getting the html fixed for my comments section but with being a holiday weekend, it’s slow going... but don’t let that deter you from leaving your comments!  I’m still getting them, even if they don’t show up on the blog right now.  Happy New Year!

Fan Appreciation Contest: Win A Flip Video Camera!

I love CouponDivas.com... she really is in it for the SAVINGS! I love going shopping and paying a small fraction of what I would normally have paid if I didn't read her emails every day. Thanks Kitty!

Now here she is, giving away a free Flip Video Camera, isn't she sweet? Our niece and her husband got one for Christmas and I was blown away by the picture quality! So now I want one... but you should enter the contest, too!

Fan Appreciation Contest: Win A Flip Video Camera!

Happy New Year!
Jules

Auld Lang Syne! (I don't even know what that means...)

As another year closes, we start to focus on what we’re going to do better next year.  Have you made any New Year’s resolutions this year?  I never used to make them, but this year it’s been on my mind.  Of course, my main resolution is the same one I have on a daily basis: lose weight!  And then the day actually starts and my resolve flies right out the window.  Curse you, sweet tooth and laziness!

Another resolution I have made in previous years and still haven’t conquered is my “coke addiction”.  Technically, it’s DIET coke and no, I don’t snort it... I guzzle it!  I know what’s in it and how bad it is for me yet I still reach for it every day.  The aspartame could very well be the cause of my migraine-like headaches, and I know the phosphoric acid is most likely leeching the calcium from my bones. I’m also aware of the various studies and rumors about potassium benzoate, so maybe this year I’ll finally say ENOUGH OF BEING STUPID and successfully quit the stuff?

I think I’m also going to make a resolution to be The Most Awesomest Grandma Ever!  But since my first grandchild won’t even be born until April, I guess we’ll have to wait to see how I make out on that one...

So what resolutions are you considering this year?  Please leave comments and tell us how you’re going to do better in 2011!

I Knew What I Was Doing, Right Up Until You Asked Me.

How can one person be both a loud, opinionated know-it-all AND an insecure people-pleaser at the same time?  How is it that I am both a knowledgeable employee to whom people go when they have a question about anything at the office AND a flutter-brain who can’t seem to perform her day-to-day tasks the same way twice?  How do I manage to retain so much information in my head yet become so easily overwhelmed when asked a question or presented with a project?

 
And while I’m at it, why do I waver between feeling under-appreciated and feeling like someday they’re all going to figure out that I’m basically a useless imposter and there are zillions of more qualified people who would like my job?  Why do some people like me and others hate me?

I suppose everyone has similar insecurities.  Anyone will tell you that they do, but I still find myself doubting it.  I look at other people and think, “They seem like they know who they are and they’re confident in their abilities… AND in their shortcomings.”  Wait, confident in their shortcomings?  I guess I mean they know their limitations and their aptitudes and the definite line between the two.  “I can do this and I can’t do that.”  I seem to question my ability to do even the stuff I can do.  Am I alone in this?  Am I even making any sense?

I wish that for one day, I could step outside of myself and see me the way other people see me.  Then again, that’s a scary thought... what if I don’t like what I see?  Maybe I better just stay inside my own head where it’s safe.  I just need to come to terms with my flaws and keep telling myself that everyone else has theirs, too.  Even if they do all seem more comfortable in their own skin. What do YOU think? Am I alone in this or is it normal?