Hello 2023

I'm going to dust this ol' blog off so I can have some accountability, even if no one reads it, I'm at least putting it out in the world.

Here we are at the end of another year. Resolutions. Goals. Intentions. However you want to label it, we all seem to attempt it. I'm no different. I've been in a kind of limbo since 2020 and COVID and I really need to get back on the horse so to speak.

There are a number of areas I want to focus on this year. So, in no particular order:

1) I intend to read/listen to12 non-fiction books this year. I already have the first one queued up on Audible. I figure one book a month is very doable

2) I intend to be more active. Pre-COVID I was walking 2 miles a day. With my kid taxi schedule I won't be able to attempt that for a bit. To start, I am committing to walking outside for 20 minutes a day as soon as I get home from work. 

3) I want to have a more positive attitude. I'm committing to 5 minutes of affirmations each morning as soon as I wake up (instead of scrolling through emails or social media) and naming 3 things I'm grateful for each night before bed. I plan to keep a notebook to track my feelings and progress.

4) I've been putting off getting a mole removed. I will schedule an appointment with my primary care doctor so I can get that referral. Hopefully, I can have this resolved by summer. (I would also like to get in to the dentist -- funds permitting -- for a full cleaning/filling type appointment by the end of the year.)

5) I will finish my photo organization and back-up project by summer. It's one of those things that is easily derailed by other things.

6) I intend to reduce my debt by at least half (excluding my car loan that I'm starting over with but that's a story for another day, or not) by the end of the year. I will schedule no spend months like no buying books in January. Using the snowball method, I should be able to be debt free in 18 months (excluding my car loan). 

7) I want to take a real vacation. Not that visiting family isn't great or a priority, but I want to go somewhere I've never been before. If I can't make this work for 2023 due to funds (see that whole debt thing above) I want to at least have something planned for 2024 and saving toward it.

8) I want to work on my writing more. As Joely Sue Burkhart said, it could be a good side income. That means working my craft and actually completing something! I have a project I've been working on and my goal is to have it drafted, and hopefully edited, by July. (Dare I link this to Joely?!)

9) I will finish my scan and shred project by the end of the year. No. More. Paper. Like the photo project above, this is easily derailed by other things.

10) I always seem to lose some of my PTO at work. I will schedule mental health days and take at least one day off every other month for no reason other than me time.

Well, look at that...I ended up with a Top 10 List.

Okay, for the accountability aspect of this whole thing, I will post my results weekly. Since this is publishing on a Saturday, I'll stick with that. 

On the off chance someone reads this, what are your intentions for 2023? 

Happy New Year! I hope 2023 is an amazing year for all of us.

Happy...

Happy Father's Day

To all the dads out there!

Wishing you a wonderful day with your loved ones!

Happy Memorial Day

To all the men and women who

have served,

are serving,

will serve,

and to your families!

My Mother's Day

Was a quiet, rather same o' same o' kinda Sunday, with lots of handmade love from the boys and a nice dinner.

From Ian

The anklet and necklace are made out of fabric strips and beads using a macrame type knotting.  Very flower-child feeling :) Ian and Alex made them during art at school.

Robbie drew a picture and Cam made a card and Mark was home for dinner.  I chatted with Jewels, both Moms, and my sister.  A good Mother's Day all in all.

Happy Mother's Day

To all the

out there!

May your day be filled with all kinds of wonderful.

Happy...

Hoppy Easter

We wish everyone a wonderful Easter spent with family and friends.

R is for Rabbit

Because B for Bunny, D for Decorating, E for Easter, and H for Hopping Down the Bunny Trail are past.  So, here's some of our Easter decorations featuring Rabbits.

(That table cloth didn't even last 24 hours before one of the boys spilled on it, LOL, good thing it's washable!)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Wearing green?

Check.

Corn beef and cabbage cooking?

Check.

Green beer?

Um-no.

May the luck of the Irish be with you!

Won't You Be Mine?

Raising a glass...

However you plan to celebrate we hope you have a safe and wonderful time. May the New Year be bright and full of hope for you and yours!  Happy New Year!

Happy Boxing Day

No, Boxing Day doesn't mean you put on a pair of gloves and go at it, LOL

According to Wikipedia there is no clear information on how and where it was started. I was once told it originated with the aristocrats, that on the day after Christmas, the well to do would re-gift things to the servants, etc. And in that spirit, we have a bag of things to drop off at Goodwill today.

Otherwise, I gotta say I feel a bit like Santa and am ready for a long winter's nap.

Oh, wait.

Kids, LOL

Christmas Dinner

No matter how hard I try -- I'm just cooking for the six of us, after all -- I always make way too much food. But YUM! Because I didn't cook for Thanksgiving I went all out: turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, gravy, Brussels sprouts, cranberry sauce, and Indian pudding. When we have room there's pumpkin pie for dessert, LOL

Sweet Indian Pudding

Gingered Cranberry Sauce

Poultry Stuffing/Dressing

Brussels Sprouts with Walnuts

Candied Yams (or Sweet Potatoes)

1 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Cooked yams, sliced
Small marshmallows (optional)

Cook together, stirring constantly till sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil and cook till thick. Place potatoes in greased casserole dish. Cover with syrup. Bake at 450 for 5 to 10 minutes or till bubbly. Add marshmallows, return to oven to melt and brown the marshmallows.

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas to one and all...we hope you have a wonderful day!

Our morning started in the wee hours -- Robbie came knocking on our bedroom door at a quarter to 6! -- and Santa did a pretty good job considering the boys weren't able to visit him this year (3 of the 4 being sick). Now the dressing is cooking, the oven is warming for the turkey, and we're enjoying our new goodies.  Here's a few pictures from the day so far...

And the stockings were hung by the chimney...er, tree...with care...

The boys awaiting the okay signal that they could go downstairs
and check out what Santa brought.

Santa was here!

Santa liked his cookies.

Alex amidst the stocking remains.

Ian got the remote control helicopter he wanted.

Mark opening one of his presents.

Robbie with the remote control monster truck he wanted.

Cam opening a present that included a new savings account booklet.

Ian's helicopter flying in the highest point of the stairs. 
(This thing easily soared to 15 feet outside!)

Robbie's monster truck clearing the rocks with ease!

The reindeer liked their carrots and oats.

Yule

Yule is the time of the longest night, for daylight is overcome, and the sun flees earlier from the sky. This is not a time to curse the darkness, but a time simply to accept the long night as a part of the great wheel of life. Take comfort in the knowledge that, though the night is long, the sun will return again on the morrow. When Yule passes, the sun begins to remain longer in the day sky in its journey around the sacred wheel of the seasons.

At this same time of year long ago, our ancestors huddled about their fires and watched the dark Yule sky for the return of the sun. Within their communities, the people extinguished the fires in their homes, so that for a time all dwelt in total darkness. In that darkness, our ancestors reflected on the sacred mystery of darkness and light. Suddenly within the community, a single flame was born to burn away the curtain of darkness. From a soon-roaring bonfire, many torches were lit to be carried back to each person's dark dwelling, that their own flames of light might be reborn. This was done not only to comfort our ancestors, but also to remind the sun to return to Mother Earth, so that all creation might live.

This year a total lunar eclipse coincides eerily with the northern hemisphere's mid-winter solstice...

A Li'l Christmas Cheer

'Tis the Season Thursday

A bit more of my holiday decorating. This is the upper hall.

One of my earlier cross-stitch pieces.

I didn't know it at the time but this Santa plate started my Santa obsession.

Can you see the date? 1987. 

I was living in Miami and working for Carnival Cruise Lines. 

This is a cabinet area across from the laundry area and usually is stacked with the boys folded clothes as said clothes wait in vain for their owners to put them away in dressers. It's the perfect place for a little bit more Christmas if I can keep it clean, LOL.

A closer look. Simple table runner, yet another Santa, and a silver charger with a basket of ornaments. (And yes, there is a naked window back there yet to be decorated, LOL)

Trimming the Tree Tuesday

This year's tree -- straight from Salem, Oregon...again -- is a gorgeous, unbelievably fragrant, Grand Fir.

Mark set it up. I put the lights on. Then we let the boys go wild with the ornaments.

I'm not sure if I've ever had a Grand Fir before but this baby makes the house smell like Christmas. The fresh aroma of evergreen fills the house. I can't remember ever being able to smell the Christmas tree from upstairs, yet each morning that is the smell that greets me.

'Tis the Season Thursday

With NaNo last month I didn't get around to planning any posts for December so I'll share a bit of my holiday decorating.

Our Christmas train -- I mean, really! With my house of boys, how could we not have one? -- it used to hold all our Christmas cards but most of those come via email now, I've tucked an old candle wreath in their place. Currently, this is sitting in our living room but once the tree arrives (this weekend per tradition) it may get moved to a safer spot.

This is the window above the train. A cranberry wreath, the Wallace Sleigh Bells -- Mark and I have been collecting these since 1996, the first and only Christmas we've been apart. We're missing 2007, oh eBay here I come, and haven't picked up 2010 yet. -- a couple of my Santa heads, and an apple swag.

Santa is a huge theme in my Christmas decorating. This vanilla stick candle, apple wreath (matches the swag in previous photo), and gold charger usually sit on our dining table but I had this mini-fridge crying for something. Behind them are a Santa box, Santa candle on the red holder, and a Santa figure.

The window on our stairway landing. See, more Santa heads. Yep, I take my decorating all the way, every room will have something. The railing in this house isn't conducive for garland and my stairs feel positively naked, LOL. I'll be working on something to dress 'em up.