New Year's Resolutions

I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted and that Christmas has come and gone. I had a lovely Christmas and hope you did as well--perhaps later I will go into some of the very nice gifts I received. But now we are on to New Years and that means New Years resolutions. As you know I recently read Bridget Jones's Diary in an attempt to inspire my own diary writing (which is working very nicely). Those of you who have read this fabulous book will know that it begins with a rather lengthy list of Bridget's resolution. Well, I thought some of these resolutions were quite good so I've decided to start off my new year by being lazy and copying some of her resolutions (I had initially thought I would copy all her resolutions cause I would have been guaranteed success in some of them like less alcohol and cigarettes, but then I decided while the continued victory over these things may have temporarily made me feel successful in the end I would have known that I was no better off than when I began--and being better off is kind of the whole point--also am obviously not going to be working on my grammar this year).

I Will Not:

1. Behave sluttishly around the house, but instead imagine others are watching. (read lazy for sluttishly)
2. Allow in-tray to rage out of control. (read mailbox for in-tray)
3. Get annoyed with family.
4. Get upset over men, but instead be poised and cool ice-queen. (only I don't want to be an ice-queen so strike that last bit)
5. B**** about anyone behind their backs, but be positive about everyone.
6. Sulk about have no boyfriend, but develop inner poise and authority and sense of self as woman of substance, complete without boyfriend.

I Will:

1. Reduce circumference of thighs by 3 inches (i.e. 1 1/2 inches each). (read lose 10 pounds here as I am hopeless at properly measuring thighs--how do you know if you are measuring in the same spot)
2. Purge flat of all extraneous matter.
3. Give all clothes which have not worn for two years or more to homeless. (read give all horrible clothes that I wear only when all my decent clothes are dirty away--feel sorry for homeless)
4. Improve career and find new job with potential.
5. Make better use of time. (read watch less tv here--yeah for writers strike as soon will be nothing good to watch on tv anyway)
6. Not go out every night but stay in and read books and listen to classical music. (very good match for no. 5)
7. Go to gym three times a week not merely to buy sandwich. (hurrah, my gym doesn't even sell sandwiches)
8. Make up compilation "mood" tapes so can have tapes ready with all favorite romantic/dancing/rousing/feminist etc. tracks assembled instead of turning into drink-sodden DJ-style person with tapes scattered all over floor.

Also, feel that I should put up some good religious things:

1. Will read Book of Mormon again at least once. (needn't correspond with Sunday School lessons since am currently exiled to nursery)
2. Will read Joseph Smith lessons. (Will correspond with Relief Society Lessons as a way of uniting with my sisters everywhere)
3. Will read from Preach My Gospel at least 10 minutes every day.
4. Will continue good work of writing in journal.
5. Will continue good work of Family History.

Also will be reporting once a month to you on my resolutions as a means of forcing myself to do at least some of them.

Facts That You May Possibly Find Interesting

Believe it or not, you can read what follows.

I cdnuolt blveiee, taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd, waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor, of the hmuan mnid, Aoccdrnig to rscheearch, at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer, in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng, is taht the frist, and lsat ltteer, be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses, and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae, the huamn mnid, deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod, as a wlohe.

Amzanig huh?

Also did you know that it is impossible, to lick your elbow.

Coca-Cola, was originally green.

The State, with the highest percentage of people, who walk to work is Alaska

The cost of raising a medium-size dog, to the age of eleven: $16,400

And finally, 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow.

Sorry, it just needed to be a lazy post day.

Resolution No. 1

So I went to my spinning class for the first time in 6 weeks last night. (I was actually sick for six weeks) I hadn't coughed once all day so I thought it was finally time to get my butt back in gear. Well it took about 10 minutes into the workout--just the warm up--until I started to feel the burn in my lungs. It was the kind of burn you might feel if you run outdoors in cold weather really hard and for a long time. I guess that I'm not entirely ready to work out--or at least not work out too hard. The problem is that once my lungs do recover enough for me to get a good workout my legs will probably no longer be able to do the work. So in spite of my current state of not being able to work out, I've decided to post my first New Year's resolution.

1. I would like to lose 10 pounds.

I always hate to make these kind of resolutions (weight loss)--and haven't actually done so before--I suppose my goal should be more along the lines of I want to be healthier by exercising 3 times a week, but I really want to lose 10 pounds and when I get back to working out again it should be totally doable: less than a pound a month. So there it is. Resolution number 1 is publicly recorded.

Merry...errrr...Holidays

Let's face it, most of you are probably not going to get a Christmas card from me. This isn't because I don't have the desire to send you a Christmas card, because I do have the desire. It is just that sometimes desire and action are just not compatible (you can call if lazy if you want or even a personal failing on my part, but I prefer to think of it in happier terms that tend not to place the blame entirely on my shoulders)--plus I don't even know some of you. So in the spirit of making that attempt to "send" Christmas cards, I present you, my internet friends and family, with a Christmas card...errr a Holiday card (in the spirit of the kind of political correctness that I can live with because I fully recognize that some of you will be celebrating Hanukah, Kwanza, or perhaps nothing at and what you celebrate neither destroys or detracts from my celebrations or the goodwill I have toward each of you.) Plus my sister says that until I get married I am not an adult (even though I am now 32) and not required to do adult things like send Christmas cards.

Happy Holidays

With Much Love,

Yankee Girl

Man-Candy Monday: Regency Men

I will be at a training meeting for most of the day Monday so I thought I would post something a bit early that you could enjoy on Monday.

Day of Shame

So former Senator Mitchell released his report on steroids in baseball and even though we pretty much knew that the information was going to paint baseball in a horrible light, it is still a sad, sad day. For my part, I would just like to say that I would like to see a one-strike-and-you're-out policy. I don't think steroids (and the like) have any place in baseball and a strict and immediate policy would be the most effective way to keep them out. Additionally, I think the whole asterisk thing next to Barry Bonds name is silly. Rather, I don't think he (and others like him) should even be on the list of homerun hitters (or other like lists). What has been accomplished by cheaters has no place with what has been accomplished by the greats without steroids. Having said my bit, I am fully aware that nothing like this will be implemented because the suits in baseball aren't interested in the integrity of the sport. But I have hope that with this report we may begin to see some change that will bring some of the greatness of the sport back.

Dish Rags

Dish rags for everyone. Last night, in a small attempt on my part to break through the isolation of serving in the nursery, I attended a Relief Society crochet class. These classes (or get togethers) will take place once a month with fun new patterns each month. I must admit that when I first found out that we would be making dish rags this month I was not thrilled by the notion. I mean, I can purchase them cheaper already complete than I can by purchasing the materials and spending my time making them. But I figured that it was a good first step in learning how to crochet. I was the first to arrive (and I was 10 minutes late) and didn't have the correct materials (not my fault--being isolated in nursery no one told me until it was too late that the list of supplies had changed from what was originally announced) but it all worked out thanks to some lovely sisters in my ward. One funny near-mishap nearly occurred when I was asked how much experience I had and I was on the cusp of replying that I was a crochet virgin, but one look at the woman that asked me and I knew that kind of a comment would not be appreciated. I was the youngest one there by about 20 years so I can't exactly say that the evening was roaring fun, but it was enjoyable. Much of the conversation of the evening revolved around female operations (by which I believe they meant hysterectomies) and people who had died and were perhaps in the process of dying. At one point one of the sweet women mentioned that I was very quiet and while I wanted to point out that I don't really have any experience with hysterectomies, I merely claimed that I need to concentrate or I would lose what I was doing--which wasn't a lie. I think next time, though, I will try to recruit someone a bit closer to my age. So who wants a dish rag?

Skipping Christmas

At the risk of delving back into negativity, I've just finished reading Skipping Christmas by John Grisham and I hated it. I spent the entire book wondering why so much effort was being wasted caring what the neighbors thought and why so much energy was being wasted by the neighbors trying to enforce their ideas of Christmas on others. Furthermore, I found the characters to be entirely selfish, racist, and stupid. Even the presentation of the perfect gift at the end couldn't save this book for me. I hated it. I am now in need of a good book to read. Any suggestions?

Moment of Silence

Please hold a moment of silence for my snowman (which you can now view in all of his former glory a couple of posts down). That is indeed his head sitting quietly at his feet.
Good news, though, it finally snowed properly over the weekend so I can now resurrect Mr. Snowman in even more perfection than he previously knew.

English Teachers

I recently overheard a few of my students talking about some teachers at the particular Second Ed. institution I am employed by. One of them was complaining about a particular teacher with the basic complaints that this teacher requires students to figure out how the teacher thinks and mimic it. In a nutshell, the student was complaining because the teacher doesn't teach (the student actually defined teaching as teaching a student how to think not teaching the student the "correct" answer to bubble in on a test). One of the other students tried to stand up for this teacher by saying that the teacher was a great teacher because he/she taught the student that books like Jane Eyre are truly horrible books, but if you skip the book and go right to the Cliff notes the story is actually pretty good. AHGGGGG!!!! I don't even know what else to say. The first student summed up his argument by saying that the problem with unions is that they protect the incompetent. I've got to say that I'm beginning to agree with him because this kind of teaching is just so incredibly wrong.

Concert Tickets

So about 4 months ago I won a 6 month membership to the Brad Paisley fan club. Now, I'm not a huge country fan, but a free membership is free so I took it--besides if I were to like country I would definitely like Brad Paisley since so many of his songs are funny and charming. So now Brad is coming in concert and my sister and I took advantage of my free membership and bought special VIP tickets before tickets even went on sale to the rest of you suckers. Which means I am now going to my 2nd country concert--which is a lot since, like I already said, I don't like country music a whole lot. Since I like lists, I thought this would be a good time to give you my incredibly extensive list of concerts I have attended. Please feel free to let me know what concerts you have attended in your life--especially your first.

1. New Kids on the Block (My very first concert--I was like 15; Classic)
2. Tommy Page (Another Classic)
3. James Taylor (A true classic--this is where I learned to identify the smell of marijuana)
4. Barenaked Ladies (Best concert ever)
5. Creed (Who can argue with Scott Stapp in leather pants)
6. Martina McBride (But I only attended half the concert--got in free)
7. LeAnn Rimes (I was surprised at how much I liked this concert--also free)

There it is. My extensive lists of concerts I have attended. It really is a sad sort of short list, but I still have time to make it better.

Also, don't forget to check out my sad, sad snowman in the post below.

Confessions of a Complete Failure

So, I've pretty much finished up my Christmas shopping. I will probably need to come up with a few extra gifts (just in case)--maybe some plates of cookies, but otherwise I am done. I still have the whole Christmas card thing to settle. I've always been pretty bad about sending them out, but I'm going to try harder this year. I've just figured out the menus for our Christmas Eve dinner and our Christmas Eve buffet (really looking forward to that). But I have just realized that I am a complete failure in the whole get into the Christmas spirit. I haven't attended a single Christmas concert or event and have no current plans to do so. I haven't watched a single Christmas TV special or movie in its entirety (I saw bits of A Very Shrek Christmas and Rudolph). I decided against going to the work Christmas party since those are just not fun to got to when you don't have a significant other and everyone else does. I haven't had any Christmas candy or cookies. And perhaps the most embarrassing, I haven't listened to any Christmas music (hangs head in shame). I intend to rectify the lack of Christmas music in my life today, but still I need a few more suggestions on how to get in the spirit.

I did make a rather sad snowman with my niece Ellie. Still I suppose it counts for some spirit.

5 Things To Do Before I Die

A lot of people have lists of things to do before they die so as a nod to the pack, I thought I would create my own list for your purusal, but I've decided to keep it short and sweet. I figure that I can update and change it as I accomplish any of these items thereby keeping my list both manageable and doable (I can just imagine people at age 97 looking over their list in smuggness and then suddenly freaking out when they realize that they have overlooked number 67: See Backstreet Boys live in concert, something that they no longer can do as all the Backstreet Boys are dead by this time making their list permanently incomplete.).


5 Things To Do Before I Die
In no specific order


1. See the Yankees play live in New York

2. Be fluent in a second language

3. Learn to play the violin

4. See every Shakespeare play performed live: 24 to go (or 22 if I have seen Lear & Shrew--can't remember)

5. Visit every state in the United States: 31 to go

Too Early for Chocolate?

I know there is a definite idea around when it is appropriate to drink alcohol and when it is too early, but I am wondering if there are similar restrictions concerning chocolate (or candy in general). I've been at work for an entire hour now (since 7am) and have a small stash, in this case, of Reece's Pieces (I left the good British chocolate that I recently got in the mail home in anticipation of soon being completely recovered from the flu and being able to enjoy said British chocolate fully) and I just can't decide if it is too early to start digging in. There is a large part of me that keeps saying: yes, it is too early; chocolate is not a breakfast food; and I have recently brushed my teeth and should let the effects of the toothpaste sink in a little more before taking specific steps to destroy my teeth. But then there is a small part of me that says: chocolate (and by default candy) is actually one of the main food groups and therefore can and should be eaten as opportunity arises despite time of day. What say you?