Radio Repeat Radio

We have these really old-school phones at work... Toshiba something or another. You can turn the radio on and listen to it while you're not using the phone. Comes out of the speakerphone area. Pretty cool.

It's programmed to Bob FM. Not a bad station. Pretty wide variety... Chumbawumba's "Tubthumping" to Toni Basil's "Oh, Mickey" to Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" to The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" I like the variety... it mixes the day up a bit. And on days like, say, yesterday, when I'm annoyed to high hell and back, something like Bohemian Rhapsody comes on, and I just can't be in a bad mood!

Lately though, I'm noticing that... though the variety is good... the station seems to be on some kind of loop. I'll hear a song that I KNOW I just heard a few days ago.

Not that that's a bad thing - just makes me curious: how are song lists for radio stations picked, besides the occasional call-in request? Do people really want to hear the same song, over and over again? Am I over-analyzing this?

I'm picking up Chinese food on the way home for dinner. YEEEEEHAAAAW!!!!

Then we'll play with the kids... bath time... and cutting coupons while waiting for MTV's "The Challenge" to come on (and wanting to shoot myself for staying up to watch it when I'm trying to drag my ass out of bed in the morning to get on the eliptical). I know, you're jealous. What can I say? I live life on the edge.

ALWAYS and SOMETIMES

I always say I'm going to sit down and write... rarely do.
I always say I need more down-time... don't make it possible.
Sometimes I wonder if life will ever calm down... it doesn't.

That's about that.

I need to register for classes this fall, but I keep having flashbacks to taking two online classes this past spring, and working full-time, and trying to keep up with kids/house stuff, and how I wanted to gouge my eyeballs out on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Hmm. How to get through school with my sanity in tact? I've still got a long ways to go...

I also need to start running/biking again. Seems like I pretty much quit after the half-marathon in May. It was just natural, "I'm sore, I'll pick back up again in a week or two." Almost three months later - nothing... not even a zumba class. Grr. Where has my motivation gone?

Probably to visit my sleep. That means it's unlikely I'll see it anytime soon.

A little late - but a new year!

I am not a fan of New Year's resolutions. I just don't see the point.

I mean, in theory, it's a grand idea: plan and put together ideas, and try to set them into motion and live by them for a full year. Awesome.
1) Loose weight/go to the gym/diet!
2) Stop swearing!
3) Quit snacking on junk food and soda!
4) Be nice/smile at strangers!
5) Be on time/more organized!
6) Be nicer to my family/spend more time & attention at home.

I could go on, but I'm sure we all get it. And I'm sure at some point, we've all made a "resolution" loosely based around one, if not more, of these.

But then... the inevitable happens. You go to a bridal shower and pig out. You're not feeling well for a week and skip out on your exercise plan. You forget to pack a lunch for work, and eat out of the vending machine instead. You don't have time to look up from your phone as you walk down the street. It's too early, and you just need ONE MORE TIME with the snooze button. That new desk at the store is a little too pricey. Your kids aren't picking up after themselves. Your husband doesn't rinse the dishes when he puts them in the sink.

We are all guilty of giving up on our resolutions, and if you're in some crazy majority that isn't... well, I need a lesson from you. Do you offer classes?

For me, personally, I just feel like it's easier to make a list of goals, and divy them up. Some are long-term, some are short-term, but the idea is to be honest with myself about a timeline and when I think I can accomplish them. (And of course, I save the "simple" ones on a list of things to remember to try to do daily!)

So... here goes my list, and here's to slowly working towards crossing things off, one by one!

Short-term:

• Contact someone in admission in a local school to look into adult education programs. CHECK
• Have my baby in a drama-free, relaxed setting.
• Look for a new job with part-time opportunities so I can spend more time at home with my children.
• Check into purchasing a house on my own. CHECK
• Continue working to better my credit. CHECK
• Enroll Ave in soccer or t-ball for the spring. CHECK
• Put up more pictures in my home of my children/family. CHECK
• Start scrapbooking again.
• Run the Pittsburgh half-marathon the first weekend in May.
• Make healthier/more organic meals for my family.
• Put myself on a budget and make a plan for saving money.
• Work harder with Pampered Chef - explore options of this as a career.
• GET MORE ORGANIZED. Omit as much clutter as possible from my home/life.
• Encourage my children's creativity.
• Encourage my own creativity.
• Be more supportive and positive.

Long-term:

• Go sky-diving.
• Climb a mountain (preferably a big one).
• Travel to foreign countries, just because.
• Take my family on a Carribean vacation.
• Graduate from college.
• Look into a doctorate program.
• Get involved in a local theater program.
• Have a garden where my kids can grow some fruits and veggies.
• Build/remodel something.
• Buy a new vehicle because I LIKE it, not because it's convenient or cheap.
• Take my family to Disney.
• Go on a cruise.
• Have a career that makes me proud.

Obviously, lists work best for me, because I can keep track of my progress. Maybe they'll help you too? And I can add to them as time goes on... or adjust them as I see fit. Good plan? Good plan!

Give thanks in all circumstances...

...for this is God's will for you.

So true.

I feel like I am being tried in every way possible lately. By my children. By my job. By my significant other, if that's what he is. By myself.

But everyday, I wake up and remind myself to give thanks. And I do. I decide, "Today will be a good day." Sure, it's not always perfect, but it's only as bad as I let it be. I can choose to let disappointments make me bitter and angry... or I can turn them into something better.

I choose the second. After aaaaaages of NOT doing so... I ONLY choose the second.

Now if I could just remind myself to not be too hard on myself while doing so.

Happy Thanksgiving. I know I am so blessed. Even in my failures.

Afterall, everyone grows up someday...

If there was one job I wish I could have... I'd be a writer.

Okay, I'm fibbing. I wish for lots of other jobs too... stay-at-home mom, elementary school counselor, professional scrapbooker, world-traveller... shall I go on?

When I was in high school, I went through a spell where I was dead-set on becoming a journalist. "Fantastic!" I thought. "I'd get paid to do something I actually enjoy - share my thoughts with people."

Then I realized... that's not what journalism is about at all. For the most part, anyways. It's factual, informational, and really just sharing "news" that an employeer deems important to the general public. Which is great. But has it's own politics... all the same.

So I scratched that. And here I am, years later, a slave for a different kind of an employeer, but a slave all the same.

But this will be my outlet.

And MAYBE... just maybe... someday, somehow, after I'm all "grown up"... I'll have this to look back on. To share with my children. Be proud of my thoughts.

Until then... well... I'll continue being a slave to the working industry and walking down the path of self-discovery.