New Year Update

So, it's 2013.  That shocks me for a lot of reasons.  I remember a writing prompt given to me in fifth grade, years ago.  We were supposed to write about what life would be like in the year 2000.  I was certain we'd have flying cars and humanoid robots doing our household chores, a la Rosey from the Jetsons.  Here we are 13 years after that supposed reality and I'm still doing all the dishes and laundry I can't pass off to the kids.  I do not have a flying car.  Suzy the stupendous Subaru is car enough for me but I can't deny that a flying Suzy would be awesome.

Anyway, it's 2013.  I'm starting another college semester in about 2 weeks.  This time I'm taking some kind of lower level algebra.  I guess it's pre-algebra for college.  I'm also taking a philosophy class.  I took introduction to ethics, which falls under the umbrella of philosophy, last summer.  It was a fun class with interesting lectures.  This time my philosophy class is logic, persuasion and argument or some such business.  I'm looking forward to it.

I read some reviews of my philosophy professor on this site.  He has pretty good ratings.  There is one bad one but the reason this person rated him badly is because he goes off on tangents and tells stories during his lectures.  I think that's awesome, so I'm not counting it against him.  I don't know who my algebra professor is yet so I can't look them up.

I finished last semester with good grades in both biology and its lab and my last English composition class.  I loved those biology courses.  I learned so much and was able to apply a lot of the knowledge I already have to learning the information in that course.  The English course was annoying in that it was a freshman composition class that I've somehow avoided when taking other English classes.  It was pretty basic.  I did have to write a rather lengthy thesis that counted as a third of my grade, but I'm proud of it.

Works is busy.  Good grief, it's busy.  This is a really bad sick season.  There is lots of flu, gastroenteritis, strep, pneumonia, and garden variety upper respiratory viruses.  I'm so tired of hearing the same old symptoms -- which no one can cure -- that I'm having a difficult time not rolling my eyes and telling everyone to just go home, stay hydrated and ride it out with OTC medications.  They expect a doctor to fix them with some kind of magic.  I'm sorry, but when viral symptoms start, it's going to be a few days before you feel better.  Coming to see the doctor doesn't mean you are fixed.  Please do not call us when you're not better tomorrow.  And for Pete's sake, do not come back to the office; you're just going to expose yourself and your kid to whatever else has mutated overnight and is hanging about now.

The kids are doing well.  Miriam is flourishing in middle school.  I'm relieved.  I was nervous about her starting there this year but she's doing just fine.  Solomon is struggling some.  We are trying to cope with ADHD and all the stuff that goes with that.  Solomon is so smart and a hard worker, though.  I know he'll be successful in the end.  Samuel is doing well.  I think we finally have the right combination of therapies at school, medication from the doctor, and IEP accommodations to suit him.

What really pleases me is the broadening of the kids' horizons.  They're offered so many opportunities by living in this area.  They're friends with a wonderful array of kids and they're learning so much about people; they don't even realize it, but I can see it.  We're taking advantage of music and art opportunities that only a city like this can offer.  I recently bought tickets to a ballet performance for the four of us.  I cannot wait and the kids seem pretty excited, too.

Things with Paul are pretty great.  I have the best time with him and I'm so grateful for him.  We've gone to some fantastic events in the last year together -- lots of theater shows, some concerts, a couple of ballets, and we're going to the symphony and to see David Sedaris in the next two weeks.  I'm so excited to experience these things with someone who enjoys them as much as I do.

We've had our share of sad and disturbing things happen.  I'm still bothered by a lot of them on a regular basis.  They cause me anxiety sometimes.  I wish I could change them but the reality is, I can't.  No one can.  It's the bad thing about being in this world.  All of those don't cancel out the wonder that is the rest of our lives.

Happy New Year!

And Happy Birthday to this blog!  This is my third New Year's blog entry, even if it's a day late.  Wow, time really flies, huh?

We had a great New Year's Eve celebration.  Jennifer and Caleb hosted a game night that we pieced together with a lot of people that didn't know each other before now.  At one point in the night someone commented that I was the only person who really knew everyone at our party.  And it's true.  I invited work friends, new friends, an old friend from high school who was in the area and of course, there were siblings, significant others and children.  It was a great time.

We played a few games, ate a lot of food, had sangria, wine and some mixed drinks.  We toasted the New Year on the porch with noisemakers, confetti and champagne.  (I was not impressed by the champagne, to say the least.  In fact, I thought it tasted vaguely of vomit, if you're interested.)

Jenn, Caleb, Paul and I have decided to run a 10K in May.  I'm nervous.  I was running a lot during the summer but that has fallen by the wayside since school started and all that.  Paul and I went running yesterday, although I hate to call it running.  We ran a little and walked a lot.  It felt good to be moving, though.  I have a loooong way to go, literally and figuratively speaking.

That's really the only New Year's resolution I have -- to run the 10K.  I don't like making New Year's resolutions.  In my opinion, it's kind of like celebrating Valentine's Day.  Why do I need a special occasion to make changes in my life or turn over a new leaf or show someone I love them?  Shouldn't that be an ongoing thing?  If New Year's resolutions help someone do that, I won't begrudge them that.  More power to them.  But I generally don't want to do it.

I did resolve to correspond with my family better during 2009 and I did, sort of.  With the exception of losing some gift cards and sending birthday cards late as a result, I did keep up my correspondence much better than I did in 2008.  So making the resolution did help that.  Let's hope it helps the running effort.

So ... Happy New Year, all!

Happy Birthday, Blog!

Happy birthday, to you!
Happy birthday, to you!
Happy birthday, dear Blo-og!
Happy birthday, to you!

Ahem. Thank you for indulging that moment of dorkiness. Really though, I am proud of my blog. It's been my creative outlet for one year now. I've recorded a lot of moments here. And I've stuck with it! That was one of my 2008 New Year's resolutions. Yay, me!

Speaking of New Year's resolutions ... my #1 resolution this year it to keep up with correspondence better than I have in the past. I am going to make a concerted effort to e-mail or write and send pictures more regularly. I'm a little apprehensive about posting this publicly because most of you that read my blog are family that I need to stay in touch with better. You all will have a front row seat to my progress on this. So, I will be strong and I will prevail! I will, I will, I will.

Love and best wishes to you all!

Happy New Year!

Be safe, have fun and hug (and kiss) the ones you love! Best wishes in 2009!

Love,
Jessica

Update on New Year's Resolutions

Seeing as the mid-point of 2008 is quickly approaching, I thought I'd give an overview on my New Year's Resolutions. It's always a good thing to assess and evaluate one's progress, right? In case you don't remember, I decided that the year's theme would be to Do Stuff on Purpose. Specifically, I planned to seek out outdoor activities and to find new books, music and art. I was also going to write down the little stuff in my journal.

I completed my move to Colorado. If that's not doing something On Purpose, I don't know what is. Almost no one packs up all their stuff and moves 700 miles away without meaning to.

All 3 children have bikes and are getting quite good on them now. They are proudly boasting shins and knees full of scrapes and bruises to prove their hard work. I haven't bought my bike yet. I don't see much reason for it until the kids are riding faster than I jog. We get out and bike/jog on the path near our apartment whenever we can. We've also started hiking and flying kites.

I bought camping gear to add to our outdoor activities. We have used our tent and sleeping bags once, but that trip was cut short due to the unfortunate timing of a nasty stomach virus. Trust me, you don't want to know the rest.

Finding new music has been easy since moving here. My favorite radio station plays at least one song I've never heard every day. Sometimes they are good, sometimes they aren't. I've also been hounding Caleb and Jennifer; they have great taste in music and know wonderful artists that I want to know.

Finding new books has been a little more difficult, partly because I haven't had much time for reading. But the biggest reason that it has been hard is that I read an amazing book that made it hard to get into anything else for a while. It was one of those books that I was truly sad to finish. I started, stopped, started again and finally gave up on 3 books after that one because I just couldn't let it go. Fortunately, I am back on track now. (In case you want to read it, the amazing book is Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.)

I realized recently that all the books I love are books that I want my children to love, too. Obviously, they can't read most of them (nor would I want them to read a few of them for several more years!) for themselves. But then it occurred to me that they are finally mature enough to listen to longer books without pictures and I can make a project out of reading great series of books to them. We have started with The Chronicles of Narnia. We are half way through The Magician's Nephew and they are loving it.

The kids and I have discovered origami. There is a neat little section of our On Demand cable menu that posts videos of how to fold certain shapes. We invested in a beginner's kit and an extra envelope of special paper. It's pretty fun. The kids are getting really good at matching the edges of the paper and making sharp creases. That has to do something for their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, right? In any case, it keeps them out of my hair for 15 minutes when I need it.

As for journaling and blogging ... well, the blog speaks for itself. My journal has been rather neglected lately since so much information goes here. I'll work on that. I've also made some steps in the right direction for scrapbooking. I asked for scrapbooking supplies for Christmas but I haven't done much with them yet. Last week I spent $16 on prints from Snapfish so I can begin filling those scrapbooks. I can't wait for them to get here.

So, there you have it. The year is half over and we are well on our way to living a more active and creative life. It's kind of fun to make New Year's resolutions and actually keep them.

Habit? Sleepiness?

So I started this blog yesterday with the intention of not blogging on myspace again. And what do I do? Go and put a brand spanking new blog post about New Year's resolutions on myspace at 11:30 pm. I don't know if it was from habit or sleepiness. So much for new beginnings.

To remedy this, I am going to transfer that post here. Here goes ...

At the party last night, we all listed what our New Year's resolutions would be. Corny, I know but hey, there was some really great wine -- corniness is to be expected after a point. Ha!

I listed the ususal 'workout, be more patient with my children, yadayadayada.' But then I thought about it some more tonight. I have decided my theme for 2008 is to Do Things on Purpose. I realized that most of my decisions in the last few years have been made as the result of situations around me. I need to do more things on purpose.

I've already started this without realizing it. I was dissatisfied with my church home so I found a better fit. I went back to school and set major education and career goals. I am packing up my life and moving (In one month! Ack!) half way across the country. Those are purposeful decisions that were not forced on me. I want to live my whole life like that. I will not let situational factors dictate my life.

Specifically, I am going to seek out an outdoor hobby the children and I can pursue together. I'm thinking biking. I am going to make it a point to discover new music, books and art. I am going to be more active in chronicling our daily life in my journal so the little things don't get lost. (In that same vein, I have started a blog separate from myspace. More about that in a future blog post here.)

So there you have it ... 2008 is going to be a phenomenal year.

Whew. I feel so much better now.