• Q:  How are you?
• A:  Good

• Q:  How’s Work?
• A:  Good

• Q:  How’s the family/wife/husband/kids?
• A:  Good

COME ON!  There is so much more to the story.

Earlier this week, a dear friend came to visit and when she asked, “What do you WANT to do?”  I started to say “I donno” and change the subject, as usual.  Then I stopped.  I did know.  I just didn’t know how to translate it into a job.  So instead, I just admitted this and a relatively short discussion reveled that she actually has a friend who helps folks find the experience for the job they want, embedded in the stuff they’ve already done.  KINDA IMPORTANT don’t you think?  If I had only said ‘I donno’ I would never have learned this.  And now, I have some butterflies in my belly at the idea of making a shift in 2012

Answering questions thoughtfully, listening and asking questions in return can lead to really surprising information.  (ok this particular frend probably would have told me I was lying and we would have gotten there eventually, so good friends are also a good idea. Listening and asking questions also leads to good friends.  Go figure.)

And also?  VERY EXCITED FOR 2012!!!

Just thought I would mention that

And even more than that – all that new and fresh and interesting motivates me to do the same. 

i need an update!

Thank  goodness it’s so close to January – the legendary month to kick off updates!

So I have decided in these last few weeks of December, instead of stressing over not really following my own challenge (hey, I tried!  Be quiet, Yoda) I will plan for my own update.

So far I have:

1. Write more and hit that blue ‘publish’ button even if i think it’s not good enough
2. Encourage even more people to do what their hearts tell them.  (seriously, nothing is more soul satisfying!)
3. Eat more veggies! (even us veggies sometimes get stuck in a carb rut)
4. Be thankful and enjoy
5. Buy some new clothes already! Yesh! so over the frump.
6. Sleep 8 hours a night, preferably uninterrupted (hahaha i think i need to inform the baby about this one)

Ok that’s all I have so far.  What about you all?  Anything exciting I should add to my list?  Inspire me with some ideas please!!

Our dinners generally consist of easy habits in very high rotation:

• Pasta with sauce (tomato or pesto)
• Grilled Cheese and soup (or sometimes baked fries)
• Sandwiches
• Pizza (homemade crust! good ingredients! don’t look at me like that judgy mcjudgerson)
• Fried Rice/stirfry (peanuts add crunch and yum)
• Fake Chicken patties and some sort of side (spaghetti and sauce or fries (cringe) or englishmuffin – it’s a sandwich! once in awhile, green beans and mashed potatoes)
• Mac and Cheese with broccoli
• Breakfast! (pancakes! or eggs and toast! etc.)
• Cereal

I look at this list and want to ask my self, “what college do you attend?”  And then in my mom voice, “and how about you add some veggies?  You know, other than tomato sauce… “

There was a time I ate lots and lots of veggies!  (being a vegetarian and all one would think that is kind of required..) and then I married a man who is not so keen on ‘weird’ veggies but he would put up with them because he liked me, and it was sitting in front of him.  Then I had a boy who used to like veggies and then one day decided he didn’t.  And then I worked a lot and daddy did the cooking.  You can imagine if daddy who does not like veggies does the cooking what you get for dinner.  See ‘sandwiches’ and ‘pizza’ above.

Well, I have decided this is just enough.  We all need our veggies!  They don’t have to like it, but we are going to eat more veggies, protien, and whole grains!    Or starve trying!

Because I said so!

again.

We have kinda been down this road…

So I know this means I have to menu plan and figure out what to get at the grocery store.  ACK!  I have no idea how to do this!  Other times I have tried and basically ended up throwing a way a lot of yummy veggies that got all slimy in the bin, emitting the ‘smell of doom’.

Of course I am obsessed with food blogs, recipes, and other sites with menu planning.  Yes, I look at those and think WHO HAS TIME FOR ALL THAT NONSENSE!

Then I spend 30 minutes just trying to figure out what to make for dinner with a hodgepodge of ingredients.

heh.

So, the adventure begins… I’m um open to any advice/tips/tricks anyone can pass along…

PS – I wrote this a few weeks ago, didn’t publish, then we all promptly got flu/colds/whatever and yeah, I am just now getting around to starting this again.  Perhaps we need some additional Vitamin C?

I cleaned a little bit this morning – just enough to be presentable, but not as much as I would have liked.  I suffer from the-more-I-clean-the-more-I-need-to-clean syndrome and knew I had someone coming over at 8:30 9:30 this morning.

Once here, Catherine and I spent the rest of the morning making the changes to her site with my guidance.  It’s a work in progress, of course, and she got some nagging items checked off her to do list along with more knowledge of how to make changes on her own.  She is such an energetic and inspiring person!  I always learn something and am more energized after our meetings.

Finally, I checked something off my list – I bought a sofa!  Ok, technically it’s a love seat because our living room is tiny.  We have been without one for months now while I have been researching (‘research’ is code for ‘picky’).  I am looking forward to sitting next to my son and maybe my husband.  (ok , I am really excited to rearrange all the furniture in the living room multiple times.  This is normal, right?)

The rest of the day was spent with technology – caught up with neglected facebook friends, chatted away on IM and twitter all while browsing the random links!  Guilt free!  I’m technically on vacation!  (all about the technical)

I acknowledge that I didn’t necessarily accomplish my task list of de-cluttering and reorganizing my house.  But I DID help a friend, make a major household purchase, and reconnect with the people in the computer.  That’s more important to me anyway.

I prefer people to dust bunnies.

So, YES – today was very productive and worth every bit of the 8 hours of vacation time!

What would you do on a guilt free day off?