What little things can you do to meet your goals? (dsp blog prompt)

My new year's goal is to lose weight. Not a certain number of pounds, not make a certain goal weight by a certain date, not be a certain size by a certain event. Just to be farther down the road in being at a healthier weight this time next year than now. Of course, I do have hopes of being a size "whatever"... but this time my focus is going to be on health and feeling better. This is kind of a new mindset for me... maybe I've just gotten old and realized I'm never going to be a tiny little hottie again... was I ever, anyway? So... today I took my first small step and joined Weight Watchers... again. I've had great success with Weight Watchers. As a matter of fact, I've lost around 100 pounds on Weight Watchers.... sadly, it's the same 50 pounds twice!! But I know Weight Watcher's works to get the weight off and maybe this time I am at a place in my life I can make the connection and keep it off. My second small step I'm going to take is a commitment to eat breakfast, a healthy breakfast, each day. I am a "pop-tart and diet coke at 11:00 breakfast" kind of girl.... horrible, I know. But when I'm eating healthy I always eat a decent breakfast... a bit of protein, a whole grain, milk, maybe a fruit. And I feel so much the better for that! So, I'm going to commit to eating something healthy each morning... regardless of how I do the rest of the day (or the day before).

Todays WW Thought...
Rejoined today. Yikes.... do I really weigh that much? The leader at this meeting is nice, and normal. She doesn't seem to be a food nazi... didn't spend the half hour promoting macrobiotic, all organic eating or talk about her cat the whole time (both things my leaders at the two most recent unsuccessful WW re-joinings have done!) Maybe I'll like this meeting.

Share Your New Year's Resolution (dsp blog prompt)

My new year's resolutions are to do this blog. ha-ha.

Seriously though, this years resolution is to lose weight, as always. I've taken the first step by finding the Weight Watcher's meeting most convenient for me and I'm going to rejoin on Tuesday... tommorrow! I'm also going to re-commit to the gym. My focus this time round isn't going to be on attaining a certain number of pounds lost but on getting myself to a place I am happy and feel good about physically. I'm trying to be positive... but seeing as this is the battle I just do not seem able to conquer... sigh... no negative thoughts, Ann!! One day at a time.

Do you have a favorite ornament or decoration that you display at this time of year? (dsp blog prompt)

My Christmas tree is my favorite decoration.... I didn't do a tree the first few years I was married (long story). When I decided to put on up I happened to see a snowman themed tree in a store and decided I'd do one that way myself. The first year I had lots of snowmen that were just "filler" and didn't have any significance to me. But each year I've bought snowman oranments that signify something to me or my family.... there's the baby snowmen for each of my boys with the dates of their birth; the bride and groom snowmen for my hubby and I; the computer toting snowman for my husbands job; the snowman playing the drums for my drummer son; the beach snowmen from vacatioins; the photographer snowman; the skateboarding, skiing, baseball playing, basketball dribbling, etc. snowmen and more! And there is the Snow"mommy" with her "snowdaughter".... she represents the baby we lost. And theres one lone reindeer, Rudolph, who has a place of honor and a special memory attached to him. There are still some ornaments that are just beautiful.... but each year the ornaments with meaning replace the ones that are just there.... my boys and I decorate the tree each year and sort of celebrate who we are and what we've done through the years. A few days ago my girlfriend's tree fell over and all her glass ornament shattered. I couldn't help but think how sad I'd be to lose all the little things on our tree that trigger memories for me.

Wnat is your favorite winter memory? (dsp blog prompt)

It's really hard to choose just one favorite winter memory... seems that winter is, in some ways, a season for fond memories. There's Christmas, of course, and childhood memories of rare snowfalls in Alabama... and after moving to Michigan there's a whole new world of winter fun that I've discovered and enjoyed with my kids. But one of my fondest winter memories is when I was around five and was stuck inside sick on one of those rare days when we got enough snow in Alabama to actually cover the ground. I remember sitting at the window watching my friends play and feeling so very sad. Then, the door opened and there was my dad with the hugest snowball you've ever seen. He put it in the sink for me to play with.... I happily dug and scooped and packed for what seemed like hours... it must have been magical now if it didn't melt any quicker than that! LOL! That is one of my happiest winter memores and one of my happiest "dad" memories too.

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? (dsp blog prompt)

Doesn't that sound like a line from a Dr. Suess book?

Ok.... back to the prompt. After spending quite some time thinking about this I have to say, kind of sadly, that if I were a tree I'd probably be a kind of small, scraggly one. One that's been bent and twisted in the wind, suffered from drought off and on, isn't planted in the right environment either so it struggles and struggles to fulfill it's tree destiny. It would really take some looking to discover the species of tree that I am. Someday an arborist would come along who would see that I was really an oak tree struggling to make it and that all I needed was to be placed in the proper soil and given some tender loving care in order to thrive and grow and reach my full potential.

This is the most depressing blog entry. I'm sorry. I've had a hard day.

Tell about five accomplishments the past week...

hmmmm.....
1. I did all my returns. I have a terrible habit of purchasing something and then needing to return it only to have it sit in a bag on my bedroom floor for weeks... maybe months! I managed to return all the stuff that's been piling up the last month or so... and have set myself a "rule" for not purchasing anything new if I currently have an return waiting to be made.

2. I replaced my cell phone... twice. My phone has been not holding a charge for quite some time and lately a couple of the buttons wouldn't work everytime. Very annoying. Almost as annoying as a trip to the Verizon store would prove to be. My first trip wasn't too bad... I purchased a very cute little Razor with a blue tooth thingy so I can be one of those annoying people walking through Wal Mart "talking to themselves"... LOL... but the battery life was really bad needing to be charged after just a couple of hours of talk time. So.... off I go to the Verizon store again where I was one of four customers that morning. One of four. One of just four measly little customers in a store with 18 employees standing around doing nothing. I'm not kidding. I counted. After being made to wait for someone to "be available", the sales girl was as unhelpful as a person could be without being down right obnoxious. She actually told me, when I said I wanted to return the Razor because of the short battery life that "well, you should have known that". Not "they should have told you that"... uh-uh... I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT! I am sad to say I didn't maintain the best attitude although I did manage to not treat her rude... I just told the hubs that he'd have to finish the phone purchase because I was going to wait in the car. Menopausal women should probably not visit Verizon stores! I swear... if it wouldn't have meant changing my husband and sons phones I would have left and gone to Cingular even if it'd cost me twice as much! Anyway... I bought another phone and we'll see if it's any better.

3. Took my car to the shop for some warrantied repair work that needs to be done, but wasn't a HAVE TO. Things like that are hard to do for some reason.

4. Had a really wonderful lunch date with my 8 year old after their American Education Week activity. :)

5. And, lastly, my most proud accomplishment.... I cleaned the junk drawer in my kitchen out! I hate this chore because it never stays done and involves lots and lots of decisions about throwing stuff away and finding homes for stuff that shouldn't have been put there in the first place. But it sure feels good to open it up to get a stamp or a pen or something and actually be able to find it!

Want to know your future?

If you could, would you want to know your future? No, I don't think I would want to know my future, except in the most general terms... for instance I like feeling assured that God has a plan for eternity for me and regardless of how this life on earth is, there is something better ahead. But knowing the day-to-day future of every little aspect of my life would be overwhelming. Assuming you couldn't change things I think it would be a bit discouraging... why try if you can't make things better (the good things and the bad things coming), just coast on through. And if you could affect the future I think it would be such a tremendous weight on a person they'd crumble. Afterall, your future really impacts so many other futures, doesn't it? O