In Search of Good Intentions

I just finished reading a great blog about Nothing. First, it made me laugh and brightened up a gray and foggy day then it jarred something loose. Last year at this time, the cave called me and I retreated. I love holidays but no longer have the stamina to do it the way that that I did in years gone by. Sound familiar?

Waking up in the dark is taking more energy than waking up in the sunshine. I wake at 5:00 a.m. but some days it takes till 6:30 or 7:00 to roll out. It’s not like I have a job to go to or a husband or kids waiting to be fed and taken care of. My daughter thinks I’m nuts because at my age, I should be sleeping in. Shouldn’t I?

I’m leaving it like that till I do my Qi Gong. Half reg/half decaf.

Every morning I wake up with the best of intentions. I plan to have my coffee and write in my journal. That’s a given without fail. The next part is tricky. I intend to do some form of exercise, then go to my computer and see who’s come to visit. Most days I get that part backward. By the time I’ve looked at my e-mail, I’m hungry and slosh from the coffee. Can I exercise on that? Some days it takes me till noon to get to my workout. I excuse myself with the fact that the exercise makes me too dizzy to do much after. True, but not good enough. So it’s back to the exercise first. I’m rolling out the mat before I go to bed. The coffee won’t even be turned on until I’m done.

It stares at me till I do the work. I have to walk across it to sit down.

You know the old phrase, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”? Well, for me it’s been a long road. Good intentions require follow through or they are just wishes. I wish I was thin and rich?

Finally got another batch done. Even by machine, they take a lot of time.

I always intend to get this project done or that one started. Then the machine gives me fits. Aren’t electronics wonderful? They supply so many reasons to sit and read a good book or watch a sappy movie. When I see the pattern forming, there is no one around to call me on it. It’s a self-correcting situation for me. So I get out a notebook and make my list. On one side are the things I’ve manage to accomplish since the holidays. You know the best way to get a child to do better is to praise them for what they have done. Then you can show them what they can do better. I have to be my own parent so the other side of the list must be shorter than the praise side. Yippee!

This will be part of a wedding shower gift so please don’t tell. It was supposed to be for Christmas but was meant to wait.

How do you handle your good intentions that are wandering to the wayside? I’m all ears here.

Good intentions are not enough. They’ve never put an onion in the soup yet.~ Sonya Levien

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself

In Search of Another Shot at the New Year

It came and it went. I missed the essence of it. We had our snacks for dinner and I was in bed at 10 p.m. My daughter went home at 9 and my son said he stayed up till 1 a.m. because there was too much noise outside. I heard NOTHING! I didn’t even have a drink. What a way to bring in the fantastic year I’m expecting.

I had a great holiday with lots of company, good food and better than average weather. No complaints here. But by the time everyone got to their planes on January 4, I was bone weary tired. I worried all that day that my sister-in-law would make her connecting flight in Chicago, (she did) and my son would have no delays (he didn’t). So while we tried to keep track of flights, my daughter helped me take down the tree and get it boxed up for next year.

I spent the rest of this week taking down decorations, carrying them down to the garage, moving back into my room, laundry and getting the fridge cleaned out. I found the missing bottle of ketchup. All while fighting off something that could by all appearances have been a…cold? I don’t get colds or flu. Not in the last half-dozen years have I had anything other than Bells Palsy and its residual odd effects. I eat lots of pickled garlic, for goodness sake. Nothing can get me eating that stuff. Not even vampires.

Maybe it came from too much of the dry heat from the electric heater but I got rid of it with a little (and maybe a little more) Brandy and a PM pain reliever. A good night’s sleep preceded by a hot shower did wonders. Whatever was causing the sneezing, etc., has subsided. I gave myself permission to do nothing; like there was a choice in the matter. There is order in my apartment once more and now I’m ready to celebrate the New Year. Anyone want to party with me? I’ll be at the sewing machine or the laptop.

Isn’t this how you spend New Year’s Eve? One is hunting for jobs, one is doing tutorials, and one is posting her blog.

Maybe now I can read your blogs without having my eye water till the words float away.

Does the New Year feel new to you or are you still trying to catch up with leftovers from the last year?

All of us every single year, we’re a different person. I don’t think we’re the same person all our lives. Steven Spielberg

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself