New Years Resolutions

OK so I still have 2 days left...but I'm writing out my 2012 goals and thought it a good time to review where I got in 2011.

Admittedly, I'm taking a pass on some from last year because my decision to go to grad school drastically changed where my time and energy went to.  And grad school had been a vague goal I've had for a long time, so I think I'll just count that as an "extra".  Still...I actually got 6 out of 10 this year

I decided this year I'm going to write these out differently though.  Rather than set 10 knowing I probably will get 5, I think I'm going to set 2-3 goals that are more of the "stretch" kind, and then the rest, however many that is, either ongoing goals or more todo/bucket list things.

This year - I want to get an "A" on my final Capstone project for grad school, and start (continue? from 7th grade) piano lessons.  I still have some logistics to figure out on the second one, I think I need a teacher that is more geared toward adults, which might be tricky.  Todos?  Look into solar panels - we've been wanting to look at that for awhile.  Refinish that little table that sits downstairs that I've meant to do for 14 years (and even got halfway done once).  And get to visit some more people this year - after school is done in August probably.

Happy New Year...in two days!

Homer's Odyssey

I got Gwen Cooper's recent book "Homer's Odyssey" for Christmas from my mom, and finished it this morning.  I was in tears at Chapter 23 - what a fantastic (true) story!  I'd recommend it to anyone who is a pet owner/cat lover.

Gwen's blog is here:

http://gwencooper.com/wordpress/

Little Tom

I can't help but share these...Thanks to the Camp Companion FB page for sharing this one. 

http://animalcaresociety.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/little-tom/

BTW, if you're on Facebook and you're an animal person, you should subscribe to Camp Companion's FB page - I am continually amazed by how many animals that group takes care of and adopts with such little resources (but lots of volunteer energy!)

Smart Phone Addiction?

Thanks to friend Bill for this one:


http://www.cioinsight.com/c/a/IT-Management/Smartphone-Addiction-Nine-Telltale-Signs-660974/?kc=EWWHNEMNL11282011STR2

If I have to be completely honest (and I adjust "watching my kid's soccer game" to "watching a sporting event") I would have to own up to 5 out of 10.  Smart phones are great pieces of technology but like anything, they can get overused :(

Happy Halloween!

We just finished handing out all our candy, 7:26pm, 350 pieces (we gave some kids two of the smaller pieces).  Last year it was closer to 8...quite a few, and still a lot walking by.

And, I am proud to say that I didn't eat a single piece.  One of the advantages of having so many kids so quickly :)  I DID enjoy a nice big piece of maple bacon wedding cake this weekend at the wedding we were at (all the food was fantastic actually).  The cake was as good as it sounds!

It Gets Better Project - Republicans

I've been following the "It Gets Better" project since it started over a year ago by Dan Savage and others.  There are thousands (maybe millions) of It Gets Better videos that have been made by gay people, advocates, companies, and I'm glad to say even many professional sports teams now have added videos.  The Advocate published an article yesterday with a link to an It Gets Better video made by all of the senators and representatives from New Jersey - ALL of them, including the 3 Republicans.  I commend them for putting aside political differences and addressing need for change with the problems of kids getting bullied and feeling the need to commit suicide.

• Advocate article
• Youtube video

Dear Me...

One of my dear friends recently posted a blog entry about an article about celebrities writing letters to their younger selves - cleverly titled Dear Me.  Our diversity groups at work have had similar exercises, the results of which people within the group have shared.

I've done this exercise in my head many times.  Maybe I have watched and read too much sci-fi and have "seen" the bad things that can happen because of messing with the timeline, but I always end up on the skeptical side of making changes.  ("Back to the Future" is probably the most widely known example.  If you're more geeky, Star Trek: The Next Generation had an episode called "Parallels" which discussed alternate realities.  Star Trek: Voyager had several episodes dealing with time travel and the "temporal prime directive" and how bad things can get when you mess with time).

In any case, it's always been very hard for me to come up with things I would actually tell my younger self, for fear that I would actually make things turn out worse somehow.  Maybe that is a testament to how well I think my life has turned out (?), maybe I haven't made too many major mistakes (?).  I always come up with about 2 or 3 very specific things I'd probably like to undo (I won't share these :)  But I also think I might encourage my younger self to not be so afraid to do things - almost every regret I come up with is usually something I DIDN'T do.

My friend and I also agreed that maybe the point of the exercise is to make sure you learn from your mistakes (since you can't actually go tell your younger self stuff).