What is the best way to celebrate a New Year? Custom dictates that we should do something different, change a negative element, move toward a positive goal.
Have you made any resolutions?
I read on www.proactivechange.com/resolutions/statistics.htm “40 to 45% of American adult make one or more resolutions each year.
Among the top new years resolutions are resolutions about weight loss, exercise, and stopping to smoke. Also popular are resolutions dealing with better money management / debt reduction.
The following shows how many of these resolutions are maintained as time goes on:
- past the first week: 75%
- past 2 weeks: 71%
- after one month: 64%
- after 6 months: 46%
While a lot of people who make new years resolutions do break them, research shows that making resolutions is useful. People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don't explicitly make resolutions.”
So I am going to resolve to…
1. Get out of debt…. I have paid down a good chunk of my debt, but have a long road to be consumer debt free in 24 months. I need 24 months because I still have 22 car payments left. This will be a process of cutting down and cutting back, with an element of saying “No” tacked on for good measure.
2. Lose weight… I need to be at a healthy weight, and I am nowhere near this goal. I actually considered surgery, but I resolve that this needs to be all on me.
3. Exercise more… I walk around like an old lady, and that needs to end, regardless of what weight I am. Just Dance and my Wii Fit, along with my treadmill being dusted off and put back in use, are going to move me along till the warm weather comes back.
4. Support charities more…Working for a non-profit and taking a salary/hours cut in August after no raise the previous year may already count, but I am a big fan of doing something for those with less. Via two Christian charities, I sponsor a little boy in Guatemala, a little girl in El Salvador, and an elderly woman in Kenya. For 2011, I have also agreed to serve as a respite for two families that will be hosting a boy coming from Afghanistan with his translator. He needs treatment for burns he suffered about a year ago. It will be an interesting year, I am sure.
5. Spend more quality time with my children… This goes with the condition “provided they let me” as family time to a teenager can be seen as a punishment, defeating the whole purpose. I would love to have weekly family game night… Wish me luck…
6. Cook at home more often… AKA, eat out less. This will actually help me with resolutions #2 and #7.
7. Spend less and save more… I spend a boatload of money on crap…stuff I don’t need, spur of the moment “I want” stuff that I can totally live without. Stopping that will allow me to put together a real emergency fund. Last year I figured out that I should have almost $10,000 in emergency funds- a lofty goal, to be sure, but I figured I could do it over time… So far it has about $500 in it… I have a LONG way to go…
8. Lower my expenses… In 2010, I refinanced my house and eliminated 3 major credit card balances, so this process is well under way. I have a listing of my expenses…OUCH…and am chipping away at my remaining debt… That said, sometimes you need to spend money in order to save. My furnace and A/C unit need to be replaced. This year. Cash up front if at all possible…
9. Work on my retirement fund… I am moving from 5% to 10% on my 403(b) withholding. Cause I ain’t getting any younger. And I would like to retire at some point. Just saying.
10. Declutter my house… All the “stuff” I have and don’t need, want, wear needs to go to a new home. I have enough clothing living in my house to cloth a small nation and it needs to go… The papers that I have EVRYWHERE will either be shredded, sorted, filed or recycled…. And I made the HUGE step already in this area. I threw out hundreds of photos that were out of focus, poorly lit, included people whose names I can no longer remember, or were unflattering to the folks I love- Deirdre and Margie benefit the most, but Eddie was featured in more than one as well.
There you have it. A sizable list to be sure. Some will last more than a year, but hopefully there are a couple I will be able to knock out straight way. Wish me luck.
Happy New Year!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Giving at Christmas
My younger sister worked for a children's clothing manufacturer in the garment district as a receptionist after a couple of semesters in college. The small company was run by an Orthodox Jewish family and they made clothing items for Disney among others. My niece received an embroidered sweater with each of the Disney princesses over the course of my sister's career with the company.
The garment district is a stone's throw from the main post office in Manhattan, and one day at lunch my sister went to pick a Santa letter.
Santa letters are available to individuals so they can make a Christmas dream come true. The letter my sister picked was from a pre-teen girl. She wrote that after her mom died, her dad was really struggling to keep the family going. She told Santa she wanted nothing for herself, but asked only that he get a coat for her little sister- it was a luxury her father could not provide.
My sister teared up reading the letter, and returned to work with misty eyes. When her co-workers and employers inquired, she shared the young girl's simple letter. Everyone wanted to pitch in, and soon they amassed a wardrobe for both girls. The owners added their own choices, and the company paid the postage.
Often over the years, I have thought back to what it must have been like for this simple family, when the giant box of brand new stylish clothing arrived... A new coat for each girl and so much more. Disney sweaters, pants and tops for school...I imagine the squeals as each new item was examined, the fashion show as everything was tried on...the delight...
The dad contacted my sister to thank everyone, and she said he was so choked up he could hardly speak. It was that family's Christmas miracle. And it was a Christmas gift even to those who did not celebrate the holiday. The gift of giving to those in need transcends all other considerations.
Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love! ~Hamilton Wright Mabie
Merry Christmas.
The garment district is a stone's throw from the main post office in Manhattan, and one day at lunch my sister went to pick a Santa letter.
Santa letters are available to individuals so they can make a Christmas dream come true. The letter my sister picked was from a pre-teen girl. She wrote that after her mom died, her dad was really struggling to keep the family going. She told Santa she wanted nothing for herself, but asked only that he get a coat for her little sister- it was a luxury her father could not provide.
My sister teared up reading the letter, and returned to work with misty eyes. When her co-workers and employers inquired, she shared the young girl's simple letter. Everyone wanted to pitch in, and soon they amassed a wardrobe for both girls. The owners added their own choices, and the company paid the postage.
Often over the years, I have thought back to what it must have been like for this simple family, when the giant box of brand new stylish clothing arrived... A new coat for each girl and so much more. Disney sweaters, pants and tops for school...I imagine the squeals as each new item was examined, the fashion show as everything was tried on...the delight...
The dad contacted my sister to thank everyone, and she said he was so choked up he could hardly speak. It was that family's Christmas miracle. And it was a Christmas gift even to those who did not celebrate the holiday. The gift of giving to those in need transcends all other considerations.
Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love! ~Hamilton Wright Mabie
Merry Christmas.
Monday, December 20, 2010
My New Bathroom
All I want for Christmas is a new bathroom.
My 1970's bathroom is a thing of the past, with it's water-damaged wall and sub-floor and mis-aligned stick-on tiles. The vanity with dysfunctional door and drawers are distant memories. The avocado tub that never really looked clean and had half the water directed to the tub when we showered because the valve was frozen halfway- gone...
Did I mention the lights that dangled from chains?
After the demolition, Tony (aka Contractor God- he is Mike Holmes and Bob Viela combined) explained that the sink drained uphill, which is why thousands in Drano never unclogged the sink. He also demonstrated that my "support" wall was not actually attached to anything. And the sink pipes needed to be moved so they line up with where the sink is...
So Rick and I picked out the shower hardware- his Christmas gift to me, as well as some of the other fixtures. An exhaust fan with a light (truly a dream come true), towel bars, it is the little things that make me happy.
The new sub floor is down already and the support walls are well underway. The tile is a skid proof dark gray, the trim is a mosaic tile with pale blue, pale gray and off-white, and since I can't have a window, I am getting a small skylight.
Natural light in the bathroom...it is almost too much to hope for...
I am like a kid waiting for Santa, only this is SO MUCH BETTER!
And Tony believes it will be done prior to Santa's arrival.... Merry Christmas to me...
My 1970's bathroom is a thing of the past, with it's water-damaged wall and sub-floor and mis-aligned stick-on tiles. The vanity with dysfunctional door and drawers are distant memories. The avocado tub that never really looked clean and had half the water directed to the tub when we showered because the valve was frozen halfway- gone...
Did I mention the lights that dangled from chains?
After the demolition, Tony (aka Contractor God- he is Mike Holmes and Bob Viela combined) explained that the sink drained uphill, which is why thousands in Drano never unclogged the sink. He also demonstrated that my "support" wall was not actually attached to anything. And the sink pipes needed to be moved so they line up with where the sink is...
So Rick and I picked out the shower hardware- his Christmas gift to me, as well as some of the other fixtures. An exhaust fan with a light (truly a dream come true), towel bars, it is the little things that make me happy.
The new sub floor is down already and the support walls are well underway. The tile is a skid proof dark gray, the trim is a mosaic tile with pale blue, pale gray and off-white, and since I can't have a window, I am getting a small skylight.
Natural light in the bathroom...it is almost too much to hope for...
I am like a kid waiting for Santa, only this is SO MUCH BETTER!
And Tony believes it will be done prior to Santa's arrival.... Merry Christmas to me...
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
A helping hand
Volunteering is a way of life for me. It is part of the fabric of my days, so much so that I hardly notice. And it has been that way for as long as I can remember.
When I was a Sophomore in high school, I spent the summer as a volunteer in Project Hands, a day camp for special needs children. I was partnered with a wonderful young girl with Down’s syndrome, and we spent the summer learning and doing new thing.
When I was between my senior year in high school and my freshman year in college, I went to Kentucky and worked at a day camp for some of the rural children in need. I LOVED it.
I was a volunteer at the medical office in college, and there, I was encouraged to become an EMT, which led to a paid position there.
As a rape crisis advocate during the last year I was in school, I held hands with young women at their darkest moments. I still pray for them.
I served as a Peace Corps volunteer when I finished college, and traveled to Guatemala as a health extensionist. I dug latrines, vaccinated children, and learned so much from the people I shared my time with. I am still in awe of the young boy who made a top for me from a bit of wood and an old nail, then delighted in teaching me how to make it spin…
Now I am a Cub Scout Den Leader. I try to share experiences with the eight boys in my charge that will make them better for their time with me. And I tap the wonder that are my scout parents and grandparents- what an amazing group of individuals. My son enjoys the volunteer events the pack takes part in. The “River Clean-Up” in the cold rain was a big hit. Racking leaves for an elderly woman as part of RASKELS inspired him to rake our yard. We will be making radios from kits in the next few weeks. (I tapped my favorite electrical engineer for that one…)
Volunteering a helping hand is a gift I keep giving myself. It reminds me to think beyond the here and now of my little part of the world.
When I was a Sophomore in high school, I spent the summer as a volunteer in Project Hands, a day camp for special needs children. I was partnered with a wonderful young girl with Down’s syndrome, and we spent the summer learning and doing new thing.
When I was between my senior year in high school and my freshman year in college, I went to Kentucky and worked at a day camp for some of the rural children in need. I LOVED it.
I was a volunteer at the medical office in college, and there, I was encouraged to become an EMT, which led to a paid position there.
As a rape crisis advocate during the last year I was in school, I held hands with young women at their darkest moments. I still pray for them.
I served as a Peace Corps volunteer when I finished college, and traveled to Guatemala as a health extensionist. I dug latrines, vaccinated children, and learned so much from the people I shared my time with. I am still in awe of the young boy who made a top for me from a bit of wood and an old nail, then delighted in teaching me how to make it spin…
Now I am a Cub Scout Den Leader. I try to share experiences with the eight boys in my charge that will make them better for their time with me. And I tap the wonder that are my scout parents and grandparents- what an amazing group of individuals. My son enjoys the volunteer events the pack takes part in. The “River Clean-Up” in the cold rain was a big hit. Racking leaves for an elderly woman as part of RASKELS inspired him to rake our yard. We will be making radios from kits in the next few weeks. (I tapped my favorite electrical engineer for that one…)
Volunteering a helping hand is a gift I keep giving myself. It reminds me to think beyond the here and now of my little part of the world.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Winter 2010
Mother Nature has decided to bring on winter in a big way this week. It is normally in the 40’s at this time of year, and we are in the low 20’s- the weather folks think the “high” will be 23F. IT IS TOO COLD. We had snow on Saturday just the way I like it- it stuck on the lawns and trees but the roads were clear- lovely.
I wore my long coat and gloves today, and the heat in the car was blasting as I drove to work. I have a heater at my desk and my feet have not thawed yet, even though I am almost through a pot of lovely hot coffee.
Is it too early to wish for an early Spring?
At least I am finished shopping for all the gifts I needed to find. Still need to wrap them, and mail my Dad’s gift to him, but I am in good shape. It is a green t-shirt with the Grinch’s face on the front. The Grinch was one of my Dad’s favorites. Along with the coyote that chases Roadrunner.
Christmas cards are not going well. I can’t find my address book. It was on my desk last week and while everyone claims not to have moved it, it is no longer there and my search has turned up nothing- okay it turned up several other misplaced items, but that is hardly the point. So I will be mailing cards to addresses I have memorized, and to those who send me a card bearing their return address. What can ya do?
I know, a computer based address book…e-mail cards…I know, join the 21st century.
Bah Humbug! I am sure the phone book will turn up when I least need it and am in search of something else entirely. In July…
Still no tree- hard to get motivated to take on such a huge project with the kids away this Christmas. I was thinking of setting up the nativity and just having a small potted pine instead. Then plant the tree in the backyard in spring. Nice and simple, like the first Christmas.
Now if only we could make it to the 40’s or so.
I wore my long coat and gloves today, and the heat in the car was blasting as I drove to work. I have a heater at my desk and my feet have not thawed yet, even though I am almost through a pot of lovely hot coffee.
Is it too early to wish for an early Spring?
At least I am finished shopping for all the gifts I needed to find. Still need to wrap them, and mail my Dad’s gift to him, but I am in good shape. It is a green t-shirt with the Grinch’s face on the front. The Grinch was one of my Dad’s favorites. Along with the coyote that chases Roadrunner.
Christmas cards are not going well. I can’t find my address book. It was on my desk last week and while everyone claims not to have moved it, it is no longer there and my search has turned up nothing- okay it turned up several other misplaced items, but that is hardly the point. So I will be mailing cards to addresses I have memorized, and to those who send me a card bearing their return address. What can ya do?
I know, a computer based address book…e-mail cards…I know, join the 21st century.
Bah Humbug! I am sure the phone book will turn up when I least need it and am in search of something else entirely. In July…
Still no tree- hard to get motivated to take on such a huge project with the kids away this Christmas. I was thinking of setting up the nativity and just having a small potted pine instead. Then plant the tree in the backyard in spring. Nice and simple, like the first Christmas.
Now if only we could make it to the 40’s or so.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Margaret Kelly
My Dad's mom, Margaret Josephine Kelly, was a firm Catholic, dedicating herself to the Church. She moved into an apartment across the street from St. Benedict's and was generous in both time and money to the parish and the priests residing there. In 1993, as Father Steve lived out his last days, my Granny brought him into her home and nursed him.
She was an amazing lady, working at the Jewish Home for the Aged for decades. She only "retired" at age 86, fully committing her working hours to the parish.
She was a magnificent seamstress. She created my sister Dee's wedding dress and many of her own outfits, as well as many of the drapes that adorned the church altar.
On December 2, 2001, my Granny died of a stroke. She collapsed in her home on Thursday night and died by midday Sunday, without ever regaining consciousness. Her funeral mass saw all of the priests she served over her lifetime, on an altar together, praising her- monsignors, arch-bishops alike.
Granny raised one son and two daughters. Her son Micheal, born just after my dad, died in infancy. She had nine grandchildren and so far, over 20 grandchildren,a number that will continue to grow.
I remember her today with love.
She was an amazing lady, working at the Jewish Home for the Aged for decades. She only "retired" at age 86, fully committing her working hours to the parish.
She was a magnificent seamstress. She created my sister Dee's wedding dress and many of her own outfits, as well as many of the drapes that adorned the church altar.
On December 2, 2001, my Granny died of a stroke. She collapsed in her home on Thursday night and died by midday Sunday, without ever regaining consciousness. Her funeral mass saw all of the priests she served over her lifetime, on an altar together, praising her- monsignors, arch-bishops alike.
Granny raised one son and two daughters. Her son Micheal, born just after my dad, died in infancy. She had nine grandchildren and so far, over 20 grandchildren,a number that will continue to grow.
I remember her today with love.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)