Friday, October 19, 2012

And Even More Statements of Epicness!

Husband Dear has two baseball caps he wears on a regular basis.  One he wears to and from work, to run errands, and so forth.  The other he wears only when working on his precious MGB.  Oh, I haven't told you about the MGB?  Some other time.  This post is about hats.  And hair.

He had to do some work on this lovely, yet complete PITA of a car, and went to find the hat he wears while he works on it, but it was missing!  Dun dun duuuuuuun!  He went out to work on it anyway, without his hat.

Now, here's what you have to understand.  Husband will eventually have no hair.  It's just a fact.  He's been losing hair since he was a teenager, and recent times, he's losing hair at a faster rate.  His bald spot in the back is expanding to meet his receding hairline in the front.  No big deal; we both knew it was coming.  However, Little Viking has just noticed this.  As Husband bent down to look in his toolbox, Little Viking exclaimed, "Dad!  Your hair is disappearing!"

We had a good laugh and thought that was the end of it...until the next day.

I had just dropped Philosopher Child off at school and was walking home with Little Viking, who was busy chattering.

"Dad's hair is disappearing because he didn't wear his hat," he said.

"That has nothing to do with it," I explained.  "It's not because of his hat.  Dad's just losing his hair.  Eventually, he'll look like Grandpa."

"Oh.  Well, how does it grow back?"

"Usually, it doesn't."

A mild look of panic spread over his face.

"But your hair grows back," I hastily added.  I could see he was thinking about all the hair that has ever fallen off of his head.

Hey, who's up for some hair-falling-out nightmares?  I'm pretty sure that's coming now.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Being Literal

Sometimes Philosopher Child is delightfully out there.  I remember when he was very young and asked me if God ate breakfast.  Other times, he is so narrow and to the point that he struggles to understand what he is being asked to do, even when it comes to simple tasks.

Yesterday I asked him if he understood the material for his math test.

"Yes," he replied.  "A piece of paper and a pencil."

He wasn't joking.  He really thought that was the answer.

"No, as in the text."

"The...what?"

"The book."

"We don't use our books for the tests."

Touche.

Looking through his school papers from last week, I found this (click the photo to see the whole scentence)

He's not wrong... strictly speaking.

A few days ago, we were in Target and both the boys were misbehaving.  I told them that if they didn't stop, I'd put them in the cart.

Little Viking looked at me and said, "Mom, only one of us will fit in the cart."

Crap, I'm outnumbered here.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Dang it all!

Full disclosure: Body image and weight issues have been a life long problem for me.  I was the fat sister.  My two sisters were tall and fah-reaking gorgeous, my parents were strong and lean.  I didn't fit.  Once, when we were very young, me (or one of my sisters, my memory is fuzzy here) asked about an overweight woman with an overweight child that we saw outside.  We were innocent and were just trying to figure out the hows and whys of the world, not calling anyone out to belittle them.  My mother, however, did not mince words here.

"Because fat mommies make fat babies," she said.

Ouch.  She could have said that they didn't get enough exercise, or ate unhealth foods, or had a glandular problem, but she didn't.  The words, "Because fat mommies make fat babies," stuck with me to this day.  This happened when I was around 5.  I'm now 30.  Because of what she said and the way she said it, I wondered what she thought about me, the one that doesn't fit.

When I was about 12, I shot straight up and got thin, but the negative speak, both internally and externally, was still there.  I had no idea that I got thin and healthy during this time and only realized it years later when seeing the rare photos of me.  Around the same time, a relative was in Germany and sent my sisters and I each a *small* box of chocolates.  One day I was walking through the kitchen and took one of the small pieces of chocolate out of the box.

"Go ahead, have another hip pill," my stepfather said when he saw me.  (My mother and father had divorced a few years earlier.)  It's no wonder I still thought I was fat, even when I wasn't.  Not knowing that I was in good health, the weight came back on without me ever even realizing it had come off.

I remained a little heavy, with my weight going up and down as much as 15 pounds year to year.  Finally, one summer I was training to be a lifegaurd and shed several pounds due to all the swimming I was doing to prepare for the physical activity portion of the test.  Around the same time my father came to visit.

"Look how much weight Kristina has lost!" was one of the first things my mother said to him.

A few years later I became pregnant with Philosopher Child.  I had no concept of healthy eating (does anyone else think it's funny that my family, especially my mom and sisters, were obsessed with weight but never discussed healthy eating?  I do), and at lots of junk food because that's what I craved.  I gained around 50 pounds.  A year after pregnancy, I tipped the scale at nearly 200 pounds.  Enough was enough and I made the conscious decision to get healthy.  Notice I didn't say thin.  I said healthy.

I joined my local Curves (now closed, unfortunately) and paid more attention to what I was eating, but still didn't have a good concept of what foods I should be eating and how much.  I dropped about 20 pounds then became pregnant with Little Viking.  My midwife had a much better understanding of what foods were healthy and how much of what I should be eating.  I owe her quite a bit.  I gained very little weight during this pregnancy, but Little Viking was growing like a weed and when he was born was in the 90th percentile for weight and height.

I continued to struggle with my weight going up an down.  To date, since I first decided with seriousness to get healthy, I have lost 35 pounds, and now weight around 165.  For my height and bone structure (yes, bone structure), I'm shooting for 155 to be in the top end of the healthy range.  I'd be happier with 140.

What was this post about...Oh, yes.  Dang it all!  I had some issues when I got stressed, depressed, and my hormones went all wonky and made me nauseous.  Therefore, I missed several weeks worth of workouts and ate some very naughty foods.  I support naughty foods now and again, but I had too many of them.  Like, daily.  I went from 160 to 165.  Crap.  Now I'm back on the ball, working out with a combination of walking (2 miles 5 days a week), body weight exercises (occasionally), yoga (occassionally), and Zumba (2 times a week), and eating right.  I don't want to feel denied or overly strict with myself, I just want to be healthy.  I will never be extremely thin like you see in the movies and magazines.  The size of my bones (no kidding, I'm actually big boned!) make it a physical impossibility, and knowing that is very freeing.

At age 30, I'm finally starting to love me, who I am, where I am, without judgment.  Yes, I have 10 pounds to go until I'm in the healthy range, and I'll get there.  In the meantime, I'm loving my awesome, sexy self.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Intrinsically Special Part II

Click here for part one.

Intrinsically Special: noun.  A child who is special or different in a positive way.  This specialness comes from fact, not the opinion of the parents.

Summer came.  We suspended any travel plans we had since we didn't know when the call would come.  The call that asked us to come to the school for the IQ test.  We had no idea how much notice we would have.

In May I finally received the call, and the psychologist asked me to meet her at the school in a few days.  She was kind, cheery, and even asked me if Philosopher Child would be more on-the-ball in the morning or afternoon.

The day came.  The psychologist introduced herself and Philosopher Child announced that he hoped he "passed" the test.  The psychologist said she hopes he does, too.  She then asked me to wait outside and whisked him away.

Nervous, bored, and edgy, I took Little Viking for a walk.  When I returned, it was over, and the psychologist called me in.  This was the moment of truth.  Would he be around 100 (average), 120 (above average) or 130+ (gifted)?

She opened her folder and showed me some graphs and numbers and statistics.  Then she showed me Philosopher Child's IQ.  I just stared at the number, then let out a nervous laugh.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm sure.  I did the math again, just to make sure."

The IQ before me was much, much, much higher than I expected.  Heck, it was much higher than she expected!

"He's a genius," the psychologist said.

I went home in a daze to inform interested family members.  "A genius," I said, not sure if I really believed it.  "He's a genius."

I felt vindicated for sticking to my guns and not letting him get labeled.  That burden lifted, but was replaced with a new, heavier one.  I was raising a genius.

There was only one thing left to do: sign the official permission slips and formulate a plan with the gifted teacher and his regular teacher after he entered the 3rd grade.

In Philosopher Child's school, there is only one gifted teacher.  The gifted students see her by grade, once a week.  The rest of the time, he'd spend in a regular classroom.  I was assured by other parents that the teacher that he would be getting for that year would be the best that we could hope for.  After two very difficult years, I was ready for a break and a good year.

A few weeks into 3rd grade, I was called to a meeting with the regular teacher, gifted teacher, guidance counselor, and some sort of specialist that had to be there for the signing of the papers.  This is where I started to lose heart again.

As I looked at the papers, I noticed something disturbing.  Philosopher Child's birth year was wrong.  I pointed this out.  This caused a bit of a fluster.  Was he tested under the correct age to begin with?  Was it a typo?  Does it change the scores?  No one seemed to know.  The best they could assure me was that even if he was tested under the wrong age, it wouldn't change the score significantly enough to be worrisome.

The gifted teacher then told me that Philosopher Child has the tendency to stare off into space.  "It's only because he's thinking," she said.  "He's a deep thinker.  His mind is always going."

Regular day teacher had a completely different story.  "He can't follow directions.  He doesn't listen.  He won't do well on the standardized test at this rate.  We've done activities where he was the only one who got it wrong.  In the whole class, just him.  He doesn't follow directions and his grades are starting to show it.  I even told them how to do it!"

Part of me just wanted to burst out and scream, "Yes, he's the only one because he is different from the others!  You can't make him do this unless you change the way his mind works.  You are asking him to think exactly like everyone else!  Is that really what you want?!"  Instead I just nodded my head.  I knew that if he did poorly on the state standardized test, he would fail the grade and I would have very little recourse except to pull him out and homeschool...our last resort.

I left the meeting feeling irritated, sad, and worried.  I made a mental note to talk with the gifted teacher later and get a better feel on how he was doing with her, and see if she had any advice.  Could I really make him turn "normal" thinking on and off like a switch?  Do I even want to?

Friday, August 31, 2012

Intrinsically Special Part I

Intrinsically Special: noun.  A child who is special or different in a positive way.  This specialness comes from fact, not the opinion of the parents.

Once upon a time, Philosopher Child's 1st grade teacher decided there was something wrong with him.  He didn't act like the others.  He didn't concentrate on his work.  His social skills were awkward.  She told me he ought to take a trip to the pediatrician.

I refused.  It's not that I'm a bad mom or that I wanted to believe my child was perfect, but she was in a roundabout way suggesting that he had ADHD.  My view of that is complicated and would cause me to be long winded.  Let's just say I disagreed.  I suggested that perhaps he was bored.  I mean, he did already know a lot of the material that other kids were seeing for the first time.

"No.  Even the clever ones just sit down and get their work done," was the response I received.

Even though I knew in my heart of hearts that he wasn't ADHD, something was clearly...different.  I wouldn't say wrong, but different.  Maybe he had ADHD after all?  Maybe he was just young compared to his classmates?  Maybe he had a mild form of Aspergers?  A mild form of Aspergers  was a possibility, I thought.  But it seemed more likely that Philosopher Child was just smart.  Why do you think I called him Philosopher Child?

Then the reading test came.  The teacher looked at his score and discovered that his reading ability was high.  Really high.  She suggested he be tested for the gifted program the following year.  She warned me, however, that the waiting list just to get the initial screening done was extensive.

"Well, everyone wants their child to be gifted," I joked.

"Well, they can't," she replied.  Straight-faced.  Ultra serious.

It was almost an entire year before his turn for the screening came.  During that time, he had a rough emotional year in 2nd grade with a teacher that didn't understand him and was relentlessly bullied by a group of girls.  Yes, girls.  I didn't know the extent of the happenings until the last quarter, at which point I pulled him from that classroom and put him in another.  He had a better time there, but a lot of emotional and academic damage had been done.  I don't particularly blame anyone for this tumultuous time.  Philosopher Child had been afraid to get in trouble for "tattling" by telling us what was going on.

During the last quarter of the 2nd grade, Philosopher Child received his initial screening.  His results showed him to be higher than average, but not necessarily gifted.  The score was high enough that he "qualified" to move on to the next stage of testing.  This bigger, official IQ test to be done by a psychologist would give more accurate numbers.

Of course, if he was just diagnosed with being a clever ADHD student, the story would end here.  But there's more.  Oh, so much more.

This concludes part I of the journey.  Stay tuned for part II, posted tomorrow.  Or later today.  It depends.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Cartoon Mirroring Part II

Part one here.
Cartoon Mirroring: verb. To imitate a cartoon.

It's not uncommon for Philosopher Child to forget something in the classroom and I have to walk him back to get it.  On one such a day, as he found his missing items, I chatted with the teacher.  However, as I turned around I saw that Little Viking was on the floor.  I was worried that he was hurt, since I had never seen him just drop onto the floor like that.  But...he was sitting oddly for being hurt.  He sat with the soles of his feet together, back straight, eyes closed, hands in prayer position in front of him.

"What are you doing?" I asked in confusion.  "Get off the floor, please."

He complied, and we moved to leave the classroom.  The teacher said something to me and I turned to respond to her.  When I turned back around, Little Viking was back down on the floor, in the same position.  I asked him again to get up, and we left the classroom.  Partway down the hall, the teacher said something to me again.  I stopped to talk with her, and immediately Little Viking was back on the floor.  He did this several times on the way out of school.

When we got home I asked him about this strange new practice.  He explained that in a cartoon he was watching, there were ninjas that did that.

"Oh, I guess they were meditating," I said.

"Yes.  It's a Chinese thing."

OK, but ninjas were Japanese.  One thing at a time.

Now to teach him dropping onto the floor at a random spot is not the appropriate action when mom stops walking for a minute.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Wait, APRIL????

I won't lie.  I kind of dropped the ball here.  I've said that several times over the last few months...pretty much every time I disappear from the blogosphere when life gets in the way.  Life has settled out a little here, so let's get back to it.

What you've missed: Philosopher Child had some pretty significant struggles in school, culminating in his IQ being tested for the gifted program.  He qualified  by... a lot.

Little Viking just turned 5.  He's tall for his age, and I'm constantly getting asked if I intend to put him in school this year.  My answer has up to this point been a resounding "no."  Why?  Because he JUST turned five, about a week and a half before school started.  Even though he already knows most of what is taught in kindergarten, he is not emotionally mature enough to start.  You would not believe the flack I've been getting from other parents about keeping him out another year.  One even said, "Just put him in, and then if it's a problem, he can just repeat the grade."  Sorry, what?  Why would I do that?

We're about to start the fall garden.  Photos!  Photos!  Oh, yes, there will be photos!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Project aghastness

First of all, I haven't been here since January??? Seriously? Ok, my fault. Completely and utterly so. But there has been lots going on around here. Husband and I learned how to make jam. We planted what *started* as a really tiny garden that has boomed and now takes up way more space than I planned. But it's a good thing.
See that? That's a baby cherry tomato. And it seems like it is taking for.ev.er. But, anyway...

Project Aghastness: noun. The feeling of utter astonishment when your child takes on a seemingly impossible project and causes it to actually work.

All unattended cardboard belongs to Philosopher Child. He makes planes and cuts holes and such. Half the time I really don't know what he's working on. But this week's project really takes the cake.

He made a boomerang.

Out of cardboard.

And it worked.

Seriously.

I stood out in the yard and watched him throw it. And I kid you not, that thing came back to him. Really. It happened. I expected it to just sail away, especially when he told me that it particularly comes back if you throw it straight up. However, as I stood there and watched him throw it in a direction that was most certainly NOT straight up, and then watched it arch back to him, I was stunned. Totally stunned.

Husband told me that Philosopher Child had patiently bent parts this way and that until it finally worked.

As a mom, I'm so proud. And shocked. But mostly proud.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Flylady Thoughts and other things

I've left FlyLady. I'll give you a second to get over your sarcastic gasps. Ready? Good.

"But you said it works when you do it!" you might be thinking. Yes, I did. And it does. See, I've been doing what the FlyLady circle calls "fluttering" for the past few years without really being able to stick with it. But I trusted. Really. I didn't like to wear lace up shoes in the house, but I did. I didn't see a point to going to clean off certain things, but I did. I did all that stuff on and off. But I just couldn't stick with it. Sometimes I felt guilty, sometimes I felt talked down to, sometimes I was offended. Of course, FlyLady NEVER meant for me to take anything she ever said in that way. But that didn't stop me.

I started to really waiver when she said something in an email that took me back a few steps. I waivered a bit more when she announced that the emails are the backbone of her system (waaaay too many emails and mostly about testimonials and products that I don't need). The last straw came when she said something on facebook that really made me go "ALL STOP!"

Don't get me wrong. She's changed a lot of lives. She changed mine. I learned a lot that I'll be carrying with me, like using a timer (seriously, do it), noticing how one clean spot makes you want to clean more, beware of how clutter attracts clutter, and just letting things go. For that, I'll always thank her. But I think it's just not working for me and it's time for me to try something else. Maybe I'll be back. Maybe I won't. Maybe I've learned enough.

Now on to other things! Check out what Husband and I found at our local seafood market:
It's called Golden Crab, a cousin to the King Crabs. It's about $3-4 a pound in our area, and it is delish. And messy. REALLY messy.

So that's what we cooked, now look what we, as a family, built for this year's Pinewood Derby:
Sing it with me now! Doobie-doobie-doo-wah! It's Peeeerry! Perry the Derby Car! If you've got kids of a certain age, the song is now running through your head. You're welcome. But if you don't, this is Perry the Platypus, both pet and secret agent on the Disney show Phineas and Ferb. Don't you want to build one now? Come on. You know you do.

Speaking of off to other things, I believe I hear two baskets full of clean laundry that need to be folded calling me.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Famenies

Famenies: noun. Family members that love and support each other because they are family, but don't get along well, especially siblings; the family version of frienemies.

Ah, report card time. Oh, and what's this? Another note about how Philosopher Child's emotions are getting the better of him. *sigh* It's kind of expected, though. He's smart. I mean, crazy smart. And unfortunately, many times with high intelligence comes high emotion.

Walking him home from school, I decided to explain to him the connection, and try to get him to see that he needs to take a step back, think, and calm down before he reacts. I had a plan!...and Little Viking, age 4, in earshot.

"The thing is," I began. "You're smart. Very smart. And-"

"No, he's not," quipped Little Viking.

And so it begins.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Flylady Thoughts

So, this week in FlyLady, I didn't do stellar. I cleaned the sink every now and then, changed the sheets, picked up toys (a lot), did laundry, mopped the floor. Don't get me wrong, I did housework. I just didn't do FlyLady. I'm reminded in a pretty big way that, being disorganized in this area, I get a lot more done with her than without her.

Where did my time go? Well, I finished a quilt top for Philosopher Child. When I get excited about or nearing the end of a project, I just can't put it down. That was a huge time suck. Also, I wasn't well one of the days, and on a few others I was distracted by some bad news about my local Curves closing its doors very, very soon. I'd been a member there on and off for a few years and they really were helping me slim down. Too bad there is no other like them, not even another Curves in my area.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

I win every genealogy arguement from now on

Wanna have an argument over who's family tree is cooler?

Well, I'm apparently related to a real guy from long ago named Odin from a place called Asgard. Boo-yah. I win.

(Don't get it? Odin is a mythical person and Asgard is a mythical place. Except apparently there was actually a physical location called Asgard and therein lived a guy named Odin. I'm related to that guy. So, another boo-yah.)

Friday, January 13, 2012

Little Shadow

Pocksinket: noun. (A combination of "pockets" and "trinkets." Get it?) A random or out of place item found in a child's pocket.

Remember when I made the list before? Well, there's more now. And anything that's repeated bears repeating.

cell phone eraser
more sand than is possible unless he was getting buried on the playground. Oh, wait. He was.
coins
a rubber pig pencil topper
notes
drawings
maps
the head of a rubber teddy bear (that's right)
rubber bands, rubber bands, rubber bands
rocks
dirt
hair clips
beads
bits of plastic
drink lids (to drinks that weren't his. Yup.)

Are you with me so far? Who even knows what he'll bring home today.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Fridays with Flylady

So my first week back with FlyLady in earnest. I do see an improvement in my home, and I'm loving that. However, some days really are better than others for me, as you'll see.

If you don't have an interest in FlyLady or what I did this week, skip this post.

Monday: The first BabyStep. In FlyLady land, this is shining (cleaning) the kitchen sink. I admit that I gave it a bit more than a cursory clean, but not a deep clean. Why? Because I didn't get around to it until 10:30pm. That won't be the normal.

Monday's daily task is the Weekly Home Blessing Hour. This involves changing the sheets, taking out the trash, quick dust, quick sweep/vacuum/mop of main areas, cleaning mirrors/doors, and tossing old magazines. Did those, except the magazines. Don't have many of those to purge.

Tuesday: 2nd BabyStep is getting dressed to lace up shoes. Did it. FlyLady says that when we are dressed to lace up shoes, we are ready for the day and more productive. I have noticed I get more done when I wear sneakers as opposed to *cough Crocs cough*, but if you're not a shoes-in-the-house sort of person, don't let that bother you. FlyLady is flexible.

Today's daily mission is cleaning the walls of the dining room. Did it. Also, the 1st BabyStep, shining the sink, was supposed to be repeated. Did that, too.

Wednesday: 3rd BabyStep was reapeating steps one and two, so shining the sink and getting dressed to shoes. Did the shoes, didn't get to shining the sink. There were some other things being done last night. Part of FlyLady is not getting down on yourself for what didn't get done, so I'm just going try to do it again. The daily mission was picking up the entry way. Did that.

Thursday: Today's BabyStep is doing all of what was done before (remember: we're building habits) and read the FlyLady messages that you can get through e-mail. If you don't want to sign up for the e-mails, don't worry. Although they are nice to have sometimes, they are unnecessary. The online flight plan will be just fine. Also, as part of this step, you are supposed to write little reminders about getting dressed and shining sink onto sticky notes and post them places. Honestly, I don't feel I have enough to write yet, and my eye often passes over the notes and I don't really pay attention to them, despite the fact that they are neon orange. I did not do the sticky notes (yet).

Today's task was sweeping the front porch. Honesty here: I didn't do it. I didn't shine the sink, and I didn't sweep the porch until Friday. I had gotten distracted.

Friday: Today's BabyStep is repeating the shoes, sink, and all that jazz, PLUS writing down all the nasty things you say to yourself. Then you write down something nice to negate those. I've done this step many times, but I'll be redoing it today.

The daily mission today is to dust off blinds, light fixtures, etc. and get rid of cobwebs in the dining room.

*At the time of writing this, I have not yet done Friday's tasks but will be doing them shortly.*

The week in review: Of course, I only listed the FlyLady missions, but I did more. Laundry, dishes, cooking, baking, errands... Anyway, I'm really glad I'm getting back to FlyLady. I really need the guidance. I do notice that it really works to keep the house tidy, but only when I do it, and I don't always. So, here's to the post of accountability and all I did this week!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

FlyLady

Tomorrow I have a post set to go up about restarting FlyLady this year, per my New Year's resolutions. It's kind of a long post, as I've been collecting info for it daily all week. To trim it down some, let me do some explaining here.

What is FlyLady? FlyLady is basically a way to keep your home tidy (NOT SPOTLESS!!) and keep the day running smoothly by doing some very basic tasks that often go neglected. FlyLady is for people who have a bit of trouble doing it on their own and feel overwhelmed by and guilty about housework. It's also for people who are a bit disorganized when it comes to cleaning and organizing. (Uh...me.)

So here's the short rundown. To begin FlyLady, you start by doing the 31 BabySteps. These are simple tasks done each day that will cause you to develop a routine. After that, you go to the Launch Pad on the website that has all sorts of good info on it. For your specific daily task, click on Flight Plan, and go from there. Sounds complicated, but it's really not once you read the info.

Now, FlyLady has some rules that some people don't like. For instance, FlyLady does send many e-mails, but only if you sign up for them and they are not necessary. Another complaint I've seen over and over, from the forums to websites, is that some people refuse to wear shoes in the house. FlyLady suggests wearing lace up shoes so that you feel ready for the day. Keep in mind, none of her rules are hard in fast. Don't want to wear shoes? Don't. The shoes are about a mindset, and if you can feel accomplished wearing slip-ons or letting your toesies hang out, do so. No biggie.

FlyLady is free, and it works for so, so many people. But if you need to adjust the routines, by all means, do it! If you find it's not for you , or you do fine on your own, good for you! Do what works. As FlyLady says, it's about blessing our families, but also making time to bless ourselves.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Last Mountain Rose Herbs giveaway

Oh, I totally love these people. And drink their tea. Lots of it. But anyway, they are giving away a naturally clean home package. Check it out!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

January 1st, 2012

Some resolutions that I will try (mwah haha!) to keep:

-Reach for some herbal tea, yoga, and meditation before/instead of reaching for the ibuprofen.
-Let my kids get dirty more often and look at little irritations (dumping out toys, running through the house, etc.) as just kids being kids. No biggie.
-Be on time in the morning so I don't have to yell, "Let's go! We're late!" at the kids.
-Meditate (the relaxation kind) at least twice a week.
-Lose 20 pounds. Well, at least 15.
-Get back to daily Bible reading. (Didn't know I was religious? Surprise. I am.)
-Flylady, Flylady, Flylady. I'm actually thinking about adding a new section, Fridays with Flylady to the blog. Thoughts?

New Year's resolutions are funny things, aren't they? We get two simultaneous messages.
1. New Year's resolutions are traditional, so you must make them!
2. But no one ever keeps them, so don't try!

I'm going to try to keep these. Really. I think I'm going to post them somewhere in my house.

In 2012, what are you going to really, really try to do?