Dust Motes

photo from psychologytoday.com

Wow. A lot has changed around here since I wrote last. I need to investigate all the changes Blogger has made.

Another year has gone by. I am a year older, and maybe not so much wiser. I lost my job, but then got hired with a new company that does the same kind of work I was doing. I now work harder than I ever have worked in my life. LOL

DD will be in sixth grade this year. How can she be in sixth grade already? My own sixth grade days seem not that long ago.

The best part about time is that it heals all wounds, but lately I have found that I've been missing my grandmas, both of them. I don't know why they've been on my mind so much. I guess I just see DD with her grandmothers, and remember my own happy summer days.

DD and I went swimming at the local pool a weekend ago. It was so fun. She is old enough now to doggie paddle, so she was fearlessly jumping off the diving board. I was shocked that she wanted to try, but she saw other kids doing it--little bitty kids with lifejackets--and she must have decided that she could be brave and do it too.

How she has grown...

I feel like I've regressed in some ways. I haven't written for ages. I get so tired during the day, and when I come home, I just want to brain-rot with Facebook or the tv. Ugh. Same old story. Maybe my heart wasn't in it anymore, either. I have felt creative stirrings recently, and decided to dust the corners of this old haven and see where the path leads me.

The door is open...

all I have to do is step across the threshold.

V-Day

Sunday, a day of rest and reflection... well I at least rested, taking a 2 hour nap this afternoon.

Church was interesting this morning, with the readings and homily being about how a person has to choose the correct choices, or at least think very hard before making a choice.

I didn't do anything creative today, yet. I still need to write in my paper journal. I had such a busy weekend, with going to see Jeff Dunham, the comedian, last night. (The show was great, by the way.)

I also fixed stuffed chicken breasts (with the help of County Market) for supper, and a friend of the family had given us some red velvet cupcakes for V-Day. Yum!

Usually, DH and I get cards for one another on V-Day, but this year, we agreed that the comedy show was our present. (I've had the tickets since before Christmas.) I personally think that V-Day is overrated. I would rather have reminders every day that I am appreciated, such as a kind word, or a hug, or the chores done. LOL It's too easy to buy flowers and jewelry. It's hard to say those love words and sincerely mean them.

Tell the important people in your life how much you love them before it's too late. It's one thing I regret about not being in a demonstrative family. Other than in cards, I don't recall saying "I love you" to my grandparents before they passed away. Now, though, I try to tell other family members when I can.

But don't let the words become meaningless, either. Mean them when you say them. Damning with faint praise is worse than never giving praise at all, and so it is with love.

D29 -- Year-End Review

Journals:

#58 = "As Long as You Live, Live!" (Jan-Feb 2006; 354pp)
#59 = "Along a Winding Road" (March 2006; 192pp)
#60 = "Found Passions" (March-April 2006; 208pp)
#61 = "Song of Happiness" (April-May-June 2006; 401pp)
#62 = "Metamorphosis" (June-July 2006; 192pp)
#63 = "Dreaming in Reality" (July-August 2006; 300pp)
#64 = "A Deliberate Life" (Sept-Oct 2006; 384pp)
#65 = "Gossamer Strands Everlasting" (Oct 2006; 158pp)
#66 = "Unexpected Opportunities" (Oct-Nov 2006; 272pp)
#67 = "WordCrazy" (Nov-Dec 2006; 160pp)
#68 = "VisionSeeker" (Dec 2006; 240pp)

for a total of 2861 pages, 10 journals (1100 more pages written than 2005!)

Books: I read over 72 books this year.

Nanowrimo: I wrote over 55,000 words and completed my story. :)


2006 was... a year of mostly the sameness. We didn't go anywhere or do anything special. We saw a few movies here and there, most notably, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

DD passed into first grade, and she has learned to read, add, and subtract. She is even writing us letters!

DD & I went to my cousin's wedding in Evansville, IN, in September. I saw my Floridian grandmother, but unfortunately, it was a quick trip. I wish I could have spent more time with her. DD & I also visited one of my college roommates and went to another friend's baby shower. Both my roommate and my friend had babies this year, and I have a (different) cousin who is due at the end of January 2007--all babies are boys.

Healthwise, I had two UTIs (!), probably due to dehydration or possibly stress. (One of my 2007 goals is to drink more water.) Otherwise, except for a few colds, we were all healthy--thankfully.

The weather was HOT all summer long. We never did get around to going to the town pool (I so detest public swimming pools!), but we did go to a newly opened waterpark, which was fun. DD was a little too young to go down the big slide, however.

In June, we had a yard sale, and made about $250. I used the money to buy groceries. Would you believe that here at the end of the year, I still have garage-sale leftovers sitting on the front porch!?

I found my muse again, and spent all of October and November writing. But just as suddenly as the muse had returned, it faded away, and I am now trying to get caught up on blog entries.

I cleared out some stuff that was cluttering my brain; hitting the delete button on old emails and such was more gratifying than I had anticipated, and I don't feel as if getting rid of that stuff was any big loss. I had held onto some of it because at the time, I couldn't bear to part with it, but when I felt I needed to get rid of it all, I hit delete with no hesitation. That surprised me most--that I didn't even hesitate.

DD & I went to the library a lot. I held onto two books until the end of December, renewing them every two weeks. I finally finished reading them and returned them. One of my 2007 goals is to read what I check out in the time period allotted and avoid overdue fines. :)

Time has flown this year. I look back on 2006 and wonder where the time went. It seems like only yesterday that I was castin off 2005, and here I am, casting off 2006. My motto of 2006 was "A New Hope," and I think I lived up to that, pretty much. I did have some bad days, but none of them were as bad as I felt during 2005.

2007 is going to be My Year of Victory.

Journaling Links

Do you enjoy journaling as much as I do? Here are some good journaling sites since About.com took theirs down.

A Creative Journal
Inspired to Journal
DailyWriting.net
Google search