Monthly Archives: January 2014

Ringing in 2014 with a To Do list

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I am totally behind in my resolution posting, but I have just finalized these (it usually takes me a week or three to get back to the daily grind) and I want to have a record of them somewhere. There are a few resolutions from the last couple of years that I will continue, but they are habits now and don’t really need any extra effort to maintain. (Examples include monthly book club, extensive reading (50+ books per year), sending birthday cards to all my siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews, and making real dinner at least twice a week.)

This year’s goals all seem to revolve around this quote by Madonna Badger:

“Go to wherever the light is, because anything else is darkness.”

This is the year to sweep away all the heaviness, the darkness, and the unhappiness, and to focus on the good things. This doesn’t mean ignoring the ugly or nasty that will inevitably come along, it just means I don’t want to dwell on it or allow it to consume my life or my heart (too much of that last year).

2014 Resolutions

  • Date night every week with Mr. Blue Eyes, something more than “just dinner.”

  • Plan one Harriet-Blue Eyes vacation

  • Sweat three times per week (good weather/air permitting, once a week outside)

  • Hike a mountain, a big one (at least 12,000 feet)

  • Train for a half marathon in the fall (!!)

  • Consistent meal planning, reduce wasted food

  • Invite people over for dinner once a month

  • Revamp and reassess emergency kits & emergency plan

  • No extra spending in March (more about this in a later post)

  • Save $$$/month to savings account – change in HR for direct deposit

  • Contribute $$$/month to  retirement account – change in HR for auto deduction

  • More experimentation with the big camera and new lens

  • 3 posts per week at FeistyHarriet.com

This is quite the list, and some of these seem lofty (mountains, (half)marathons, etc). Others I think are quite manageable and one email to HR will cross off two for the entire year. Many of these will lead to consistent behaviors and habits that I know will make me happier, i.e. regular date nights, having friends for dinner, eating healthier and exercising more regularly, the accomplishment of hiking a mountain and the satisfaction of improving my photography.

Yes, 2014 will be all about inviting more happiness into my life and side-stepping as much ugly as possible.

What are your resolutions?

Harriet sig

Burn the old, and bring the bacon

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To ring in the New Year some dear friends rented a large house in a tiny valley surrounded by gorgeous mountains and lots of clear blue sky, I was only too thrilled to get away from the city and the acidic smog that permeates the winter months. We laughed, chatted, played ping-pong, ate delicious food, played hilarious games, and in the hour before midnight built a small(ish) bonfire. Each person wrote a regret from 2013 on a piece of paper and ceremoniously let it be consumed in the flames. Some shared their regrets, others simply let them turn to ash. My regret was carrying too much anger about people and events I could not change. Over the last few months I’ve actually noticed this extra weight showing up on my face…my face looks very different than it did a year ago. More tired, sad eyes, dark bags underneath, and wrinkles that could not ever be called “laugh lines.” In fact, these days it’s kind of a shock when I see myself in the mirror, I hardly recognize the woman I’ve become. And I really don’t like it.  This is something I’d like to change for 2014, to learn to let go and be happy. I’ll post my official resolutions next week, but that is an overall theme for me for this next year.

At midnight we lit enormous sky lanterns, whispered our wishes, and sent them floating into the dark black sky. The two dozen points of light were so gorgeous, the two dozen wishes of some of my dearest friends being sent out into the void. It was such a beautiful moment I actually started to cry.

The next day was celebrated with a breakfast of bacon–which in my opinion is the best way to start anything–and a pile of old movies. And list making. Always with the list making.

Burn the old, and bring the bacon. Seems like a great motto for 2014, yes?

Harriet sig

Disclaimer: Someone is going to think I’m talking about burning elderly people. I am, emphatically, not promoting the incineration of octogenarians (or septuagenarians, or…40-somethings). Burn the old anger, the regrets, the hard times and the heartbreak, let it go up in smoke and flame and disappear. And then use that bonfire to cook some bacon; everything is better with bacon. I suppose this is kind of like turning lemons into lemonade, but without the possibility of getting squirted in the eye with citrus spray.