Positively (Im)perfect

Written & Published January 7th, 2013. Archived to previous year.  Happy New Year, my friends! I know I took a rather unannounced break from Make It Count Monday for the past two weeks--my apologies to those of you who came looking for a link-up, although I know you're smart cookies and probably chalked it up to the holidays. Yes, last Monday was New Year's Eve..the Monday before was Christmas Eve, and life just kind of took over for me as I'm sure it did for you. But you know what? I kind of realized that that's okay. And since these Make It Count Mondays have been about real goal-setting and self-improvement, I'm taking a different approach today as we dive in to a new year. Let's see if I can explain: In a word, I've been weary. Lately, I feel like I keep trying to catch up on life as it keeps running away from me. Like the fact that I just finished clearing my camera of baby pictures only to remind myself that my beloved baby subject is now a...

Written and published on December 16th, 2012. Archived to previous year.  It's impossible to jump right in to evaluating this past week without acknowledging what's defined it for all of us. I wish, like the rest of the world, for some sort of explanation, some way to understand the tragedies of the world that make no sense. I don't have any words of wisdom or answers to the questions we all ask when bad things happen to the innocent. In fact, I don't really have much at all to say, because there just is no way to quantify that feeling we all have, the tightness in our chest or the ache in our heart. But I will say the few things that I know to be true, and also echo my sentiments from this reflection I wrote on loss , as well as these thoughts I shared after the shooting at the movie theater a few miles from our home: I know there is good in the world. I know that God loves every last one of us more than we can fathom, even more than those parents love their beaut...

Written and published on December 10th, 2012. Archived to previous year.  A link-up of Goals and Accomplishments! Evaluation from  last week : Okay, so Christmas cards are (mostly-ish) addressed and in the mail. Do you see why it usually takes me until February to get these things done? Three weeks running it has been my goal to get these puppies done and I'm still dragging it out. But they will be finished before Christmas this year. They will be! I did get cracking on the reading corner, though...made a few adjustments to the plan that will make it even better--just waiting on some materials now! ~MOTIVATION~  What did I accomplish last week? First of all, I clearly did not accomplish getting around to the rest of you lovely linker ladies' blogs last week! Sorry! So I'm planning on catching up this week on my reading to see all the awesome ways you made it count! As for what I did accomplish, I updated about a million addresses during the Christmas Ca...

Written and published on December 3rd, 2012. Archived to previous year.  A link-up of Goals and Accomplishments! Evaluation from  last week : Well, I got my Christmas cards (mostly!)  finished. I got the pictures, wrote the letter, and made our printer do a WHOLE lot of work. Now I just have to stuff envelopes and address them all. And so far I haven't been too stressed--hopefully I can keep it that way! ~MOTIVATION~  What did I accomplish last week? This week went slightly differently than planned...I don't relish taking three kids to the doctor during naptime, but we ruled out strep throat and they were perfectly fine and chipper as ever by the end of the week. And the trip to the doctor's office was a definite accomplishment! I also did the Christmas card thing, went to a meeting, and had a full weekend with a holiday party at our local historic mansion (pretty cool!) and a fabulous "Friendsgiving" with our amazing new family of friends. I also c...

Written and published on November 26th, 2012. Archived to previous year.  A link-up of Goals and Accomplishments! Evaluation from  last week : My first goal of being thankful was an easy one--and give thanks, I did ! Though very different than the past few years, we had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving. My second goal of exercising more also went well; I managed one run, two walks with the dog and kids, and two non-aerobic workouts. More than I've done in a  l o n g  time in terms of exercise (save chasing and lifting kids all day)! ~MOTIVATION~  What did I accomplish last week? As I said, I did a good job with exercise and giving thanks. I also made some Thanksgiving pies, including my mom's award-winning chocolate chip pecan pie, and made homemade mashed potatoes for the first time--about eight pounds worth! And to top it all off, I thoroughly enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at our in-laws, meeting a distant cousin of theirs for the first t...

Written and published on November 19th, 2012. Archived to previous year.    A link-up of Goals and Accomplishments! Evaluation from  last week : My goal was simple--to love others more. I failed miserably. Well, I guess I had a few redeeming moments. But we had an unexpectedly stressful and anxiety-ridden week (things like car troubles, the third offer on the house we  still  own fell through, our heat went out, etc.), which unfortunately didn't bring out the best in me. But I did spend some time baking with the kids, and I stopped once or twice to admire all how adorable they are and remind myself of all the many things I love about them; I also checked myself a few times when some less-than-kindly thoughts started to take over. Hopefully I'll fare much better this week, though! ~MOTIVATION~  What did I accomplish last week? Although some of my accomplishments weren't intended, I did get a fair amount done this week. As I said, ...

Written and published on November 12th, 2012. Archived to previous year.    A link-up of Goals and Accomplishments! First of all, Happy Veterans Day to all of our fellow veterans out there. We are forever grateful for our many dear friends who have sacrificed so much, and for all those who are still serving and in harm's way. Veterans Day is just another day to remind you how grateful we are for each and every day you've given and all those you continue to give. If you're interested, I've shared a few thoughts in the past about the sacrifices of our military here: To Those Who Serve When the Unthinkable Happens Surviving Deployment The Next Day: A Reflection And now back to your regularly scheduled program--Make It Count Monday! Evaluation from  last week : After pleading for your advice last week on how to figure out a housekeeping schedule, I actually had a pretty awesome week! I appreciated everyone's suggestions, and though I didn't ...