Just me. Need I say more?
When you are getting yourself ready for work in the morning, please do not pump the perfume bottle more than once when applying it.
Holy hell, I stink today.
And oh how badly I wish I could change my clothes and not smell this perfume ALL. DAY. LONG.
Sincerely,
Lady with a Migraine.
1. What did you do in 2011 that you’ve never done before?
I read a lot of books! I didn’t reach my goal, but I got sooo close!
2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I think I have had the same New Year’s resolutions every year for the last 5 years. Lose weight, read more, find a church, be more organized… you know, the usual. (Make sure to check out tomorrow’s post. More resolutions!)
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?No, but my sisterin-law is having her first baby in April. I can’t wait!
4. Did anyone close to you die? Thankfully, NO.
5. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?Another child. We’re working on it!
6. What countries did you visit? None. Just this one!
7. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why: 12/20/2011. The day we graduated from foster/adoptive licensing classes.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? See #7. We completed 30 hours of training classes, and 3 home visits. Licensing will be approved in January or February of 2012.
9. What was your biggest failure? I don’t really think I had any failures this year. Hoping to keep it that way!
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Just those darn kidney stones!
11. What was the best thing you bought? New bedroom furniture for our spare room. Hoping to have a child to use it very soon!
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? I’m going to say my husband. He works almost 60 hours a week, goes to college part-time and still makes time for me and the kids. I’m so very proud of him.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I’m going to say the Republican candiates for President. The phone calls, junk mail and face time on television is really getting old.
14. Where did most of your money go? Kids’ sports and concession stand food!
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? If you’ve been reading my blog, I think you know the answer to this one. We are very excited about adopting a child!
16. What song will always remind you of 2011? This is lame. I can’t really think of one, I guess.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? happier
ii. thinner or fatter? fatter
iii. richer or poorer? poorer
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Watching our money, saved more.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Having a negative attitude, Eating out, impulse spending, and worrying about things that I shouldn’t worry about.
20. How did you spend Christmas? W e went to my parents’ house in Omaha.
21. Did you fall in love in 2011? Maybe this will sound corny or sappy, but every single day I fall in love with my husband and kids all over again. They are all just amazing.
22. What was your favorite TV program? I have two favorites: Glee and Modern Family!
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? None that I can think of.
24. What was the best book you read? The Help and Heaven is For Real.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Pandora. We can’t get radio reception in our office building where I work, so thank goodness for Pandora!
26. What did you want and get? My husband, kids and parents enjoyed another year of good health and happiness.
27. What did you want and not get? To be able to adopt in 2011 and take advantage of the great tax credit. 2012′s tax credit is not nearly as good. Disappointing!
28. What was your favorite film of this year? I didn’t really see too many movies this year. Can’t think of one that stands out.
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 38 this year, and I have absolutely no recollection of what we did. Probably went to dinner somewhere??
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? I really want my husband to be finished with school!
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? Plus-size is NOT the department I want to be shopping in. This needs to change.
32. What kept you sane? Every day is a new day.
33. What political issue stirred you the most? The whole campaign process is making me crazy this year, and I suspect in 2012 I will have same answer to this.
34. Who did you miss? I still very much miss my grandfather, who passed away in 2001. So many things happen in my life and in my childrens’ lives that make me stop and think that I wish my grandpa was still around for me to share these things with him.
35. Who was the best new person you met? All of the people in our adoption classes. We made some great friends !
36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all ways, He will direct your path. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
37. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: “The rest is still unwritten.”
How about you?
Something to ponder. WHY, when I go into a public restroom stall and all the other stalls are empty, does the next person to come in automatically choose the stall RIGHT NEXT TO ME?
I feel like my personal space has been violated.
Thoughts?
Sometimes I write notes to myself.
Now before you go calling me crazy, hear me out. I am not a patient person. I think I’ve made that abundantly clear on several occasions. I don’t like waiting for things to happen.
So, sometimes I like to write myself notes and put them places where I will see them several months into the future just to remind myself that waiting is ok. Or to remind myself that maybe the wait wasn’t all that bad.
A few years ago, when we lived in Des Moines, we lived in a neighborhood and school district we were desperately trying to get out of. We had some troubles trying to sell our house, and I thought we would never get out of there. I remember being so down on myself, so desperate, so upset and just royally pissed off that we were spending yet another holiday season in a place we didn’t want to be. Houses we had looked at were selling to other people, and there we sat– in a house we couldn’t give away.
We spent the holidays in that house, and as I put away the Christmas decorations that year, I remember writing myself a note on a sheet of paper. I have no idea even WHY I did this. I got out a sheet of notebook paper, and wrote on it:
January 1, 2007
Dear Jenni, Hopefully by the time you read this, you will be putting your Christmas tree up in a new home. Hang in there. Things will get better.
And you know what? That very next Christmas, I opened up my Christmas tree box IN MY NEW HOME and read that letter with a big smile on my face. You see, in May 2007, our house sold, and we were off to a new town, new school district– which happens to be the one we are in now. And all that waiting and sadness and frustration and impatience that I struggled with? I sit back and think about the fact that it was over FOUR YEARS AGO now, and I can’t believe I was so worried about it.
Maybe it seems corny, but I now have notes to myself stuck in my planner on several different dates in the future. March 1st theres a note to myself (“Dear Jenni, How’s the adoption going? Hang in there, lady!”) just with a little pep talk, because I need that motivational fuel to keep me going.
There’s other notes just like them on June 1st and September 1st… encouraging me to stay positive, reminding how far I’ve come, and showing me that it’s worth the wait.
What things do you do in your life to keep yourself motivated?
I am participating in the August Blog Challenge. Thanks to Belinda for the daily prompts!
Day 29: Complete this sentence: In a perfect world, …
1. In a perfect world, every single American would pay a flat rate percentage of their income to taxes. No loopholes, no deductions, nothing. Everyone pays the same percentage. Period.
2. In a perfect world, same sex marriage would be legal and politicians would quit using that as an issue to fight with each other about.
3. In a perfect world, there would be no party system in politics — everyone one would run for office on their own merits, beliefs and ambition.
4. In a perfect world, I would weigh 50 pounds less, and there would be no visible cellulite anywhere.
5. In a perfect world, I would have a lot more money.
6. In a perfect world, we would eliminate the phrase “third-world country” from our vocabulary.
7. In a perfect world, teachers and US soldiers would earn more than a professional athlete.
8. In a perfect world, I would be a stay-home mom.
9. In a perfect world, everyone that considers themselves to be “pro-life” would adopt at least one unwanted baby or at least one foster child. Or take in a teen mother and care for them.
10. In a perfect world, schools would never need to raise funds. They would have all the money they need.
11. In a perfect world, people on welfare or any kind of public assistance would have to be drug tested — at random intervals.
12. In a perfect world, people on public assistance would be required to volunteer a specified number of hours at a needy organization.
13. In a perfect world, there would be no organizations classified as “needy” and really, there would be no people that needed assistance.
14. In a perfect world, the only people that have handicapped placards or license plates for their vehicles would actually BE HANDICAPPED.
15. In a perfect world, people would take care of others just as much as they take care of themselves.
16. In a perfect world, there would be no cancer.
17. In a perfect world, I would not get any migraines.
18. In a perfect world, my parents would live closer.
19. In a perfect world, telemarketing would be considered illegal.
20. In a perfect world, kids would not be bullied or made fun of in school.
21. In a perfect world, both socks in a pair would make it through the entire laundry process without getting lost.
22. In a perfect world, chocolate would have zero calories.
23. In a perfect world, the weather people on TV would always be RIGHT.
24. In a perfect world, milk wouldn’t have an expiration date.
25. In a perfect world, bathrooms would be self-cleaning.
26. In a perfect world, dogs would be capable of cleaning up their own poop in the backyard.
27. In a perfect world, everyone would use their turn signals.
28. In a perfect world, the only people allowed in the “passing lane” on the freeway or interstate would actually be the ones PASSING PEOPLE.
29. In a perfect world, I wouldn’t need to make these kind of lists.
