New Year

It's not 2011 anymore (nor was it yesterday when I posted), but I feel like I need a farewell post. I have posted 32 times over the course of mostly five months, concentrated in the first few. I did not realize this until I glanced at the list of my posts last night. Part of the reason for this is that I got married! I planned that wedding, completed 27 semester hours, and tried a lot of new things. I made some permanent changes, but I also fell off the wagon in some aspects. Most of all, I tried really hard. I tried hard to be a good wife, a good student, a good employee, and a good friend. I have tried to practice self-control, let go of things I can't control, and prioritize. I worked hard on projects I cared about. I wish I had been able to blog more, but I don't regret that I didn't. My attention was with my new husband, and now that we are a little more settled in, I will spend more time on my projects... As long as this coming semester is not too terribly time-consuming! I had a really fulfilling year, and I wouldn't change it. From now on, I will be blogging at Life o' No Regrets (lifeonoregrets.blogspot.com)! If you're typing in the address, be sure to leave out the "f".

Happy New Year!

I Feel Old

This year more than all other years combined I have felt like I am getting old. Here is my list of why. Yep, that's my intro.

1. I do just about the same thing every morning. If it's a workout morning, I work out. I make myself breakfast, which is nearly always the same: eggs and toast. I take a shower and say goodbye to my dog. I am becoming very predictable and routined.

2. I prefer to wake up early. If you had told me a couple of years ago that I would be waking up before I absolutely had to, I would have laughed. Now I like to "take my time waking up," and "ease into my routine", and "do a little housework". Madness.

3. Waking up early means I go to bed early. Way too early sometimes. But I woke up early and worked out and now, I don't care if it's only 9:30, I am tired!

4. I check the weather to see what I should wear. Before, I wore what I wanted. Let the weather dictate what I put on in the morning?! Pshh. If that meant flip-flops in January, that was cool. Why not?

5. I'll tell you why not. Circulation. My feet no longer have the blood flow to support this winter flip-flop insanity. In fact, I can't even go to sleep without socks. I wear little slippers around the house instead of my old barefoot ways. I had heard about this circulation thing before from an aunt, but I thought she was silly. Or just really old.

Less is More Time, Money, and Clarity

It's officially "No Spend" month. I'm going to make myself relay here everything I buy. Last night at Brookshires I got one bag each of rice, black beans, and lentils (1.50 a pop). I made soup so I will have something to eat the next couple of days... turned out fairly well. I threw in a can of corn, diced tomatoes, a cup each of brown rice, (rinsed) black beans, and lentils. Maybe a little much, I'll probably cut it to 3/4 cup of each next time. It's pretty thick! But so filling. I seasoned it with italian seasoning, garlic, chicken bouillon, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and chili powder. An eclectic mix, to be sure, but it's savory and yummy. Besides being super nutritious.

One more thing - I had two dollars left in my wallet. So when the Super Bowl squares came around, well. I partook. Wow, only day two and I'm screwing up! I figured that little bit of cash shouldn't count, especially because, originally, my plan was to convert my birthday and Christmas money to cash and have that available to spend, which I decided against. I'm glad I did, because I realized that not thinking about things to buy has freed my mind. When I get $10 off coupons in the mail, I normally hem and haw, feeling bad about the money I could save on things I might need, or gifts I could buy. Last night I checked the mail and brought one in - I took one look at it and chucked it. It was empowering!

The Hamster Wheel

Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to a job that you need so you can pay for the clothes, car and the house that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it. – Ellen Goodman

When did this become the American dream? I want to break free from this vicious cycle.

I was talking to a gentleman whom I respect and admire recently and got to talking about my dreams and also the dreams of certain others. My dreams don't really have anything to do with making any money - in fact, I probably dream more of needing less money than I do of actually making more of it. He reminded me that we all have to consider our retirement, and need to make more than a measly paycheck that will barely pay the bills from week to week. That's certainly true. I thought about it for a couple of days, then came back to him and said, "You know, I thought about what you said. But to retire, you don't have to make a lot. You just have to save a lot."