This year I turn 36...*sigh*

It isn't that bad.  I keep telling myself that.  Nothing can be as bad as when I turned 30, or as I call it "The Great Depression of  2005."  That year was a blur of tears, snot, sleep and stress.  Not just the number killed the year but it was the not being where I wanted to be on "the list" of my life achievements.

I have calmed down on that a bit.  The mellowing of age or it could be blamed on acceptance.  This year I wanted to rush to this birthday with joy not sadness.  I saw on the blog yes and yes that she came up with a list of 30 new things she wanted to do for the year she turned 30.

So...with 44 days till I get another year under my belt I am taking the challenge.  I am giving myself the entire year, I do have a tendency to procrastinate the cushion might be needed.  ((Ya'll know I am loving this, I love my list.))

The List 36 New things: 
1. Read Gone with the Wind.
2. Roller skate (The family is not happy with this one...they are calculating the medical bills.  So supportive.)
3. Volunteer
4. Attend a cycle class.
5. Tell 3 people how important they are to me.
6. Write appreciation letters to my favorite writers
7. Blog every day..the longest I have made it is a month.
8. Ride the Dart rail
9. Make something with Kale  Jan 15th
10. Paint a masterpiece Feb 7th
11. Make a quilt
12. Refinish a piece of furniture
13. Run a 5k
14. Learn Calligraphy
15. Take the perfect photograph Nothing like a picture of a porch boiling. Feb 5th
16. Grow grass in the mud pit/backyard
17. Start a vegetable garden
18. Make a collard greens
19. Make stationary
20. Make a docu-drama
(Have been getting some great suggestions. Have to update my list.)
21. See the roller derby
22.  Eat something with dandelions
23. Try Vegemite
24.  Read a book that I wouldn't normally pick.
25.  Send out Christmas cards.  (Don't mock me...this has yet to be done by hand.  It will have to be put on a list to have any chance.)
26. Go on a wild adventure with a good friend. I think my first protest rally qualifies. March 12th,2011
27.  Get something tattooed or pierced...the family as attributed this to some kind of early mid-life crisis.  Who knows maybe they are right?  Or maybe I have put this off for a lifetime and finally have the guts?
28. Get hair highlights.  (Never done it...might be fun.)
29.  Do a home improvement by myself.  (Usually this is a huge group ordeal...this one will be tough.)
30. Holy Cow can't believe I am on number 30 already!!Sit an entire evening without having my laptop on my lap or sofa.  This is going to be really tough! You never know when you will be hit with the sudden urge to e-shop, Facebook, blog or write   January 20th
31. Go a full day with no sarcasm.  It may be the longest day of my life.
32. Shop at a thrift store. March 14th, 2011
33. Play basketball on a team
34.  knit a scarf
35. Beat a PS3 game.  I use to be a wonder on the Nintendo, but reached my peak with Mario brothers. thought I could make a come back on Guitar Hero but got a panic attack trying to play duel player.  I can do this.
36. Watch the entire Lord of the Rings series.  I usually fall asleep when this comes on, so I will have to load up on caffeine for this one.

Hide Out

Snoop dog has never been that brave.  

He loves a good table, the more boxed in the better.  The one sandwiched between the sofa and chair is his most favorite, he still feels like he is in the mix. Living on the fringe of socialization is the safest.  Sticks out his nose when we feels brave then pulls back with that feeling fades.  

What drove him here last night?  I picked up a sticky note.  He is terrified of paper, especially sticky notes.  He has never been hit by paper but fears it along with the long list of other things.  

First North Texas Snow

The weathermen were worked into a tizzy all last week.  Humming on about the first great snow storm of 2011. 

 Maybe they are confused.  

Don't get me wrong, there were giant fat globs of the frozen stuff.  Mieko didn't like any of it, she is a West Texas dog and they don't do snow of any kind.  Plus, she is a bit prissy, doesn't like to get her feet wet.  Me neither- maybe I'm a bit prissy too. 

The snow hit the yard and the mud ate it all up.  I am sure others out there that are not as lucky to have their very own mud spa in the back yard, complete with sports equipment.  It is a shame.  But they may be lucky enough to get snow that seems to shy from falling here.  

All we get are puddles. They do provide for the filtered water that keeps our spa so moist.  Ya'll try not to be jealous, of our fine mud and we will not envy your snow.   

Heat of the winter

Half my pack of evil.









Normally I don't really mention my home life much on here, mainly just writing and pondering.  All writing and pondering has come to screeching halt of late...

The neighbor's dog is in heat. It isn't pretty at my house.

My normally sweet, sleepy little pack of four have lost their minds.

Machiavelli, super shiny, you can hardly notice the junk.  (Don't judge!  Remember I work two jobs and write...stuff stacks up sometimes.)






Machiavelli, king of the roost, has always had a bit of an edge to him.   Now he is busting through cages, and trying to lick through walls. Growls at any furry or well...any living creature that comes near him. He is a lot of dog to see angry. He has to be isolated from the other dogs for fear of their lives...well all our lives.

Raven, has a foot obsession.  I don't get it.







Raven, my little baby girl, has to be kept in a sad isolation for fear of her life. Some how she has the crazy notion that the humans in her life are to be her new wrestle partners since the boys are in lock down.

Snoop, the timid.  He looks rough and tumble but is more prone to wetting himself and hiding.










Snoop, the baby boy, is a shivering, howling mess.  Running around and tinkling on himself.

Mieko, the little.  Is half Pomeranian, Chihuahua and lion...well maybe the math is a little weak but you get the idea.







Then there is my mother's dog...who barely counts.  She hasn't noticed the neighbor because she is fixated on getting under the shed to get the random cat that has taken up residence.  The cat is not budging.  The cat looks anoid but is too lazy to go anywhere. Mieko is tenaciousness and is refusing to relent no matter how muddy she gets.

Oh the Jet Lag...

I am a teacher to the walking dead.

They filed into my classroom on Monday morning.  Not the same bright-eyed, hyped up, precious 12 year old babies that left.

New haircuts, clothes freshly cut free from tags- students sit in my room subdued.  Jet lag is rough, for every one.

Welcome to the new year!

Do Over...New Year Resolutions

I have a deep passion for list making.  New Years is my Christmas.  I know I am a sicko but nothing brings greater joy for me than sitting down and planning out my year.  I love the imagining of the life I could have at the end of the year.  In my imagination there is a test drive of what being successful at any of the goals will feel like, taste like, look like.  I take it all very serious.   There is research put into each goal.

Some people call them resolutions, that term seems too flimsy for me.  I like goal, it is sturdier. The news is flooded with the probability of failure for all of our resolutions.  If you believe you are a sucker!  A statistic will not determine your fate, unless you allow it to.  1 in 4 people will fail, it is not because it is impossible to achieve but there is a lack of commitment.  The failure is a great opportunity.  Study the situation and understand what it is that is holding you back.  Is it a desire to focus on something else completely or that the goal was too big a step and you need smaller one to get going.

For many years, writing a novel sat perched on my list.  There were many starts and writing myself into a corner.  The hardest thing was going back to those and finally cleaning up the failure.  It was messy, with all these goopie loose ends that didn't make any sense.  The only way to move forward was...well more list for me.  It might not work for you,  buy having the bigger goal then the steps to complete it work for me.  I had to decide that pretending to write was not going to get it done, it wasn't going to make me happy.  I had to understand that 1,000 words a day is not a labor, it is habit.  I had to give up perfect to be able to write.  I would write 400 words then drown in them.  Correcting, rehashing, and rewording it into nothingness. Letting that go gave me heaps of time to finish the goal that I had wished for for years.

This could be your year.  Let go of the things that are holding you back, and see what you can achieve this year!

So long...welcome the new

The last post was the panic of loss of all my writing.  The writing was recovered. Not in the polished form it left, but beaten up and still greatly loved.  Like a mother who came within inches of losing a child, I have been unable to leave it to write here.

I spent two days backing it up.  And have spent the last month trying to organize, dust off and polish and admire.  The stories grabbed at me again that I had put away.  I needed to see them, read them tweak them.

Since that last post, I have been on a rewriting binge.  I learned to take nothing for granted.  This story of mine is mine alone.