Oh JANUARY!

First and foremost - THANK YOU to everyone who takes the time to read my thoughts. Especially those of you who have reached out with positive comments and words of encouragement. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

January was an interesting month for me. If you've spent any time with me in the past 10 years, you know I love a glass of wine! I indulge rather often. Over-indulge from time to time, if you will. Especially during the holiday season, I was drinking more often than not.

I made a pact with a good friend of mine that we would go the month of January without booze. It SOUNDED like a good idea at the time. And in some ways it was. But I love drinking. I love the social aspect of grabbing a drink after work, or recapping the day over a glass of wine. I won't be challenging myself to abstain for this long for quite a while... if ever.

What I did realize is that I can still have fun without drinking. I would say I had just as much fun sober as I do when I'm drinking. I had wonderful conversations, laughed a lot, fully participated in nights out. I will add the disclaimer that January tends to be a slow month socially. I noticed a huge difference in my sleep. Slept soundly through the night and woke up feeling GREAT. And I probably bit my tongue a bit more effectively than had I been drinking... :)

To re-cap, I'm going to drink when I want to, but hope to drink less than before - both in frequency and volume.

Other exciting announcements from January are to come, but I'm not quite yet to put them out on the interwebs yet. Stay tuned ;)

A Resolution or a Few...

This may sound silly - but one of my resolutions this year is to remember to wear eye cream at night! Another one is to check the mail at least every other day (I have been known to go weeks).

A bit more seriously - I want to set achievable, short term goals on a regular basis. I tend to start out strong and lose interest -- or get distracted. I think if I'm constantly feeling like I'm achieving something or making progress I will meet with more success. I also love competition, so having a goal buddy helps. For instance, my brother and I have an ongoing bet where if one of us doesn't get 10,000 steps in a day, we owe the other person $10. And my mom and I are racing to lose 20lbs -- I think we agreed the loser has to clean the winner's bathrooms.

Another goal is to perform small, frequent, random acts of kindness. I get so much joy out of making others happy -- to a point. It's not uncommon for me to feel slighted or resentful if more grand gestures go without reciprocation or appreciation. But when I do something small - like complimenting a stranger or sending a "thinking of you and you're awesome" note to a friend, I feel great.

And finally, I want to spend more time doing things that I really enjoy.
Swimming: It's not easy getting out of bed in the morning to swim, but I never regret it. Every single time, I leave the pool feeling physically and mentally stimulated.
Cooking and entertaining: I love hostessing. I should invite people over more often.
Reading: I never make time for it and it's extremely rare that I finish the book club books. But like swimming, I never regret it.

2013: A Year of Realization

Overall I would say 2013 was a pretty decent year. I learned a lot. I stretched myself professionally. I was surrounded by people getting married and having babies. And I'm so fortunate to say that I went the whole year without anything particularly bad happening.

But... you read the title. It was a year of realization. And some things just aren't that fun to realize.

First and foremost - I'm not as happy or strong as I thought I was. It took a very tearful day and few blunt conversations for me to realize this one. I have a lot of work to do on myself. It won't be easy and it won't be quick, but with some determination, concentration and love from my family and friends, I know I can get to where I need to be!

Another equally hard lesson - friends change. Their priorities. Their location. Their circumstances. Seems like a no-brainer. But this past year I was dealing with major change after major change. It can be difficult to emotionally keep up. And it kills me to say that I lost a few good friends. I hope that as their priorities and circumstances change, we will be good friends again. And on that note - another thing I realized is that I can't force it, much less control it.

A much more refreshing realization - I actually CAN enjoy alone time. At some point I even start craving it. For so long I kept a packed schedule. One activity to the next and always penciling as many people in as possible. I don't fear nights that I'm sitting on the couch watching TV with my dog. Sometimes I even schedule THOSE now. I also don't mind saddling up to a bar - especially in a far away city - all by myself.

And the realization that I don't really know what to do with - I'm an old soul. I thought of myself as irresponsible and goofy. But some people that know me fairly well set me straight (one person threw it out there and I took a poll and it was confirmed). I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. It's just something I never really realized before.

While some of these were difficult, emotionally draining things to realize, self awareness and general knowledge about how the world works are SUPER positive things. With this year's wrap up, I'll begin drafting some resolutions!

The tricky thing about opportunities

The tricky thing about opportunities is that they are rarely showcased as such. Often they are disguised as a mundane, boring, thankless task. Perhaps risky. Maybe low profile. Very seldom are they wrapped up in a beautiful package.

But these hidden treasures have the potential to give you the platform to exhibit your leadership skills, innovative thinking, creativity, initiative and team-player mentality.

Next time you are tempted to pass something off as beneath you or not worth your time - think twice!

Your arithmetic is lousy, now take off your pants!

The title of this post is my new pickup line. But it's also a line I heard my Grandma say to her husband, my dear step-grandfather, as she was getting him ready for bed. He was giving her a hard time ("talking crazy" - as he sometimes does, a symptom of his old age), and that was just about the meanest thing that came out of her mouth!

What strikes me is how patient she is. Where the heck did she learn that? I'm just about the most impatient person that ever was. I don't even know how we share the same lineage. She is dependably kind, honest and loving. Most impressively in situations where this line originated from. No one would fault her for throwing up her hands and taking a much deserved break. But she keeps to her dutiful routine of managing all aspects of the house and being the caregiver.

Back to how this relates to me... will I learn this with age and experience? Or did she always have this trait? I'm sure raising three kids contributed. Let alone managing her relationships with the adult version - 3 awesomely opinionated, confident, outspoken women - with three extremely different personalities! And don't even get me started on the wide array of personalities in her grandchildren, OR the steps (there isn't a blog long enough).

And while she's not busy handling business around the house, she's learning to skype (pretty impressive (and open minded) for an 80-something), delivering meals on wheels, line dancing, bible studying or socializing.

Incredible energy, patience and determination. Fabulous role model!

The holiday spirit!

If you're reading this blog, you probably know that I don't have a close relationship with Jesus. Nothing against the guy - he seemed really great. But while sometimes spiritual, I'm not very religious. Partially because organized religion tends to be everything Christianity isn't (in my opinion) - but that was discussed in a previous blog (let me know if you would like me to revisit the issue).

ANYHOW - the point of my blog: what the holiday season means to ME. There's something about this time of the year that makes me more generous, kind to strangers, and eager to gather with friends and family. I can even tolerate holiday music, for the most part.

What is it that makes that happen? Thanksgiving, followed by the "Christmas" season, immediately followed by New Years (new beginnings, fresh start, celebration). It's the triple whammy of goodness. Unfortunately it lasts until early January and people go back to being selfish assholes. I wish someone could figure out how to bottle the feeling... then force everyone to take a few teaspoons a day.

Really looking forward to the next several weeks!

Thank GOD that's over for another 4 years

In the aftermath of the election I'm personally feeling optimistic and relieved. With that said, I'm also feeling very sympathetic toward all the Americans that didn't get their way. While I find it FUN (albeit sometimes aggravating) and enlightening to debate others about politics, it is easy to get emotionally wrapped up. As I was watching [very pleasing] election results roll in, I couldn't help but be reminded of how I felt the day Bush won his second term. With all sincerity I feel very sympathetic to the voters that didn't get their way; such a horrible, desperate, defeated feeling. I find it ironic that elections divide us and tragedies unite us... and elections sure do divide us. I hope the leaders of the country heard the American people when we said there is a strong need for bipartisan cooperation - most urgently on the budget issues.

Election day, to me, is as patriotic of a day as July 4. Democracy in action! We should probably start making it a tradition to grill hot dogs and eat potato salad.

It was a historic day in Maryland - passing the dream act and gay marriage. YAHOO. I couldn't be more proud to reside in such a forward thinking, compassionate state.