… iyc ~ if you care …

In case any of you are interested, I am keeping an online food diary. It’s on this site and located under “Once upon a time” pages vs. posts. The page title is “… once upon a diet dreary …”. I am doing this because 1.) I need to do SOMETHING 2.) I’m online A LOT because of job and hobby 3.) MAYBE it will hold me accountable – we’ll see.

If you are so inclined, you can do one or more of the following:

PRAY for ME
Wish me luck
Send me messages of encouragement

If you are so inclined, please DON’T do the following:

Scold me
Tell me I DON’T look THAT bad
Tell me I DO look that bad!

Thanks, Friends. me

P.S. I also make food comments, including memories made of food. Don’t expect this to be as entertaining as Ann Cannon’s blog: The Writer’s Corner (and also what I ate today).

January 16, 2010
by rbs 3 Comments

… true, unadulterated confession …

FIRST CONFESSION ~

I apologize for posting rather infrequently during January. I’ve had a rough couple of weeks, and decided it’s time to confess.

“Yes,” I whisper in a guilt-ridden voice, “I have another blog. It’s difficult leading this double life – keeping all the stories and information straight, spending quality time with both, feeling culpable when I leave one to hurry to the other. I didn’t plan to fall for another one; it just happened.”

BUT, and herein lies the shock, Rebecca’s daughter is the “OTHER” blog. In the short time we’ve been together (April, 2009), I’ve spent MUCH more time here, poured more heart and soul into these hours than I ever have with the one whose been with me since the beginning. I think November’s NaBloPoMo further distracted me because I gave L2L nary a thought, let alone one word about what was happening. And then the holidays came. Rebecca’s daughter still received all the attention: happy words of joy and cheer; pictures of fun and laughter filled our time together.

Along came January. I left the scene of celebration and gaiety and headed back to work where L2L was waiting and wondering where I had been. There was little recrimination, but there didn’t need to be. I knew I had been unfaithful and had some patching up AND catching up to do. A plan for reconciliation had already formed in my mind, and I started on the day all resolutions are born – January 1.

Once again NaBloPoMo was the motivator. A message from their site announced that “BEST” was the word of the month, and I knew the second I saw that four-letter word that posting 31 entries in January on Link2Literacy, the blog I started in November 2007, would remedy my remorseful conscience. Furthermore, such dedication would also placate L2L’s friends who had to wonder what was going on.

Now that Rebecca’s Daughter and L2L know about each other, I hope to be more conscious of the time I spend with each. I’ll try to be more equitable – AFTER I complete 16 more posts on L2L that is. In the meantime, friends of Rebecca’s Daughter, if you are interested in secondary literacy, feel free to drop by and visit my “other” self!

January 6, 2010
by rbs 10 Comments

… welcome Janus ~ god of beginnings & endings …

2010 officially arrived for me on Monday, January 4 – a little late as that is my usual and BAD habit! But, come on, who REALLY starts resolving on January 1? The EARLIEST I’ve known anyone to make that move is January 2nd, and that’s ONLY if it falls on a Monday. So I DON’T consider myself a late starter.

Janus: Roman god for whom January is named.

Looking BACK ~

Before launching into my dreams, visions, aspirations, goals, and RESOLUTIONS for this new year AND decade, I do need to scribble a few lines about the past year. That’s rather a tradition, too, you know – recapping events of the past 12 months.

My favorite recaps, read the past week or so, were “Dave Barry’s good (bad) year in review,” “Best of 2009” by Tiffany of Would Be Writers Guild, and Ann Cannon’s “My year in review” from her blog The Writer’s Corner (and Also What I Ate Today. These 3 year-end examinations helped me appreciate ’09 – Dave’s analysis of the infamous year reminded me that laughter abounds in bad times. Isn’t that something? Finding humor in darkness is one of the amazing attributes of mankind, don’t you think? Reading and laughing my way through his column made me feel much less depressed about the state of things. Thanks, Dave.

Tiffany and Ann’s reviews demonstrated that finding humor in the best and worst of times happens on small stages as well as in huge arenas. (Sorry about slipping in a Dickens’ cliche’, but that particular line is so often applicable!) Tempted as I was to recapture my year in a similar fashion – month-to-month highlights – I realized I needed to record reflections that would amp me up for the new year; rev me up for resolving; push me into doing better.

You see I am a sucker for making resolutions – A LOT of them. I think I subscribe to the “shotgun” approach to resolving: throw a bunch out there and you’re bound to hit SOMETHING. With that in mind, I am listing a bull’s eye or 2 or 3 that I managed to hit last year.

In 2009 I …

started SERIOUSLY blogging, as evidenced by this site!
posted 30 times in November via NaBloPoMo!
put together a 500-piece puzzle of the Lehi Roller Mills with a little help from my son. (I’ve had that puzzle on my shelf for 5 years as a deterrent against Alzheimer’s disease.)
got a camera so I can post MY pictures on my blog instead of trying to pass off Flickr photos for my grandchildren.
reconnected with friends and family as I never have before. (Okay, I joined FaceBook.)

Puzzled? It's the Lehi Roller Mills!

All right, I don’t actually remember making resolutions related to the above achievements, but I am sure that somewhere in my subconscious I said, “Self, you need to write your personal history … by BLOGGING.” Or, “Self, have you FORGOTTEN you want to start a holiday tradition of completing a cute puzzle worthy of framing?” Now I know these aren’t the most important changes to make, but I realized that they inadvertently accomplished good things: lots ‘o writing improves writing; putting puzzles together with sons builds relationships; commenting on cousins’ FB entries keeps communication flowing.

Looking FORWARD ~

So, what are my 2010 resolutions? I thought about going with “success guaranteed” goals: I will NOT start smoking or drinking; I WILL continue eating. Instead, I realize I need to redirect my goals with the idea that resolving to accomplish a few things in one area will bring about results in another area. Let me give you and example.

I resolve to keep my precious PT Cruiser clean by NOT eating while I drive.

Can you see the beauty of this resolution? If I don’t eat while driving, I won’t mindlessly graze, which adds pounds, Pounds, POUNDS!! Maybe keeping my car clean will help me LOSE weight!

Here’s another.

I will get to work on time by taking the stairs instead of wasting time waiting for the elevator.

I’m sure you can guess that shaving off minutes to get to my desk on time will FORCE me to get more exercise. This is INGENIOUS, don’t you think? I can tell you are skeptical, but check back with me around Valentine’s Day – the date when most resolutions have lined the path to hell, as Mark Twain observed – and we’ll see if I’ve fooled myself into completing the 2-4-1 goals I subconsciously hope to achieve. In the meantime, good luck with your own resolutions!