New Year - Week Two Already

Real life shot of my office

Does it seem to anyone else like New Year's was way more than a week ago? We've already burned up 1 / 52nd of 2019. Oh Time, you seem to move a bit faster with every year that goes by.

One week in, I haven't broken any of my resolutions yet, but I also haven't accomplished any of them completely either. Some that I chose will honestly take me a good part of the year, but my plan is to be like the little engine, and think I can, think I can.

I did sort of decide, without really planning to, that it just isn't necessary to curse, even while discussing politicians, and flossing one's teeth every single night is a good plan. Those two weren't on my original list, but they somehow jumped on the bandwagon. My cursing, for the record, wasn't the type that pops up when I'm angry, but rather in describing certain types of people, or drivers, or people who hold public office.

Speaking of which....

I also decided I should have some basic understanding of our political situation, how our country is governed and who is doing what right now. Cub Sweetheart is very up to date on current politics, and it would be helpful if I had any idea what he is talking about. So I added that little gem too. I've approached that resolution by reading select parts of the daily newspaper. I don't read any article about violence, because it's beyond me why anyone would want to start their day with that, and our current political situation is more about ignorance than violence, although at this point one never knows.

Arming myself with a copy of the daily newspaper and a world map will hopefully, eventually, make me less ignorant. and not calling those holding office names won't hurt either.

I also decided to do some reading aloud to my grands, when the opportunity presents itself, for their benefit but also mine. Oh the joy of being able to read to a little person again!  I ordered hardback copies of E. B. White's three books, Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little and the Trumpet of the Swan - all three were read aloud choices thirty years ago as we crossed the country in a wood-paneled minivan. I remember Cub Sweetheart listening intently and laughing out loud as he got to know Charlotte and Wilbur and Stuart.

Then I requested from our local library The Tale of Despereaux and The Little House in the Big Woods. I'm thinking our Grands will enjoy as much today, as our own kids did back then, hearing about a big earred mouse and how to tap trees for maple syrup. Kids haven't really changed much, and if the book is right and the reader is patient, I believe they'll still listen to a good story. I read recently that when encouraging young children to listen as you read to them, it's actually not helpful to expect them to sit still; rather, give them some paper and crayons or a box of legos, and show them pictures as you come to them, but don't expect them to sit still. Children apparently concentrate better when their hands are kept busy - who knew?!

My own, oldest daughter told me recently that she doesn't remember me reading to her before bedtime. She is five and seven years older than the other two, respectively, so we wondered if by the time she was seven and I was busy with the two younger ones, she was likely already reading herself. I decided the two Grands here in Texas are 7 and 9, and there is no time to waste in making reading memories with them. So while the nine year old has her hour long violin lesson this week, I'll be reading Despereaux to the seven year old. I not only want to encourage the love of books and reading but I want to make memories that will stay with them after I'm gone.

I've come up with a schedule for the days of my week, which includes all the chores that need to be done around my home, running errands, personal reading and study, time to get away and poke around shoppes, that sort of thing. I'm in the process, right now, of coming up with a small collection of go to recipes to easily cook dinner in the evening. I've never minded the actual cooking - it's the 5:00 pm 'what are we going to eat' that can suck the joy out of the whole experience, so I've assigned categories of meals by day. Monday is pizza, Tuesday is Mexican, that sort of thing. Then a short list of recipes to go with those categories, and for days I'll be away I've got a list of recipes that are crockpot or Instapot friendly.

Many of our friends here in our 55+ neighborhood no longer or rarely cook, but there's something so nice about eating supper at home together, and it saves tons of money and calories to boot. I don't know if there's a wife / mother alive who doesn't love walking in the door at 4 pm to the smell of supper ready to go. I'm so very thankful to Irving Nachumsohn for inventing the first crockpot 75 years ago. Such a blessing!

All our grands are back in school this week, and I too go back, to piano lessons that is. After six months away, I'm so very much looking forward to jumping back in.

My first read of the year - Little White Horse - is finished and I'm about halfway through Eleanor Roosevelt's book, You Learn by Living. There's a pretty tall stack waiting in the wings when I finish that one, and I'm adding names to the list of books I hope to read this year.

I also read a C. S. Lewis book over the holidays, actually an odd choice considering the time of year, A Grief Observed, written from journals he kept after his wife, Joy died of bone cancer. That led me to watch the movie about their lives, Shadowland, with Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger. It was so moving, and really put some skin on a giant of the Christian faith. My son got to go to England this past summer, and had the privilege of visiting C. S. Lewis' home and his gravesite. Reading the book and watching the movie made me look even more forward to reading his book, The Chronicles of Narnia, later this spring. What an amazing man he was! And I love that although he didn't have children of his own, he did raise Joy's two sons. Anyone who wrote Narnia should have children underfoot.

That's it for here, for now. As you can see from the snapshot of my office, I did not put 'keep up with the ironing' or be more tidy on my 2019 resolution list. I'll be back soon, when hopefully the piles will have been tamed somewhat.