Goals for 2011!!

I know everyone has been dying to know what my goals were for 2011 and what my progress was for 2010. I apologize for the delay, even though I know nobody could possibly care. As far as last year's goals go . . . I'm not even going to recap them. Some pretty crappy things happened (like I couldn't visit my Grammie's farm since she had a heart attack), and I flat out didn't put the focus into goals that I should've. Instead I'll list some of my accomplishments! Some of these weren't even resolutions from last year. This way maybe I don't feel so sorry for myself.

1. I did, in fact settle my dad's affairs! Even though one or two lingering issues has crept into 2011, I was officially released as executor in September!! I am so grateful to have survived and to have made as much sense of it as I could have. Couldn't have done it without help--from both here and above.
2. Two years ago I started studying Preach My Gospel. This year I finished it.
3. I kept my journal surprisingly up to date.
4. I changed both water filters in the kitchen (sink and fridge). I guess I overachieved in some areas while I failed in others.
5. We replaced the screen door in front and had the bathroom remodeled (pictures coming soon).
6. I quit my job!
7. I wrote to my sweet grandma every single month.

This year I decided to categorize my goals because . . . because . . . probably because I have mild OCD.

·      Take care of the house

o   Clean the baseboards (once)

o   Clean out all of the closets

o   Clean out the garage and make room for water drum

o   Transfer all music to Ipod (I listen while I clean)

o   Clean out the pantry

o   Completely clean the inside and outside of the fridge

o   Clean up the estate files, keeping only what is necessary

o   Put up new shelves

·       Increase my skills and talents

o   Increase investment knowledge

§  Subscribe to podcasts and feeds relating to the economy and financial news/strategies

§  Read books on economics and investment, especially those recommended by Jag (Jag is our investment guy at Schwab. He's from Germany and has a cool name and accent. Luckily, he is extremely knowledgeable and personable, which I supposed is more important than his name)

§  Have reasonable knowledge of current investments

o   Attend book club monthly and continue to read a breadth and depth of books

o   Bake at least one something (bread, dessert, etc.) per week

·         Improve physical fitness

o   Exercise 2-3 times per week

o   Have date night at least once per month

o   Update 72-hour kits

o   Fill and maintain water drum (and find a pallet!!)

o   Replenish year’s supply

·         Improve spiritual fitness

o   Attend the Temple once per month

o   Journal at least once per month

o   Fast every month!

·         Serve others

o   Write Grandma once per month 

o   Make contact with visiting teaching sisters every month

I bolded ones I'm already working on to stroke my ego and remind me that I'm already accomplishing stuff. It is almost February, afterall. Only 11 months to get this stuff done!

It's Not Your Fault

This is one of those posts I'm not sure will actually get posted. It's a serious post and maybe even a bit morbid. Feel free to skip, assuming I do post it.

I listen to a podcast called This American Life. Recently, it featured a story about a man whose friend was suicidal. In an effort to convince the friend that suicide was not the answer, he recorded conversations with the friend about his failed suicide attempt. Then the man sent the tapes to the friend. He figured that the friend would hear himself and realize that suicide was not the answer. Sadly, the friend committed suicide a year or two later.

It reminded me of a story from Chicken Soup for the Soul. I don't remember the exact details, but I'll try to quickly retell what I remember. Basically there was an awkward teenager who was teased mercilessly at school. While walking home one day with an arm full of books, the teen struggled and dropped some of them. Another more popular kid noticed and helped and was basically nice to the awkward kid. In the end it turns out the popular kid's kindness saved the awkward kid from committing suicide. The teen had cleared out his locker and was going home that very day to do the deed. The popular kid was a savior.

I hate that story. Not only is it not realistic, I think it's harmful. How many people have known someone who has committed suicide and then felt guilt-ridden, wondering what if they could've done something to stop it? The Chicken Soup story implies exactly that. It says YOU can stop someone from killing themselves, meaning YOU should've/could've stopped someone if they do kill themselves. But that's just not true.

People who commit suicide almost always have depression or mental illness of some kind. That's not something that can be changed by a mere act of kindness. While it may cheer up a sad friend to give them a call, a depressed friend isn't likely to feel any different after the call. I think being kind and thoughtful is always a good idea. Support and love can help people to get the professional care needed, but it won't directly fix the problem.

We've come a long way in understanding mental illness. We recognize it as true disease, to be treated with counseling and medications. Yet we still sometimes think of it as "the blues" or something people can just "snap out of." Hopefully we can remember that it's not as simple as that. While it is unimaginably tragic, it's not your fault if someone you know takes that step of finality.

The man featured in the This American Life podcast isn't to blame for his friend's death. I'm glad that he seems to realize that. Unfortunately, many people do blame themselves. They shouldn't. Let's say the popular kid from the Chicken Soup story hadn't helped the suicidal teen. Would he really be to blame? He may be a jerk, but it wouldn't be his fault.

Match-Maker, Match-Maker, It's Time to Move On!

I SHOULD be catching up on the dishes that are rapidly piling in my sink. Instead I'm checking facebook and catching up on my blog-reading. It reminded me of a completely unrelated story.

There is a man at church in his late 30's. He's a very nice guy but had a hard time finding a wife. I shall call him Ernest. Because Ernest is such a kind, quiet man, some of the older women at church thought they should help him to find a girlfriend. So they frequently set him up with granddaughters, friends' nieces, etc. None of them worked out. Fortunately, a lovely girl named (I'll call her) Amanda entered the picture and they are now happily wed!

However, Ernest and Amanda do have one slight problem. The well-intentioned older ladies are having a hard time remembering the previously mentioned union. They keep trying to set Ernest up on dates! One will find him alone in the hallway at church and start talking up the most recent potential match, and he has to awkwardly explain that he is unable to date any longer due to his recent marriage. These women do know about Amanda, but they figure he's game until the knot is tied--which is the part of the story they keep forgetting.

Amanda is a very patient and understanding woman.

And Hannah Montana Is No More

It's true. The final episode was this weekend. Did you know? If you have a little girl between the ages of four and ten, you probably do. Then again . . . I've noticed a pretty rapid decline of Hannah Montana paraphernalia the last six months or so. In fact, we didn't even have any Hanna Montana's trick-or-treat to our door. Clearly, it is time for her reign to end.

Even so, it seems like they blasted through the last season as quick as possible. Because it's late, and I don't want to make the effort to get up, I looked up some stats. According to Wikipedia, the last season had only 13 episodes! The first season had 26 (so double), and the other two seasons had about 30. You're hearing it here first, people. I would bet money (if I was a betting woman) that Disney knows of some Miley Cyrus scandal brewing, due to erupt at any moment. They got the season done as fast as they could in order to beat the leak! That, or market share was dropping faster than the speed of light.

[btw, I kinda like the replacement show Shake It Up! But don't tell anyone]

Enough Cleaning to Wake the Dead

Our church building no longer has paid janitorial services. All cleaning must be completed by the ward members. We conveniently skipped out on our first rotation when we were out of town for Thanksgiving. It was our turn again last Saturday. We showed up late only to see a hearse. Obviously that was odd, but we didn't think too much about it.

We walked in and what did we see at the other end of the hallway. A big, light blue, OPEN casket. There we were to clean, with a dead body out on display. I really don't like bodies [let it be known: when I die, we will NOT be having an open casket! If someone opens it, I'll be coming back to close it myself ], but more than the creepy factor, it just seemed so . . . so . . . disrespectful!

All but the bathrooms were cleaned before we arrived, and I'm never been so grateful to clean a toilet. When we left Ryan said, "I'm so glad I didn't have to vacuum! Can you imagine trying to vacuum with a casket in there?" What if you bumped into it? Yikes!

Back to Business

I've had a hard time transitioning from the holidays, thus the blogging absence. In fact, my decorations only came down two days ago. It is time to get moving into 2011!

So once the decorations came down I got that empty feeling inside, reflecting the empty spaces around the house. [ which is probably why I put off the clean up to begin with ] Anyway, I noticed an extremely bare wall between the family room and kitchen. It needs shelves, I thought. Besides, my collection of books is about three books away from overflowing my bookcase.

I went to Home Depot (pronounced DEH-po according to my dear Texan high school physics teacher) and made quite the fool of myself. After an hour I finally had the board I needed. A kind employee agreed to cut it in half for me.

This is totally random, but guess what they use for measuring? Yes, tape measures. But not just any tape measures. Unopened tape measures straight off the shelf! They still have the plastic clam shell packaging. I wasn't sure if I should be concerned that they were using merchandise or amused at their cleverness. You have to admit, it's efficient!