Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Soooo many things to talk about. It's been a really long time (like a week and a half-ish)! First things first:

CONGRATULATIONS TO MY GRANDMA, WILMA, ON BEING VOTED VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AT THE WAVERLY MUNICIPAL HOSPITAL!!!

I am so proud of her!! When she told me tonight, she was so excited. She really likes helping out at the hospital - she works in the gift shop, runs flyers all over town, and just generally is available every time their volunteer coordinator calls her. One thing that she said that struck me as so true: "It makes me feel so good." I love to volunteer, fundraise, whatever, because it reminds me that there are so many worthy causes, so many less fortunate people, and so much that each of us can do about the ills of the world. American Cancer Society, Humane Society, local mentoring programs - whatever it is, I'm in. Give a little bit of your time, but get a wonderful feeling of accomplishment, ownership, and community.

Okay, enough on that rampage. I'm going to talk about something that has been on my mind the last week or so as I've been neglecting the blog. I've really focused on those things that people, specifically me, tend to put off or whine about doing, but once they're done turn out to not be that bad. For instance:

Duh, the blog - being able to find time lately has been a killer. With things on the farm starting to pick up (B just outlined for me Tuesday night how by next fall we should have 175 head of cattle on the place - yikes!) and work being crazybusy, I get in the house at night and I'm just whipped. But tonight, I felt like I had so much to share and so many thoughts to document, that I just had to get them down. So here we are.

The gym - making myself go regularly can be difficult. I'll think, "Gee, I was really tired today. Maybe I'll just go home, get some laundry done, and call it a night." But once I lay the self-directing smack down on myself, go to the gym, work out for an hour, and THEN go home, I find I have more energy, sleep better, and get more accomplished at home. [Added benefit - less jiggly butt :)] Part of the reason for this, I think, is my procrastination reflex paired with my constant urge to cross things off my mental list. So if I go to the gym, it leaves me less time for the things I need to do at home, which means I have to work that much more diligently to shorten my list. Ah, the fine art of tricking oneself.

Catching up with friends - one of the reasons I didn't write sooner this week was a previously scheduled engagement with four lovely ladies and some margaritas on Wednesday night. I and some of my friends from my customer service department days get together one Wednesday a month to have a girls' night at the local Adventures restaurant. Why Wednesdays? Well, customer service and business unit departments both have their monthly meetings every third Wednesday. PLUS Wednesdays at Adventures happen to be Mexican night with $3 jumbo margaritas. So it's a match made in heaven. :) Catching up with friends can be difficult, especially with so many schedules involved, but it's always worth it. We laughingly call it therapy, but in reality, it's a great chance to hang out with people from work without having to pretend you're working!

Cleaning the house - Ugh. Need I say more? Spring means spring cleaning, and with a farm, it just gets all the more intense. Dusting, cleaning closets, mopping floors, organizing the basement (I should get an award for that...) steaming carpets and upholstery, touching up paint on walls - the list is nearly endless. However, I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere. Plus, I love it once it's all done...if it's all done!

Checking account reconciliation - I wish I could say that I'm one of those on-top-of-it people who reconcile their statements each month when they come in the mail, but who are we kidding?! Other aspects of savings/money management/personal finance I'm awesome at, but checking and double checking is a chore I put off until the piles of statements jar me to my senses. Hmmm...personal finance and retirement. Totally a topic for another time - once I start I have a hard time stopping.

Clothes shopping - Shopping is difficult for me because in Barron Co WI there are not a lot of options for even remotely fashionable attire, be it work or casual. Usually that type of endeavor requires a trip to Eau Claire or Minneapolis/St. Paul, but we do have one Herberger's in Rice Lake that occasional surprises. This week was one of those weeks. However, for each fruitful trip, there are 4-6 terrible ones. It's the terrible ones in between that totally turn me off.

There's my list. None of the topics are really that earth-shatteringly difficult. But for various reasons they just seem hard to get done. As I get older, however, I find myself attacking even these things with a more vehement attitude. I just want to CROSS THINGS OFF THE LIST!! (Sometimes I picture myself in some airplane movie -"Landing gear?" "Check!" "Carpet steamer?" "Check!") Maybe it's because my job keeps me so busy. Or perhaps it's because I spend a portion of my evenings without the company of my husband, so time with him I'd like to have free to spend with him. Most likely a combination of a lot of things. But regardless, tonight's blog is the culmination of a seriously long but satisfactorily completed list.

Sometimes the best thing about holidays...

...is when they're over. Hope you all survived Easter.

Thoughts for a blustery spring day...

Now that all the snow is melted, the sun is beginning to shine, and the grass is greening up, it's time for one of my least favorite times of spring - "Trash in the Ditch" time. There is a reason April is the home month of Earth Day (the 22nd for those of you not up on such things) - spring reminds us of new beginnings, but it also serves serves up a visual of all the things we've done in the past to pollute/tarnish/completely mess up our environment. So, on that thought, here is my new goal, and a challenge for each of you.

PICK SOMETHING UP.

Sounds really simple, but just like so many other things, if each person did just a little bit, think of the huge progress that could be made! Whether it's a road on your way home, a stretch of Adopt A Highway roadway sponsored by your employer or civic club, or even the sidewalk in front of your house, try to pick up one thing a day and either dispose of it properly, or better yet, RECYCLE IT. And since I'm big on processes, here's my exquisite representation of the various waterfall effects possible as a result this seemingly insignificant action, with an aluminum can as an example:

AND for all you overachievers out there, check out the government's Earth Day website for more tips at home, at work, and everywhere else. Remember: Earth Day, Every Day!

Listen, & say thank you

You'll have to pardon the stream of consciousness entry, but this news story touched a chord with me tonight. Having lost my grandfather and great-uncle within the last year, I suppose I am particularly sensitive to the passages of time and their effect on the complacent, status quo nature of so many of our lives. My hangup is this: Do you KNOW your forebearers? I'm not talking about the relatives who came over the ship 150+ years ago. I'm talking about your grandparents, if you are lucky enough to still have them, or your parents, or aunts and uncles. These people you think have led such ordinary lives are the sources of some of the funniest/scariest/most patriotic/sadist/most inspiring stories you've NEVER HEARD. And, like so many of us, they LOVE to tell them, to reminisce about days gone by, things they've done, lives they've lived. So take the time to listen. It means the world to the storyteller, and you'll find it means something to you as the listener - it gives you a new perspective on your life, the path they've taken, appreciation of the small triumphs of the human spirit, and the best opportunity to thank those to whom you owe it all. It is an easy thing to say "Thank You," but too often it is the most easily forgotten. So do it today - it's worth is immeasurable, and you never know when is the last time you'll be able to say it.

House Update

Recent pictures from the little bother's, um, I mean little brother's house. :)

Dad in the kitchen - new cabinet doors are on, and the countertop is installed, along with the new faucet.

Dad in the kitchen, looking happy that the project is getting close to completion. Behind him is a glimpse into the laundry room.

Another shot of the sink -it's kind of hard to see the the dark countertops. I love the red, black & white wall! Can't wait to get the vintage chrome and silver Formica table set in to complete the retro look...

Brother #2's bedroom - pretty hard to tell, but the walls are a medium green - a little darker than a sage.

Brother #1's bedroom - this wall color is a beautiful seashore blue - hints of green and grey. I love this color - it may be the next color in MY house! Also love the striped bedspread, and am insanely jealous of the great view - Turtle Creek and the bluffs in the background (out the window).