One for One

Well, as you can tell from the previous post, I've either been incredibly busy, so much so, that 1) I can't post or 2) am uninspired or 3) stymied by guilt from not writing and that guilt breeds more putting off,  and on and on it goes.

So now I'm excited to write something and here it is.
                                                          1 for 1.


That doesn't sound like much, does it? But wait. It might get better.

I was thinking at the end of December 2010 how much I'll miss a year whose date had so much pizazz to it. C'mon, how much fun did everyone have saying "twenty-ten"?! And thinking about how the two numbers have a fractional relationship (my made-up math term).
 And it had real eye appeal. 2010. People don't have another year to look forward to for coolness until 2020. Unless you count 2012 when the world ends. But that's another topic.

It was an even number, divisible many ways. (Though not evenly by 7, but even then the answer is a way-cool repeating decimal value. Try it.) It was also the start of a new decade unless you're one of those killjoys who insists that a decade---or Millenium, remember that ruckus around 2000?--doesn't truly begin until the end of this year. 

2010. It had everything going for it. A rock-star among dates.

Now it's 2011. Not divisible by anything that I can find except the old definition of Prime (divisible only by one and itself, which is not impressive even in that way when the number is already rife with 1's.) It doesn't hold its own visually or audibly. No balance, no sexiness, no ring like 2010.

So what can I say about 2011? Is there any hope? Can this sad, unbalanced, odd, prime number inspire?


I say, Yes! The answer lies in those double 1's.  Here is the germ for a great year for me to make resolutions. Don't snort. These will be resolutions that I can live with: short, sweet, manageable, forgivable.


The resolutions --or maybe just -tion!---will be just 1 thing for 1 period of time, whatever I choose at that time. See? 1 for 1. Easy!

For instance: blogging every day for one week. Now that wasn't so bad, was it? (Not saying that's the first thing I'll do, mind.) 
Or walking 1 mile a day for one month (and dropping one size?)
Going for one whole day without using a curse word. (Major challenge.) 
Thinking one kind thought about a loved one every day for a week.  And posting it. Thinking one kind thought about ME and posting it.
Praying for one minute a day for a year. Probably should start with that.


I can do more than one at a time too, but I don't want to overload and blow it all. I am cursed with an All-Or-Nothing-At-All mentality. Explains why I haven't posted in almost a year. That curse of needing a perfect post and waiting until I had time to make one. Which never comes.
So I will start this week with 1 (or 2) things.

The first will to be to post once a day for one week. First Day, done!

One for One in '11

Christmas Week 2010

 

We arrived in Eagles Mere with little snow,but great ice on the lake and most importantly on the pond! Mei and Father R  immediately laced  up while I watched  from the shore catching up with the Christmas Week crowd and giving Mr. Bingley a chance to meet and greet the neighbor hounds.

MeiWei practicing her moves

   Tai joined "Fred Mertz" to ski at Elk Mountain and had a blast. Great conditions and mild temps. Her old crotchety parents with their assortment of aches and pains--back, hip, plantar faciatis---stayed home. Too bad! We might have gotten up Mei's courage to take a Wee Ski lesson if we had been able to watch her back! A party-fest lasted two nights over the New Year's weekend with a lively dinner at the club, a few of us together to toast Dick Clark, and a follow-up on the First for games and gab. The worst of the warming trend held off just long enough for everyone to get a last skate in before heading home. A nice kick-off for 2011.

***Confession: These pics are last year's; I didn't get any for this Christmas,

the camera having been left at home.

So just imagine this scene with no snow but glassy ice!

What, Me Journal?

I like the idea of blogging without guilt which I read about somewhere on another blog. It's the one thing that bouyed my faith in myself through this very long gap of posts from last spring. So rather than feel like a failure or that I have to start over or delete this blog,or worse MAKE EXCUSES, I am going to just pick up right here.

Something I've been doing since last summer is journaling. I bought a day planner from Simply Charlotte Mason , the old fashioned kind with a week-view and inspirational quotes by Charlotte herself on "willfullness" and how to combat it, and made a pledge to myself that I would write in it everyday. Since August when I purchased it, I've been pretty consistent. The part I like is that the limited writing space frees me and constrains me at the same time. I'm constrained, rather like Twitter, to keep my reflections few, and I'm freed from feeling my entry has to be voluminous and therefore  spend much time on it.  I intend to keep up with this. I can see the use, if nothing else, of making a note of something now that I would like to refer to later, like Christmas plans that failed. (not too many :-) )

I plan to make that another "1 for 1" pledge. Maybe "once or (or twice) a week for one year". It'll be a first (no pun intended).

This Week's Menu 4/18-4/24

Sunday, April 18- Saturday April 24

Sunday
Grill

Monday
Shepherd's Pie

Tuesday Make it Quick


Wednesday
Roast Chicken (homemade or Wonder Chicken), mashed potatoes, peas

Thursday Early Dinner
Slow Cooker Chicken and Tortilla Soup

Friday
Spinach and Sun Dried Tomato PAsta

Saturday
Bill's Choice

Signs of Spring Walk

A week or so ago we took The Outdoor Hour Signs of Spring Challenge. It was NO challenge at all! Signs of spring were everywhere, but we did use the notebook page to help us focus.

We hiked our Conservancy Center's nature trail with Mr. Bingley keeping us "safe" from "wild" animals--like the bluebirds. But not the ticks, I found out later...

This tree had a nest from last year (didn't ID the species) and a praying mantis egg case to hatch this spring. I love finding one of these and hatching it inside. Make sure the lid is on tight or you will wake up to a few hundred baby mantids crawling around your kitchen. Yes, it did happen.

MeiWei loves the goats they keep there. They start bleating when you're quite far off. It's supposed to be an early warning system, but she believes they are just so glad to see she's back. The kid was a wonderful surprise and loved the attention. It made a great sketching subject.

We checked our bluebird houses to find them infested (and I do mean infested) with House Sparrow nests. Two seemed abandoned; the eggs had slid below the bottom of the trashy nest and were stone cold, so we removed them and gathered the eggs for study. The third had a roosting mother. I will replace her eggs with these infertile ones to hopefully thwart her from adding to "the surplus population." (from Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol)

House Sparrow eggs. Note the greenish-blueish color and mottled brown spots. These are NOT bluebird eggs. If you think interfering with House Sparrow nests are unkind, read this: (warning contains some graphic pictures)

The cat is tasting the nest!

Those are some of our signs in this neck of the woods. How about yours?