January 2, 2014

Welcoming in the first week of the new year with a veritable blizzard. We got 5 inches of snow in about 4 hours, lol  It's breathtakingly beautiful, as is the nature of snow.  Thankfully, I don't have to leave Honeysuckle Hill for anything, so it can snow all it wants. This is a picture of my son loading some big chunks of hardwood into the back of his pickup to help with driving. He went into town and came back and said, OMG, don't even THINK about it mom.  I just laughed...seems the highways are as bad as our little back road here. La dee da...I'm making a pot of vegetable beef soup with a small chunk of arm roast I had in the freezer, will make some home made yeast rolls to go with. Hot tea, hot cocoa, hot coffee...got everything I need here...

  It was pretty cold this morning and promising to be even colder tomorrow, with a high of 5.  YOWSA!!  Those are Mama Pea temps, not mine !  lol  It has climbed from 14 to 21...with the help of that dazzling sun out there. 


We had a good time New Years Eve...took the little trip up to Decatur and had some great food and met some new people and got to speak in front of about 200 people. (That part was a little daunting at first). lol  We stayed up until about 1 and then slept fitfully in the motel  (it's just never as good as your own bed).  We went for a late breakfast (about 10 AM) and then toodled around looking at the historic architecture in this town and then headed home. Got here about 1, and was thinking about a New Years Day movie, but wound up just staying home instead.  It's all good. Grilled some porterhouse steaks for supper, with a side of some leftover basmati  rice with some almonds and basil in it, and of course a dish of black eyed peas and greens for luck. This year I took a hint from Mary Moon and cooked the greens in some tomato sauce and they were really good. In fact, leftovers is what I'm having for lunch as soon as I finish this post! (How lucky is THAT ???)  lol


  I should be cleaning house, but it's tough to get motivated. lol  All the critters are in the house, which makes running the vacuum a mean thing to do, since they all think I'm trying to murder them with it. I'll probably just straighten up a little, sweep up some and call it good enough. Still on the fence about taking down the Xmas decos  before my birthday, which is Monday. No big deal...we'll just see what happens.  Being housebound for a couple of days COULD change everything.  lol


  So, did you make any New Years Resolutions ? I didn't really, but sort of.  lol I did resolve to become more mindful about money and to institute a savings plan of some sort.  There's a 52 week Money Challenge making the rounds of Facebook, and I'm going to use that plan, only in reverse.  It starts with saving 1 dollar the first week, 2 dollars the second week, etc. By the last week of the year, you have put in 52 dollars for that week, and saved $1378.00    It seems to me that the last part of the year is the hardest part, so since we have 3 paydays 3 weeks in a row in January, I am going to start with the $52.00 the first week, and work it backwards.  That way I am having to put in less and less as the holidays approach and I think it will be easier to stay on track.  This might not seem to be much to some, but our finances are very limited, so...it will be a big deal for us.

  My other resolution is to become more mindful of attraction and manifestation of the things that are important to me in my life.  To stay more positive, to be aware of the way I am looking at things and my expectations.  That's about enough for one year.  lol  I will be getting back on the Fast Metabolism Diet on Monday, but that's just an ongoing thing, not really anything new for the New Year, so I'm not counting it.  lol


  I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year, and that you will join me in wishing the world a little more Peace, a little more Kindness and a lot more Love. This might just be the greatest year, ever.


Namaste.