Tag - I'm It!

I was tagged by my friend Rozette and my fingers have been giving me fits last couple of days, so I wanted to get right on it in case this is all I can post today:

Six Things About Me:
1) I am a Leap Year baby (1956 crop).
2) I owned my own accounting business for 20 years.
3) I have a pretty great husband and a pretty great daughter.
4) I have a very sweet and obedient dachshund.
5) I am allergic to dust mites, pecan trees, shellfish and bananas, just to name a few things.
6) I crave salads and chocolate (but not together).

So if you read this and want to share 6 things about you, please feel free to consider yourself tagged by me!



I also just wanted to show you the pretty salad I made myself with still more cole slaw (I keep making it) and some sliced rib-eye that Hubs grilled. It was delish!

I am also happy to report that I weighed on Friday and those 5 pounds I gained over the holidays are gone. Now to email the nutritonist as to how to proceed...

Thoughts on Consistency

con·sis·ten·cy
n.
1. Agreement or logical coherence among things or parts.
2. Reliability or uniformity of successive results or events.

synonyms: agreement, harmony, correspondence, accordance, regularity, coherence, compatibility, uniformity, constancy, steadiness, steadfastness, evenness, congruity

con·stan·cy
n.
1. Steadfastness, as in purpose or affection; faithfulness.
2. The condition or quality of being constant; changelessness.

Consider the value of consistency / constancy in our lives. Frankly, I think it is an immensely under-valued and over-looked asset by many who just don't realize the value of the trait in themselves or in other people.

Here's a good question: if you could be either brilliant or consistent, which would you choose to be?

Now, I am not trying to insinuate that people are either/or. Plenty of us are both. Plenty of us are neither. (You can file me away into that latter category, by the way.)

It's just that, all too often, it seems that Society values brilliance and ignores consistency.

Take for example, the words of Oscar Wilde: "Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." OUCH! Dang, Oscar, no wonder you're a Grouch!


I wonder if Mr. Wilde was just a little jealous....

Then there are those who've begrudgingly given token kudos to consistency, such as Aldous Huxley, and I quote: "The only completely consistent people are the dead."



True that, Aldous...but what's the point for the Living? To always be clever, no matter what?

...{SIGH}

Not that being consistent is the right thing to do all the time. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best, I think: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."



Yes, it is the wise consistencies in people which are the golden gems. They make the world work. And they make it safer, more predictable, more reliable. And, that frees us up to do better things.



That's what I'm talkin' 'bout, Willis!


Take RAIN, for example. All the drops are the same. We know what to expect. What if we had to dodge a bunch of different and unpredictable water bombs every time it rained?


And the athletes we love to watch. Tiger Woods nailed it when he said, "Consistency is the key to repeating success."



True but odd fact: I was a member of my college bowling team for a year. Even had a scholarship. My average was 151... not brilliant, but my performance was amazingly consistent, and that was enough to help my team win again and again.


Yes, consistency is a cookie-cutter kind of thing. It produces an assembly-line of reliable results. I like that in a person. My husband aka Hubs is one of the most consistent people I know. When I think back to why I grew to love him and why I decided to marry him, his consistent manner was a definite deal-maker. I lacked it and he had it, and what was important to him was that I valued it in him when past loves had called it "boring" and "predictable".

Funny how those things work, huh?

I was thinking the other day about my cyber-friend Linda, and I realized that among her many attributes is a marvelous consistency that I in awe of when I think about it. I'm guessing here, but I believe she makes it a priority in her life, to be consistent for her family, her crafting, her blogging, her friendships.

Kudos to you, Linda. You have a rare gift, a talent for consistency, that flourishes by virtue of hard work, discipline and commitment. It just shines through. I want you to know that it shines on me and warms my soul, dear friend.

This year I hope to explore stuff like this, stuff that doesn't often get examined. To me, it's part of re-assessing. And what better way to do that than to discover the little gems of gold that already lay before me in my own life!

What little gems lay before you on your path? I'd love to know!

The life vision thing for 2009

First of all, a heartfelt wish to our military boys and girls in harm's way for a safe, peaceful, productive 2009.

Yes, 2009 is here now, and there seems to be two ways to look at it.

A new year: how exciting and promising -- an adventure with unlimited potential.

OR

Another year: might as well make the best of it.

Which sounds more familiar to you?

What if i told you that, around here, we accept both interpretations. lol

Why? Because, in reality, the truth of the thing is closer to both.

If you have any years under your belt, you know that the first approach is fraught with potential for a set-up for failure for most of us (except for the fabulous Tina Zarlenga and the equally fabu Sarah Coggins, both of whom I'd bet real money on to actually and consistently do the impossible -- they are incredibly energetic and self-disciplined women that I greatly admire, even though I have little understanding of what it is that makes them tick much faster than me...not even when I was younger did I have that much focused energy to complete so many things).

I kid about Tina and Sarah when I say that I privately suspect addiction to crack or something similar...to repeat, I'm kidding! It's just that I would have to literally be hooked up to an amphetamine IV in order to do half of what they get done, and then my lack of focus would sabotage even that. Anyway, hats off to you both, my friends. I'm looking forward to seeing what you conquer this year.

As for Sarah, that goes double since she recently announced that she is expecting her first baby! This is such wonderful news! Congrats to her and hubby Trent.

And a little story on Tina: I read today she mentioned not meeting her goal of reading 100 books in 2008. OMG, did that ever make me eyeroll and chuckle. You see, I'm one of her friends over on Good Reads. I get emails when friends update their reading lists. Let me tell you, that girl updated her list more frequently than a squirrel finds nuts, all year long. She read over 50 books! That's about 1 a week. I think I might have read one the whole year...sigh.

I might kill to get that kind of energy back again. But until then I'll just live vicariously through them both.



Anyway, I'm going to try to just stick to making the best of 2009:

-->Accept what I can and cannot do.

-->Focus on doing the things that will accomplish the goals I've chosen, whenever possible, but remember that it doesn't always work that way.

-->No pie-in-the-sky goals, but stuff that will really make some sort of positive difference in my life.

For me, 2009 needs to be about adjusting to 2008 changes. I need to re-assess and re-calibrate:

-->I am right now working on completing the paperwork that will officially end my tax business and my SOHO-career in accounting. I cannot stress how big a change this is gonna be for me after 30 years of living my life around the IRS's filings and deadlines schedule, but it is a change I welcome with sheer gusto.

-->Ike caused some changes for us that we still need to deal with, namely to finish clearing debris in the back yard and to go through several big plastic bins in our garage that are full of stuff that was stored in our portable buildings that are now debris. Our city had to "hurry up and wait" until Congress appropriated more money to pick up debris, but they finally did. Removal begins again next week and throughout January. We will probably be getting right on that, since we are not being told exactly when the trucks will be on our street...lovely planning, huh? Guess I'd better call them...

-->Missy getting her own apartment in early December with much of our furniture caused changes. Good changes, but changes, nevertheless. I have decisions to make about new furniture, as well as a new room in the house to give a function to.

And, I am finding it very enjoyable. I frankly marvel at how frugal I naturally am. Here it is, the first time in my married life that I can buy outright whatever I want, yet I am firmly rooted in a "if it ain't broke, don't throw it out and replace it" mentality. I figure it's all good, cuz I can always buy it later if things change, right?

Still, I'm needing to move things around and make existing pieces work in new spots, and at the same time look good enough. And, had Missy stayed in the dorms, this would not be happening, and I'm happy she left the dorms. I'm happy to give her the furniture. This is forcing me to re-assess how things work and don't work around here. Plus, I am trying to include my ideas for decorating with all my little ideas, like the miniature trees I've been buying to hang paper pretties and ATC's and such.

-->Then, there is my weight loss and fitness. I go to a nutritionist 4 times a year, and she finally made me a believer of her approach to it. Basically, she preaches that if it took 5 years to gain 40 pounds, it's gonna take 5 years to take it off for good. Anything quicker, and it won't be for good. For the last 2 years, I've been a skeptical follower of this, and I can now say, I think she is right.

Case in point: in May, 2006, I was 80 pounds overweight: 40 of them slowly creeping on over 10-15 years time and the other 40 blobbed on in the immediately preceding 4 years (due to me being over-medicated for pain and depression after contracting my arthritii in 2002). I spent the rest of 2006 losing 30 pounds. And then I spent all of 2007 and 2008 holding the line on those 30 pounds. As of today, 25 of them are still off of me. (I gained 5 pounds over the holidays, which is a blessing considering what I've indulged in!)

This is almost exactly what my nutritionist says should happen: that without surgery, most people can lose only about 20-30 pounds at a time without "resting" and letting the body catch on and catch up. She says that we should have periods of maintenance within the weight loss process, or we are sabotaging ourselves. The body needs to re-learn the new weight and adjust daily metabolism and energy needs, and that takes time. Otherwise, that "fight or flight" thing activates and the body fights against you to reclaim those pounds.





I didn't just waste the last two years, but now it's probably safe to lose some more, slowly and surely. So, I'll be attempting to lose 20-30 more in the coming months. No, it's not much fun to realize that at this rate, it'll take me 4 more years at a minimum under her regime, but hey, if it works for good, I'm there. I just need to remember that all good things take time, and that Rome wasn't built in a day, get back on the horse that threw ya, etc, etc.

So, there you have it -- my stab at doing my life vision thing (aka resolutions) for 2009. Yikes, them's some big goals, and I was trying to not be over-reaching. And double-yikes, we still have some chocolate ice cream and cookies left. Oh, the temptations...teehee.

What is your life vision thing for 2009? I'd love to know!

Political Potporri

Before I get into my hodge-podge of links and newsworthy items, I want to send a well-wishing shout-out to 2Paws Sarah who is experiencing Tropical Storm Hanna as I write this. She was just leaving me a comment the other day wishing me well during Gustav, and I remember thinking, she's in the middle of NC. How nice of her to think of me when hurricanes aren't a part of her life... Dang, hope I didn't cause the Hanna karma to find her... You might laugh, but after awhile a hurricaneer sometimes wonder why oh why, do I have a hurri-magnet on my butt or something? LOL

Anyway, Sarah, stay safe and dry! (She just re-did her bathroom floors this summer, too...).

And lookie what might be headed toward me next week? I don't like Ike!



Okay, on with the Potporri!


Saw this advertised on Greta Van Sustern tonight, and I'll be watching. I like Greta a lot. She is about the fairest commentator out there, and always takes great pains to appear neutral politically. Probably worth watching, on her recommendation...

Don't know about you but I can only take so much of this partisanship. I'm a judicious type by nature, always gotta weigh pro and cons, both sides. So, I think in a couple of days I will start something like a double-sider on the issues or the candidates. Doing that helps me stay grounded, like a reality check if one of those ever exist in politics...

Most of the internet posts and comments I read about the election are partisan, but sometimes there will be people post who say, "What Palin attack? I don't see it, can you provide links?"

This usually sends me into fits of laughter, but geebus, what a great idea that would be to have a website where they are all listed and linked? Anybody know of one or wanna start one? Huge job, too huge for me to produce, but I can provide help. Email me or leave a comment if you are interested. I mean, hell, Obama has an entire website devoted to fringe emails about him being Muslim. I think it might help us remember it all. And, I'm still waiting to receive my deluge of Obama email. Seriously, I'd love to know what the heck he's talking about?

See how that can go both ways? I'm just sayin....winkwink

Anyway, I can't decide whether to really believe that kind of question if it is indeed being asked sincerely. I guess someone who is watching Turner Classic Movies 24/7 would miss it. Or if they watch network news.

But it can, as I showed, easily be a tactic to cause chaos and upset. One of the boards I was on the other day had a group of Obama supporters in an obvious concerted effort to start as many threads as they could with Palin rumors. And after awhile, we McCain supporters were worn out trying to defend and correct the record, and one big reason I quit once I realized what was being done.

Those of you who do not know the name Saul Alinsky and his effect on Obama need to read this excellent 2007 article. When I look at what the Obama supporters teach each other to do (and his campaign can deny this all they want, but I'm sure the talking points are distributed by them albeit covertly), it always makes me think that Alinsky would be proud. Alinsky is the unofficial father of community organizers, among other more radical ideas. Anyone wanting to look objectively at Obama better make a long stop at Alinsky. The article I provided is a great start.

I kind of want to buy into some odds on whether Keith Olbermann can make it until Election Day without totally imploding or exploding. Let's think back to when MSNBC Prez Phil Griffin rationalized that they maintained objectivity using Matthews and Olbermann as anchors during primetime election coverage. The boys are supposed to be subdued and non-snarky. Right. Anyway, Keith finally blew that beyond all recognition on Thursday night. See the story here, complete with video.

This interesting piece of info from the article: Keith blogs on Daily Kos and read the comments in order to gain perspective.

WHAT?

I kid you not, my friends. (HA! I've actually begun using that phrase at times!) This arbiter of journalistic-objectivity-my-ass gains perspective from Daily Kos. Oh, never mind. He and they are both beyond any sane comprehension. Still, people should know he's a loon. A frickin loon.

Now, I used to love Olbermann before that political switch clicked in my head. I seriously did. I used to watch MSNBC 24/7 and abhor Fox. It's now the exact opposite. I really do think that partisans see the same issue or candidate through completely different lenses. And I have been, in one year, at both ends of the spectrum, lol. No wonder I've been having headaches, lol.