New Year's Eve Eve

Happy New Year's Eve Eve!  Tomorrow night we will ring in the New Year with a hockey game, followed by our traditional bad movies and smores.  Should be fun.  And also busy, so I might as well review my 2011 resolutions now, as I doubt there is much that can be done between now and tomorrow night!

My 2011 Resolutions

1) Bake a pie every month of 2011.  I love pie, but I have never made one completely from scratch.  I hope to have that change this year.  Here is the current schedule:
     Jan- Cherry
     Feb- Coconut Cream
     March- Pot pie AND Berry (it is Pi day afterall)
     April- Banana Cream
     May- Strawberry Rhubarb
     June- S'mores
     July- Blueberry
     August- Peach
     September- Apple
     October- Pecan
     November- Pumpkin
     December- Lemon Meringue
Done, except for Lemon Meringue.  There is a chance I may do it tomorrow.  But considering Discs One and Two of the next season of Doctor Who are waiting for me at the library, I doubt it will happen :)  Priorities people.  :)

2) Read 45 books.  In 2010, I managed 42.  I think I can outdo that this year!
DONE!  In fact, if I keep up the pack I am on, I will be at 55 for the year.  Well over my goal!  If not, 54 will do! :)

3) Exercise for 100 minutes a week.  That isn't much, but it's more than I do now.  Since shin splints have basically sidelined me from running, I'll have to get more creative. 
HAHAHA, that didn't happen.  Oh well.  There's always next year.  And I didn't GAIN anything, which is always a plus. 

4) Save money.  Our money situation is tight.  I would like to be able to cut back in areas where we probably overspend, and build up a cushon in case something unforeseen happens.
Well, I guess this happened.  We do have a bit of a savings account now.  I wish I had written down somewhere what was in there before, because I really have no idea if we are ending this year ahead or behind. 

5) Move.  Whether it is across town, across the state, or down the coast, I would like to be out of this house be Halloween.
Didn't happen.  They decided not to raise our rent, and with rentals hard to find in this area, it seemed safer to stay here.  However, there may be something big brewing on the horizon as far as this is concerned, so stay tuned (like in May or so).

Not bad really as far as resolutions are concerned.  I might still be able to do the pie, and then I would really consider this year a success. 

I already have some ideas for 2012.  I want it to be fantastic.  I will try and post the list tomorrow.

Peace out!

Holidays

I love holidays.  It doesn't even matter if it is a holiday that does not relate to me.  I still love them.

We celebrate Halloween AND Samhain.  Boxing Day?  You bet!  Yule, Christmas, and anything else I can get my hands on in December! Groundhog day is still a personal favorite.

So while we don't go to church, I still love Advent.  I figure it is good for Spud to know the basis for the hoildays that we celebrate, and Advent get to the root of the Christian form of winter holidays.

I went out and purchased a beautiful advent wreath (that can be used for other candles the rest of the year) and the necessary purple and pink candles.  Each night this week we have been lighting the first candle and reading the chosen verse.  Spud is kind of bored since there is no rhyme or reason to the verses, and we haven't gotten to the real story yet. 

However, last night's verse actually spoke to me.  It seems the antithesis of the right wing message of "Me, me, me.  Everyone looks out for themselves."  It spoke to me as the true meaning of Christmas, community, and Christianity in general.

Isaiah 58 5-8: The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free.  Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives.  Then my favor will shine on you like the morning sun, and your wounds will be quickly healed.

Basically, help those less fortunate than you.  Stop the oppression of people and love one another.  If you do this, the world will be a better place.

I feel like we need more of these messages and less of the "everyone who thinks differently and has less money is doomed" that dominate outspoken Christianity these days.