Monday, June 27, 2011
Oh, No.
Currently NOT rocking my world is the lack of any sort of logical reason why the last post looks so horrible, no matter what I try. It's enough to make a girl think of defecting to Wordpress.
Oh, yeah.
Currently rocking my world:
- Freegal. It is the best thing ever, to look up long-lost favorites and get them for my iPod for free. Today's finds: Indigo Girls and REO Speedwagon (yes, I'll admit to REO. I won't disclose that the other download was Kenny Loggins, however.)
- A nice glass of wine with and after dinner.
- Kids playing outside after dinner (currently playing: "What time is it, Mr. Fox?")
- Happy kids swimming in the town pool this afternoon.
- Reading both the Magazine AND the Ideas section from yesterday's Globe while the happy kids were swimnming this afternoon.
- Clean sheets on the bed tonight, and a secret plan to finally watch "The King's Speech."
- Good news from a colleague.
- Having had the chance to visit with (almost) my entire family this past weekend.
- A beautiful, perfect, sunny summer day.
- The kids' summer camp. How could I almost have forgotten that? Day 1 was today and they loved it.
Ten is a nice round number so I'll stop there. Quite wonderful, especially for a Monday.
Food pantry article
Today's "Milton Makes a Difference" is about the Milton Community Food Pantry. It's great to have such a community resource and volunteer opportunity right here in town. Everyone there is so cheerful, too -- volunteers were all smiles when I stopped by to get a few photos. Smiles make for good pictures, too. Read about the Pantry's good work here.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Exhale.
I've been wanting to blog for some time, but haven't been able to sit down and do it. I've had that restless feeling of wanting to write, as opposed to the dutiful feeling of having to write, but no block of time that I felt I could afford to put toward this soul-feeding, well-filling activity.
But here I am, and although I'm currently responsible for five children (my brother and his family are visiting this weekend, and I'm watching his two kids this afternoon) it feels nice to just sit and put fingers to keyboard for a while, without a deadline breathing down my neck.
The past 10 months have been insanely busy. I am forever saying how busy I am, but since September, it's been a whole new level of scheduling craziness. Teaching school, teaching at home, rehearsing my church choir, cantoring weekend and funeral masses and meeting eight writing deadlines every week has been a challenge. But the school year is over, my private teaching is on a summer schedule, and the writing has eased up a bit, too. No wonder I can sit here and think out loud, or rather, in print.
My project for the summer is to take better care of myself, and I'm off to a good start. I had lost nearly 15 pounds, using SparkPeople, last summer, and started gaining it back in October (about the time the writing ramped up.) I gained it all back, with interest, and realized last weekend that I was within 5 pounds of my full-term weight when I was pregnant with Abby.
That was a wakeup call.
On Monday, I started using SparkPeople again, and decided that this was going to be the summer I prioritized taking care of myself. So far it's been pretty good -- I took a walk with a friend one day, another by myself the next, and have been to the gym three times, too. I'm not eating perfectly but am doing much better than I was. It feels good to place some importance on taking care of my own well-being, after such a long time of being too busy to put any time into it.
Health-conscious individuals might argue that there's no such thing as being "too busy" to take care of oneself, but they don't get it. That kind of pontificating does nothing to alleviate the problem and only creates guilt in people, like me, who go into what I call "survival mode" in order to just get through the days and weeks. People have to set priorities in order to manage their lives, and my priorities have necessarily been elsewhere for the better part of a year.
And now, without guilt or regret, I'm adjusting my priorities. To be able to do that is another blessing.
But here I am, and although I'm currently responsible for five children (my brother and his family are visiting this weekend, and I'm watching his two kids this afternoon) it feels nice to just sit and put fingers to keyboard for a while, without a deadline breathing down my neck.
The past 10 months have been insanely busy. I am forever saying how busy I am, but since September, it's been a whole new level of scheduling craziness. Teaching school, teaching at home, rehearsing my church choir, cantoring weekend and funeral masses and meeting eight writing deadlines every week has been a challenge. But the school year is over, my private teaching is on a summer schedule, and the writing has eased up a bit, too. No wonder I can sit here and think out loud, or rather, in print.
My project for the summer is to take better care of myself, and I'm off to a good start. I had lost nearly 15 pounds, using SparkPeople, last summer, and started gaining it back in October (about the time the writing ramped up.) I gained it all back, with interest, and realized last weekend that I was within 5 pounds of my full-term weight when I was pregnant with Abby.
That was a wakeup call.
On Monday, I started using SparkPeople again, and decided that this was going to be the summer I prioritized taking care of myself. So far it's been pretty good -- I took a walk with a friend one day, another by myself the next, and have been to the gym three times, too. I'm not eating perfectly but am doing much better than I was. It feels good to place some importance on taking care of my own well-being, after such a long time of being too busy to put any time into it.
Health-conscious individuals might argue that there's no such thing as being "too busy" to take care of oneself, but they don't get it. That kind of pontificating does nothing to alleviate the problem and only creates guilt in people, like me, who go into what I call "survival mode" in order to just get through the days and weeks. People have to set priorities in order to manage their lives, and my priorities have necessarily been elsewhere for the better part of a year.
And now, without guilt or regret, I'm adjusting my priorities. To be able to do that is another blessing.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Two pieces
"Just a Minute" ran this weekend in the Patriot Ledger. I'm looking forward to summer vacation this year (and mine starts today!) Find out why here.
Today's "Milton Makes a Difference" is about the Caring Circle of the Milton Catholic Collaborative, an association of the three Catholic parishes in town. They're reaching out to help people in need. Learn more here.
Today's "Milton Makes a Difference" is about the Caring Circle of the Milton Catholic Collaborative, an association of the three Catholic parishes in town. They're reaching out to help people in need. Learn more here.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Library volunteers piece
I don't think I usually link to my "Milton Makes a Difference" column on Mondays, but since it's my second-favorite weekly assignment (after my humor columns) I really should start. Today's piece is about the Friends of the Milton Public Library. They do great work and are preparing for a membership drive in the fall. Read about it here.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Run for cover
Last week, we had a tornado here in Massachusetts, and even my town, which was ultimately not affected, was under a tornado warning for a while.
If only I'd known that when we watched "The Wizard of Oz" a few days before. Read about our perfect family storm in today's Milton Musings, "Blown Away."
If only I'd known that when we watched "The Wizard of Oz" a few days before. Read about our perfect family storm in today's Milton Musings, "Blown Away."
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Family Humor Column
Here's one I can't let Abby see just yet. Enjoy today's "Just a Minute" column for the Patriot Ledger.
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