I once had an easy button on my desk. It was given to me by a former employee who turned out to be a few sandwiches short of a picnic, if you know what I mean.
At first it was cute, and at the end of every meeting or discussion, inevitably someone would push the button and we would all be entertained by the very polished voice of the “That Was Easy” man.
Over time, this button began getting on my nerves, to the point that I wanted to throw it at the next person who pushed it, because I realized that most of the time when the button was pressed it was not an easy situation – so it became more of a tool for sarcasm than anything else.
Fast forward a few months. My 8 year-old daughter was at work with me one day and she was busy setting up her space in an empty cubicle nearby. I was giving her items from my office for use on her desk, and one of them was the Easy Button. I handed it to her and looking a little annoyed she said,
Mom, haven’t I told you before that NOTHING is easy?
What could I say? She was right. So we threw it in the trash. And that was the end of my easy button.
Punky decides to take over Felicity’s bed (yes- Felicity, the American Girl doll has a bed). Notice the glowing eyes. Pet cemetery anyone? Needless to say, D was quite upset.
1. Grow up financially – Develop and implement a financial plan that supports my life goals
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not in all kinds of debt. As a matter of fact the only debt I have is my house. The problem is that I spend only cash – all of it. So I never save any money (other than retirement stuff). Here are some of the things I want to do:
Purchase Land and build a prefab modular sustainable home within the next 4 years
Have enough to retire on
Strengthen my credit
Have enough cushion in the bank for rainy days
2. Achieve and maintain excellent health.
Generally my health is pretty good, but I want it to be great. I want to walk and hike a lot. Take yoga to reduce stress. Eat fresh, minimally processed, local foods. Reduce my BMI and lose another size (or 2).
3. Be where I am
I spend a lot of time worrying about and preparing for what is next. While this may be important, I often forget to enjoy what I am doing at that time. So I will:
be more in the moment
be more aware of what I am doing – and how it makes me feel
be more thankful in that moment
appreciate my surroundings – the people around me, the time of year, my environment
4. Have more fun
Go on adventures, road trips, enjoy family and friends. Laugh more. Don’t take myself so seriously.
5. Find ways to make a difference
At work, at home, in my community. No matter what I am doing, do it in a way that makes a difference. Be creative and innovative. Don’t take things personally, focus on progress and impact.
6. Focus on buying local products This includes buying mostly food/drink that is grown and/or produced within a 150 mile radius (a good place to start is my local farmers market). Support local business as well (check out the 3/50 project for a simple way to do this).
I recently started a new job and one of the first tasks I had to do was participate in the sexual harassment training. I absolutely agree that this is important but you have to admit, some of the training videos are pretty entertaining. Several years ago, someone shared this with me – it’s pretty funny.
I am so thankful for such a wonderful day. Great friends and family gathering around the table, where we went around the table to say what we were thankful for. I am blessed.
Dinner was by far the best Thanksgiving meal I have had in a very long time. The meal was fresh and full of flavor. It was a lot of work (since I was the only one cooking) but well worth it. Only a few non-local ingredients were used (see my summary below).
Farmers Market purchases (things I purchased last weekend at my local farmers market):
13lb free-range, Virginia turkey – enough to serve 6 people, with a bit of leftovers
sweet potatoes – baked and mashed, with a hint of cinnamon, nutmeg, tiny bit of butter and salt
Red potatoes – mashed with butter, milk and salt
Brussels Sprouts – tossed in olive oil, fresh rosemary from my deck garden, salt and pepper. Roasted until browned
Kale – sauteed onions, garlic and some bacon (not local) – then threw in 1/2 cup local white wine to de-glaze the pan, then chicken broth and kale
Onions & Garlic- for just about everything
Granny Smith Apples – for deep dish apple pie
Apple Cider – used as part of the turkey brine as well as to drink
Eggs – for brushing the pie pastry
Sausage – for the stuffing.
From my deck garden: Fresh Rosemary, Sage, Thyme – all from my deck garden. I used these for the turkey as well as for the stuffing.
To decorate my table: I used some blue glass bottles with sprigs of sage, lavender, lemon verbena and rosemary (all from my deck). Beautiful.
It will swell your tongue, make you do things in the middle of the night that you will never remember, and make you commit suicide. But you can still get a free 7-day trial online.
I don’t watch much television – and have not watched prime-time in a while. I turned it on tonight and this was the first commercial I saw. Really quite scary, sort of.
I was recently asked about my holiday wish list. My mature, responsible self tried to respond with pleas for world peace and an end to poverty. My selfish, all-about-me self responded with this:
I like themes – this year it’s all very Jeffersonian:
I am about to start a new job where I will be working full-time from my home office. For the past several years I have really pushed each of my employers to support teleworking for me and my colleagues. I have had mostly success with this, although one employer clearly didn’t get it.
So I put all of my focus and intentions on finding a job where I could really be challenged with the work, enjoy what I do, work full-time from my home office, and make a decent paycheck. Guess what? I start Monday.
So Monday morning I will get up, exercise, take my shower and get dressed and then report to work on my first day downstairs in my home office.
I am excited on many levels – and I am VERY aware that I will have to figure out how to really ‘get out’ more for in-person interaction, and develop a disciplined and focused approach to my work so that it doesn’t bleed into quality time with my family.
If anyone has any suggestions on how to do this best – do tell!
So I was worried about some of the more mundane ingredients for my Thanksgiving meal – flour and other grains, maple syrup, etc. While doing some research, I stumbled upon Wades Mill.
A working flour mill (circa 1750), Wades Mill produces all-natural all-purpose white flour—as well as whole-wheat flour, cornmeal, grits, and more—on mill stones. They also have local syrup, jams and jellies.
Wades Mill products are reasonably priced and are available at several markets in the Charlottesville area
I once had an easy button on my desk. It was given to me by a former employee who turned out to be a few sandwiches short of a picnic, if you know what I mean.
