I’m not huge on New Year’s resolutions. My approach is similar, actually, but not surprisingly a little non-conformist. I mean, I value conformity and all but I fancy myself a bit of a trailblazer. Just a smidge.

Anyway. I prefer more of a New Year’s theme than a set of resolutions. It allows me to concentrate on just one thing and try to make it connect to a lot of little facets of my life. I have some things I want to get done this year so the goal for 2009 is ACHIEVE.  (In my mind I think of it in all caps, in case you were wondering.)

I’m striving to achieve a work upgrade, a weight downgrade, an increased fitness level, healthier eating habits, greater financial stability, more organization and sticking with my themes from previous years (most notably want what you already have and take good care, both of which I am not always good at). So I guess that includes playing and singing more music, using the craft supplies I have sitting around, looking around in my closet for new and exciting possibilities, taking advantage of local and regional cultural, historical and natural resources, using my camera (and actually uploading the images), writing letters and sending the cards I’ve bought over the years that are collecting dust in my basket, reupholstering a few chairs I’ve been threatening to reupholster for a few years, and other duties as assigned. See how my theme manifests itself in about eight jillion ways?

And I also like applying my theme (mantra?) to work or whatever else is going on in my life.  So, 2009 here I am… I’m going to ACHIEVE!

I try to maintain a positive attitude.

For example: it could be worse, the allergic reaction that had swollen Etta’s eye nearly shut could have done more damage. I didn’t just spill burning hot coffee down the front of my shirt, it’s that I discovered the lid to my new coffee cup isn’t actually for drinking it’s for decorative purposes. I didn’t just fall off that ladder, I narrowly escaped serious injury trying to clean up my house. It’s not a near-nervous breakdown watching the Christmas celebration from our college, it’s an opportunity to be thankful for the experiences we’ve had. It’s not being separated from your loved one(s) it’s building a future so that we can all be closer someday, living the life we want to live. It’s not a crisis of confidence, it’s just the happy fact of never being quite satisfied.

Perhaps this is why I say I’m an optimist. Usually.

I’m back on the juice. Coffee that is. I drank two nice strong (homemade in my French press cups) about a week back. It gave me wings, man. Wings. I have kept it up.

I like my job. But I would still like to win the lottery so I can do whatever I want. But work has been fun. We had a special event today, and since Christmas came early for me and I have a new camera (another one, but that’s another story) I really enjoyed our event. Can’t wait to take the new little guy on my coming NYC and Africa adventures.

I hate stringing lights on Christmas trees so much, when the lights on my tree-in-a-box didn’t work I bought a new tree. The old one is laying in my living room. Maybe I’ll have two trees. Or donate it to someone who could use one.

I am not a totally useless and wasteful consumer. I’ve been trying to be a conscious (and also green) consumer lately. I am really enjoying my CSA membership. Just think how healthy I be if I eat my collard greens, kale, lettuce and cabbage this week. Yum.

I have picked up my healthy battle axe lately (get it? Pick your battles?) and worked on my health. It’s working out OK so far. I’ve lost 15% of my total body weight. I’ve taken down 25 lbs. so far, 18 to go to be in a healthy BMI range*. And when I hit that goal I’ll have lost 26% of my body weight. Hopefully in time for a new swimsuit for the beach this coming season.

I had hoped to pick up some really hot ass jeans at the consignment shop to accompany my weight loss. No luck. Seems like designer jeans don’t accommodate my hips and thighs. So I got some cute jeans (don’t shoot me) at Wal-Mart. I’m a Wal-Mart shape in a Seven For All Mankind World. And I also saved about 40 smackers. Not all bad I guess. Work with what ya got I say.

Like how the items in my list get progressively longer? Well, I’m thinking of keeping the blog up more regualarly for a number of reasons. We’ll see how that goes.

Happy 10-days-until-Christmas-Eve day.

* I keep getting conflicting reports on the BMI scale. I’m hoping for only 18 pounds more but if I must press on past that I will.

Hearing about Joe the Plumber is wearing me out. The typically conservative Sioux City Journal maintained a live blog when Caribou Barbie was in town last Saturday. All of those Joe signs you’re seeing on tv:

“They were handed out from McCain campaign staffers and volunteers before the event. The signs look like they were hand-made by spectators, but it’s largely spectacle for the media because people were prohibited from bringing their own signs.”

Furthermore, “Sioux City’s “Joe the drywaller” turns out to be a blue collar stand-in. When asked what drywall company he works for, the man admitted it isn’t his profession. Then he quickly added is “brother” is a drywaller. Campaign staff said the signs were made by Sioux City volunteers the night before, but the message didn’t necessarily fit the supporter holding it. Attendees were not allowed to bring their own signs.”

Meghan McCain featured more “authentic” signs on her blog today, McCainBlogette.com. Seems about as authentic as Cindy McCain in her bathrobe on her daughter’s blog last week. Hello obvious ploy!

Anyway, I already voted early for Obama/Biden. I hope to wake up next Wednesday to the new that the US of A elected a Democratic president for the fifth time since JFK.

Speaking of moderation, I had a moderate amount of scariness yesterday.

After work, I ran an errand and was taking an unusual route home. I was contemplating the coming week (and months, really) and humming a song I’d just heard when I heard a strange cracking sound. It sounded a little like thunder. But more like cracking wood.

I glanced up in time to see a giant tree limb fall onto the GMC Yukon in front of me, completely smashing the passenger side of the car. Here’s what a commenter on the local newspaper story had to say:

I was talking with my wife on the phone this afternoon when she let out a yell and said that a tree limb had fallen on an SUV traveling in the opposite direction of her. She mentioned that whoever was driving in the black cabriolet behind the SUV was lucky because a couple seconds later and it would have fallen on her.

Do you know what I drive? Need a hint?

Anyway, the whole thing made me glad that I had told Pete how much I loved him in our last telephone conversation, most of all. But also thankful for about a million other little things.

I also had a revelation: you never know what’s going to happen next. I’m thankful for everything I have, and can’t wander around afraid of what might happen while I’m just living my life. Keep on marching, right? I’m trying to pick my battles wisely. I’m going to choose to be grateful and thankful for every good thing that happens. In moderation, of course.

(And yes, the top was down.)

Hi there, remaining eight blog readers. How’s it shakin’? I’m frankly amazed that anybody at all is left reading little little old blog since I’ve been ignoring consisently for a little over a month. Just been busy I guess. Lots of distractions, and other things to do. But I’ve been wanting to do more writing lately, so here goes.

So, what I’ve been up to… Hmmm. Since I last updated I’ve done a weekend at the beach, most likely the last trip of the season. Boo hoo. I’ve been doing some running on that Couch to 5K thing I mentioned in the post that included by personal fitness challenge: Healthy Jenn 2010. I also picked up an ass-kicking (literally) workout DVD and have been trying to bust my ass to be healthier. So far so good. I have a couple of travels trips coming up – NYC, Disney and a few things developing, I hope. Pete is getting ready for his trip so I will be flying solo for a while. Life is change, right? It would be so boring to do things the ‘normal’ way.

Other than that, it’s been pretty much same-old-same-old. You know, all things in moderation. Including moderation.

Ugh. It’s been a pretty wild couple of weeks. I have been careful not to complain too much, it seems like everyone I know has a superbusy life. But here’s what I’ve been up to:

• My car starter died. Two people, five jobs and only one car doesn’t work out so hot.
• After I got the starter repaired, it died again. The tech guys didn’t screw a bolt on tight enough to hold the starter in place so I got to call AllState and take advantage of their roadside assistance two times in one week.
• Finally I think the car is back on track.
• I’ve been doing some political volunteering in addition to my jobs. It’s been nice to be involved, and I’m remaining very positive about the direction of the election.
• Also, if you haven’t already, for the love of God and all things holy, REGISTER TO VOTE.
• I ordered a pair of Chaco sandals on closeout at REI and I am stressing out because I really want them to arrive NOW. They should arrive today, and the UPS tracking site says they will arrive tomorrow. The same UPS tracking site that says they are in a warehouse somewhere in Washington state. Hmmm.
• I have been doing that Couch 2 5K plan you read about all over the Internetz. A couple of years back I was running pretty regularily, and then somehow I stopped. I’m choosing health and working on a campaign I’m calling “Healthy Jenn 2010.” I am a dork. And, just so you know, you have to say “Healthy Jenn TwentyTen.” There should be no confusion now.
• My parents are coming for Thanksgiving. I already bought tickets for the big football game that weekend.
• I am working on travel plans for Christmas.
• I really want an iPhone. But not as much as I want to pay down some debt.
• I really want a Sony Alpha series digital SLR camera, because my Minolta lenses are compatible.
• My MIL sewed some draped for my living room and I am really anxious to see them.
• I like lists.

That’s it for now. Hope to be blogging more regularily again soon, but whatever. It’s my blog and I’ll do what I want.

When it rains it pours. Especially if you don’t have your umbrella because you left it at home, like I did today. I also left my super-secret faculty/staff parking pass that I planned to use when I went to speak at the university today. So I required an extra trip home to get the pass, and when I left early to grab lunch, get the parking pass and head on over, it was pouring. I figured I’d just pick up the pass and the umbrella and be on way to class to speak. No so much, my friends.

I didn’t have much for lunch, so I crammed down a few light Sargento cheese sticks thinking I could make it through. I was hungry and didn’t think there were many groceries at home, so I drove through for some chicken nuggets though I’d already had two fast food cheeseburgers this month. So my fast food quota was busted. Once again I failed to plan and so my plan failed. (But hey, at least I exercised this morning, doesn’t that count for something?) Oh, and I had forgotten my flash drive with the Power Point presentation on it at the office, so I had to circle around a detour to get it. Yuck. Already I’m 10 minutes behind when I started out 10 minutes ahead.

So I came home to get the parking pass and hop in the car to go. But there was a strange buzzing in the bathroom*. I sounded like the ceiling was going to explode. So I explored it but didn’t come to any conclusions. I decided I would leave it be; what’s the worst that could happen? The house might burn down but whatever.

I go out to hop in the car, turn the key and NOTHING happens. Just a click-click-click. It must be the starter. I was worried about this. How do these things happen to me? Grrr. So the car doesn’t work. I call Pete at work, tell him he has to come and get me and take me to the class so I can speak about how to be a grown-up in the real adult world. Though I seem to be failing miserably at it myself. Like I said, when it rains it pours.

After I speak to the class – which went fine considering the stress from all the world-crumbling that was going on. I convinced the professor — my major professor from graduate school, mind you — to give me a ride home, when I discover I don’t have my keys. I must’ve left them in Pete’s car.

So the professor drops me off and watches me bust into my own house through the screen. If she ever invites me back to class it’ll be a miracle. I must have looked like such a fool. But what are you gonna do? When it rains it pours, even if you don’t remember your umbrella.

* The good news: the house didn’t burn down or explode. It was just my little Neutrogena Wave face  thingee (which works, I’d like to add) buzzing against the side of the bathtub. But that reminded me of a funny story: when I did my student teaching a teacher told me a story that someone in the school had called the computer guru there because their computer seemed to be making a funny sound. Turns out the funny sound was a vibrator in the teacher’s purse at school clanging against the side of the computer. That’ll account for some funny buzzing, to be sure. But honest, in my case it was just a little exfoliation tool. Honest.

Last week I read about someone driving through the post office over at Melissa C. Morris. (Scroll down to August 19 to see what the postmaster did, I can’t seem to link directly to the post. Sorry!) While I don’t think I have too much in common with Ms. Morris beyond the obvious we both have ears, we both have husbands, we both have dogs, I can relate to her about small town life and people driving through where they shouldn’t. Even though my small town isn’t in New England and I haven’t got several homes.

Back in ye olde hometown some time ago a kind woman named Armella drove right through the grocery store. They have carry out but not drive in. I think the story was that she forgot to put her car in park and CRASH! She pummeled right through the front door of Jeff’s Foods. I think luckily no one was buying lotto tickets right then or there might have been a heap of trouble.

I think of this now and then because Armella’s daughter gave me some embroidered tea towels for my bridal shower (the one with all the thank yous). Even though she had passed away by the time my shower occurred, my mom theorized that Armella had embroidered enough towels to outfit many a bride though she was no longer there to do it personally. So when I look at those pretty ladies and their gorgeous skirts while doing dishes I think about the  incident. Life happens, right?

Pete just told me: “She’s just like you. She’s cute and Iowan.” (She = Shawn Johnson.)

Go, Shawn, go. Iowans everywhere are proud of you. Obviously. Enough to devote a butter sculpture to it.

And lest you think the butter sculpture is weird, you should read this. Because then you’ll know it’s not that out of line to carve out of butter, Tibetan monks have been sculpting in yak butter since the 1400s. So there.

Plus, the State Fair is awesome. There’s a musical about it and everything. There’s some really good music there, including “It Might As Well Be Spring,” which is a beautiful ballad. You should watch it.

And if that stuff isn’t cute and Iowan, I don’t know what is. So there.