Eating a little Hop and John... no reason to call the authorities.

One thing you may or may not know about me is this: I am a Southern girl. I was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee and even have a slight Southern accent from time to time. I currently reside in Oregon (I think I'm going to die in this state) however I still have to submit to some of my Southern rituals such as... never (because I'm female) touching a lawn mover, telling people I'm "fixin'" to do something, and eating Hop and John on New Years Day. According to Southern folk lore, eating Hop and John (black eyed peas and rice) on New Years Day will bring me good luck the entire year. This year I substituted the white rice for brown rice. If a piano falls on my head, I'll be sure that my husband knows to give you the bad news. I've been scanning the blogs today & there seems to be a common theme from page to page... New Years. 2009 - can you believe it? Seems like yesterday when we were all freaking out about Y2K... now we're officially heading towards 2010. What's up with that? I am definitely one who likes to reflect over the past year... think about what was accomplished... what could have been better... make some new resolutions... Eric does not have the same regard for the New Year and dreads our annual discussion. So, Internet, instead of inflicting my ramblings on my husband I'll throw some your way.

Goals

1) FAMILY: continue to do everything I can to be a creative, spontaneous, fun mom! They're both so little & still discovering the world (Corbin) and how relationships work (Lauren). I will continue to work towards keeping their perspective in mind as I guide my little monsters.

2) EXERCISE: Keep the same momentum I have, at this moment, with my exercise. I tend to negotiate with myself as I'm pumping away on the treadmill~ considering reasons why I should be able to hop off 15 minutes earlier then planned. There are days I don't want to work out but I realize that I have no other choice. The gym is my personal AA Meeting- I have to go.

3) FOOD: Step up the focus on nutrition for my family & incorporate it into our meals and grocery shopping. I've been reading this blog: http://www.katheats.com/ (WARNING: don't read her blog if you are hungry.) Aren't her pictures AMAZING? I would like to be THAT focused on what I am feeding myself & my family. And I think it's all about good habits- if I could get going on that path I may find out it's not so hard!

4) HOME: Get a new freaking kitchen. (this will directly effect #3) If I were not concerned the health department would take my children away, I'd post a pic of my dilapidated kitchen. We've done a LOT of work to our home but since a kitchen renovation is so expensive, we've put it off the longest. Well, we can't wait anymore. THIS YEAR (maybe this spring?) it's time. And I really think a new kitchen is going to open a new world to me regarding food preparation. The plan is to remodel the entire kitchen/dining/laundry room via Ikea. (Ikea is better then Disneyland.) I'm SURE I'll keep you posted as this project goes from being a dream to pure construction hell.

THAT'S IT! Do-able? YES. And, of course, through ALL of my actions I am still focusing on, working towards, LIVING for losing that LAST 35 POUNDS. It'll happen in 2009.

Now I have to go play blocks with Corbin before his head starts spinning & he's puking pea soup.