Reflect, Review or Resolve?

Hard to choose.

Reflect: Lots of folks today have commented on what a bad year 2009 was (wars, economy, general state of discord and division in the country) and I certainly agree with them. Watching the death tolls in Iraq and Afghanistan rise weekly almost makes me want to quit watching the news - which I dearly love.

Watching friends struggle to find a job is heart breaking sometimes. One of my Wise Women is still unemployed 18 months after we were laid off in 2008. She has so many excellent skills and brings so much to an employer. Why do I have a job when she does not? It happens it's largely a matter of location, but that makes it no less frustrating.

And my goodness, when (and why) did we get so divided? And so negative? and so mean to each other? I know it has been happening for nearly 20 years, but it seems now that conservatives and liberals have gotten to the point that they can hardly say "hello" without fighting about something. I love a good discussion of political philosophy as much as the next one, but I wouldn't dream of entering into such a discussion today - certainly not with anyone whom I wish to keep as a friend. At the very time when we need to be united we are terribly divided.

Review: There were some good things this past year, tho. The stock market has risen 25% since January and many of us have recovered a good deal of those pesky 401(k) funds. I ain't Pollyanna and realize that not only did I lose a lot of money, but I also lost well over a year of growth. I am still way behind, but at least it's going in the right direction. This morning I read that those in the know predict an additional 10-12% growth in the stock market in 2010.

Economists tells us that things seem to be opening up a bit in the general economy and that some banks are lending a bit more. The very small company for which I work has had no difficulty getting credit. Two banks have asked us if they can't lend us more - so that's a small, but good, sign.

We changed direction (slightly) in the wars. Maybe that means that things are starting to improve there, too, and that the weekly death tolls will finally go down. Hard to tell.

Love it or hate it, at least the Congress seems poised to do something about health care. It seems to me that anything is better than nothing. That, too, remains to be seen.

A bunch of good movies have just come out. We hope to see "It's Complicated" this weekend. Meryl, Alex and Steve - what more could anyone want. And, did you notice that it's about older folks? Despite it's bad reviews I want to see "Nine", and what woman over the age of 8 doesn't want to see George Clooney's "Up in the Air"? I hope it doesn't hit too close to home.

Resolve: Like every woman over the age of 8, I want to lose weight. I've lost the same 25 pounds at least three times, and need to lose it (and perhaps some more) again. But dieting doesn't seem to help. I think I will start with journaling and try to watch my serving sizes. Somehow that seems like a plan I could live with. I have cut out the after dinner snack, so that's a step in the right direction.

Like most women "of a certain age" I don't get enough exercise, altho I have been working hard on that for the past two or three years. I took up tennis seriously nearly 10 years ago and most of last year I played at least twice a week. Have slacked off a bit since Thanksgiving - partly due to my busy schedule and partly to tendinitis in my right shoulder. I need to get back with my foursome and start playing regularly next week.

Just over a year ago I discovered Jazzercize. I saw it as a good cardio workout, but discovered that we work on flexibility, balance and weight lifting, too, so it's a great all around workout for me. Over time I have rediscovered my core, regained a lot of lost balance, and generally started to tone up. If I could lose that 25 pounds, I think I would find a pretty good core lurking under that layer of... fat! Last year I went 114 times. My goal for 2010 is 150 classes. I think that's absolutely doable.

This year I want to work on making sure I have a positive outlook. I realized to my horror this year that a family member I love is one of the most negative people I know. It's painful to be around her and I don't want to end up like that. So, I want to start now looking at (and for) the good in people and situations. I want to be sure that when I am a little old lady my nieces and nephew look forward to being with me!

And, I want to work on my writing. Am not sure how to do it, but I have already sought help. I have recently added a lot of blogs to my reading list and have found some excellent writers. One (pinkfairygran.blogspot.com) mentioned some writing magazines on her blog today, as well as writing exercises. I have contacted her for more information. She mentioned taking a day a week and doing writing assignments. I like that idea, but am so often devoid of ideas. If I can find a way to get assignments.... And, I have bought a book for writing down ideas as Charlene (balancebeam.blogspot.com) recommended. It's still empty, but I am hopeful!

As for this blog, I have decided to write it again. I know. I just went on hiatus six weeks ago, but found I miss it. I am committing to one post a week, and will attempt to not make it a stream-of-consciousness review of my week!

Happy New Year to one and all!

Water, water everywhere!

The poor garden! It's standing in snow and water - again... still. To recap, we returned from a Thanksgiving trip to find the back yard and garden waterlogged - literally so wet that I could not cut the grass. We got significant additional rain that week and the next, and now we have gotten more than 12 inches of snow. I've been in the garden exactly twice since before Thanksgiving - once to check on the fish nearly three weeks ago and again on Christmas Day in search for rosemary! I made a quick check on the fish then, too. They seem to be fine.

Now the concern is root rot.

Whereas, plants look terrible when they dry out, the reality is that they sacrifice their leaves to save their core. So, when you water them they perk up quickly and go back to looking great.

Too much water is a whole different issue. Plants need oxygen, too. When their roots stand in water, they cannot pull any oxygen out of the soil and they can die quickly - a house plant in just a day or two. Our soil is full of clay - and what are pots made of? and what do they hold? One of our first experiences with this yard was a tree that Mitchell watered and watered and watered as it looked worse and worse and worse. When we finally gave up and dug it up, it was standing in a clay bowl of water and had died of root rot. We have spent the past nine years amending the soil, adding humus and gypsum and generally trying to change to composition and it has worked well.

But I am not at all sure that all our best efforts have been enough for this. The magnolia we planted 18 months ago is literally standing in water this morning. Its hole is filled with a special gravel-like substance that is supposed to help, but is it enough?

The xeri-garden is still covered in snow. I know it hates that! I did put nearly 10 inches of gravel and sand in the bottom of that bed and it is built into a slope so that water can drain off and down the hill, but will it work fast enough? Only time will tell.

There are good things to focus on, tho. I won't have to worry about watering for the next month or two. Often that is a hassle in the winter when it's cold and I have to carry water back and forth. We are really replenishing the underground water supply, so the trees and grass will be healthier this summer. We didn't lose a lot of shrubbery in the snow. I was able to get out and uncover a lot of smaller things the first day. We have a lot of breakage in the nandinas, but they can be cut back hard in February and will fill out again quickly. And, it will be in the 50's again today so most of the rest of the snow should met, freeing us from an icy deck. And, I nearly forgot, I still have not had to cut the grass in the back yard!

So all we can do now is wait. Things will either recover or not. And that's the way it is in the garden. We do the best we can, when we can and trust Mother Nature to look after the rest.

Merry Christmas!

The snow held up long enough for us to have a White Christmas in Central Virginia. The stockings were hung by the fireplace with care and filled with good goodies. We know that Santa exists because he left a muddy bootprint next to the tree - seriously!

Hope all the joys of the season are yours. Thanks for reading.

I Can See Alaska from my Front Porch!

At least it seems like it.

My earliest visual memory is a snow taller than I am that blocks out the windows. Dark and ominous, it crowds out the sky. It's not the puffy white stuff that southern children know for a fleeting few minutes some winters. It's actually the winter of 1951 in Lafayette, Indiana, where my dad is a grad student and my mother survives in a converted Quonset hut with two kids under four.

Years later I realized that at nearly four I was pretty short and the snow on the Indiana plains that had drifted against our windows was probably only two feet deep, but from my vantage point seemed like a smothering wall of gray. Freud would probably say that's the source of my dislike for snow, and maybe he would be right.

Unless you live on a deserted tropical island (and good for you!) without TV, you know that the east coast is being hammered by a freaky winter storm. It looks like 8 - 10 inches on the porch railings, but the weather-guessers are predicting an additional 4 inches this afternoon. It's beautiful in a way, but has that smothering feeling that I remember from childhood.

I think southerners appreciate snow better when we get two quick inches that last until lunchtime, and then we can go back to normal life. This is not that snow. It will be a couple of days before a plow reaches the nearby main street and we will have to clear our own path to it. This is over-exertion, heart attack snow! This is definitely stay inside snow - altho the neighborhood kids will probably be out at first light to begin enjoying it!

On a brighter side, it will our first white Christmas in 40 years or more. (At that rate, it can also be my last!) Today will be the perfect day for baking cookies and maybe even bread. No shopping, no hurrying around. Just a snuggle-down day with the fire, a good book, and the man I love. What do you think about that, Freud?