Like I was saying....

Tag: Family

Happy New Year!

Well, it’s another year. I woke up and didn’t really feel any different. I still wondered if Jack Bauer was going to find Habib in time (watching season 4 right now). I didn’t feel any older or wiser. I was still as inflexible as I was yesterday. But I decided to do a little something about my inactivity over the past year.

While living in Clinton I went to the YMCA at least now and then. But I was no stranger to the place. And I ran some now and then around the neighborhood too. Even ran a few races here and then. But since moving to Oxford in late May I’ve been a sloth. And I’ve noticed a difference the past few days. So I’m not one into resolutions and all, but I realize something needed to change. So I decided I’d wait til January 1 to start running again. And I did.

I didn’t run very far. But I took Addison with me so I wouldn’t have to make an excuse for going short and slow. But she impressed me. She looked like she was going to get tired, so i told her if she ran alllllllll the way to the next stop sign w/o stopping she would earn $2. I didn’t think she’s make it, but she made the corner. There was no stop sign there, but I assured her she’d get the two bucks. But as we were walking the rest of the way home catching our breath (she seemed to be racing me to the corner) she all of a sudden said “I’ll beat you home!” and took off. Wow!

I caught her and ran with her all the while encouraging her. I want her to see some things that she can enjoy and be good at. I don’t know if she likes running or just beating me at something, but I let her do both. Funny thing is she almost didn’t go running at all because we made her wear her sweat suit in the cold wind. She thought her clothes looked silly and thought people would be watching out of their windows at her running in “silly clothes”. But I convinced her to drop that concern and just RUN!

So as 2009 starts I realize that I need to just go forward with some things/ideas of my own and not worry about if anyone is watching or if they think I’m silly or goofy … but if there’s something I want to do or feel called to do … then GO FOR IT. I know that there are so many cliches I could give to try to spur me on, but safe to say …I know I should.

So, there are a few specific things I might reveal soon that I want to get better at in the coming days. Also a few “best of ’08” posts as well. But safe to say that blogging more regularly is something I want to get better at as well.

Peace.

Christmas is coming. The goose is getting fat…

Hard to believe that Christmas is almost here. Only 6 more days.  I think most of the pre-Christmas errands are done. Only one or two quick trips to make to tie up a few loose ends. This year The Wife and I bought each other a dining room table for Christmas. I like it a lot, but I don’t think it will play any XBox 360 games or double as a HDTV. But we’ll see.

We haven’t really gotten Rowan anything. He’ll only be 9 months at Christmas. He’s a baby; what does he care? Some people think that’s a horrible way to think. But we never really got any of the kids anything for their first Christmas. Actually Addison was only 6 months old and Ella was barely a month old. And of course the grandparents took up any slack. But before your first birthday you are much more interested in the wrapping paper than what is actually inside the box.

But along those same lines, I think it’s much easier to buy a gift for a 7 year old than a 4 year old. Personality and preferences have developed much more by then, so my seven year old can tell me more of what she wants. I’ll ask my four year old and she’ll offer up one or two suggestions, and then start telling what she wants for other people to have. In some ways I see that frustrating grandparents because they want to “get her something” that she’ll like. But I think it is sort of refreshing that she doesn’t have this huge list of things that she wants. She’s just happy to play with what she’s got. In fact, whatever her big sister wants is what she wants. Because she really would like to be like her big sister. And Christmas shouldn’t be about what we get anyhow, right?

Christmas this year will be different. We live a lot closer to all the family. So instead of driving 3+ hours from Clinton to make a North Mississippi Tour, we’re only 35 min away at the closest and 75 at the furthest. So that means I’ll be able to sleep in my own bed each night. But even when we drove longer distances I always made it a point to have my family in our beds on Christmas Eve. Some disagreed with me, but I felt it was important.

A tradition we’ve had the past few years might get tested. In years past since we were in Clinton on Christmas Eve because of attending church services, we’d always get some Pizza Hut carryout for our Christmas Eve supper. Not sure what will happen this time though. Might be back to LASAGNA at my grandmothers.

But a new year. A new routine. But hopefully not a loss of what Christmas is all about.
picture-2

x  Powerful Protection for WordPress, from Shield Security
This Site Is Protected By
Shield Security