Some Thoughts...

...at the beginning of this new year:

We started the new year off by purging some old files, weeding out some old and unused items to send off to the Salvation Army, and posting some items on Craigslist to sell. It feels good to rid yourself at least of some of the material items that weigh us down (whether we realize they do or not). Though the house feels a bit lighter and less cluttered, I still see many things I would like to do without.

I like tax season. I am always anxious to collect the W-2's and whatever forms are needed to file taxes. When the filing is complete, it is that final nail in the old year's coffin, allowing me to put all my focus and energy into the new year.

We decided to expand the garden this year, Chris vowing to put more effort into it this year. In order to give himself real motivation to keep involved, he suggested that we turn it into a competition. He thinks we ought to divide the garden in half and see who can keep their plot more weed free. I don't really like that idea. If we are going to have a competition, it needs to involve something that really matters... such as the amount and quality of produce. I think he's afraid of losing... and I suppose it wouldn't really be fair, since he wouldn't have as much time to work in the garden as I will. Then again, I could consider the kids a potential handicap until they are properly trained.

Anyway, I ordered some seeds yesterday, and am caught between the desire to plan out the garden properly (after all... Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance), and the realization that I don't really know how to do that, so will do what I do almost every year, and just forge ahead, planting things wherever seems best at the moment as I go along. This time, I am going to pay more attention to planting guides and keep a journal of what I do, and how things go.

I've also been looking into that proverbial mirror, like most do in new of the year, and see a bit of a chameleon, though I don't know that it really bothers me. (Has anyone seen Zelig?) I like to listen to a lot of different trains of thought, and consider them at least half seriously, and glean whatever little truths I can from them... and eventually, the pieces that I pick up from here and there eventually form themselves into something.

It is kind of funny to me to see how 'in' it is to be 'green.' So much so, that at the dollar bins at the entrance of Target, we found one day 'green is in' buttons. I wasn't sure what to think of that, when I flipped the package over to find that they were made in China and shipped here. How 'green' is that? And I am no less the hypocrite. All you have to do is look in my diaper bag to find out how big of one I am.

In the meantime, God is speaking to me in lots of little ways, trying to teach me where I need to be more content and where I need to be less. And how good it is to be able to laugh.