a recipe for success [hopefully]

What do you get when you add:

Preach my Gospel, chapter 8, How Do I Use Time Wisely?

My friends idea, which is based on this idea.

And a little dash of this song,

With a pinch of life lessons,

Combine with a spiffy new notebook and colored pencils,

and what do you get?

I'm hoping for a year in which the successes I experience are measurable.

Here is my plan:

The theme word for the year is happy. This year, I would like to come to a better understanding of the word. This is not to say I am unhappy, indeed, far from it. Yet, I have an inkling that there is so much more to being happy, then having a smile on one's face.

I was influenced in this 'word theme' From the Cook Shack, an overarching yearly resolution was to be summed up in one simple word. Her word is glow. I have chosen the word happy. This will be what all my little goals are leading towards: gaining a greater understanding of the word happy.

A few years ago I realized that throughout my life I inadvertently had scripture themes in my life; verses that had particular meaning to me at that time. I will pick some scripture verses that relate and expound on the yearly theme of happiness.

From Preach My Gospel (PMG), we get the idea of having monthly goals that are achieved because of the weekly goals that are achieved because of the reachable daily goal.

Missionaries are to set goals based on key indicators found in successful missionaries. I am no longer a missionary, so I had to make myself a new list of key indicators - area of life that are important to me. Enter the song. In the chorus of the song, the children state, 'At home, at school, at play.' Those are to be my key indicators.

Key Indicators explained -

Home includes both homemaking goals, and personal 'keep Heidi sane' goals.

     i.e. learn a new recipe this week, and give myself a manicure

School includes both oboe and academic goals.

     i.e. have the last movement's tempo up 10 clicks, find five more articles on my paper topic

Play includes social goals.

     i.e. say HI to five new people at school, invite people over after FHE for cookies

These are just examples, but I think you get the idea.

To further clarify:

If a weekly goal was to learn a new recipe, the daily goals would include, deciding on a recipe, buying the ingredients, etc. etc. Or, if I were to increase the tempo by the end of the week, I would need to have daily goals with more minute increases in tempo to achieve the end result satisfactorily.

Combine all these with the spiffy new notebook in which I will record said goals, and we're all set for the New Year! woo hoo.

I'll keep you updated on the process.

Oh, and ANY suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

updates and the like

Wow, how about those celebrity deaths?

Farrah, Michael...and Billie Mays. He lived in Tampa, did you know that? I like Tampa.


Firstly. So the carpet is now almost dry. There's just one little corner in the big bedroom. That means kitty and won't be having sleep-over parties much longer. I may even sleep on the couch tonight. There's nothing better than a little furry thing pouncing on you in the middle of the night. nope. well, maybe a small sticky child.

The blowers will continue in the kitchen and bathroom for at least two more days. And then there's the carpet cleaning to happen. BUT, at least there's progress.


Secondly. Well, the stove is unplugged. My first reaction was, well shoot, I'll have to eat out more, but I've been trying to eat in more, and learn well, practice cooking, etc. etc. So, I remembered my wee crockpot, and decided to experiment.

An aside: I was typing in the word reserved to send in a text message, and perestroika came up. wow.

Okay, so I threw in a frozen chicken breast, some raspberry dressing, blackberry freezer jam I made earlier, a dollop of horseradish the parents must have bought, and some onion powder. Let sit on high for 4 hours or so, and voila, tasty yumminess. I put it on low, and put some rice in the rice cooker, put some carrots on the plate, and buttered bread, and it was a nice meal.

Thirdly. I changed phone services, because I was tired of spending money on something I don't use! Even with breaking my contract early, I'm still saving money every month.

I switched from that one with that one guy and glasses, to a prepay service. I had nothing against my previous carrier, it just didn't have a plan for those types of people who really don't talk on the phone all that much.

Fourthly. I finally saw Star Trek, and UP!

I quite enjoyed them both. I must say, I really enjoy matinee showings!

Fifthly. And now for those who have made it down to the very bottom: I reserved my right to veto the votes. I would probably have voted for Persephone myself - and I still really like the name. It's a beautiful name in theory, but I just didn't see myself using it on a daily basis for x years. Plus, dad didn't like it much. I think he was just mad his suggestion didn't get any votes. :)

So, I began trying to find a common denominator in successful past pet names. (Here they are from the most recent living)


Hatti
Magoo... or Tanker (I guess)

They were always puppies. They were good doggies. Hatti was the best one of the two - they were brother and sister muttlets. It will be a while before I can get another pup pup...taking the both of them on their last walk...not fun.

Albert/o and Alberto Segundo

A beautiful blue beta who became Alberto after I received my mission call to speak Spanish.
My dad and Matthew swear that Albert died while I was on my mission, and replaced him with another Beta fish before I got home.

Scooter Pie the III (We just called him Scooter

We gave this little runlet to Grandma Smith when we moved to Utah. He was a sweet puppy till he was influenced by the two tyrants we already had. (Hatti and Magoo) He died of diabetes.

Snowball kitty (aka Bob after she lost her tail)

She also stayed in Arizona with Grandma and Papa. White cat - snow - didn't think that was a good mix. She was an alley cat that was given to us by a neighbor who heard of Felix's death.

Willy

A lhasa apso that was mistreated, who we took in at Aunt Mellers request. He wasn't nice to very many people outside our family, but he was a good dog. His claim to fame is biting the principal that no one liked at the nearby elementary school. He became a sort of hero to parents everywhere.

Matthew also put his print shop skills to use when Willy had to go on his long walk...he put up 'Mom is a dog killer' signs, complete with skull and cross bones.

Felix

A black kitty who let a little girl dress him up and carry him around the house in purses. I remember walking home from elementary school through our orchard, and there was this circle of kids, staring down...it was poor little Felix, who stomach had been ripped open. Needless to say, he was d - e - d dead. :( That was a sad day.

Wow, that was a bit morbid.

Ahem.

So I also noticed that most of the names were two syllables long, and lent themselves well to nicknames.

Without further ado, kitty's name is Maxine.

So, there you have it folks.

on the bright side...

I did just get cheap-o bookcases for my books, so none of them were on the floor.

Nor any of my fabric.

The only casualties were some empty boxes I was keeping for storage, and possibly my sewing machine and printer. They were on the wet carpet.

But, I have renter's insurance just in case! Yay!

See, there IS a bright side to this. I just hope I remember that four days later when my ears are ringing because of the blowers and kittymeowmeow is going crazy because of the noise. :)

an answer

When I tell people that I study music, I get various reactions. Most seem as if they want to pat me on the head, and say, "Oh honey, that's so sweet!" I usually just smile, and, well, smile. And try not to bare my teeth.

But, occasionally there are people who really do get it.

I'd like to post part of an interview by one of my favorite authors of her interview with another author:

Why do you write?

Sometimes I wonder that myself--especially when the writing part isn't going well. Like today, for instance! But generally speaking I write because writing makes me feel more alive, more connected to the world. When I'm writing I pay more attention to what's happening around me--and when that happens I am struck over and over again I am by the awful beauty of life.

Amen!

If it isn't writing, perhaps it is music. Or reading. Grammar. (I'm sure there are some out there!)

For all of us to survive, we must find something in this world that makes us "feel more alive, more connected to the world." For truly, this life is too short to be spent miserably, trudging along. There is a fine balance to act out, but, "...if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their heart were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good. And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil." (Alma 41:3-4) We don't magically know what will create these feelings of beauty in our lives when we die. Today is the day.

This idealistic mood of mine may be caused by falling asleep to Jeremy Irons intone The Alchemist or from the biography of C.S. Lewis that I'm reading (more on this later) but I very strongly believe that we truly are happiest when we are 'searching for our personal treasure,' or 'Joy' or Sehnsucht When we are realizing our divine potential. For we are Pilgrims, nay, Strangers here on this Earth. We are here for but a short time, to learn and to grow, and to be happy - the true and lasting happiness.

Last random thought. Sorry, still a bit philosophical. Just blame it on the books I've been reading lately.

Not too long ago I was reading and realized in the earlier quoted chapter, the "Wickedness never was happiness" has another side to it. You can only be one, or the other. If we are unhappy, there is something that is off: it does not have to be anything major. Ofttimes it is not. Most often, it is because we are being cruel to ourselves, or selling ourselves short. And please don't misinterpret or use the cheap definition of happiness. To find out what I mean, look here and you will find some interesting similarities in the causes of happiness.

I always knew the answers, or what the teacher wanted to hear, in my younger years. In Sunday School, I soon grew tired of knowing the correct answer and began answering every question with the answer of Happy. It was a bit of a joke at the time, but now, I don't think I was too far off.