Here It Comes

Winter, that is.

Sleet, wind and clouds have moved in. It is dark in the evening and cold in the middle of the afternoon. I intend on digging out my scarves, hats, gloves and coats tomorrow before work.

I'm ready to hunker down on the couch for the next five months and do nothing but drink coffee, watch old musicals and read lots of books.

Instead...

I will be finishing my 17 hours of classes this semester.
I will be looking for an extra job to make extra money for a trip to London next spring.
I will trek through snow and wind to take 15 hours next semester.
I will write papers and walk dogs and cook dinner.

Even if I won't be a woman of leisure, I think it'll be a fun snowy season!

Kick in the Teeth

I read a quote today: "We judge others by their behavior, but judge ourselves by our intentions."

Ouch.

Inwardly smirking at morbidly obese people? Guilty.
Intending to change my own eating habits to live a healthy life? Always.
Actual change? Not so much.

Wondering why our neighbors don't clean out their packed-to-the-max garage? Guilty.
Intending to maintain a schedule to clean out my closet? Of course.
Actually ever cleaning? Hmm...no.

I live my life intending to do things. Be more careful with the household budget. Work out daily. Wash dishes immediately after using. Volunteer at the animal shelter. Go to sleep at NINE P.M. Wake up early enough to walk the dogs. Walk the dogs if I wake up early enough. Be the one to keep the peace. Be a truly kind person. Shut my mouth. Open my mouth. Call a friend. Write a friend. Forgive a friend. And on...and on...and on...

When do these intentions ever produce action? Does there have to be some reward to me? Do I have to see a gain from the activity? That isn't great reasoning, but it seems to hold true for me. I want to see every good intention actually produce results! Otherwise, I'm only left with a bunch of wasted thought and guilt when the moment as passed.

Does this begin with lowering expectations or focusing on follow-through? When I find out, I'll let you know!

Voting and 150

I don't keep track of my posts - if you've noticed, I rarely even label them (I think I have, maybe, twice). But, Blogger is so great about keeping me up to date. And today, this post, the one you're reading right now, is number one hundred and fifty. I feel like it should be a higher number, but 150 is still awesome, right?

Now that you are appropriately awed by the sheer number of my posts, I need to tell you, chide you, and remind you to VOTE!

I'm not going to tell you who to vote for, I'm not not going to tell you who I voted for (although, you may be able to figure it out...but, then again, maybe not!), but I am going to tell you that we have an awesome ability and responsibility in the United States to pick the leaders for ourselves.

The system isn't perfect, but people have died fighting for this right - both here and around the world.

Now, I'm off to get free Starbucks (voting does have its perks) and hope every one of you will sport this sticker by the end of the day:

The Project is Complete!

After 18 months of work in the middle of Omaha, the area finally has a new Wal-Mart! Say what you will about the big-box store, but that company has been keeping my husband busy for a year and a half. Eric took over the entire project 1/2 way through and brought it in on-time and under-budget! (If you know anything about construction, this is a HUGE accomplishment!) This is one of the largest and most expensive-to-build Wal-Marts in the world, it is three stories tall, and has the smallest parking lot of any Wal-Mart so far. The site was incredibly challenging to work with, but my man pulled it off!

The site went from this:

...to this... (all fall, winter, and spring)

...to this...

...and this!

Everything that you see, MY husband coordinated, inspected, and managed.

Didn't he do a fantastic job?