New Year, New Start

It's amazing to me that I haven't written a single blog post in over a year. Not a single one in all of 2012. I can't even count how many pictures I took of different things with the intention of blogging about them. Then I would remember I hadn't posted in forever and it would seem as if the craft, entree, travel, etc was not significant enough to be the first entry in so long...

So here I am - starting over...I can't even remember all the grand plans I had for my blog. I'm trying to decide if I want to go back through my old posts and resurrect and/or continue my old plan or just come up with a new one. Or, do a little of both...

What I'd like to start with is setting out my reading plan (or at least part of it). I'm sure I am not alone in having numerous self-help books. In fact, I have at least a whole shelf full of a wide variety of self-improvement books. The topics range from parenting and fitness to emotional eating and happiness. Some of these books are relatively new and some have been gathering dust for 10 years. It's time to do something with them.

I've already started reading two of them. One is Finding Your Own North Star by Martha Beck. The other is No Excuses: The Power of Self-Discipline by Brian Tracy. I figure, trying to discover what I really want to do in this life and learning how to recover my self-discipline (assuming I ever had any to start with) are a good way to start off the new year. 

Ideally, I will read a couple chapters and summarize my thoughts here. The books also have "exercises" within and at the end of the chapters. I'll be doing the exercises in a notebook and will again, ideally summarize them here on the blog. Hopefully, I'll get something out of the books. At the very least thinking about what I've read and discussing it will hopefully help me learn something new - if not about myself then maybe about the world. Best of all, I'll clear out a bookshelf.

My plan right now is to read at least one self-improvement type book a month. I also have at least 100 other books I've been carting around move after move so hopefully, I'll get some of those read as well.

Here's to a new year and a new start!

American Wife Books

I recently finished reading "American Wife" by Curtis Sittenfeld. I wish I had finished reading Laura Bush's biography first but despite that, it was a good book and I enjoyed it.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about it was all the other books that were mentioned as the lead character's favorites. I have already added many of them to my Barnes & Noble wish list. Though there are so many books on both my bookshelves and the wish list, I'm not sure when I'll get to them...There are quite a few:

Deenie; Roll of Thunder, Hear Me Cry; The Golden Notebook; A Wrinkle in Time; The Golden Notebook; Anastasia Krupnik; Autumn Street; The Westing Game; I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings; Dicey's Song; A Solitary Blue; The Great Santini; Locked in Time; A Tree Grows in Brooklyn; Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes; Rabbit, Run

Have you read any of these? Any recommendations as to which I should read first?

Nook

My parents came for a visit this weekend. My dad was part of a motorcycle trip for Victory Motorcycles and Wounded Warriors and came into town Wednesday afternoon. It's always great to see them and see how much they love Bubba...

Since my birthday is coming up they gave me my present a few days early. I got a Nook! We've been debating which to buy: a regular Nook, the new color Nook, or the Kindle. As much fun as the color Nook might have been with Bubba - I'm kind of glad the decision is out of my hands. Now I have an eReader and can read where ever I want. It's awesome. They also got all kinds of extras including a cover - it's pink which is nice change from always buying black and/or blue stuff.

I already had a ton of books on my Nook account from the iPhone app (which was another reason we were leaning towards the Nook). They are all classics I got for free during a Barnes & Noble promotion last year. Every week you could get up to 10 free classics - I got all of them! Looking forward to reading some new (for me) classics such as "The Time Machine" and "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" as well as rereading others. 

What a great present! Thanks, Mom & Pappi! :)
_________

I'm trying something out with the links - I only did it with the first two (Victory and Wounded Warriors). Let me know if they open in a new window for you. Thanks!

Contentment

The word "content" has been cropping up around me lately.

I've been reading "Reshaping It All" by Candace Cameron Bure (more on that later) and she talks about being content quite a bit. Last night I spent some time cleaning out my inbox. In an e-mail from 2008 (!) there it was again. It was a prayer, supposedly by Saint Teresa, saying among other things to "trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be... be content knowing you are a child of God."

I'm getting the idea that maybe I should be thinking more about being content now instead of trying to fix/change things so that I can be content later. Makes sense. You always hear people say if you can't be happy with what you've got what makes you think you'll be happier with something else and bloom where you're planted and other things like that. It all boils down to being content, doesn't it?

So what exactly does it mean?

One of the many online dictionaries defines it as being "mentally or emotionally satisfied with things the way they are; assenting to or willing to accept circumstances; peace of mind.

Does being content mean that you should accept the status quo or that don't want to improve or change things? I don't think so. I think it means to be OK with how things are right now even as you seek change - whether through learning, training, moving, changing jobs, etc. That you don't sit around and complain about how bad things are or how you wish things were different but that you make the best of it and move on.

I've thought quite a bit in the last year or so about doing my own Happiness Project but haven't done much with it other than read the book and many others, highlight important passages, and essentially just think about it. Maybe a good way to start would be to practice contentment. Be content with where and how I am now. That doesn't mean I won't continue to work on improving myself and my surroundings...just that those improvements won't be so much a measure of who I am or my present state of happiness. Whether I take a step forward or two steps back, I can be content where I am so that it doesn't seem a failure to not be going further or faster.

That all sounds good, right. So, just need to figure out how to get that contentment (along with the self-control and willpower I discussed yesterday). Sometimes it really does seem as if Egypt would be easier, but that's not where I want to be now or in the future...

Free Books Rock

What a fun, fabulous Friday! I opened the front door and there upon the stoop was a box with my name on it. I love getting mail. Getting packages is even better.

A while ago I got a tweet from Military OneSource (@Military1Source) saying they are ending their free paperback and audio books program. In the past there was a 10-book limit per year but now they're trying to get rid of everything so there's no limit. They have a lot of titles to choose from. I got 11 paperbacks and 3 audio books.  Now I just have to figure out where these books will fit into my "To Read" pile. The audio books will be good to listen to while I'm walking.

The first book I cracked open was "Incredible Edible Science." It retails (on Amazon) for $21. It's full of all kinds of experiments and activities for kids (though I think adults would enjoy them as well). There are activities in six categories: observing (further broken down into sight, smell, taste, touch and sound), classifying, communicating, measuring, inferring and predicting. It seems to be geared more towards a group of kids/classroom instead of just one child but everything can be adapted for one.

The audio books are really cool too. They come with everything you need - a strap to carry it, earphones, and a note to pass it on to another military family when done.

I'm not sure why they're suspending their library program but I'm happy I was able to take advantage of what they had to offer. I am looking forward to reading the books I got (and/or using them as reference materials as needed) and listening to my audio books. I will definitely pass them on when I've finished...

As of today, they are still filling orders. So, if you qualify (Active Duty, Reserves, National Guard, or family members) go over and see if they have any titles you might like...Happy reading!

Libraries

This weekend we went to the library on post. They have a children's reading hour during the week that I want to try out but I wanted to do some reconnaissance first. As my husband, a former AWACS pilot, always says, "Time spent in recce is time well spent."

As soon as I walked in, I felt like I was both home and in a new magical place. It reminded me of how much I used to love going to the library. When I was little my mom would take us to the library and we were allowed to pick out any three books we wanted. I loved that time spent in the library. I loved the smell of it, the cool and the quiet, the vastness and the rows and rows of books. The library was always the same, yet at the same time there was always something new and different to be found. I realized it has been way too long since I've been in a library. How come we allow ourselves to get so far away from things we love..?

We have been reading to Bubba since he was born (I actually read out loud to him while I was pregnant). He loves being read to and looking at books. I hope that by taking him to reading time every week we can build on that love and give him some good memories too. I know he's a little young (18 months!) to remember things right now but maybe something like the library will stick with him, even if just in the back of his mind. Like it did with me.

Update: we went to reading time and I think Bubba really enjoyed it. He sat nicely on his little alphabet square, listened to the stories (loved the one with the ball), sang and clapped along with the "Babies on the Bus" book and colored a picture after story time was over. It was fun to watch him watching the other kids. We're definitely going back.

Stir Crazy

Is it possible to go stir crazy when you have a ton of stuff to do?

We still have boxes in various places and piles of stuff we took out of boxes but have no place for. Yet all I can think of are the projects I want to be working on. Finishing my flag quilt, making pillow cases for Bubba's new kid-size pillow, working on the scrapbooks for my time in the AF, writing in my book journal, actually reading a book...the list is long. What I should be doing is finish getting moved in. Put things away, unpack the last boxes, and take stuff to Goodwill if we don't want and/or don't have room for it.

I feel as if I haven't had any "me" time in forever. Which is crazy since every day Bubba is at school is potential "me" time...it just doesn't feel like it when I'm doing stuff that has to get done instead of stuff I want to get done. I guess the sooner I get the "have-to's" done the sooner I can get to the "want-to's"...

Book List

     One of the things I wanted to keep track of when I first started this blog was the books I read. For 2009, I had a list thing going on the side of the blog. In 2010, I didn't read books quite as much because I was always holding a baby. Once my husband got me the iPhone and I had the Kindle/Nook apps, I read a bit more. Unfortunately, I didn't really keep track.
     Since it is now 2011, I figured it was time to update and keep track of my reading for this year. I didn't want to lose the 2009 list so I'm posting it here where I can reference it later if needed...
1. Wideacre
2. Agatha Raisin #1-17
3. Siddartha
4. A CT Yankee in King Arthur's Court
5. The Name of the Rose
6. Jane Eyre
7. Hamish Macbeth #1-22
8. Body of Lies
9. Women of Valor
10. Tales of Beedle the Bard
11. American Girls About Town (Anthology)
12. Alice (bio of Alice Roosevelt Longworth)
13. The Complete Sherlock Holmes Vol 1
14. The Secret Garden
15. Some Things That Stay - Sarah Willis
16. Over Here, Over There: Andrews Sisters & USO in WWII
17. Nice Girls Finish First - Alesia Holliday
18. World Without End - Ken Follett
19. Suite Francaise - Irene Nemirovsky

20. The Zoo Keeper's Wife - Diane Ackerman

21. The Rose Labyrinth - Titania Hardie

22. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury