Lauri’s Neighborhood

I heard this when I was driving downstate last Friday and it's my new favorite song.

When I got to work yesterday, I commented that there was a hoary frost that morning. No one knew what the hell I was talking about except the new guy Willie. 

So I contacted one of the collection companies I have a payment agreement with to see what my remaining balance was, thought it was getting close to being paid off and I received this back today:

Sara,

Your current balance due is 914.00, if you are able to make a one time payment of $457.00 by 1/25/10 it will clear the remaining balance.

Moopie's my big sister....

But mom says we have different dads....

It's a new twist on my Resolution Challenge efforts. I figured by mooshing my goals/resolutions/to-do lists together, this may keep me from thinking about my impending turn of 40.

Yes, yes, I know turning forty is fabulous, according to those of you who have entered that age already. I remember the relief and joy I felt escaping my twenties and moving into my thirties. Ahhh. That was nice.

So here's my list. I decided to include some stretch goals (S), fun goals (F), good-habit goals (GH) and some general to-do (GEN) items I should get done within a year. As I'm starting to type, I'm only up to 33. Maybe I'll leave some blanks so you can come up with some ideas or vote for your favorites. It'll be like American Idol, but not. We'll see what I come up with when I get to the bottom of it.

Without further ado:

1. Pay off my car. (S) This would be one year early on the loan and free up my income. Wouldn't that be nice?  

2. Try acupuncture to rid myself of nasty teeth grinding/clenching habit. (F/GH) I've always wanted to try it, but never thought I had a good enough reason to. I clench my jaws to the point the apparati from my dentist stand no chance of success.

3. Eradicate the magazine pile. (S/GEN) It's massive and needs to be dealt with, but there are mags I really want to read in there somewhere.

4. Deep clean the house once a quarter. (GH) It's a small place, but I still don't clean nearly enough.

5. Eat more fruits and veggies. (GH)

6. Lose two inches from my waist and the Buddha. (S/GH) I'm giving up on weighing myself and I think this is a better way to think about it. That's where I gain all my extra weight and it's also a heart disease trigger, from what I've read. I'd like to stick around well past 40, thank you very much.

7. Rid closet of all unflattering clothes. (F) I do have some things I need to stop wearing out in public, but they are sooo comfy.

8. Reduce cable subscription after March Madness. (GEN)

9. Update resume. (GEN) Remember when this used to be on my list for the last few years? Yeah, I still never did it.

10. Paint the living room. (F/GEN). Blue. I think I'll paint it blue.

11. Save $$ for Amy's Argentine Adventure/40th Birthday Bash. (S/F)

12. See FamilyH at least once before Christmas. (S/F)

13. Read "7 Habits" again. (GH) It's always inspiring and I need a kick in the pants.

14. Compete in another triathlon. (F) Looking at one in October with my friend A.

15. Spend a night at a B&B in Globe. (F) Saw it in the Nat Geo Traveler and it's only an hour away. May as well! Plus, the Mexican food in Globe is phenomenal. Yum.

16. Vox Peep-Meet! (F) Whenever it is, I'll make sure I'm there!

17. Throw out old cosmetics. (GH) I have eye shadow that's at least three years old. 

18. Run eight miles by end of February. (S) If I can't, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble for my race.

19. Organize back room. (GH) It's a mess.

20. Attend to 'In box' on desk. (GH) I don't even know what's at the bottom of that.

21. Stop overthinking. (S/GH)  I can't control other people's thoughts or reactions, only my own so I need to relax.

22. Try one new recipe a month. (F)

23. Retrofit road/racing bike. (GEN) That thing is a death trap the way it's set up now. Gear shifters on the frame and Pedal Clips of Death.

24. Do one nice/thoughtful thing a day. (GH) Instead of thinking "I should send that person a note", I'll actually send that person a note.

25. Listen more, talk less. (S/GH)

26. Touch up yellow paint in kitchen and hallway. (F) This will entail me buying more paint, but will be an easier job than the living room.

27.  Fix guest bathroom toilet. (GEN) I tried to pay a friend to do it, but he and his wife moved to Mexico. Ay Carumba!

28. Organize photos. (GEN) Stop laughing! I will! Fine, I'll recatagorize it: (S)

29. Make a photobook or print out the Grand Canyon trip photos. (F/GEN)

30. Create one painting. (S/F) Yes, that would be the same painting goal as last year.

31. Sell/use the timeshare. (GEN) Anyone interested in renting a week of timeshare at cost? Seriously, let me know and we'll work something out.

32. Return glances and/or smiles. (S/F/GH) This shouldn't be as hard as I make it out to be.

33. Don't go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink. (S/GH) I'm bad about putting off doing dishes, but not so bad that I'm going to buy a dishwasher.

34. Cook rest of the lamb that's in my freezer. (F)

I could use up the rest of my goal slots with "Use up/toss out" just about everything, but that's kind of cheating. Let's see what else I'm forgetting but will be obvious later... 

Like... 

35. Practice the piano so it's more than just a piece of furniture holding up picture frames. (F)

36. Cut myself some slack once in a while. (GH)

37. Improve flexibility. (GH) My hamstrings are going to shatter one of these days, I need to loosen them up.

38. (This space intentionally left blank) - How could I miss this? Visit Grams in Wisconsin, preferably in summer. (S/F) Stretch only because of time and money. Which probably makes almost everything a stretch goal, really.

39. (This space intentionally left blank)

I might come up with two more after a good night's sleep.  

A minor household repair.

• 09:03 RT @popparazzi: 10 things to stop tweeting about. Funny. Don't think I'm guilty. If so, sure I'll be reminded. bit.ly/1Uv9Dm #
• 14:11 Words to spell correctly in 2010 digg.com/d31E8UF #

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Fiction: The Comings of Cousin Ann by Emma Speed Sampson (1923).

Set in Kentucky in the early 1900s.  Cousin Ann is the family Matriarch and she's had to go "visiting" on all her kin ever since the end of the Civil War when the Plantation had been burned to the ground leaving her homeless.  Needless to say, her visits wear thin on the family after all of these years...  Enter Judith, the sweet, peppy girl from town.  Judy wins the hearts of the townsfolk and saves the day by saving the whole the Cousin Ann Family from themselves.

This was a phenomenal look into the Southern culture from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.  Outstanding book.  Emma Speed Sampson was such a good writer that she was even allowed to write under L. Frank Baum's pseudonym of Edith Van Dyne.

Non-Fiction: A Confederate Girl's Diary by Sarah Morgan Dawson (1913).

Transcriptions of the diaries of a young woman living in the South DURING the Civil War.  An engrossing read detailing what it was like to "live" in the South during Federal occupation and under constant fire.  I am only into August of 1862, and based on her writings I wish the South had won and I can see why Southerners are so proud and protective of their heritage.

Movies:

Judge Priest (1934).  Internet Archive: "Judge Priest depicting life in Kentucky after the Civil War and Reconstruction Period.  It still shows the stereotypes and prejudices which existed at that time in a somewhat humorous manner.  Based on a story by the noted Kentucky humorist, Irvin S. Cobb, it presents life as one would have imagined it at that time period."  I gave it 5 Stars *****.

It's a Joke, Son (1947).    "The first Eagle-Lion film stars Kenny Delmar as Senator Beauregard Claghorn, his "Allen's Alley" resident-character heard on Fred Allen's radio program. Claghorn was a blustery, one-man-Chamber-of-Commerce for all things Southern, who had no tolerence for anything north of the Mason-Dixon line, although he made allowances for South Philly. The character inspired the creation of one of the most popular of the Warners' cartoon characters, Foghorn Leghorn, who re-worked most of the originals material and style. The title of this movie is a stock line- "it's a joke, son"---he would feed a befuddled Fred Allen each week. In the film, Claghorn gets into some financial difficulties and is forced by a machine-political gang to enter a race for state senator against his wife (Una Merkel) who appears to have a good chance to beat the political hack backed by the machine. Claghorn is in to siphon votes and ensure his wife's opponent will win and is expected to run a campaign that will defeat himself and his wife. But, he runs to win and the machine's henchies abduct him." Written by Les Adams on IMDB.com.  I only gave this one 3 stars, I wish I could recall why - and I remember liking it quite well.  Oh well.

Hoosier Schoolmaster (1935).  After the Civil War, a young man takes a teaching job in a small Indiana town.  Another good look at everyday life at the end of the Civil War.  4 Stars.

There are lots of other Southern, Civil War and Reconstruction books on Gutenberg, and books/videos at the Internet Archive - as well as tons of general knowledge websites to visit.  Don't overlook Annenberg Media although every single video I tried to watch skipped awfully and there's always the beloved PBS.