Creative Idea Fridays for the winter, and some cute crafting updates!

 Merry Christmas everyone, and happy New Year! I'm very glad to be back with you for another year of fun chatting about creativity, crafty hobbies, wellness, prayer and books. 

🤗

I hope that you all had lovely holidays this year. Ours were quiet, we certainly missed seeing family the way we usually do, but we still made a very nice time of it and truly enjoyed it. The kids are happy and healthy, and that's all that matters!

For my part, I did alot of knitting, and with a white Christmas and everybody home, it was the perfect cozy time for it! In big news, I finished frog and toad!

*trumpets blare*

Aren't they cute?

Let's have a closeup on the outfits, please.

Pattern available via Frog and Toad Cast. This includes instructions for both critters, plus both of their outfits!

I definitely enjoyed the challenges involved in knitting these two, especially the steeking for the eyes! I tell you, I needed a sip of wine to work up the courage to make that first snip into my knitted baby frog. 😂 But it worked out, and it's so exhilerating to try new things!

I've also been enjoying my dancing from home this winter. Looky what Santa brought me this year!

I've been taking ballet classes on Zoom, and this portable, adjustable barre is soooooo much nicer to use than the back of Mike's desk chair. 😁 The feet swivel in for against the wall storage when not in use. It's perfect for me, and I absolutely love it! 

The other new dancey project that I have taken on is something within my main dance passion of Egyptian style belly dance, but is completely new to me: finger cymbals.

😬

Finger cymbals are...scary to me. :-0 As you can imagine, it is challenging to both play a musical instrument (one that is completely new to me), plus dance at the same time. Within Egyptian style belly dance, while you certainly see dancers and musicians playing finger cymbals (called Sagat), they aren't quite as common as in Turkish style belly dance. Here in North America, you often see dancers performing a style of belly dance called American Cabaret, which is a melding of belly dance influences, including Turkish. So those dancers are usually playing the finger cymbals (referred to in this context as zills), and American viewers often become familiar with them via seeing a dancer performing in this style in a restaurant. I've never studied with a teacher who instructs in American Cabaret style (though I've taken a few workshops in Turkish dance, which I LOVED, especially the folk dances, although the finger cymbals segment was a total disaster for me 🤣), so I've never received any long term formal instruction in playing finger cymbals. As part of my goals for the year, I have resolved to learn!

It helps that my favorite online teacher started a session for them as part of her daily drills series, and this format is absolutely perfect for a budding learner of finger cymbals. Everyday at lunchtime, Monday through Thursday, for 30 minutes, I sit in front of my laptop and drill finger cymbal sounds and patterns with her. Yesterday we (gulp) stood up to also do some simple hip drops and traveling steps while playing the cymbals. It's structured as a slow building process, which is exactly what I need. Each day this week, I could feel myself being slightly less bad at it, LOL! But it's coming along. And the thrill of taking on something totally new and intimidating like this has me in a very excited place! 

So! What we'll be doing here on the blog until Lent are a creativity focus that I'm calling Creative Idea Fridays, and then sometime in February we'll turn to Lenten planning and strategies. Maybe we'll do a Lenten book club? We'll see! I'm excited to see what kind of inspiration strikes! 

Do you have any goals for the new year? I would love to hear about them in the comments!

Official goals for 2020!

So, last week I mentioned wanting to create some goals for the new year, and I enjoy doing this on an annual basis. This year, I'm all into themed lists, as I suppose this appeals to my very ordered sort of a personality. ;-) It's the way God made me, I can't help myself! And I also wanted to select a new patron saint for the blog, and a new word for the year. Lots to do!

Let's start with patronage. I use the Patron Saint Name generator to select a new saint for our little community each year, and really appreciate having this tool at our disposal. And so, big announcement time. Our blog patron for 2020 is...St. Catherine Laboure!

*streamers!*

This is the saint responsible for the Miraculous Medal image (she's also the patron of pigeon fanciers, always something fascinating! :-0), and I couldn't be more pleased to have her and our Blessed Mother watching over our blog for next year. :) Maybe I should procure a new Miraculous Medal necklace in commemoration? 🤔 So much yay! I also used a similar tool to select a word for the year, but let's come back round to that at the conclusion. :-)

So I ended up coming up with 2 goal lists: dance and faith/family. To me, the faith and family stuff very much went together, so I combined them. And without further ado!

Dance Goals 2020

1. Take online class with Aziza - Aziza is an internationally known dancer who now teaches online classes out of her home base in Montreal, and I've been wanting to study with her for years. I actually can already check this one off of the list, because these past 2 Wednesdays I've attended her online classes, so yay! She is *incredibly* nice, and extremely approachable, and I absolutely loved the classes. I will say that I was just the weensiest bit nervous to meet her because of her fame within my dance community, but she put everyone at ease right away. *beams*
2. List used costumes for sale - Ugh. :-0 Swap meets are big in the belly dance community, as costumes are expensive, and after a time you want new stuff. I need to photograph my older costumes and list them for sale, but the financial motivation just has not been high enough to get over my fear of interacting with strangers online. This is definitely a goal for the new year!
3. Buy new costumes - And this one is way easier. 😂 Once I sell my old costumes, I'll have the money to buy new ones! It's good to rotate through costumes if you perform professionally, as I do, but I tend to buy a new one or two each year yet still not sell old ones. I buy them used in the swap meets to keep costs down, ;-) but all the same. 
4. Find new workshops - I love doing this, so it's hardly a hardship! Last year, I took some workshops about an hour from me with a fantastic Turkish style dancer, and so this year I'd like to find a different focus to keep on branching out from my comfort zone.
5. Cross-training - I took a modern dance workshop this past November, and it kicked my you-know-where, LOL! It was HARD. I've been studying the style of dance that I perform for a long time now, and so I'm not used to feeling uncomfortable in a dance class. But you *need* to make yourself uncomfortable sometimes in order to grow. Ballet and modern are on my list!
6. Have pro photos taken and look into creating website - I don't know about this one, but it's on my list for a reason. No reason to not look into something before you have a slew of information to base your decision on. So, we'll see.
7. Expand Instagram presence - I have a dance IG account that I really love, and it's a budding project, to be sure. I've been trying to use hashtags more frequently to find additional dancers to follow and vice versa, and will continue to work on this. 

Faith and Family Goals 2020

1. Continue praying a daily rosary - This has been going well and I'm so pleased. I love praying my rosary in the car, and I've developed a new habit whereby I reach for my rosary whenever I'm in the car by myself. Loving it, and I'd really like to keep it up!
2. Work with Anne in Magnifikid - Anne is going through that "church is boring" phase, and I'd like to experiment with a few ways to help her to understand and enjoy it more. She has a subscription to Magnifikid that she uses sporadically, but she's gotten back into it more lately. 
3. Anne First Communion prep - This is coming up in 2020, can you even believe it?! I'm not sure what I'd like to do with her yet in terms of prep at home, but I'm looking for ideas. 
4. Henry and Lent - With Henry being the age that he is right now, he's not exactly chomping at the bit to talk about spiritual stuff. Or anything else, for that matter. ;-) In the past, I've used Lent as an opportunity to have one-on-one time to spend with him and share a spiritual experience (Adoration, Stations of the Cross, etc). 
5. Family Lent project - Lent will be big this year. ;-) But I'd like to come up with an almsgivng activity that we could all participate in.
6. Not worry so much! - Easier said than done. I might as well just put this on every goal list from now until the year that I die.

This was a productive exercise for me. Did you create lists as well? Looking to share?

And finally, I'm all excited about my word for the year. I used the Word of the Year generator and said my usual little prayer about wanting to receive whatever word God wanted me to have. Are you ready? My Word of the Year is...

I LOVE THIS. It just fits so well with what I have coming up in 2020! I actually squealed when the result appeared on my screen. :-0

All right, this will be our last post until the new year, as I (and you as well!) will be busy over the holidays visiting with family and friends. I'll see you all in January, and I hope that you have a WONDERFUL Christmas and New Year's! *hugging*

Goals, dance-related and otherwise, for the new year...

When the new year approaches, I get all excited about setting goals and making a fresh approach to the things that I enjoy or wish to reignite. This year, the approaching holidays have really snuck up me, with Thanksgiving having been as late as it could possibly be. And so Christmas shopping is barely happening as of yet, and New Year's resolutions were not really at the forefront of all of the things I was trying to juggle in my little brain.

But this past week they came to mind again. I usually write every year about my adventures being hired to dance at restaurants on New Year's Eve. This year, many of the restaurants that often hire dancers are cutting back a bit budget-wise, and so I don't have a New Year's eve gig lined up like I usually do, which I'm super sad about. I look forward to those gigs all year, they're lovely. But we don't accept less than the going professional rate for our area (especially on a holiday!) and so sometimes you don't have a gig even though you'd otherwise love to have one. But it's part of the business, to be sure. So that got me to thinking that I'd like to create a list for myself of some dance-oriented goals for the new year, to cheer myself up a bit. And that got me to thinking that I'd love to also create a list of other goals for the new year: faith-related, fitness-related, family-related. I love lists, they make me feel very organized and in control, even when that is not actually the case. ;-) How about you? Do you enjoy making lists? Do you create a list of New Year's resolutions for yourself?

And so I'm creating a deadline for myself via this blog: by the end of next week, I will create these lists and share them with you. I'll also select a new patron saint for the blog for 2020, and announce that then, too. That's saint, dance, fitness, faith and family. Perhaps these correspond with lists you'd like to make as well, and we could give each other some ideas. I'm planning to post them next Thursday, so be on the lookout! If you'll be creating your own lists, leave a comment below. :)

New Year's gratitude

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!

🎉

I'm all aglow from my wonderful holiday season, and I hope yours was just as special. *hug*

This particular New Year's Eve was very meaningful to me. I was performing again (which I'll circle back to) and that makes the day both nerve-wracking and exciting, as I've experienced the past couple years. But it was more then that this year.

2018 started out pretty rough for me. Although I share a lot here on this blog, I don't share everything, and this is one of those times, as I'm sure you can understand. So forgive the vagueness, if you please, but last winter and early spring were very, very emotionally difficult. And although it got better and emotional healing took place, I carried the wound with me throughout the year. In that way, I was glad to see 2018 come to an end, and a fresh start with 2019 come to fruition.

HOWEVER. I realized something very significant as New Year's Eve crept up on me. I was allowing that one very difficult situation to remain at the forefront of my mind and in my assessment of the year, when in fact, many, MANY joyful developments actually crowded that single painful one out, but I was ignoring that bit of reality. In 2018:

• My kids have both grown tremendously, with Henry becoming a teenager and Anne solidifying herself in second grade as a fully entrenched school aged kid. Henry made the basketball team and Anne started Girl Scouts, which she LOVES.
• My husband wrote a novel that is going to be published by a traditional press! I am SO PROUD of him! This is a lifelong dream of his, and it is finally becoming a reality for him. 🤗
• My own Bible study for women, which had been in the works for a year, finally became a reality, and working with dear Allison Gingras is a total joy. *heart*
• A new and adorable nephew was born into my family!
• I found a lovely Zumba community near my house that I attend on as many Saturday mornings as I'm able. The women there are warm, kind and absolutely WONDERFUL. The teacher is a woman named Sue who is am absolute treasure. I am so grateful to have found her and this community!
• My dance career has taken a gentle turn to more opportunities to both perform and study. I am so excited to continue to see where this journey takes me, and I'm enjoying every single moment. I have workshop plans in 2019 that I cannot wait to dive into!
• Last, but certainly not least, I had some cherished friendships deepen and strengthen this past year. Some were newer, others were established several years back, and in all cases they grew by leaps and bounds in 2018. I cannot possibly express how much these ladies mean to me.

And this January, on the 8th, Mike and I celebrate 14 years of marriage. Not quite a milestone, but it's an even numbered year, which I love! And we've been together fully for 16 years. That's a long time! :0 We're going away this weekend, just the two of us, to celebrate, and I am SO looking forward to it.

Life is GOOD, it truly is. And I learned an important lesson about not taking things for granted, and seeing them (and people) for what they are. Sometimes they're not good, but oftentimes they're *fantastic*, and seeing them in an honest light is so, so important. I should never again allow the negative to overshadow the abundance of positive.

And speaking of good (and never forget HUMOROUS!) I have fun dance stories from New Year's Eve! They're self-deprecating, they're somewhat ridiculous, and above all, I hope they make you laugh out loud! AND...

*drum roll*

...you will hear all about them next week!

👼

Hey! I need to preserve good blogging fodder when I can. ;-) Eagerly anticipate this with me my friends, where else do you get such a strange eclectic mix of topics?! 😀

I'll chat with you then! In the mean time, how was your Christmas? What did you do for New Year's Eve/day? Did you choose a saint for the year? Mine is St. Francis of Assisi! I'd love to hear all about it in the comments!

Anniversay trips and more New Year's resolutions...

Hello ALL! I'm back from from a weekend away with my super cute hubby, and so I'm in very good spirits. Our anniversary was yesterday (12 years! *heart*) and the past three years we've a weekend to go away by ourselves on a small road trip, without the kids. It's LOVELY. We really miss the kids, but the time together is invaluable. And my husband? STILL SO STINKIN' CUTE. In fact, I swear he's gotten *cuter* as he's aged.

Anniversary breakfast

I'm as in love with him as ever, and grateful to God everyday for bringing us together.

And so this weekend, as I dwelt in my contentedness, I was thinking about happiness and New Year's resolutions. I've been talking about New Year's resolutions a lot, but it's because I find them so valuable. I'm a tenacious sort of person - which is both good, and bad, trust me. ;-) Sometimes, I *should* let things go, and don't (many bad previous relationships come to mind), which has its own set of problems. But I find New Year's resolutions important because I tend to really want to stick to them, and thus I put a lot of thought into what I want to do better or differently each year. This year I have officially set my resolutions as:

• Make wellness a priority in three realms: physical fitness, emotional/psychological, and spiritual.
• Don't worry so much!
• Try to be more amenable to change.
• Be more positive about work.

Last year, one of my resolutions was to try new things in physical fitness, and that led to me signing up for the group fitness class pass here at work, and that has worked out MARVELOUSLY. I already have a winter fitness pass, and even attended Zumba today for the first time in awhile. 😇 Physical fitness really ties into healthy mental and emotional health for me as well. And as for spiritual realm, I started a rosary on the commute in, also for the first time in awhile. I realized that I don't need to put pressure on myself to finish the rosary each day, or I could even pray a chaplet instead if I was really feeling that, it's just important to keep up with daily prayer in some form. That made me feel a lot better.

Worry has been a lifelong battle for me, but hope springs eternal! And change? It's not always bad. Sometimes a new way of doing something may require an initial investment of time or skills that does not appeal to me, but the end result can be much more convenient or time-saving. I need to allow myself to try new things for different, more pleasing results sometimes. I really, really hope that I stick to this.

Besides that, I've been working quite hard to improve my spirits about my day job. So far so good, and after a fantastic team conversation, I'm feeling a lot more hopeful about our future teaching direction and load. Overall though, I need to cease the negative thoughts and complaints about how challenging it has been. It *has* been challenging (as in, major s*$!fest :0) but dwelling on that is not helping me. I'm going to focus on the positive changes we're making, and remain hopeful that things will be better. I'm also going to focus on the multitude of SUPER FUN things I have coming up this winter and spring: dance classes, performance and workshops, cute things with Mike and the kids, Lent and Easter approaching, enjoyable blogging and writing projects...in fact, I even have a *belly dance road trip* this spring. :0 That's some good blog fodder, right there!

In that vein, let's start thinking about collaborative projects here on the blog. Anybody up for a Lenten book club or read-along? If you have ideas for titles, please do leave them in the comments!

Tea Time with Tiffany #78 - Holiday recap & New Year's resolutions...

I'm back! And It's a post-holiday edition of:

Today I talk Christmas festivities, New Year's lessons and resolutions, and the spiritual value of all!





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Tea Ceremony" from PlayonLoop.com

Items mentioned in this episode:

• New Year's resolutions 
• New Year's Eve fun dancing post 
• St. Francis de Sales novena   

How are your New Year's resolutions coming along? Do you have any ideas for projects we could work on together this coming year? Such as a linkup or journaling project for Lent or Ordinary Time, something interactive for the podcast, or something else entirely? Do write in and let me know!

Happy New Year everyone!

Well, I'm back, and I'm going to be honest: I'm having a brutally awful work day. But you know what? I'm not going to dwell on that. Because it's been like this, and it will continue to be like this, so why give it more power by talking about it? But I mention it because it's the reason why I have no time to blog or eat lunch today. :-\

I did have a magnificent vacation, and I have TONS to tell you. Look for a long dance-related post tomorrow relating to my New Years's Eve adventure (which I am SO excited for!) and I'll devote Tea Time this week to a post-holiday chat of all of the fun goings on. At left you'll see my children on our trip to the botanical gardens. You can see how thrilled Henry looks. ;-) A good time was had by all though, truly!

My New Year's resolution this year is to be more positive about things that are challenging to be positive about. And to once again make wellness a priority. That may mean accepting change much easier than I normally accept change. We'll see how this all works out, but this is my current direction as we embark on 2017.

How about you? Do you have any New Year's resolutions? I'd love to hear them, and I can't wait to talk to you tomorrow!

Patron saints for 2017, and New Years resolutions!

Our bookworm friend, St. Jerome

Hi all! *another weak smile* I am back at work, but the winter sicknesses have a strong hold on our household. Anne is mostly better. I *was* mostly better, but then Mike started saying that his throat hurt and that he was stuffy. Next thing you knew, my throat hurt anew and I was stuffy again. So I think that I actually have yet a new manifestation of the nefarious pestilence that is currently sweeping its way through our family. And let's just say that I am not very happy about it.

*glares*

I'm doing my best to be upbeat, but I'm not loving being back at work. Especially when I have hours of lesson planning to do (and aforementioned lesson planning doesn't really seem all that much less onerous than the fall nightmare we swore we would not repeat), and in a weakened state to boot. But I'm doing what I can.


Once I started dwelling on New Year's resolutions, it also reminded me that I select a patron saint for my blog each year using the random Saint's Name Generator. So when I got into my office this morning, I fired her up, and guess who I got?

St. Jerome!

Patron of librarians. *beams* Another of my resolutions this year will be to write more, and finish that long-term writing project that I've been talking about for over 6 months now. This all made me feel a lot better, and like I have direction for the coming year: in 2017, I will focus on writing and podcasting, with St. Jerome providing my back up moral support. I love it!

I'm also going to be taking a few short trips in 2017: To a dance workshop, and to attend the New York Sheep and Wool festival with my knitting friends. And I'm *hoping* that I'll be able to meet Samantha in real life next year as well. Lots to look forward to! And I look forward to sharing it with all of you. *heart*

How is your week starting out, dear reader?

Tea Time with Tiffany #37 - PiYo power, podcasting updates, & dance request no-no's...

Hi all! An updatey sort of episode today on the newest installment of:

It's a week of updates, to be sure. Lent. New Year's resolutions/workout foibles and fun. A podcasting update with an exciting new purchase on it's way to me as I type. And what NOT to do when looking to book a Middle Eastern dancer for a party.

#ugh





 **To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. 

Items mentioned in this episode:

• Upcoming St. Joseph novena, his feast is March 19th. Want to join in?
• My very pleasant surprise with PiYo. I love this review here, written by a woman close in age to myself. She's using a DVD set rather than in-person instruction, but I think the sentiment applies to both. 
• Super duper exciting podcasting adventures coming your way prior to Easter! :0
• I know that you all already know that belly dancing is family friendly and never to be portrayed in a scandalous fashion. It's just too bad that not everyone has received this memo. 
• Next week we'll be chatting about living out our faith in the workplace. Bookmark your thoughts and experiences for next week's comments!

How is your Lent going, dear reader? Do you have any suggestions for Easter basket gifts? Any new workout adventures relating to New Year's resolutions? Recommendations for things you'd like us to talk about in the upcoming podcast project? Do write in and let me know!

Tea Time with Tiffany #33 - Winter fun & fitness!

Well hello there, dear reader, happy to have you with me for another installment of:

Today I actually did everything right, yay!!! So you should have much improved audio quality. As a result, you can hear my mini office refrigerator humming in the background. :0 At any rate, I talk about my New Year's resolution to be more creative in my fitness life, and discuss my foray into Zumba!




**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe on Feedburner to your podcatcher of choice.

Items discussed in this episode:

• New Year's resolutions, anyone?
• Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is February 11th. Her novena begins February 2nd, and you can sign up for daily emails of the prayers with Pray More Novenas. 

How are your New Year's resolutions going, dear reader? Any new fitness adventures to report in? Have you ever taken Zumba? And are you planning to pray the Our Lady of Lourdes novena as we move into February? Do write in and tell me all about it! I will talk to you again to respond to your comments and then again next Tuesday! God bless, and thank you for being here!

Tea Time with Tiffany #32 - Yes, it's actually a podcast! And a New Year's resolution check in...

Hi all! I was apprehensive about remembering how I did all of the new technological mumbo jumbo I did last week, and indeed we had a few snafus on this week's episode of:

:0

First of all, I'm pretty sick, so I sound like Death Warmed Over. Lovely, yes I know. And THEN, the inevitable happened. I started the video, and had adjusted my audio recorder sound and all that good stuff, and I started chatting away, and nearly 15 minutes later when I stopped the video, do you want to know what I discovered, dear blog follower? Yep, I had forgotten to hit the start button on the audio recorder.

Sometimes I am SO.INCREDIBLY.PREDICTABLE.

By that juncture, my voice was *worse* if that's even POSSIBLE from talking so much, and the spirit of re-recording was just not in me. So I had to grab the audio from the video, and in the process, the audio isn't fantastic, I'll tell you that. You'll have to turn your volume up a bit this week. Plus, you can hear a few notification sounds that came up on my machine while I was finagling this, so, SO sorry. A learning experience, I'll only get better from here, I promise!!

OK, so this week I discuss this new podcasting enterprise (instructions for subscribing are below) and also the state of my New Year's resolutions. How are yours going, dear reader?





These new podcast episodes of Tea Time will be about 10-15 minutes each week. I'm allowing myself to be a bit chattier since you have an audio only option now. :-) To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe on Feedburner to your podcatcher of choice.

Items discussed in this week's episode:

• Again, Feedburner, if you'd like to subscribe to the show as a podcast. After a bit of an initial struggle, Feedburner and I are now friends. ;-)
• Sacred Reading for the daily Gospel readings and additional short reflections. 
• Living Faith devotional

How are your New Year's resolutions going? Oh! I mentioned maybe signing up for a new fitness class for one lunchtime a week at work. Do you have one that you go to and like? Zumba? Pilates? Yoga? Give me all the deets, I'd love to hear them!

New Year's Resolutions anyone? *insert best of intentions here*

Hi all! I'm doing my best to stay perky as I navigate my first week back to work. How's it going? you reasonably ask, you thoughtful reader, you. :-) It's going pretty well. I've had a bit more difficulty than usual getting back to my regular routine. I miss being home with Mike and the kids. A lot. But I've set my mind to positive things, and that's helping quite a bit.

Part of the way I've been doing this is to focus on goals for the new year. I suppose one could call them New Year's Resolutions. But I know better than to set anything earth shattering for myself, because taking on too much new all at once sets me up for failure.What I prefer to do is examine the things I'd like to improve, and then realistically think of ways to tweak what I'm already doing to make them just that bit better.

So here are the things I'd like to work on, and then we can chat about yours if you like! For me:

(1) A prayer routine. So that would mean...it should actually exist. :0 Right now, the situation is that I attend Mass weekly and on holy days of obligation. I sometimes pray the rosary when I'm in the car. I pray novenas as they pique my interest. And that would be it. I don't feel "dry" in my faith life per se, but it does feel like I'm not putting all that much effort into it, and thus I am not thriving.

When I was contemplating my return to work late last week (stay with me, this ties in), being all sad about it, I thought to myself that I really need to change the way I approach my early wake up time, as that is always one of the most difficult parts of my day. I hate getting out of bed, I could lounge there for hours if allowed. Have I mentioned that over my break, I was able to sleep in until *8 am*? Peeps, the last time I slept in that long I was in my 20's. That would be a two digit difference in the first number in that equation. IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME. I reveled in it. But I'm getting off track, as I am wont to do. ;-) At any rate, ideally, this early morning time could incorporate into improving my prayer life.

When we're back to work and school, I *need* to be out of bed by 6:45 am. I really *should* get out of bed around 6:30 am, so that I don't have to be all rushy rushy.  What I decided to do is this: at 6:30 am, I turn on my bedside lamp. I give myself one minute to let my eyes adjust, then I reach for my new devotional duo and spend a few minutes reading the days' entries. What I decided on are these:

I bought a copy of this back in the late fall, related to a project I worked on for CatholicMom.com. I didn't use it during Advent because I had the Magnificat Companion, so once the new year came, I picked it up, and loved it. It has the daily Gospel reading plus short inspirations for contemplative prayer. Each day is about a page or slightly less in length, all told. Then, I pull out my cute copy of the current Living Faith. I've subscribed to this little pocket devotional in the past, and the church we went to for the feast of Mary, Mother of God on New Years Eve had them available for free, so I picked one up. Each day there is a short reflection on the daily Gospel, so it works quite well with Sacred Reading. It comes out quarterly. Both this and Sacred Reading are available in either print or for Kindle. Convenient, yes?

I've been implementing this plan since Monday, and so far I love it. It helps to make my wake up time much more soothing and pleasant, and I feel better the whole day. My goal is to keep this going through Lent (which is early this year! starts February 10th) and beyond. I'm planning to re-subscribe to Living Faith toward this end.

(2) Fitness and dance. You all know how I love my dancing avocation, and I'm also a reasonably active person, going for walks most days and popping on an online Barre3 workout when I can (only 20-40 minutes total per week, though, right now). Overall however, I've become a bit complacent. I'm extremely consistent about attending my weekly dance class, but otherwise my approach to fitness and staying in shape is fairly haphazard. I'd like to be more organized in my fitness routine and to more practice time for dance. My Fitbit is really helping in this regard, making me more conscious of how active I've been on each day. I love it. I don't necessarily want to lose weight (except for that pesky 5 pounds that everybody always wants to lose :-)) I just want to gain more tone and strength. So I'm setting daily goals. Some days I'm shooting for that 10,000 step goal with my Fitbit, other days I want to get in a workout in that focuses more on core strength. I'm also going to try and incorporate in new and fun things where my schedule allows, like the new HipFit belly dance workout class I was able to attend on Monday evening. LOVED IT. SO MUCH. I can't usually go to those classes, because Mike teaches on Monday nights and I'm needed at home with the kids, but when he's off, I can try to go. Or I can try and find a class at the gym here on campus during lunch. Lots of fun possibilities to explore.

As I've gotten older, I've really tried to learn to appreciate my body for what it is. It is not perfect nor like that of a swimsuit model, which is totally fine with me. But it's what God gave me, so I should treat it well and be comfortable in it. This comes up quite a bit in that book I'm reading, Raising the Barre, which I'm excited to discuss with you soon.

(3) Keep the creative juices flowing! Last year brought a lot of changes to my approach to blogging, and personally, I've been thriving in them. I'm hoping to keep that momentum going. Stay tuned next week for some new and upcoming ideas. ;-)

What are YOUR New Year's Resolutions, dear reader? And don't forget, if you have or get a Fitbit, let me know so that we can become friends in Fitbit app-land and challenge each other to achieve our goals!

THERE IS NO REASON TO PANIC!!!

I have always been a person who struggles with anxiety. It's just part of my personality, I suppose. When I was a child, I wondered sometimes what it was that made me different from my peers. Nobody else seemed as nervous as I was about doing normal, everyday things. Like, you know, playing volley ball in gym class. Or having to talk to...anybody. I just always wished that I could change this about myself. Like if I concentrated enough, I wouldn't worry about these things so much.

As an adult, I have come, via necessity, to accept this about myself. I cannot change it. That is a fact. Therefore, I have developed coping mechanisms. And I allow myself to see the humor in the situation.

But, for example, the following things make me unbelievably, "Please God, let this be over soon!!" anxious:

(1) Talking on the telephone to people I do not know. Just the facts, ma'am, or else direct me straight to voicemail please!
(2) Speaking in a meeting. *sweats*
(3) Answering the door to someone I do not know. In fact, I actually don't do this, unless it is the summer, the door is propped open, and I have no choice or else I would look incredibly rude.
(4) Doing anything that I am not confident in my abilities to excel at, and feel out of my element.
(5) Playing sports, see #4 above. I avoid this at all costs, even "oh, it's just for fun!!" work softball teams. I'd rather die.

There are other things that I do feel (somewhat) confident in my ability to at least not suck at, but it still makes me super nervous to do them. These things would be:

(1) Dancing in public.
(2) Teaching.
(3) Having conversations with people I genuinely like.
(4) Blogging.

Essentially, things I really care about. This is not a pleasant cross to bear, let me tell you, gentle reader. :0 I have never taken medication to deal with anxiety, nor do I plan to. So I do what I can to mitigate my worrying.

In thinking about my New Years resolutions, one of them is actually to worry less. The instant I start to worry about something, I tell myself to put it right out of my mind. There I go, talking to myself again, but there you have it. It helps. I picked one word to embody my 2014, and I chose:

RELAX

Just so you know what you're dealing with here. I need to relax more. It is my one word for what I need to do more this year.

So. The fact that I logged into my dental insurance online system yesterday to check on my periodontal surgery claim (because, you know, I didn't want to *call* ;-)), and saw the following:

Claim status: Processed

Innocent, Halo Perched Insurance Company Pays: $0.00

Tiffany Pays: $1900

...and didn't have an immediate heart attack? Well, I think this means that I'm making progress.

The first thing that popped into my mind was: "I'M NOT GOING TO PANIC!!!!" See what a good girl I was? I was panicking as I told myself that, but no matter. My intentions were pure.

I clicked on the claim explanation, and it appears to be a technicality on the end of the dentist's office that can be easily remedied and resubmitted. That's what I'm hoping. Because I still have to call the dentist's office to ask them about this. And you know how I feel about THAT.

I do what I can. But I do feel like my anxiety has gotten a bit more pronounced in recent years. There is more to worry about in life as you acquire more responsibility, sure. There could also be physical and hormonal reasons as a person naturally ages (mew!). Other than that, I'm not sure. I'm just doing my best to navigate it.

St. Dymphna, pray for us!

Are there any other Nervous Nellies out there like me? :) Leave me a comment!

From the depths of Christmas celebrations, she rises...

Looky here, I'm back. :) It's one of those mixed emotions kinds of days. Obviously, I loved being home and am sad to be back at work away from my babies. In some ways, it's nice to have my routine back, but it's bittersweet. And this morning was anything *but* routine.

Anne was up for 2 hours in the middle of the night (I have no notion why, and given that this is kid #2, I think I've finally learned not to analyze these things too deeply; young children just wake in the night. No sense in getting depressed about it. I think it's a fair assumption that by time they are teenagers, they're no longer going to want my company in the middle of the night) and both Mike and I had to take a shift going in to soothe her. It then took us some time to get back to sleep. Hence, at 3 am, we're up reading with our bedside lights aglow. Come 6:20 am, I glance at our clock and utter a word that I dare not repeat. Luckily, Henry doesn't start back to school until tomorrow, which meant that I could stay in bed a bit longer than usual. He has to be in his classroom saying morning prayers at 7:42 am, so needless to say, when we're having a typical morning we all have to be up by 6:30. Today, since we didn't have him to worry about getting ready, I stayed in bed until 6:50.

Both children and Mike were still sleeping (I peeked in at Anne through her keyhole and glared at her while she snoozed away; lovingly, of course) so I tiptoed around and straightened my hair/applied my makeup in the bathroom and let them sleep. By time I was done shortly after 7, Mike was awake. We had breakfast together without either of the kids, which is pretty unprecedented. As I was finishing up, Henry came downstairs in his PJ's, looking rumpled and confused. I had a quick cup of coffee while reading one of the latest Love Inspired titles on my Kindle, then went up to brush my teeth and fetch Anne, who was just stirring. Naturally, she looked cute enough to eat in her reindeer footed sleeper. I brought her down, got her some breakfast, and then she "helped" me pack my lunch. As soon as I was done, it was time to leave, since I had the first morning reference shift. Anne's face was still all warm and kissable when I left. I felt sad.

I got in the car and froze my buns off, since the temperatures have suddenly dipped into the teens around here. I listened to a podcast on my way in and felt a bit soothed. As I was walking from my car to the library I realized that I forgot my shoes.

*sighs*

I had on my boots, and usually I leave my cute black Mary Janes in my office to slip into. But I took those home since I was going to be off for nearly 2 weeks, and naturally, they did not cross my mind this morning. I remembered that I did have an emergency pair of shoes in my office, although they only marginally match what I'm wearing. However, they're better than my boots, so they're on my feet presently.

I got in and checked my email. I sent off a few and mercifully remembered to turn off my automatic replies that I was out of the office. I made tea, and fetched my snail mail. As I got back to my office to mix my tea before my 9 am reference shift, I realized that it was somehow 8:58. I mixed my tea, grabbed the latest Library Journal that I need to order some books from, as well as my copy of Holy Days: Meditations on the Feasts, Fasts, and Other Solemnities of the Church by our beloved pope to review for Catholic Library World. I step out of my office and close the door. The instant the latch locks, I realize that I left my keys inside the office.

*repeats scandalous curse word from earlier in the morning*

I got set up on the desk and observed the completely empty library. So I put up the "Librarian will be right back!" sign and fetched the sub-master key from our facilities guy. I rescued my key ring and was back down at the desk within 3 minutes.

Needless to say, I'm feeling off-kilter this morning, but I'm hanging in there. I'm looking forward to reviewing the Holy Days book I mentioned above. I also am excited about my new subscription to Word Among Us: Catholic Mass Edition, also my very first Kindle subscription.

I've bought the little Living Faith devotionals for a long time (for a while in print, and then on my Kindle) and they come in 3 month increments. My latest one lapsed after December, so I thought I'd try something new. I've always liked Word Among Us, but have never taken out an official subscription. They offer a 30 day free trial for Kindle, so I took advantage.

So far so good! For each day, it includes the Mass readings plus all the Mass prayers if you are able to attend daily Mass. There is also a daily meditation, and longer articles that you can read over the course of the entire month. If you keep the subscription, it downloads automatically to your Kindle each month and charges $1.99 to your credit card. It's very easy to navigate amongst the articles and the daily meditations, they clearly set this digital edition up with ease of ebook reader use in mind. I read today's installment at 3 am when I was trying to get re-sleepy after soothing Anne. I really enjoyed it.

We'll see how I stick with it for January, but if I like it, I won't cancel the subscription and February's issue will just download for me and then begin charging me. I think $1.99 is more than reasonable for a month of content, and you can immediately cancel at any time, which is a another advantage over a print subscription. I'm super pleased.

I hope that everybody had a wonderful new year, and I look forward to chatting with you Monday through Friday again as we begin 2013. :)

Things to look forward to in the New Year...

Today is my last day in the office for the week (so much cheering) so I'll be blogging again next Monday or Tuesday. I rarely blog at home, for whatever reason. Our Internet connection is a tad slower there, and I just never take the time away to do it. But at work, I need a break sometimes. :)

My mother-in-law is coming for a visit beginning tomorrow, so I'll be off on a four day weekend. I absolutely cannot wait. My adorable Henry has been home with Mike these past 2 days, and I'm hating that I'm not with them.

I was thinking about the blogging I'll be doing in 2011, and I thought I'd make a quick list for reference. This next year will see blogging on:

(1) the latter part of my pregnancy, childbirth preparation, a very detailed labor and delivery story (bet you can't wait :) ), and life with a newborn. Transition from one child to two.

(2) dealing with postpartum depression and the struggles of new motherhood, especially for mothers that work outside of the home.

(3) Pregnant and newly postpartum belly dancing and fitness. :)

(4) a very special Lent and Easter vigil this year (details to follow...)

(5) schooling choices. I anticipate going to at least one Catholic school open house in January, and will report in with full details. In late January, I'm going to start a 54 day rosary novena for guidance on where to send Hank to school next year.

(6) Mike finishing school and going on the job market, while I try for tenure.

It's going to be a big year. So much of it is up in the air, which normally would disconcert me greatly. I like things to be in place, with me controlling them, and worrying about them as needed, the whole time. Right now, I can't do that. So much is out of my control. Hank's school situation depends mightily on Mike's job situation, and we definitely don't have full control over that. I certainly don't have full control over labor and delivery, and how well my new baby will sleep (the source of much anxiety approximately 5 years ago...). But shockingly, I'm not too worked up about any of this. I think I realize that things are up in the air, and there's nothing I can do about it, so I'm trusting God to guide me. I feel peaceful about things, and that's a good feeling.

Shortly after the new year, I'll post about the baby sleep and childbirth books I'm reading from the library now, with reviews. I'm looking forward. :) I hope that everyone has a blessed and wonderful new year. You'll hear from me again next week!