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The Post You've All Been Waiting For!

I'm the type to make New Year's Resolutions. You know you're not even surprised by this. This year, however, I am not honestly seeing the purpose of vague, shoulda coulda type goals because, well, I don't get them done. So I have my "must-dos" for 2008.

1. I must take better care of my physical, spiritual and emotional health in 2008. I'll be 40 on May 1 and I feel like shit in all these areas. I need to do what it takes to enjoy the great marriage and great kids I've got and that means taking care of me in every dimension.

Things I hope will support this goal:
1. Read 2 books per week. Seems a lot? I'm a fast reader. I just forgot how much I enjoy it during the year that I couldn't enjoy it because of the cataract. The cataract is gone. It should no longer control me.
2. Commit to regular physical activity. Not only will it lower cholesterol, weight and stress (stress which is leading me to a several thousand dollar dental bill thankyouverymuch) but it will improve my overall confidence, self-esteem (which couldn't, frankly, get worse) and give me more energy for the wonderful children God has blessed me with.
3. Strengthen and deepen my relationships with my husband, children and whomever else might be interested. Newsflash: I love whole-heartedly. If you don't know how much I love you, I'm sorry. And no, much as I'd like to, I don't really hate anybody. People piss me off but they just can't help themselves and I forgive them for it.
4. Strengthen and deepen my relationship with God. I am envious of people who can and do rely on faith to get them through the dark times. It seems so much healthier than Lexapro, doesn't it?

Achieving this goal marks a long-term investment in a life well-lived.

2. I must work on my and my family's financial health in 2008. It should not be this hard to succeed financially on our income. Yes, we took a 50% pay cut on both sides in 2007 and we still own the monkey on our backs in West Michigan, but again we let the negative control us and slowly consume us. This must stop.

Things I hope will support this goal:
1. I must work diligently to minimize my excess earning capacity. I love what I do. I could do it forever if it paid more but making less than I made right out of college with our current level of debt just isn't going to cut it. I have two choices: Supplement the income with freelance work or find a new career path either by getting a PhD or by finding similar but more lucrative employment. Options include business analyst, project management, training and development and, of course, consultant.

2. I must get a grip on our financial situation to the point where we do actually know what our account balances are, can and do meet our financial commitments each and every month.

3. Simplify. I am pressed to be more "green" in my spending and consumption practices. The planet is full of too many people who, like me, aren't paying enough attention to our relationship with the planet. Mother Earth, I am sorry and I promise to change.

4. Question everything. Why is this necessary? Is this a need or a want? What are the standards of performance? I need to apply my S&P background to my purchasing habits and not buy junk or over-spend on essentials. Relentlessly pursue value in all areas and be an informed, responsible consumer. My mantra should be "I have a BS in Finance and an MBA and I'm not afraid to use them!"

5. Find ways to use my hobbies to reduce costs or increase income.

Achieving this goal will enable me to create the kind of lifestyle I want my family to have. One where travel and adventure are not luxuries we can't afford. I want to see the world and I want to see it with my husband and our children.

3. The oxymoron: I am a perfectionist. Most of all this year I need to learn to give myself a break. I don't need to be perfect the first try. But I do need to do and be the best I can everytime. If it is worth doing, it's worth 100% effort.

Now you can think I'm crazy, but I do know a bit about and dabble with Tarot cards from time to time. I felt compelled to do a reading for myself in honor of the new year. My reading was definitely interesting. In the base of the matter position, I found The Fool. The Fool heralds a journey, new beginnings, changes. In the hopes and fears position, I found Temperance. Temperance, in my deck, represents the Goddess Iris. Basically, Temperance is about being in balance. All things in moderation, moderation in all things. Interesting, huh? Now I don't perceive the Tarot as the Gospel, but I do believe that important lessons are learned when you most need to learn them. The remainder of my 10 card spread consisted entirely of minor arcana cards focused on strong relationships and weathering change (mostly cups and swords, if you're curious). I am opening my heart and mind to the lesson.

I hope that when lessons present to you, you do the same.

Peace,
L.

Hug Me Now. Hate Me Later.

This monumental announcement I promised? Yeah. I could make it, but after a lot of consideration, I just, well, I can't. It's stressing me out too much right now. I will say this:

No Adoption
House didn't sell
Nothing else major like that. We are all healthy and (for the most part) happy. Okay?

One of my blog readers knows but I'd ask her not to say anything. It's important for the moment, k? Tal, I'll e-mail you.

I. NEED. A. LIFE.

I did not intend for this baby to become a knitting blog. I mean, I like knitting. I'm a bit fidgety by nature so knitting and its ability to keep my hands busy really suits me. However, you, my six loyal readers (yes, I fear I've lost a few and I may have gained some but the lurkers won't reveal themselves - leave a comment! It won't hurt. I promise!) are probably growing tired of my yarns about knitting. It's finals week now and sitting in my classroom for two hours while the students write exams is so damn boring! I almost brought knitting today. I regret not doing so.

But I did say that this is not a knitting blog so I'm done talking about that for the moment. I mean we could talk about the house, right? But that's hardly a feel good story (unless losing $30 - 45 Grand makes you feel good) now is it? No. So we won't talk about it. I mean the good news is that we haven't lost the money yet because it still hasn't sold. The bad news is we know its coming and it will hurt. At this point, I look at our house as a zit. It is growing uglier and uglier and soon it will pop! It will ooze all over as our hearts break (again) over the financial devastation and then, it will heal, our hearts will heal and we'll eventually (hopefully) recover from the damage. I just want it over so we can begin to move on.

I could update you on my Seven in '07 but that's an easy one. We accomplished none of them. I will roll them over and add one for the Eight in '08. At least I'm not so foolish as to attempt a Forty before 40 list. It is already depressing me that this milestone birthday looms large in the coming year. I really thought it'd be different but its not, it's my own fault and I'll be moving on through it.

Stay tuned. I may have a monumental announcement on Thursday. Good news? Bad news? Both! Neither. Curious? Stop back later.

Meanwhile, more gratuitous kid stuff as they provide fodder and I take pictures of it. I hope you are liking that part at least!

In case you get confused...

I have made Keyboard Therapy a "Permissions Only" blog. It's getting real personal for the next little while and, while I need to write it down and work it out, I don't feel like flinging all that poo into the blogosphere for the world to see. If you're a loyal reader and would like permission, I think you can request it by trying to enter the site and following instructions. But let this serve as fair warning: you might see a side of me you didn't really want to.

Peace out.

Today was a better day...

Except of course for the freakish thing that makes my right eye now look like this. Yes, I know it's gross. You don't have to tell me. It doesn't hurt though so that's a plus.

The upper - upper division class went much better today -at least I thought so. We actually covered the subject rather than the intro and now I know to do the intro all in one day rather than divide it into two days. Maybe next semester I'll do the syllabus and a video on the first day and then go into Chapter 1 and the project the second day. That'll be better. I'm planning to show videos from the "Ultimate Factories" series on the National Geographic Channel. What are your thoughts? Cool? Not Cool? Thursday's class this week will be cool. I'm showing "Slasher". I see it as a study in ethics because the main character does some things in the name of getting the sale that are just not right and, unfortunately, not fake.

I got e-mail today from the Finance Department chair asking if I'm interested in teaching a section of "International Finance" in the Spring. What did I say?

I'm sorry

I feel like I've been neglecting my blog horribly for the past couple of months. I apologize to my seven loyal readers and thank you all for not abandoning me.

I forgot how much the busy-ness meter goes up when I work full-time. It seems like there aren't enough hours in the day anymore and the house still isn't fully unpacked and there's just too much stuff to try to fit in. That being said, it's still no excuse for neglecting the blog. Time management is the key and after begging you to read and de-lurk and all that, I think it is only fair for me to blog more often.

The next year should be full of plenty to write about. I've been offered and accepted the teaching position at the University. Words don't suffice to express my elation. I have wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. The hours are perfect - 30 hours a week rather than 40. The pay's okay. Not great but for nine months a year, not too bad either. And not much lower than where I am. I'll make up the difference in daycare savings. I'm hoping to do some freelance work and consulting... maybe even more teaching somewhere else to help pay the bills and possibly fund another adoption. I mean I definitely want to do another adoption (2) but have no idea how we'll be paying for it at this time. I'm looking forward to summers off and winter breaks, spring breaks and the whole crazy mess.

Since I accepted on Thursday, I have been wondering about how to structure my courses. I want them to be interesting and challenging but not extremely hard. My goal is to be the instructor who's classes fill up first. Not overly ambitious, eh?

Leave me some comments telling me what makes a great teacher? Who were your favorites and why?