Do Overs

I'm not making any resolutions for 2009. Making resolutions means I have failed in some ways in the past. Making resolutions is a futile attempt at "do overs."

It's not that I don't want to change behaviors in positive ways. There is an innate drive in most all of us to be better and do better.

I've decided to change the focus of my internal improvements this New Year. Instead of worrying about stopping bad behaviors and accomplishing good behaviors, I plan to set some outcome-oriented goals. For example, I have a goal to sell the house and down-size. That involves doing some work on the house, getting rid of accumulated stuff (not touched or thought about in several years), and doing some research on the current housing market (one doesn't need to be a Sherlock to know selling is bad timing right now.)

I want to be more at ease. This one is trickier....and multi-faceted. No details here...this is fairly private.

Another goal is to make a positive difference for someone each and every day.

There are other goals, but this blog is long enough....you get the point.

As I set these goals, I can see the interplay within each one....ie..I will become more at ease as I work toward selling the house. Making positive differences in others' lives will accomplish personal satisfaction and ease.

Happy New Year!

Christmas Is Here

Remember when Christmas was anticipated fiercely and it never seemed to come fast enough? Now, it seems like Christmas is the week after Thanksgiving. In the ratio of time considering advancing years one has lived, there is the opposition in how quickly Christmas is here against how much one has to accomplish before the actual big day.

Christmas is here and I have not gotten everything done. After this blog entry, I have to put ornaments on the tree---yes, today IS the 25th. Gifts are wrapped. Day ahead food preparation is accomplished. I only forgot one thing from the store yesterday--we will just do without it.

A little vacuuming must be done, along with Callie-proofing some areas of the house. Must prep the rolls for rising, set the table, prep vegetables, find the meat thermometer, and shower.

My Christmas wish is that as everyone assembles here later today, we have some leisurely snacks and mimosas, watch Callie open gifts, and enjoy good forecasted weather. After that, we will have dinner, then maybe play some male versus female games or poker.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Tagging Along

As most every blogger I know has done, I'm doing the "8-thing" thing:

Eight television shows I watch

1. Brothers & Sisters

2. Barefoot Contessa

3. Big Love--(back on in January)

4. Today show

5. Turner Movie Classics

6. Good Eats

7. On Demand movies

8. Bobby Flay's Throwdown

Eight favorite restaurants

1. Bryce's Cafeteria--Texarkana

2. Tujaque's--New Orleans

3. Sonny Bryan's BBQ (the ORIGINAL one)

4. Joe T's (does favorite margarita count?)

5. Glory To God--Sherman

6. Babe's Chicken House--Roanoke

7. Bistro Louise

8. Campisi's

Eight things that happened today

1. Got Starbuck's--no scones!

2. Worked on my travel expenses for work

3. Retrieved the dogs from the vet (they boarded 6 days while I was in Austin/San Antonio)

4. Ate a can of tuna

5. Bought 2 beautiful poinsettias at Calloway's (75% markdown)

6. Caught up on work/personal e-mails/blogs

7. Forgot to take my medicine, had to go back home to take it

8. Wrote up a survey report

Eight things I look forward to

1. Experience Callie's first aware Christmas

2. Picking Brooke up at D/FW Monday night---(hopefully her flight leaves Portland sometime that day)

3. Christmas Day with all the kids

4. Organizing 2008 income tax documents ON TIME this year

5. Five consecutive days off work for Christmas

6. Big Love

7. 2009

8. World financial stability

Eight things I wish for

1. World financial stability

2. That my children, Callie, & any future grandchildren will be able to live healthy, happy, secure, & productive lives with a sense of caring for all those around them

3. Retirement as I have planned & worked toward

4. That world leaders allow all countries to be true to their own spiritual beliefs & traditions---our way is not the best way for everyone

5. Our planetary atmosphere, geography, climates withstand civilized "progress"

6. To know and understand spiritual life (to uncloak the mysteries)

7. To know that I have made a positive difference in this world, somehow

8. Chocolate that is healthy

Merry Christmas From The Family

I did a difficult thing today. It was very difficult for I had so much invested in it.

Zack came over a few days ago and brought all the Christmas stuff down from the attic. I have sorted through boxes of ornaments, tree lights, outside lights, garlands, bows....and old Christmas cards.

I threw away old, cracked homemade salt dough ornaments (made in 1988). That was so much fun! We were living in San Antonio. After supper each evening, we all sat at the kitchen table and made ornaments with cookie cutters and other utensils. Then I put them in a low oven to harden. We painted the ornaments the next evening with tempera paints. All five of us enjoyed that project. On afternoons while Clu Flu worked, the kids and I made gift wrap paper. I bought large rolls of "plain brown wrapper" paper and white butcher paper. Then, I cut sponges in different shapes and we used tempera paints again.

All our ornaments collected over so many years are special. I still have construction paper ornaments the kids made in grade school. We always bought a Christmas ornament on trips, and I gave the kids 2 or so new ornaments each year.

I was able to toss quite a bit of stuff and even moreso today when Zack helped me go through all of it. His sensible approach made a difference.

The hardest part of all this was tossing 17 years of saved Christmas cards. Each year, I would go through most of them, re-read attached newsletters and admire special cards. One of our friends handcrafted her cards, long before scrapbooking tools made it simpler to do so. As I untied a year's worth of cards, I noticed that over the last few years, the number of cards had become smaller. Friends and family just were not sending cards as in the previous years. There has been a considerable drop in the number of received cards this year.

I almost didn't send cards this year even though sending Christmas cards is my favorite tradition of Christmas.

I hope sending cards doesn't go completely go away.

Celebrate The 21st Amendment

Eugene bartender wants nation to recognize day prohibition was repealed

Jeff Morgenthaler is the bar manager of Bel Ami in South Eugene. He calls bartending an art and can't imagine every day American life without it.


YouNews™
Story Published: Dec 3, 2008 at 10:02 PM PST
By Elissa Harrington KVAL News
Video
EUGENE, Ore - A Eugene bartender is raising his glass to celebrate 75 years since the end of prohibition. Now he wants the rest of the nation to join in.Jeff Morgenthaler is the bar manager of Bel Ami in South Eugene. He calls bartending an art and can't imagine every day American life without it."The responsible consumption of alcohol really is a sort of sacred social custom," says Morgenthaler.The reality - every day life was without it. In 1920, prohibition took effect. Morgenthaler calls it one of our nation's dark times."The criminalization of alcohol led not only to criminal delinquency and organized crime but also to a loss of the traditions associated with the production, preparation, and consumption of alcohol."The drinking ban was lifted 75 years ago as of this Friday. For several years, Morgenthaler has taken to his Web site to try and make "Prohibition Repeal Day" a nationally recognized day. "We're not looking for a national holiday," says Morgenthaler. "But we're looking for a day when people can recognize their craft distillers."The main reasons to celebrate? Morgenthaler says alcoholic recipes and responsibilites have come a long way in 75 years. He also says it would remind Americans of their freedoms. Plus the timing is perfect. December 5th falls right around the holidays.Whether or not this idea gains national recognition, Morgenthaler hopes Friday, Dec. 5, many people will celebrate with a well made drink.

REPEAL!

This post is a day late, but I just learned of the subject matter late yesterday. While we all went about our business on Friday, there were parties across the nation celebrating our great freedoms....one in particular.

Yesterday was the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition. As I listened to NPR, they spoke of bars from New York to Oregon serving gin in teacups and patrons had to have a password to get in. Speakeasy style.

They interviewed a bartender in EUGENE, OREGON of all places who has made it his mission to promote our freedom to drink liquor. They didn't mention the name of his blog, but apparently he has been getting the word out for awhile.

Prohibition began as a deterrent to crime. The Prohibitionists theorized that if people didn't get drunk, there would be no more murders, robberies, etc. Truly, household violence did go down, as did other crimes. Some cities even closed down jails and decreased their law enforcement efforts in anticipation of a no criminal society.

But always, the best intentions get screwed up. The Prohibitionists had not counted on the theory "where there's a will, there's a way." Stopping legal liquor sales just opened up a whole new style of crime---organized crime, that is.

And before Prohibition went into effect, people drank in moderation---wine before dinner, a shot of whiskey to warm the soul. During Prohibition, a new type of drinker emerged---the binge drinker. A practice of drinking still alive today under the auspices of higher learning. Take something away from the American public, and they will do what they can to store up, buy up, and use up all available sources. (If you are over 50, you probably remember the toilet paper and lettuce shortages!)

Organized crime became big business and "Joe Six Pack" became an amateur distiller of spirits---bathtub gin.

Also, prior to Prohibition, sweet and flavored cocktails were rare, but bartenders began flavoring alcohol to mask the horrible taste of homemade liquor.

Prohibition was a wild time. But, the American public got through it (unless you got gunned down by a machine gun in a passing Model T Ford).

Currently we are in wild times with fluctuating markets, big bail-outs, foreclosures, etc. Given a choice, I would prefer Prohibition.

On The Road Again

I'm on my way to Austin this morning---better get going. This is a work trip, but it will be good to just drive down the highway---no LBJ Freeway, I-30, 360 jams!

Going to Austin again on 12/14, then leaving Austin on the 16th for San Antonio for work. All this I-35 South activity is putting a huge crimp in my Christmas preparations here at home.

I'm excitedly anticipating Brooke's long visit home over Christmas and Callie's first Christmas exploration as she treks around the tree eyeing all the "no touch" ornaments and lights, opens gifts, and generally looks adorable and sweet just being herself.

Somehow, it will all get done.