Last weekend Joe and I and the kids went to a last minute barbecue at my sister and brother in-laws house.

Of course, being the good guest that we are, we did not want to arrive empty handed. My brother in-law was cooking a nice spread of short ribs and hot dogs, he asked that we pick up some potato salad on the way.

Sure…no problem.

While at the store, two kids in a cart, one kid walking by us, touching everything in sight, the following conversation took place between Joe and I.

Joe~ we should buy chicken.

Me~ For what?

Joe~ the barbecue, so we do not arrive empty handed.

Me~ We aren’t, we are bringing potato salad.

Joe~ We should bring chicken.

Me~ Ummm, okay?

Joe~ You do not think we should bring chicken?

Me~ No…no I do not.

Joe~ Why?

Me~ you mean aside from the fact that it is chicken, that is not yet cooked, which means more work for our host…your brother in-law…no, we should not bring chicken. I think we should bring a cake, or something.

Joe~ I am still thinking we should do chicken.

Me~ okay then, chicken it is.

Joe~ Where is the marinade at?

Me~ marinade? For what?

Joe~ the chicken

Me~ Seriously?? Not only do you want to bring them raw chicken, which as I stated a few seconds ago is more work for them, now you want them to marinate it?

Joe~ Is that wrong?

Me~ Wrong…no. Stupid…yes.

Joe~ Where is the marinade?

Me~ “sigh” on the isle with the deli meat.

40.00 later we leave the store w/ chicken and marinade. I already knew this was a dumb idea and already could foresee this very blog post about it.

We get to my sister and brother in-laws house. Brother in-law is already outside cooking. Joe and I unload the kids…and chicken, from the car. We head on in to say our hellos.

Joe goes up to his brother in law, gives him a hug and a little too happily hands him the bag of raw chicken that not only needs to be cooked but apparently marinated.

Joe~ Here you go, we brought chicken.

I am standing behind Joe, not sure if I should quickly sneak inside to find my sister in-law and apologize for the chicken, or stay outside and say my hellos.

Brother in-law~ Chicken? You brought chicken?

Joe~ (he is just so damn proud of the chicken) Yeah, chicken, and lemon marinade, here ya go.

Brother in-law~ Oh, uh, umm, thanks man, go ahead and take it inside and give it to your sister.

Joe heads inside with the blasted chicken. I go up to my brother in-law to give him the obligatory hug.

Brother in-law~ Hey Jen, how ya been doing?

Me~ Good good, I told Joe not to bring chicken, I wanted to bring a cake.

Brother in-law~ yeah, what was that about? I mean I appreciate the thought and all, but, well, I have all the meat covered.

Me~ He thought you would appreciate raw chicken that you would have to marinate and cook more so than a store bought cake we could have for dessert.

And there you go. What NOT to bring to a barbecue.

We ended up leaving the chicken there for them to cook at a later date.

Brother in-law was trying to pawn the chicken off on us as we were leaving.

I told him no way.

But I did manage to leave with my vodka.

In case you are not caught up yet, I have four kids. Two boys, two girls. 4,6,10 and 17. I believe in spacing them out just right so the older kids can change diapers,cook dinners, give baths for the younger kids. I am just so smart, huh?

Anyhow, as all of you know, everyone that has more than one child that is, no two personalities are alike. Each kids is oh so different.

Especially in my case.

Today, I am talking about my 10 yr old son. If someone were to ask me “So, tell me about your 10 yr old,” my first inclination would be to laugh. Where to begin? He desperately wants a pair of red skinny jeans (I know!) He will debate (argue) with you over every-single-thing. He is stubborn, he wants to grow up to build houses for the homeless, he is a great student, loves going to school, even when I beg him to stay home so I do not have to wake up early….and, well, he is a little bit….oh…what’s the word……let’s say flaky. Yes, he is a little bit flaky.

The other day, I asked him to fold his clean clothes and put them away. Easy, right? He is fairly independent. He does do his own laundry. I refuse to allow my boys to grow up, get married and not know a thing about household chores, ya know? I do not want them to depend on their wife if they will have clean underwear that day. Anyway….my point is, folding clothes and putting them away are nothing new to him…..one would think.

He is sitting on the sofa, his big pile if clean clothes in front of him. I wait…..and wait…..and wait.

“Those clothes are not going to fold themselves”

“I know mom!”

More waiting….I clean the kitchen, come back out into the living room and he is still sitting there, clothes not yet folded with this look on his face.

“Okay, what’s going on kid? These should have not only been folded by now, but also put away”

“I’m thinking mom!”

“About what?”

“About where to put them”

Okay seriously?!?!?! I mean c’mon!!!!! Where do all clean clothes go? Where have they always gone? Let’s take a shot in the dark and say THE CLOSET??????? Am I missing something here?

Long story short, I grounded him for one day. Yeah yeah bad mom I am, whatever. Trust me, he KNOWS where to put his clean clothes.

So……(because you know the story does not end here). Fast forward to the next day.

1pm. The kids are all in school, I am doing my household chores (facebook) and the phone rings. Caller ID says it is the school calling. Crap!

“Hello”

“Hi Mom”

“Vinnie?”

“Yeah”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, why?”

“Ummm,well, because it is in the middle of the school day and you are calling me….from your classroom!!!”

“Oh yeah…..why am I grounded again?”

“What?? Where is your teacher at? Does she know you are using the phone?”

“Yes Mom, why am I grounded again?”

“Because it took you over an hour to “think” about where to put your clean clothes”

“Well is there anything I can do to get off being grounded?”

“Like aside from getting off the phone with me and going back to class…ummm, no”

Okay, is it me or does this just seem strange that he is calling me, from the classroom phone, in the middle of the day?!?!?!

Fast forward to after school. Vinnie comes home, acting like he never called me in the middle of the day from his classroom wanting to know why he was grounded.

“Hi Mom”

“Hi…so….what was the phone call all about?”

“What phone call?”

“The one you made to me…today…..in the middle of school”

“I wanted to know why I was grounded”

“and your teacher actually allowed you to call me?”

“Well duh”

“Alrighty then”

“I just told her that you had grounded me and I did not know why and I would not be able to finish my math untill I knew why it was that I was grounded, she was kinda annoyed, like you get when you yell at the girls, I think she letted me call you because she knew I needed to do my math”

“Yeah…okay….you do know “letted” is not a word, right?”

“Yes Mom,jeez, that’s why I am in school and because I go every day and know that letted is not a word, I was just testing you, that is why I should not be grounded”

And now, do you people finally see, why it is I drink my vodka…daily?!?!?!

I have a vision.

Fast forward ahead thirty plus years. I am in my mid to late 60’s, my once long black hair is now a perfect shade of silver. Believe or not I decided to not color my hair, I am embracing the silver. After all these years, my hair is finally all one length. I spent a good portion of my 30’s trying to achieve one length hair, and once I did, there was no going back’ The wrinkles on my face tell a story. A story of happiness, pain, and, well, just life.

Don’t get me wrong though, I am hot. Seriously. I may have silver hair, wrinkles, probably have tried botox a time or two, but I am hot, and when I say hot I do not mean hot flashes, I mean hot, for a woman in her mid to late 60’s. I am confident, I am a free spirit, I spend my days writing and taking pictures. After all these years I am still not any good at taking pictures, but that’s what I like to do, so I’m gonna do it. Because life is too short.

Thanks to the advice (demands) of my parents, I was smart enough to save money in my 30’s for retirement in my 60’s. I am good, life is good. The kids are grown, and now, just like years ago when I went to my parents with problems, wondering how much money I am going to have to save for the therapy of my children, said children are now coming to me with the same concerns. Thank God I am beyond the child raising age. Those were some hellish years.

I imagine at least one of my kids spent some time in jail. My money is on my youngest son. All is well with him now. He is just starting a family of his own, and yet, still ask me for money. I have pretty much trained my grandchildren to under no circumstance call me grandma. I am known as Gina. Oh, my oldest son and I went some rounds on that one, especially since Gina is not even my name, but I don’t care, I am Gina.

I have lead a good life. Not always easy, but good.

Just like most families, sickness has taken a few family members a little too soon. Others are still alive and kicking, even in their 90’s. There has been cancer, addictions, pregnancy,lay offs, but we have survived. I am now the woman who I have always tried to be. Strong, confident, and free. I am happy, happy and thankful for the life I have lead, and for the life that is still before me.

But for now,

For now,

I am a wife and mother of four in my mid 30’s, who probably is a little too addicted to vodka, has no idea what it means to be confident, and living pay check to pay check. I am determined to take care of myself now, so when I do reach my mid to late 60’s I am healthy in body, mind, spirit. I have dreams that are still waiting to be found,I have goals that are have yet to be reached, and I have vodka that has yet to be had.

This is me and my journey. Come along for the ride…but don’t forget the vodka.

Or, my blog does anyway.

And, perhaps a new name.

Who knew “Cafe Jen” was so popular?!

Anyway, stay tuned, some exciting changes will be coming soon.

Last night I was soooooooo annoyed with my husband, really really annoyed, and in “pure Jen form” I posted a facebook status about how annoyed I was.

Annoyed once again, whats a girl to do, well blog about it of course! (and I am not holding back)

See, I told you.

So I head to the trusty old computer and start typing away, making sure to pound as loud as I could on the keys. I had a nice long post in the making, it was good….or so I thought.

Come to find out that writing a blog post while mad at the husband and a little too much wine in me was not a good thing, well, to me it was a good thing, but no one else would think it would make much sense, because when I am mad, I ramble, much like I am doing now, but I am not mad at anything, go figure.

I decided to post pone the post for a later date (because I know like all good husbands do, he will annoy me once again). I believe my husband finally picked up on how annoyed I was, you know,with the loud typing and perhaps mild cussing going on.

Today, I had some free time. I decided to check out some new blogs, I wanted to read about other wives/mothers who were annoyed with their husbands.

I could not find one single blog that wanted to enlighten me with some husband bashing.

Seriously?

Every single blog I read dealt with “I love my husband so much, he is the best husband ever”. I figured, oh they must be newly weds, right?

WRONG!

and then there was the “I have the best kids ever, they are so well behaved, sleep through the night” etc etc etc.

Yeah, and I am Marry Poppins.

So something must be seriously wrong with me, either

1. I am the worst wife/mother ever.

or

2. Some people out there are afraid to talk about the not so good things about being a wife/mother.

and that is when I had my light bulb moment, that is when it hit me, that is when I knew what I want this blog to be about. As much as I love my husband and kids, it is hard, very hard at times. Yeah yeah the good outweighs the bad, but it is still hard people and I want to talk about it, I need to talk about it, I need to hear from other wives about feelings of inadequacy, I need to hear from other moms on needing some peace and quiet. I want to hear it all.

So there you have it, my new vision for this very new blog. I should probably update my “About Me” section now, but first, let me tell you about the husband.

Last night, the husband comes home from work, his brother (who has been living with us for 15 months, 3 weeks, 2 days, 28 minutes and 32 seconds, more on that later) picked him up from work, they had brought food home. I was sitting on the sofa, playing with my phone.

The Husband comes over to me, reaches down like he is actually going to hug me, but instead of grabbing me he GRABS THE REMOTE!

What?!?!?! I honestly thought he was going to give me a hug, nope, the freakin remote gets more attention than I do.

and as if that was not enough, I then head into the kitchen to pour some much needed wine. As soon as I get off the sofa he says “Hey, do you mind if I play the xbox?”

Well, that did it. I was annoyed and there was no going back. I had “thought” we would spend the evening watching some dumb show together, but he decided to get on the blasted xbox.

Of course in hindsight I should have told him “Umm, yes, actually I do mind if you play the game,I want to spend time with you”

but really? How come he does not see that for himself, why must I explain every little thing to him?

I love him, I really do, but marriage is not a fairytale, you have good days and bad days, and you get through them together….and with vodka.

So there you have it.

Now from you dear readers (reader), here is what I would like to ask, if you have posted a post where your husband/significant other has annoyed you, send me the link. I want to read it, and in the future if something happens in your day to day life, where you just need a place to vent, then you know where to come, Cafe Jen.

Cheers!

Early this morning, Joe and I had to take Gracie to Children’s Hospital for Aspergers testing. As usual, we were running late, too late to even wait in the long car line that wrapped around Starbucks. On our second attempt to get the much needed coffee, at one of those mom&pop coffee stands, we were told “cash only”. We had no cash on us. So off we went on the half hour journey to Tacoma. A journey we were all too familiar with just short of six years ago.March 8,2005 Our oldest daughter,Gracie, was born with gastroschisis. In lamens terms, her intestines were outside of her body. I had found out at 20 weeks that our daughter had this condition. The next few months were spent making preparation after preparation for her birth. I would have to deliver at Tacoma General, a hospital better equipped for such births. We would not be able to hold her, she had to be taken to the NICU as soon as possible. Joe would able to go with her while I stayed behind for the time being. We knew she would not look like “normal” babies, we knew her intestines (gut) would be outside of her body, and thanks to the endless ultrasounds, we knew there was a lot of “gut”. Yet, we were not quite prepared.

(Gracie, hours after birth. Her intestine is in the plastic bag hanging above her body)

Gracie had other plans. She decided she wanted to make her appearance around the 36 week mark, impatient little devil. She also decided she was going to do everything she could to make it known that this birth was going to be done her way, and no one else’s. One night in March, about one month out from her due date, Gracie decided to stop moving. Yeah, she was that stubborn. Joe and I rushed to the hospital fearing the worst. Thankfully, there was still a heartbeat.She had to come out via c-section and she had to come out now. There was not enough time to get us to Tacoma General, I had to deliver her at my local hospital, immediately after delivery she was to be transported to the NICU at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. I had told Joe when she leaves, he better leave with her. I did not want her to be without one of us.Joe followed the ambulance to Mary Bridge, while I stayed behind. I was exhausted, I was sad, I was scared and felt hopeless.When Joe came back to me hours later he had the above picture with him. I looked at it, not even sure what direction the picture was suppose to be. Once he told me she was okay, I asked him “what the hell is that?” pointing to her intestines. “That’s her gut” an exhausted Joe explained to me. It seems that with all the preparation I had done, I somehow forgot to think that maybe I should look up to see what a gastro baby looks like at birth. I had no idea. Thankfully, it looked worse than it was. It seems that all that really needs to happen with gastro babies, is gravity. The intestines are hung over the baby and each day the intestines somehow move themselves back in where they belong. Crazy. Once the “gut” is back in, surgery is then performed to close the hole.

(About 17 days after birth, the gut is safley inside her body)

Gracie was in the NICU for a little over a month. That had to be the hardest month of our life. Joe and I never went a day without visiting her, and on some days we would go twice a day. I would sit at home, counting down the hours and minutes till he got off work so we could go see her. The car ride up there was quiet. Never much talking, just wondering how much longer till we were able to bring her home? For one month straight we at dinner at that hospital, taking turns bringing our two older boys with us, shedding lots of tears when we had to leave our baby behind, it was hard, very very hard.

Today, all those memories came back as we once again made that drive. No talking in the car, no talking in the waiting room, but this time we had Gracie with us. A trip that was all too familiar for Joe and I was all so new to Gracie. She took it all in, the Tacoma water front, the broken up roads that they still have not yet fixed, the parking garage that scared her, the elevator up to the second floor, she took it all in, while Joe and I were transported back to a time where we could not see a future, and yet here we are, in the future that we were unable to see.

It looks like this was the last time we will have to make this trip. Gracie does not have Aspergers.

(Gracie waiting for the Doctor)

She will not have to have a cat scan, she will not need anymore blood work, she will need no more testing.

(Ready to leave already)

Instead, what Gracie needs is time. Time to settle in to her own, time to learn things on her own timetable, time to figure out who she wants to be friends with and who she does not.She has a very hard start in life, now we just need to sit back and let her do her thing, her way.

(Joe reading to Gracie in the Dr’s office)

She just needs time. And…we need to be patient with her. She passed all the test, she laughed at the Dr’s jokes (while Joe and I were having a hard enough time understanding her thick Russian accent). She was very sociable, something that Aspergers kids are not.

(Heading home!)

Gracie has OCD, which is not really a surprise if you know anything at all about me. She likes things done her way, and that’s okay.

She “may” have to be re-evaluated at 7, but for now, she is a happy, smart little girl who has OCD tendencies,

and for Joe and I, we are very thankful.

Last week around 9am I got a text message from my sister.

“You up?”

If I was not already in the middle of a conversation with the PTA Nazis at my daughters school, I would have text messaged my sister back something along the lines of “Of course I am up, I have been up for three and a half hours, this is a school day, what do you think I am doing, laying around in bed eating chocolate chip cookies watching Lifetime tv, I only do that during the summer”

but I did not have time to text all that (thank you PTA Nazis). Instead I just sent a simple “yes”.

I explained for the 100th time to the PTA Nazis why it was that I could not join the PTA, and headed off to start my errands.

While in the car, singing along to Justin Bieber (don’t ask) my phone rang, it was my sister. I knew something was wrong.

My sister NEVER calls me at that time of day, she works. She usually saves the phone calls for night, after she has cooked her dinner, put her kids to bed and is halfway through her boxed wine, yep, something was wrong.

Long story short, there was some medical issues with her 16 yr old daughter….but that is not what this story is about, this story is about a phone call my sister asked me to make to another family member (who shall remain anonymous) about said 16 yr old daughter.

Now, since I have not yet received permission from “Julia” to share this story, I cannot exactly say who this family member is, but it is important to know this particular family member prides herself on proper etiquette…much like Julia Sugarbaker from the old hit show “Designing Women”.

After I finish doing all my errands, I come home to make THE PHONE CALL. I get situated outside, because in this house going outside is the only place where there are no interruptions. Any of you who have a three yr old……or husband, no what I mean.

*ring, ring*

Hello

Hi Julia

Hi Jennifer, whats up?

Are you busy?

No, why, whats up?

I don’t suppose you have talked to Carolyn today, have you?

No, why?

The next 10 minutes of the conversation is nothing but kidney infections, white blood cell counts, etc etc. I am just trying to explain to Julia, everything my sister explained to me.

Okay Jennifer, hold on, I have the cleaning ladies here today and I don’t want them to walk in on me.

Ummmm, okay.?.?

Julia puts the phone down, yet I can still here what is going on.

“Jessica, Jessica JESSICA, hello where is everyone? Oh there you are, listen, I am going into the restroom, please keep an eye out, do not let anyone come in there.”

Okay, so I figure Julia is doing what I am doing, just looking for a quiet place to talk.

Sorry Jennifer, I do not have a lock on the bathroom door, I don’t want the cleaning ladies to come barging in on me. So, why didn’t your sister call me herself?

That’s okay, no problem. (I then proceed to explain that the only reason my sister called me first because she assumed I would be up….even though we all knew she thought I was still asleep)

Wait, hold on

Ok

Sorry Jennifer, I cannot find the toilet paper

Huh?

Great, I cannot find the toilet paper and now I have to open the door and risk the cleaning ladies seeing my white butt.

ummmm, what?

Hold on a second.

(about a three minute pause)

Sorry Jennifer, I had to get some toilet paper but did not want the cleaning ladies to see me.

Okay, Julia, just to be clear here, were you using the bathroom while I was on the phone with you.

(laughter, lots and lots of laughter)

Well yes I was, and great, now the toilet is not flushing

and you did not have toilet paper?

No, I had it, just not in the bathroom

Well of course not, I mean where else should the toilet paper be kept, right?

Now I have to stand outside the bathroom door because the toilet is over flowing and I do not want the cleaning ladies to see.

Hmmm, okay then. Julia?

Yes?

Remember when I asked you if you were busy?

Yes

Well, that may have been the time to tell me to call you back!

I have a three year old who is actually closer to four (Feb) but for the sake of this story, so I do not look completely crazy, I am going to say she is three.

She still uses a pacifier. I know, I know, let me have it.

Logically, I know she is too old for the pacifier, but (there is always a but) her pacifier is my GODSEND. Seriously. She starts her fits, I just give her the pacifier and all is well in her world.

As much as it annoys me to see kids over the age of two with a pacifier, all rules go out the window with my kid.

Her dentist knows she still uses the pacifier and has not once chastised me for it (so neither should you!)

She is the only one of my four kids who has used a pacifier, so this is all new to me (this would be there part where you cut me some slack).

I do not know if it is because she is the youngest, or perhaps she is just a brat, or maybe it is my awesome parenting skills, but the girl has issues. When things do not go her way, she will scream at the top of her lungs “THAT’S IT MOM, I QUIT”. I do not even know what that means, I mean what exactly is it she thinks she is quitting?

When she “quits”, I give her the pacifier, and suddenly become the best mom ever “Thanks mom, I love you”.

Now you can clearly see how dependent I am on the pacifier.

Well….last night, my other little princess (5 yr old) decided to throw one of her fits (what is it with my kids and their tantrums?) and she threw the pacifier out the window, out the second story window, when it was dark out, and she did all this intentionally. Lovely child isn’t she?

I guess my 5yr old was getting annoyed by the 3yr old and she decided to get back at her by throwing the pacifier out the window.

I was devastated. I mean what am I going to do without my godsend? It was as if the pacifier vanished into thin air, because even with my flashlight and rosary, I could not find it. It was gone forever.

My 3yr old freaked out, I freaked out, my 5yr old thought it was the funniest thing ever.

Brat.

It took me an hour to explain to my 3yr old that the pacifier was gone. “But why mom, why?”

Because your sister is a brat, that’s why. (Is what I wanted to say)

Because you’re a big girl now, just like your sister, you don’t need a dumb pacifier (Is what I ended up saying)

“Okay mom, I’m a big girl”

She was actually excited about being a big girl now, go figure. Maybe this is how she will be weened off of it, cold turkey, just like that.

and then……

in a moment of weakness…..

I BOUGHT HER TWO NEW PACIFIERS!!!!!!!

Why, why , why? There has got to be something seriously wrong with me. I mean the kid seemed to have forgotten all about it, until now, until I went to the store and saw the cutest little pink pacifier FOR A NEWBORN……and yet I still bought them. Actually, not only did I buy them, but I came home all excited to give her her new pacifiers.

And now, she is all happy, content, and quiet,

and for me? I am all happy, content and quiet,

but in the back of my head, I know I seriously messed up, never should I have bought the new pacifiers.

I told you this was an epic mom fail.

My husband has decided to cook dinner.

This never happens, and I mean never, unless you count “Hey, lets order a pizza” as him cooking, which ironically enough, he does count that as him cooking.

My husband wanted to recreate his mothers fried chicken recipe, I know what you’re thinking, of course I know how to cook fried chicken, but I do not use mayonnaise as the breading, and according to my husbands mother, this is a must.

So, husband decided to give his parents a call so he could get the recipe. The following is what transpired, and keep in mind, I was only able to hear my husbands end of the conversation, but I think it is safe to say we all know what went on on the other end of the line.

“Hi Dad”

“You guys home?”

“Well,I wanted to talk to mom, I’m going to cook tonight”

“Yeah, cook tonight”

“I’m going to cook”

“She is fine, I just wanted to cook”

“Is mom there?”

I of course find this one sided conversation hilarious, actually both me and my 17 yr old find this to be quite funny. I mean really, you do not have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the other end of the conversation…right?

But it gets better.

“Hi Mom, I wanted to cook your chicken and mayo recipe can you tell me how to do it?”

“Yes, I’m cooking”

“She’s fine,I just want to cook”

“Yeah, cook, I am going to cook”

“I wanted to cook the chicken and mayo”

“Yes, I’m going to cook”

“What is wrong with everyone, I cook every now and then”

this is the part when my 17yr old and I lost it, you know that uncontrollable laughter, where you cannot even breathe, yep, that was us…..and my husbands parents, I do believe I heard them laughing on the other end of the phone.

But it gets even better.

Husband gets off the phone heads into the kitchen to start his chicken and mayo masterpiece. He tells me “Just relax, take a night off”. I get my wine, get comfortable and then it begins. First it starts off with a simple

“Hey….what pan do you think I should use”

Followed by a

“Where is the oil”

and a

“Oh wait, where is the chicken?”

throw in a few

“Hey come look at this, do you think it is done, how come we do not have any tongs, where are the paper towels, should I throw it in the oven”

and in closing

“Can you just let me know when the chicken is finished”

Honestly, it would have been much less work for me if I cooked the blasted chicken myself and just told him I put mayo on it.

With that being said, if you do not hear from me in a few days, that means I have salmonella poisoning.

Cheers!

Here it is, my very first post of the new year, which also just happens to be my second post in this very new blog of mine.

Without further ado, let’s get to the point.

My top five goals for 2011

1. Get in shape. Usually this would be where I say “I want to lose 20 pounds”. Well not anymore, I am no longer going to let some stupid number on the scale or inside my jeans determine my mood/self worth. Instead of focusing on the number, I will focus on eating right and exercising, everything else will fall into place. However, for the record, I would like to say that I am starting of 2011 FIFTY POUNDS lighter than I did in 2010. So…you know, I should get a cookie or something for that.

2. Write more. Whether it is on the blog, or on my personal writing projects, my goal is to write something at least five days a week. Of course it may be a quick little post here or there, or I may be lucky enough to get out 2,000 words….either way, I need to get myself in a better writing habit.

3. Prayer Journal. For me, keeping a prayer journal is so rewarding. I love being able to go back and see where God has helped me along, or showed me other areas where I need work. This is something I need to keep up with for 2011. Maybe one day I can pass it down to my kids, or if I end up with Alzheimer’s maybe my kids can read the journal to me to help jog my memory.

4. Save more money. This may be more challenging to do, as there is never a whole lot of money to save, but with a little tweak here and there I should be able to save something.

5. Appreciate the little things, never take anything granted, be thankful for what I have, not what I don’t have.

And there you have it, my goals for 2011….which I am sure will not make it till day 2.

Hope everyone has a Happy 2011!

Cheers.