Friday, December 31, 2004

Differences...

It must be rather difficult for Sean to be in Spokane, not just because of the weather, but because of the shift in "position" in the family. In Austin, he was everyone's favorite child. Here in Spokane, he is see more as whiney and selfish-centered. Except those few weeks when Michael sort of went nuts (while he was boyfriend/girlfriend with Erin) Michael seems to be the crown favorite of the Spokane crowd. I am not sure Sean sees/feels the power shift, but I see it clearly. Michael's outgoing slightly off key personality seems to especially resonate with Tamara. Who knew?

Thursday, December 30, 2004

Quiet

As the year winds down, life gets quiet sometimes. People recovering from Christmas and Preparing for the New Year. People reflecting on the year gone by and praying for the year to come.

As I have gotten older, my internal dialogue has gotten quieter. Coming to work at Safeco helped that because I had a mind that was in 100 places at once and for the training here I had to pull my mind in, probably for the first time in my life. Even in school we were learning 7 or 8 subjects per day and your mind was all over the place. Only here have I had to totally pull my mind into one subject. Very odd feeling. It was also very difficult to do. Evidentally, focus has never been my strong point. LOL. Who knew?

Quiet

As the year winds down, life gets quiet sometimes. People recovering from Christmas and Preparing for the New Year. People reflecting on the year gone by and praying for the year to come.

As I have gotten older, my internal dialogue has gotten quieter. Coming to work at Safeco helped that because I had a mind that was in 100 places at once and for the training here I had to pull my mind in, probably for the first time in my life. Even in school we were learning 7 or 8 subjects per day and your mind was all over the place. Only here have I had to totally pull my mind into one subject. Very odd feeling. It was also very difficult to do. Evidentally, focus has never been my strong point. LOL. Who knew?

Monday, December 27, 2004

Texas

David is aware of Bethany's wanting to go back to Texas. He is weighing that in his decision about coming back here. Bethany is one of the people who is pivotal to our family. We all tend to gravitate her direction...wonder if she knows/cares/appreciates that? Sigh.

Contemplating the New Year

I look at the paper. The paper is blank. So is my mind. So many changes in this past year. So much learning at my new job. Sometimes my mind simply balks at the thought of it all. Funny, since most of it is over now.

What do I want for 2005? What kind of goals can I set for myself? For my family (if I dare)? With the world so uncertain, with war all around us, with tsunami's decimating 7 countries...

Reflections

I think part of the issue is knowing that Bethany didn't tell me before I moved up here that she isn't staying here, so I AGAIN have to face the prospect of living where she is not for the rest of my life. It hurts me. It angers me. FIRST and most of all because she didn't tell me before I moved up here. Sigh.

I am also aware that things would not have been any better in Texas. With Jon losing his job at Dell (another anger issue) we would have been stranded in Georgetown without much hope of surviving. I could not have lived with Amber and Jason much longer.

Life sometimes gets away from us. And it never seems to come back to center.

Friday, December 24, 2004

A Time to Reflect

A time to reflect, make changes and write new goals

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…."—King Solomon, Ecclesiastes 3 vs. 1.

In the midst of all of the holiday hoopla, take some time out of your busy schedule to reflect on this past year, decide what you want to do differently in the new year and set some goals.

1. Take inventory of your life; what are you happy with, what would you like to change, in all areas of your life... physical, emotional,
mental, environmental, relationships, education...

2. Forgive yourself for any mistakes and promise yourself that you will learn from them.

3. Set new goals. Right them down and put them somewhere you will see them each day; your journal, or bulletin board, or on the refrigerator.

4. Make an action-step to do list... what steps can you take to realize your goals.

5. Be careful how you measure success. Make sure it's your success and not someone's standards.

6. Reward yourself for your success, even a simple pat on the back goes a long ways.