A Tragic Accident on the Hudson River

I'm really glad I wasn't in the office on Saturday. My office windows look right out onto the Hudson River, exactly in the spot that helicopter and plane collided just before noon on Saturday. 9 people died in this crash. Such a tragically different outcome than just 7 months ago when that jet crash-landed in the river and all survived.

I've been glued to news reports. The older I get, the more I watch the news, and the less I watch for entertainment (although I will admit to a couple of sitcom and drama addictions). As I post this entry, I can see several police boats and divers going in and coming out of the water, searching for the last two bodies and the mangled wreckage of the Piper.

My heart goes out to the families of those who died. What a sad, sad thing.

Resolutions v.2009

I usually make really sincere resolutions that deep in my heart and in my mind, honest injun, I know I'm not going to keep: be a better wife/daughter/sister/cook/housekeeper, be sure to attend Mass on every Holy Day of Obligation, budget and save more money, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. (hmmm, now I want to sit down and watch Yul Brynner in The King and I!)


This year I'm going to do something different. I'm going to make some resolutions that I know I can keep. And I resolve, too, that I won't beat myself up when I slip up and do something or forget to do something...

• I'm NOT going to spend a lot of money on useless crap (okay, well, once the mail orders I placed over the past two or three days are delivered, I won't spend a lot of money on useless crap...)
• I'm NOT going to buy something I don't need every time I set foot in a Wal-Mart
• I AM going to save more money
• I AM going to try to keep a neater home
• I WILL downsize my scrapping supplies (part of my goal as a student of BPS' Get Organized, Be Inspired class)
• I WILL cook more at home and eat out less
• I WILL try to be a better person
• I WILL donate more to charity
• I WILL NOT allow my moods to control me

There now, don't these sound a lot more reasonable and easier to actually achieve than "I'm going to reach goal weight," "I'm going to go sky-diving," or "I'll sew new curtains for the scrap room since I can't find any I like in a store"??

Right now...

I was catching up on some blogs I read and I happened across this on Lisa Bearnson's blog. She got a holiday letter from a friend of hers that included a bunch of right nows...


Right Now:
Out of my window: the Manhattan skyline - I'm at work, admittedly goofing off a little.
I am wearing: black jeans, a white tank, and a gray sweater that Jack bought me for Christmas.
I am hearing: my colleage E talking to someone on the phone.
I am thinking: about all the things I have to do this week - play catch up here at work, go to the movies, go to a scrapping bingo night, go to Michael's with my neighbor to plan a scrapping project as a gift for her dad, clean my kitchen so it does justice to the rest of the house (which is still clean from the holidays!), and clean the two guest rooms which are where I threw everything to make the rest of the house look neat!
I am thankful for: my family and friends, my mom's good health, my husband and my children, that I have a job in this troubled economy, my faith
I am creating: perhaps this should read "I am planning to create" some scrapbook pages from Christmas and Hanukkah and Gedalia's 1st birthday party, some handmade cards for my Soulology pals (sort of promised to do that for the holidays but...)
I am going: to Bloomingdale's for my make-up, then to my sister-in-law's for our traditional Monday dessert night, and to the movies tomorrow, to Michael's on Wednesday, to bingo on Thursday, and to the lake on Friday
I am hoping: I can keep to my unpublished and not-too-difficult-guess New Year's resolutions.
I am reading: Running Hot, by Jayne Ann Krentz
Around the house: it must be sort of quiet, I'm not there! The only sound you should be hearing there right now is the sound of the steam radiators as the thermostat prompts them to start heating the house in preparation for our return home.
One of my favorite things: Reading. Books. Words. (Wait, that's three!)
A few plans for the rest of the week: See "I am thinking" and "I am going" above...

If you feel up to it, take this challenge and do a "Right Now" entry. Imagine comparing it to "Right now" next year at this time...

Happy 2009!!! (4 days late!!!)

When I scheduled my vacation, I thought, "Man, am I going to have so much time off! J and I will probably kill each other 'cause we're going to be spending so much time together! What am I going to do for all that time? I have SO much time off!"

I.WAS.SO.WRONG.

I have to go back to work tomorrow. Nose to the grindstone.

I can't believe it.

It's 2009. It's been 2009 for 4 days already and I haven't done a single thing on my list. I was going to set up the calendar for 2009. I was going to clean out the 2 guest rooms. I was going to rearrange the kitchen (although that's still on my list for this afternoon...)

All I can say at this point is: I hope 2009 is more productive for you than it's been for me (so far!) and I wish you all health, happiness, and if not prosperity, at least not the poorhouse! Don't forget, you'll be distributing your wealth to those who have less but want more. (I couldn't pass up the chance to toss that in there!!!)

Seriously - my only resolution this year, and it's one I hope I can do, is to live a good life, a better life, than I did last year.