CALM

It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. ~Abraham Lincoln~

Let’s start the New Year with a Public Service Announcement (to illustrate the stupidity we deal with on a daily basis):
When *you* call my house (or anyone’s for that matter) do not leave a snide message on the answering machine accentuating your immaturity to suggest that we are standing by the phone and refusing to answer because no one wants to talk to you (blaming me won’t change the answer to that statement). You see, in the real world (where we live), you’ll find that we are.not.home (and we haven’t taught the dog how to answer the phone yet) therefore you sound like a complete idiot to me and my husband, and make the kids laugh at your childish (and a tad bit insane) behavior. 

So where were yesterday instead of standing by the phone? Checking out our mailbox and picking envelopes out of the snow bank. I’m under the theory our snow plow guy gets a bonus for every mailbox he hits. (Why would a company put such poor drivers in their blades?). We need to go out and do some damage control and shovel, but it’s super cold and can wait. (I hear it’s –40 down in town; not sure about here on the hill).

The sun was shining on the hill as we drove down the ridge (where we couldn’t hear our phone).  Stunningly beautiful when the air is so crisp.

Emily and Lucas went to visit Grandma while Olivia and I went to the store. She had birthday money burning a hole in her wallet and the house needed food. Would you believe we spent a couple hours wandering around the store? She changed her mind several times on what to get, we ran into many people to visit with and I shopped for a new purse. (I do not carry a purse, but am famous for losing my debt card and most recently my post office key so it’s time. Emily doesn’t like my old purse so I treated myself to something new to start this purse-carrying habit off with…note the purse on her shoulder…she’s a purse girl).













Our New Year’s Eve? Quiet and laid back. All five of our kids rang in the New Year with us last year. This year they wanted to be with their friends so after I was positive each one was somewhere safe, Homer and I settled in and relaxed. We had leftover ham and bean soup with some chicken fried moose  steak.

Then Homer fell asleep at 9:30pm!! (He works entirely too much and is exhausted). Sophie and I watched New York City ring in the New Year and then went to bed as well. New Years is mostly a holiday for adults to have a reason to party (which is why the kids just wanted to hang with friends and could care less about “midnight”) and we aren’t interested in partying so it was a perfect way to close out a long and exhausting year.
Do you have a “word” for the New Year? You can read about the concept here, here and here. These are just a small sample of the people who have blogged about their word.
My word: CALM 
I will strive to be calm in my reactions to others, to bring calm into my home for the peace of my children and to be calm out in the world when faced with tough situations.
If you have a word you want to live by this year - share it!!