Archive: January 2009

A progress report on my three resolutions for 2009:

Every day, I will clean for 15 minutes.
As I predicted, this resolution is proving to be the hardest of the lot.  I have such trouble with doing something every day, as if brushing my teeth is all I can take of the daily turmoil.  Anyway, yes, I am struggling with this goal.  I attempted to go through this first month with a kind of laissez-faire attitude.  I hoped that dirty things would simply present themselves to me, and I would gracefully take care of them.

But, no.  As it turns out, my eye simply glances over what could be cleaned, and I’m back where I started: in need of this blasted resolution.  Overall, I did an average of 15 minutes of cleaning every day, what with traveling for a weekend here and there, so it’s not a total loss.  I forced myself to keep a log of what I did each day, and let’s just say there was a whole lot of bed-making and dish-washing, but not so much scrubbing or dusting.  Hmph. Surprise, surprise — laissez-faire doesn’t work for this girl!  I made a loose schedule of daily and weekly tasks, so I hope I’ve set myself up for a more successful and productive February.

One good thing came out of January, however, and that is that I weeded out and reorganized my clothing for a big Goodwill donation this weekend.  Even though I logged it in my record as cleaning, it was really more like Satisfying My Organizing Tic, but darn it, I say it counts.

Every week, I will write and send my grandmother a note.
Hurrah, success! I think I owe it to my inordinately pre-planned system wherein I organized various blank cards into 12 little stacks of 4 — one for each month — and put them where we drop our keys for easy grabbing.  I’m looking forward to sending a cute valentine next month.

Every month, I will take at least a few hours just for myself.
Over the second weekend in January, I went on a retreat to the coast of Maryland with women from my church, and it was a good break from the routine.  One of the notes I sent my grandmother was a postcard from the retreat center, so that was a convenient bonus. As I’ve described it to others, it was kind of kumbaya, but I had a good time catching up with women I don’t see often, and I got a lot of reading in.  The location was scenic and relaxing, and I think the weekend helped to calm my holiday-frayed nerves.

This morning, just after 5am, JG’s phone sang out his How I Met Your Mother theme song ringtone — school was canceled! We turned on the news to check the status of the roads and weather, and it was not pretty. Overnight, our area received a blanket of snow with a bonus ice layer, and almost every local school district was closed.

Yesterday, my boss and I made small talk about the storm that was supposed to roll in, and neither of us was looking forward to struggling in to the office. Much to my relief, she suggested that I take the files of projects I could edit at home, since it wasn’t completely necessary for me to be in the office as long as I checked my voicemail regularly. For once, her laid-back air worked in my favor.

JG and I are both at home, he took the slippery morning walk, and I got to sleep in, so it feels like a surprise “weekend” day in the middle of the week. I’m sitting at the dining table with two manuscripts to edit, while JG tries his new video games and the dulcet tones of Grand Theft Auto echo in surround sound. Ted is asleep on the couch, dreaming puppy dreams that elicit tiny, adorable barks every so often. A slow cooker of pork barbecue is simmering in the kitchen.

Whether it’s the novelty of being at home, the chance to look up and see JG and Ted, or the comfort of my yoga pants, I am being ridiculously productive today. I’ve been checking references, reformatting sections, and making notes on a paper about the coincidence of peanut allergy and asthma, and the article about twins with a specific type of dwarfism is waiting its turn. I’m checking my voicemail at work on the hour, and so far, no one needs anything. Excellent.

Recipe
When Deb posted her photos of a new mushroom bourguignon recipe, I eagerly went straight to her site to print out the recipe.  Alas!  The pictures beat the post to the punch, and I refreshed greedily until the new entry popped up.  I tried the new recipe last week, and it was a smashing success.  It’s definitely doable on a weeknight, and the leftovers were as filling and comforting the next day at my desk.  As is my habit with new recipes, I made a point of chopping everything ahead of time, which turned out to be a good call.  When the dish got going, it steamed ahead at full speed until it was time to simmer away docilely, and I had time to set the table and make salads.  Phew!  Next time, I am measuring out everything in advance, not just the vegetables. Oh, yes, there will be a next time.

Restaurant
Thanks to an end-of-the-season thank-you gift certificate from JG’s volleyball team, we went out to a nice place for dinner at the end of the week.  We had no reason, really, but I wanted to take a break from the normal routine, and I didn’t see any point in saving the gift certificate for a “real” special occasion.  Isn’t it kind of tacky to use it on an anniversary?  I thought so.

I wore a black dress and heels, and JG donned a jacket, and it was a lovely night.  The restaurant is a historic inn composed of separate little rooms, which made for a quiet, relaxing atmosphere.  Our meal started with tableside-made Caesar salads, and then JG had a crab crepe, and I ate half of my enormous seared diver scallops.  We shared creme brulee for dessert and walked out of the place stuffed to the gills and with a new restaurant for special occasions.  Even though we didn’t think we needed a night out, it turned out that we really did, and this restaurant was just the right remedy.

Year
Happy Chinese New Year!  It’s the Year of the Ox, apparently, and we celebrated it by going to visit my grandmother in Forest Hills, New York, for the annual family get-together.  I’m always at a loss to explain what we do for the occasion, because we’ve never really had rituals or traditions.  Basically, we all invade my grandmother’s house, have a hot pot dinner, and play video games.  Um, like the traditional Chinese people do, right?

It was JG’s first time with the hot pot set-up (aside from fondue at The Melting Pot), and he embraced it.  He was right in the thick of things, filling up his little metal basket with sundry meat items and brandishing his chopsticks for as long as he could stand it.  It was kind of sweet to watch, actually.

Stuff
We also spent some time with JG’s parents over the weekend, since they live in New Jersey, conveniently, and don’t mind keeping an eye on Ted while we caught all manners of public transportation into Queens.  It was a nice bonus to exchange Christmas gifts with each other, especially giving the license plate from our old car to my father-in-law.  JG amassed quite a collection of DVDs and video games, plus a new golf bag, and I became the proud owner of a new sweater and bag.  Collectively, we got three new games from the family, which will no doubt make appearances at the next game night.

I encouraged JG to buy a PlayStation 3.

(I’ll pause for the gasps of shock and awe.)

More accurately, I encouraged JG to spend his birthday and Christmas money, which doesn’t have quite the same ring, but it’s the truth.  He has a tendency to deposit the money he receives straight into the savings account because he can’t think of anything to buy at the time. Although I can’t prove it, I suspect that a lot of his gift money has transformed into groceries and bill payments, which I suppose is responsible and strategic, but it is not so gratifying when Mimi inevitably asks, “Did you get something good for your birthday?”

I, on the other hand, head straight to the computer to itemize exactly how I’m going to take advantage of the new funds I’ve received. Heck, if pressed with limited inventory and a good sale, I even spend Christmas money before I receive it.  I figure that it’s a gift, so I am completely justified in using it on whatever fun things I fancy.  That’s the point, right?

Right.

At the beginning of the month, I asked JG if he knew what he was going to buy with his gift money, but to no one’s surprise, he hadn’t really thought about it.  I made a mental note to remind him every month that the money wasn’t spent and started throwing out suggestions: new games for the Wii? Nice tools? Better cookware? Didn’t you mention a PS3 at one point?

Hmm.  Yes, he was thinking about a PS3, now that I mention it.

A week later, JG found a deal online for the system, all the cables, and a game, and he went for it.  “I’m pulling the trigger,” he IMed me.

“I’m composing a post about how I’m awesome,” I responded.

To be frank, I am not thrilled about acquiring another video game system.  I’m not exactly beaming with pride that in a section of our entertainment center, there are two shiny consoles of electronic oblivion, but that’s not important.  I wanted JG to buy something fun for himself that he really wanted, and that something was a PS3.  So be it.

So, hi, I’m the Best Wife Ever!*  Nice to meet you.

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*At least for the moment, anyway.