I remember the long gas lines. I remember getting gas only on days that corresponded with the last number on your license plate (odd/even). I know I am dating myself but having had an environmental outlook and education since I was young, these things tended to be more in my mind than other things that were going on.

Then, came the way for schools in upstate NY to attempt to save money by closing schools. A quick look at historical data showed most districts that the third week in February tended to be the coldest week of the year on average. Remember, I am talking late 70′s.

So came the energy conservation week off. In upstate NY, this meant a week for vacation where it is warm or a week for winter sports. I will admit I say upstate but I really live along the PA border so while not near New York City, I am not truly up in the Adirondacks or where lake effect snow piles up by the foot. The area I am in stopped, sometime before I was back in the area or before my children were in school, having this week off in February. A lot of other districts, even those fairly close to where I know live, continued to have this break. Two years ago, our local area BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services) set out a calendar that reinstated the one week off in February. All 15 districts in the Broome-Tioga BOCES area went along with it. Here is where people have gone wrong.

In the 70′s, I do not recall there being sports events and other things going on that required the school buildings were open at least a part of the day. This is not the case now. It is possible that school officials do not need to conserve energy now. Is it that hard to close schools and not use the buildings at all? Due to weather last week, my son had no school this week but had a sporting event this week – sectional diving finals. This makes very little sense.

In the 70′s, the cold was definitely more in place than it is now. Global warning – possibly and most likely, but that is for another blog. This week here where I live has been the warmest week in February so far.

It is time to rethink this week off in February.

At the prompting of the Yahoo! 360 people, I will discuss finding love online. I will also tell you a bit about some parts of it.

The long and short of it is that I have not found love online. It is not for lack of trying. I did the Yahoo! Personals for a while. I may still have a profile there if I were to dig through. I don’t think so, though. I also have a profile on Cupid.com. I tried a few faith-based personals sites. The only profile that is currently active, and has been for almost a year now, is the one on Cupid.com.

Have I met love at Cupid.com or any of the others? Nope. I have, though, become very adept at not really answering questions fully – you never know who the other person is. This is really against my nature. It is normal for me to say, when asked about the age of my kids, that I have six kids from age 22 to age 12. My normal response in a personal’s chat or email is my kids range from 12 – 22. It is not bad until he suddenly realizes I am talking/answering questions about an awful lot of different kids when he asks other things.

I have also become very adept at avoiding questions about what I look like. I like the way I look most days. Unfortunately, I am not 5’10″ and 100 pounds. After all, go back a paragraph. I have birthed six children. I am not huge. I am, from what my friends tell me, attractive. I am just not a model these days. Actually, I am not sure I was ever a model, except for maybe those two years from 19-21. I get sick and tired of the very first thing people ask is what do you look like.

I think the next thing I need to become adept at is getting pictures taken of me that don’t really look like me. This would be a pic where I was in full make-up and dressed to the nines. I don’t dislike wearing make-up and getting dressed nicely. It is just not the norm. I am most likely to be found in jeans and boots. Sometimes those boots are 3″ stacked heels; sometimes, they are snow boots. In the summer, I wear Birkenstocks from May to October (that is really an optimistic idea where I live) but I never have been caught wearing them with socks. I try to wear shorts most of the time in the summer but, again, I don’t live where summer lasts too long. I am not afraid to be seen in public in a bathing suit. I have three but none of them are bikinis.

While I have not found love online, I have found friends. Some are friends I may meet or have met. Some are friends that I just chat with online.

Okay, so my initial thought was to do a monthly post that had a breakdown of what I was going to be doing to help reach my aspirations for 2007. I have not really done more than treat them like resolutions to date – something to write down and then leave aside.

Aspirations 2007 (look for monthly goals a bit later, start February)

• Be proactive in finding new friends and possibly a more than friend interest. I just am not sure that romantic interest is the right word but maybe it is. I am doing better withthis. I have several new friends that I talk with a lot. I am not exactly being proactive, though.
• Submit art and get published. I am also, as a way to get published, going to look ahead to the themes major art magazines will have in 2006 so that I may have a creation on hand to submit. I have left this aside.
  
• Lead Simple Abundance faithfully this year. Be sure to post a starter to each monthly thread. I have done this so far this year, but it is only two months in.
• Be more active as a mod at OrganizedHome.com. Simply by doing the aspiration above better, I am being more active at OH.com. I am not getting into other threads too much, though, and probably should.
  
• Read a total of 30 books this year – including re-reads. I have two books down – the fourth Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants book and just finished yesterday, Meg Cabot’s Size 14 Isn’t Fat Either. I am almost done with another book also.
  
• Fitness 1 – I will walk 400 miles this year. Nothing big on this count or the two below this.
  
• Fitness 2 – I will wear my pedometer faithfully.
• Fitness 3 – I will find an additional – strength – fitness outlet.
• Budget 1 – I will pay down my debt. I am working on this slowly.
  
• Budget 2 – I will put at least 10% of my earnings to savings. 10% hasn’t gone into savings but some has.
  
• I will become adept at utilizing menu planning so as to maximize the money spent on food and the variety in our diets. I haven’t done this well but am utilizing it somewhat.