Christmas can be quite an affair at my house. Now that the kids are not all under 10, it is much easier to deal with as an adult. The youngest even played elf this year, handing out gifts to others. Here are the pics from Christmas morning.
Yes, it is December 31st. Another year is about to pass into history. This year was an historic one for many reasons but that is for another entry. Here are some pics of today’s weather out my back and front doors about 30 minutes ago.
This past August the church I have attended for the last ten or so years merged with another local church. This merger was part of the Diocese of Syracuse and its plan to deal with a shortage of priests.
The new church – Church of the Holy Family – celebrated its first Christmas last week. Below are some images from the 4 pm Children’s liturgy.
This post can take many forms. I may talk about the world view in review but the original intent is to review the aspirations I have set for myself for this year that is soon coming to a close.
There were a lot of areas that I wanted to improve on for 2008. There were a lot of new things that I did. As I look back, I didn’t do a lot of things I really wanted to do also so my guess is the year is sort of a wash.
I have two budget/financial goals for 2008. One was to pay down my debt. That one did get taken care of rather well. There is still some debt but it is minor compared to what it was at the beginning of the year. The second was to put 10% of my pay into savings. Well, this didn’t go so well. I do have more in savings now, at almost the end of 2008, than I did at the end of 2007 but it is not nearly a large enough cushion.
I put my fitness aspirations for 2008 into three parts. While I did not reach any of these goals, I worked towards two of them consistently. I had a 1000 mile goal for my running. I am at just under 800 at the moment with five days to go. I know I will not reach 1000 but I also know that it is more than doable now that I have tallied up an entire year of running. I did not manage to find and purchase a pedometer that I would wear all the time. I have a real problem with pedometers and tend to break them. I am still trying to find one that I can wear and it records properly and I don’t have to buy a new one after a month. I have found a few strength training outlets. I am not in love with any of them so this goal has not been accomplished. I find I am good with my cardio workouts, not so good with my strength training. This will have to push over into 2009.
I am looking right now for a CSA for 2009. I did not find one in 2008 and was deeply disappointed in that aspect of my eating. I must find one this coming year. I, also, did not utilize menu planning as I should have. Actually, I am not sure I used it at all. I have to work on this as I know it makes for healthier food on the table and it also makes for better budgetting of food monies.
I did participate in the Triple 8 challenge. I read 56 plus books this year but the problem lies in getting them into categories. I did not necessarily read the books I had originally intended to read.
I did not remain faithful to Simple Abundance again this year. I cannot even tell you when I stopped reading it so it was some time ago. I will begin again on January 1 and attempt to read the entire year in 2009. It is a book that I love and will always work through.
The biggest push for 2009 is art. I have worked on my art throughout 2008 but still did not submit anything for publication. I will do that in the upcoming year. I will create on a daily, weekly and monthly basis as it, like blogging, helps keep me grounded.
