Happy New Year!

I've tried New Years Resolutions over the years...nothing ever seems to stick. I, as always, have some aspirations, but what they collectively all seem to boil down to is Family...This year, I want to focus more on my family and the simple joys of hearth and home.  I am blessed with a job that allows me to see my children throughout the day and gets me home (most days) at a reasonable hour...no excuses, right?  The problem is that I frequently mismanage my time and do not get all that I want/should accomplished. My husband frequently reminds me to prioritize and so I shall!  I have a few specific things I want to "work" on as the new year begins, but I don't want to jinx myself by actually making Resolutions, so I won't list them here. What I do want to post here are those "Simple Joys" that make my life as wife, mom and teacher worthwhile.  I have been blog-surfing lately and found some wonderfully inspiring blogs with a common theme: 365 days of Joy.  One that I like in particular is Shannon Joy's...you should check it out!  Many of them are photo blogs and since photography is among my many plans for the year, I thought I'd jump on the band wagon and give this a try.  No guarantees that photos will be found with EVERY post, but my goal is to find one simple joy in each day and share it with you.  Wish me luck :)

Things that make you go "hmmm"

Do you ever wonder how you got on a subject when you are talking to a friend?  Or why a particular train of thought got so sidetracked?  I stopped by to chat with a friend of mine today and she mentioned my blog, then asked about our chickens.  I set out to update said blog with info on the chickens and in fact, had originally entitled this post "Late Chickens"... when I ended up in WWII!  The following is what was the beginning of that blog:

I've recently been listening to "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" books on CD.  It is something that helps me look forward to (or at least somewhat enjoy) my ironing.  One of the things I appreciate most is the language that the author uses...the stories take place in Botswana, and although they speak English, the verb usage isn't always what we are used to.  For instance, we might say "my late grandfather", whereas they would say, "my grandfather is late".  (This is where I was going to mention my chickens, what with them being "late" and all...but got sidetracked)  Another thing I like is how patriotic Botswanians are... they love their country.  I wish we, collectively, loved our country with as much enthusiasm as they have for theirs.  On this 69th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, we should all stop a moment and remember the sacrifice that so many offered on that fateful day and in the many days of war that followed...(then I realized there was no getting to chickens from here).

And Jackie, since you are probably the only one what will read this, all of our chickens are dead...between the coyote and the dog, we are now chickenless and will no doubt remain so for the foreseeable future.  I'll keep you posted.

Thankful for friends

Dear Jackie,

Thank you for the reminder that it had been so long since last I posted...July??  REALLY??? Feels like another lifetime ago.  I have no good excuse, save being too busy with life to comment on it, I guess.  My plan is to blog "just a little" every day and hopefully more when I have time.  I'm still trying to work out the details, but Casey Ray is doing something called 364 simple joys and I might try that.  When I googled it, I found this blog   http://365simplejoys.blogspot.com/  which is actually pretty cool.  I guess you could just follow her ;) New year, new resolutions and all of that... anyway, thanks again for a slight push in the right direction.  It's good to have friends :)

Sincerely,
LaDawn