The Worst Day of the Year

According to some sources, today is the worst day of the year. Not because there is something wrong with today, but a bunch of things are going to combine for people to make it feel bad. (This also has nothing to do with Martin Luther King day!) The holidays are over, we've now had two weeks back to work, of course, a lot of people have today off. We don't, the store is open as normal. We close for very few days. Today should actually be busy for us, as there is no school. The credit card bills for December have arrived, and most people that started the New Year with resolutions for how this year will be differant, have failed in some way, the majority of them completely giving up because of their failure.

So I'm checking in with you about mine.

Healthy Living: well the exercise Wii thing hasn't been happening. However, I have thrown on the snow gear, put Finn on a sled and gone for a walk or two. I have to admit getting us both out the door is a project in itself. Finding wool socks for me and worrying if a single pair of socks is enough for Finn, because he doesn't have any wool socks. Check the weather channel, what's the wind chill? Is one pair of jeans enough? do we need long underwear? t-shirt, sweatshirt? turtleneck? ok, snowpants on, boots on, hmm, maybe I better change him, boots off, sweatpants off, change a diaper, snowpants on, boots on. Finn has by now lost any interest in the process, and is reaching for trains or trucks. Wrestle him in to his coat. stamp in to my boots, grab my coat, hat for each, mittens for him, mittens for me, do we need scarves? Finally we open the door, dig the sled out and make it safely down the steps. Finn on to the sled and off we go. Hopefully the sidewalks are not completely cleared because the sled is a lot easier to pull when there is snow under it! Off to the park, two blocks north and 1 block west, and a large intersection later, we are at the park. With half the walks cleared and huge drifts blocking our way to the play structures. But we fight through, Finn sometimes needing to be lifted out of a drift that he got stuck in. To find ice coated play structures more suited to skates than boots, but we gamely keep searching for one we can play on without falling. 30 minutes later, we are exhausted, we are boiling hot inside our coats, and ready to reverse the trip back home. Finn sometimes walks, sometimes "helps" pull he sled. An hour after spending 20 minutes getting ready, we are back home and reversing the process, Finn tries to take his snowpants off without taking off his boots, I search for the wet mittens to make sure they are hung to dry and we shed clothes across the kitchen. Our cheeks are bright red and cold, our toes are burning and we are full of fresh cold air, and I think longingly of summer, "do you want to go outside?" Open the door and walk out. so much simpler, but not quite as invigorating. I think getting ready qualifies as a workout, so it's two workouts in one day when we get ready to be out, and then actually spend time out there!

Clutter: I've hauled out several bags of garbage. I'ce sorted through a couple of bookshelfs for the first time, I have a couple of boxes that are either going to my family to see if they want to read them, and others going to the used bookstore. I found a couple that need to go back to their owners as well! I really need to step that project up, as the bookshelves are in the room that we are making in to Finn's big boy room. I'm really working hard on keeping the kitchen clean, once I have that as a habit, I'll add the living room. That's my biggest "public" problem area.

Relationships: My mom and sisters decided that we need to spend more time together. So each month we are having Girls Day Out. We had our first one yesterday, success for January!! We helped Mom get some pictures hung back up, and then we went shopping. Clearance racks are phenomenal. Then dinner together at Applebees. It was a great day with a lot of laughter and we decided next month's date and event. We're going to be lazy next month and curl up on couches and watch Audrey Hepburn movies. We also are kind of incorporating a book club, with each of us sharing favorites. Mom and Ashlee are going to read Good Omens, I may have to find a copy and refresh my memory as well! I'm bringing the Odd Thomas series for them for next month, and Rhonda sent home a new fantasy series for me to try. I'll be getting the Steig Larsson books next. My family are readers, so this should be a lot of fun. Gino switched shifts with our employee and he now has Friday's off. We are going to try and re-establish connections with some friends that have been hard to maintain with working at the store so often.

All in all, I can't say that it's a bad day. I feel like while I haven't made the progress I'd like to on all my resolutions, I'm making progress. I'm ok with that, and the trick is to keep going despite having failures or missteps.

And to keep it timeley, my favorite essay by Dr King was about conscientious objections. He reminded people that you can't freely break the law. You have to do it knowingly, lovingly and accepting of the consequences. It is only then that you would be able to show how it was wrong. It isn't just not following the law because you don't agree, it's using that law to show how unfair it is. Working within the law takes longer, it's not glamorous, it's not exciting, but it is lasting, it leads to true change and better laws for everyone. A much more reasonable approach then opening fire at your local supermarket and recklessly injuring people.