Recent Josieisms

I've been neglecting my blog lately...mostly due to the fact that I just haven't felt like thinking or writing. I'm finally beginning to feel a bit better & I have a couple of days to myself with no houseguests and no schedule to follow. After having houseguests for 29 nights in a row, I'm feeling a huge sense of relief to know that I have a few days to simply BE in my own space.

Josie's been my source of comfort over these past few weeks and has entertained me with her typical Josieisms. Thought I'd jot a few down to share.

"I think I'm going to have to have to marry Ethan, Mommy. He called me a Foxy Mama."

"I had a dream that I was all growed up into a mom and then I didn't cry anymore when you clipped my nails."

"I really, really want to play with my friends on the playground. That's two 'reallys' so that's a lot of wanting."

"Last weekend, when I was a baby, I loved it when you sang to me. Now it makes me laugh."

"I love Mrs. Grewal. I hope she has a Mr. Grewal."

"When I grow up I'm going to be a princess in my house but outside I'll be a dentist."

"Your hair is getting longer and longer. I think you might be a girl soon, Mommy."

"When I'm at my daddy's new house I feel excited. But when I'm not there, I don't really care about it."

"Roman hurt my feelings when he told me he's going to take my brains. He can't really take my brains, can he?"

While watching the inauguration, I was naming all of the previous presidents as they walked out of the Capitol Building. She was watching intently and then asked, "Hmph! All those presidents are boys. Why don't we have any girl presidents?" I suggested that she could be our first girl president when she's grown up. She replied, "That's just too long to wait for a girl president, Mommy."

"Kris Kringle loves me because she knows I love her. That's how it works. Animals just know if you love them."

New Year Goals

Friends have been calling and checking in for the holidays and several have asked me if I have any New Year's Resolutions. That's almost the same as expecting me to give something up for Lent. I was raised Catholic and have spent the last couple of decades trying to decide what I believe about spirituality and religious affiliations, and consider myself to be a Recovering Catholic. (I don't think we ever really 'recover', though. Once a person is raised with guilt, I think it becomes part of the genetic make-up and can't be surgically removed.)So, in order to try to eliminate the need to feel any more guilt than I already have ingrained in my being, I don't have any New Year's Resolutions & I won't be giving anything up for Lent.

However, old habits die hard & I do seem to think about goal-setting. I definitely want to improve some of my behaviors over the next year.

Here are my Top Ten Goals for 2009:

10. Clean up the 'office' at my house...it's a disaster and stresses me out just looking at the stuff piled in here.

9. Brush my dogs reularly to help our house feel less furry.

8. Nail a full time teaching position to help my financial situation.

7. Pay off the credit cards and create a savings account for emergencies.

6. Find a comfortable pair of jeans.

5. Paint the molding.

4. Improve my vegetable gardening skills & have enough produce to share generously.

3. Schedule that nagging repeat colonoscopy & quit whining about it.

2. Tell my family and friends how much I appreciate them & need them.

1. Continue to play games, read books, and make Josie my priority every day.