Well this year, I’ve decided to make some New Years Resolutions. I went back and found my post from 2009 and I see that I did not tell you what my resolutions were. I think this was all strategic planning on my part. This way if I failed, no one could say… “Um, excuse me lady, but you didn’t keep your resolutions from last year, you don’t need new ones.” However, I love to torment myself so here goes nothing!! I have some resolutions I think I will TRY to keep this year!!

1) Stay on track with Project 365! Do a photo EACH and EVERY day for the entire year. Right now I only have them up on Facebook and since my profile is private you can’t view them. Note to self: Get them on Flickr!

EDIT – You can see my Project 365 here until I do it on Flickr!! *YAY*

2) No sleeping past 10 am any days. Sick or not, feeling horrid, depressed, whatever the case, up no later then 10am!

3) Stick to my gym routine. I was going 3 times a week. I stopped. No excuses. I am going to make this a goal I CAN keep and say that I MUST go at least 2 times a week. More is better though. I do not want to pay out the rear for life insurance rates like some people for being unhealthy and unfit!

4) Read a book. I haven’t read a book in AGES. I have several I want to read. There is no time limit on this, I just think that to instill in my children that reading is good, I need to lead by example. I also think reading can be therapeutic. So therefor, I am setting the goal to read A book this year. We all have to start someplace!!

5) Get into a routine! My routine is completely gone. I need to get back on track and I keep saying next week, next week, next week. Next week never comes. This is it. I need to get my routine and schedule back. I need to stop veering away from the things I need to do. Procrastinate less and get things DONE! (My husband will love this one.)

6) Scrap more. It’s been awhile since I scrapped. I need to get back into it. It was very good for me!

I’m going to try to review this every quarter and see how I am doing to keep myself on track. Hopefully it helps. It’s a new year and a new decade!! Time to make some changes in myself and this household.

This post is inspired by the amazing Jessica Gottlieb’s post from today. It got me thinking as I shared my story in her comments. I couldn’t help but wonder “What went wrong?” I am a sucker for a sad story and I am a person who’s heart breaks for many other people. I just have a very soft and giving heart inside of the tough lining.

Where I am from you rarely see a homeless person, or a pan handler. It’s not common. Even though it’s a bigger city, there are just alot of resources and jobs. It’s not common. Although growing up I did see my fair share of people rolling carts full of aluminum cans to the can exchange for money, this was not homeless people, just people looking for extra money.

My first experience with homeless people was when I visited Milwaukee. I see a few, but it was daytime and it wasn’t excessive. They were not sleeping on benches or in parks. They were walking down the streets, so it didn’t really hit me I guess. My bigger experience was more recently when I visited Las Vegas. They are everywhere! When you come out of stores, they are there. When you come out of malls, they are there. When you visit parks, they are there. I gave away my fair share of change when I was there. I couldn’t help it. Despite the company I was with telling me that some of them did NOT in fact need it and it was a “lifestyle” they used to get money. It broke my heart.

Recently on our way to the grocery store, my husband and I see a man with a sign that said “Will Work 4 Food”. I felt horrible. He was standing there in a jacket and hat, but no mittens. It’s about 10 degrees not considering our wind chill. It’s cold in the midwest. Across the street was a gas station. I asked my husband to stop. I entered and bought a sandwich, a Gatorade and $2.00. I walked across the street and handed it to the man. I didn’t want to hear his story. I didn’t want to hear that I was being taken advantage of, I didn’t want to hear why he needed food. I fear I may not have been able to handle it. As I handed the items to the man, he said “Thank you, this is the first meal I’ve had in 4 days.” I couldn’t even begin to imagine!

“Merry Christmas to You.” I also was sure to tell him that the local church does meals everyday so that he could get a meal everyday. “I hope something comes along for you and things get better.”

He bowed his head and said “Thank you. God Bless You.”

That was all I needed. I felt humbled. But I still feel sad for this man. Just as Jessica’s post says… This man is someone’s baby, someone’s son, and someone loves him. Someone rocked him, someone kissed him….

Something to think about this holiday season…

So it’s been awhile since I’ve blogged and I swear I need to be a better blogger.  I am going to try to start. I am home from my trip to Las Vegas and it was a blast, but I am SO glad to be back home. I went for 5 days and it was alot of fun. I’ve seen things there I really never seen before and it was neat. I partied some, went to some clubs, drank alot LOL, shopped a ton, you know lived the life. My hubby and kiddos stayed home. It was just me and a good friend of mine. It was a nice time. I got majorly home sick though about ay 3 and by day 4 I was having a hard time sleeping. I just wanted to come home to my house, my hubby, my babies and my bed! I managed though and it was a blast. I love all the swap meets they have. They are like super sales all the time. I got a bunch of great deals. I went with 1 suitcase that was not so full and an empty one and came back with 2 that were STUFFED full. I had a great time shopping!! Hopefully I can post some pictures soon. I do have to get them sized down. I managed to lose all my weight and what not so I was happy with my look. I got into some shorts, a shirt and even a DRESS while I was down there!! It was nice!! I came home CRAVING Sonic. We don’t have one here. So I have been sadly addicted to Sunkist Cherry Limeade soda since I’ve arrived home! LOL Sad life I tell you.

Okay, well I am off to bed here. Tomorrow the Diva makes her first communion so I have to be up early for church and a little get together her afterwards. I’ll post some pictures of her in her BEAUTIFUL dress!! She’s adorable in it. I never could imagine her in ALL white and staying clean so this should be interesting!

Happy Thanksgiving to my friends that are celebrating. If you already celebrated I hope your meal was yummy and filled with goodies, if you have yet to celebrate just think of the yummy thing to come!! For those of you that don’t celebrate, I still hope you have a blessed day.

It is with sad heart that I make this post. My dear Grandma Pearl has earned her Angel wings today. She passed through Heaven’s gates shortly after 12:30pm this afternoon. She was so couragous these last few weeks but she just couldn’t fight anymore. As much as I want to understand it breaks my heart and Thanksgiving will never be the same. Please send a prayer for us if you have a second. It’s a lot of heartache. Since our meal was already cooking when we got the news we will eat dinner at 3pm and then we will gather together to remember and celebrate her. This is a day I will never forget. *sigh*