This year, I’m doing a weekly post about food because I want to eat better. I like to eat, but that’s the only thing I like to do with regards to food. I don’t like buying it. I don’t like thinking about it. I don’t like preparing it. Improving my relationship with food will be a challenge.

My first goal is to start making myself a lunch to take to work, so I bought myself a cute lunch sack. That’s it. See, this is going to be a challenge.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

Here’s my new blogging schedule for 2014:

Monday – What I’m Wearing

The idea is that I will come up with some great ideas for “the woman over 50″ to wear, but it may end up being my version of “What Not To Wear.” Either way, it could be fun (or funny).

Tuesday – Greyt Hounds

A post about my pets. An essential. Iâ€ve been doing this since 2011 when I started my blog.

Wednesday – Simple Living

A post about simplifying. This has been a desire of mine for many years. Seems like 2014 would be a good year to put some effort into this.

Thursday – What’s To Eat

I want to improve my relationship with food. Thatâ€s how I came up with this idea.

Friday – Want To Talk About

A post about anything I want to talk about. This is another post topic thatâ€s been part of my blog since 2011.

Saturday – Picture This

A post with a pretty (or interesting) picture. Although photography isnâ€t a passion of mine, Iâ€ve come to enjoy it. Iâ€d like to get better, so thatâ€s what this post would help me do (hopefully…maybe).

Sunday – Creating The Creator

A post about creativity. Iâ€ve been doing this since 2011 too. It will be interesting to see how I keep creativity alive in my new career-focused life.

Here’s to a new year!

Twinkie was delighted to receive a package of Orijen Freeze-Dried Cat Treats from Chewy.com. What a great way to end 2013!

Here are some important details about these new Orijen Cat Treats:

100% Meat – Cats are carnivores, so Orijen Cat Treats are 100% meat.

100% Fresh Ingredients – The ingredients for Orijen Cat Treats are delivered fresh daily.

Freeze-Dried – To preserve the taste and goodness of fresh, regional ingredients, Orijen Cat Treats are freeze-dried. Freeze-drying removes only water, so all nutrients stay in the food, exactly where they should be.

Amazing Palatability – Loaded with fresh meats, tripe and liver, Orijen Cat Treats are a nutritious and delicious reward for your kitty.

5 Great Flavors – 3 flavors matching Orijen’s award-winning dry foods and 2 unique single-course flavors.

Twinkie checked them out and gave them an A+, both for the great taste and because they are easy for a senior kitty mouth to eat.

Thank you, Chewy.com for asking us to do this review. We received a free package of Orijen Cat Treats for an honest rating from Twinkie.

Hereâ€s whatâ€s been happening in my studio…

Every month, I receive a box called Paper Pumpkin from Stampin†Up!. It contains all the things necessary to make a paper craft. This month’s project was a journal.

Super easy to put together.

The kit also included these cute stickers to jazz up the pages when photos are added. These kits are always fun because everything is included and they usually go together super quick.

Last week, I took a little unannounced blogging break. It was unannounced because I didn’t realize it was going to happen. I just got very, very tired. After a few nights of coming home and going to bed as soon as possible, I’m feeling better.

This is what mommy looked like last week…except without the hedgehog. That’s mine.

I had posts started for last week. Since I use my blog as a sort of “diary,” I’ll be posting them after I clean them up a bit. Don’t think your reader or feed is messed up if I have a few days with multiple posts.

Mommy looked like this last week…except she usually made it to her bed before zonking out.

A little rest is a good thing.

Mommy looked like this last week…except she can’t do this super fancy twisty leg move. She’s not that bendy.

Every week in 2013, I tried to set aside a little time for an Artist Date. The Artist Date comes from the book The Artistâ€s Way by Julia Cameron. Being the final weekend of 2013, I wanted to make sure I did something, so my daughter and I headed out to see a movie.

We went to see Philomena.

The film is based on the book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by Martin Sixsmith, which tells the true story of Philomena Lee’s 50-year-long search for her son.

We really enjoyed the film and more than a few tears were shed by me. I recommend it.

Every Friday, I share a poem. Friday is also the day I post a prompt of something you can do to make the world a kinder place. I call this the Kind is Kool challenge. I offer both the poem and the kindness challenge without any obligation, so “Comments” are turned off every Friday. This is the last poem and kindness challenge for the year. Enjoy.

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In Memory Of Anyone Unknown To Me

At this particular time I have no one
Particular person to grieve for, though there must
Be many, many unknown ones going to dust
Slowly, not remembered for what they have done
Or left undone. For these, then, I will grieve
Being impartial, unable to deceive.

How they lived, or died, is quite unknown,
And, by that fact gives my grief purity,
An important person quite apart from me
Or one obscure who drifted down alone.
Both or all I remember, have a place.
For these I never encountered face to face.

Sentiment will creep in. I cast it out
Wishing to give these classical repose,
No epitaph, no poppy and no rose
From me, and certainly no wish to learn about
The way they lived or died. In earth or fire
They are gone. Simply because they were human, I admire.

 Elizabeth Jennings

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Kind is Kool Challenge

Week 41 Challenge – Do you admire the lights or Christmas decorations of someone’s house? Drop a note in their mailbox saying how much you’ve enjoyed looking at their pretty decorations this season and thank them for sharing the holiday spirit.

At the very last minute…we had a photo taken for 2013.

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays and a wonderful New Year.

It seems like I read quite a few books these past three months, but truth be told, I just “finished” quite a few books. I’ve been reading them for quite a while (ha). Here’s what I “finished,” October through December:

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill

I love short stories and novellas. There is something satisfying about a short, concisely told story. The stories in this collection run the gamut between scary, sad, sweet and strange. As with all short story collections, you’ll like some more than others, but it you love horror and short stories, I think you’ll thoroughly enjoy this book.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

This book is a mystery, a story about friendship and a look at growing up in a small town in rural Mississippi in the 1970’s. Larry Ott, the child of working-class white parents and Silas “32” Jones, the son of a poor, single black mother, were boyhood pals, but their brief friendship fractured. Silas went on to become a high school baseball star while Larry was relegated to “weirdo” status. Larry goes from harmless to dangerous when he picks up a girl for a drive-in movie date, and she is never seen again. More than twenty years pass. Larry, a mechanic, lives a solitary existence, never able to rise above the whispers of suspicion. Silas has returned to town as a constable. He and Larry have no reason to cross paths until another girl disappears and Larry is blamed again. Now the two men who once called each other “friend” are forced to confront the past they’ve buried and ignored for decades. I found this book to have a compelling story, thrilling (and creepy) elements and interesting characters.

 

 The Small Hand and Dolly by Susan Hill

This is a pair of ghost stories. Each deals with impulsive childhood wickedness and the malevolent persistence of the past. I enjoyed reading both of the stories and read them quickly. They both gave me that haunting, gothic feel that I love in a ghost story.

The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling

I listened to The Casual Vacancy as an audiobook. This is a wonderful novel if you love characters and subtlety. Set in Pagford, a seemingly idyllic English town, a vacancy on the parish council becomes the catalyst that exposes all manner of conflict. This is not a fast moving story. I’m glad I picked this up as an audiobook because the slower pace didn’t bother me as much as it may have if I were reading it.

Joyland by Stephen King

I also listened to this book on audio. Joyland tells the story of college student Devin Jones who spends one summer working in a small North Carolina amusement park in 1973. During that time, Devin comes to grips with growing up, confronts the legacy of a vicious murder and befriends a dying child and his mother. I am a huge Stephen King fan, so take my recommendation knowing that, but I truly enjoyed this book and would have whether I read it or listened to it.

The Rathbones by Janice Clark

Another audiobook I listened to. According to a description of the book, it is “a gothic, literary adventure set in New England, chronicling one hundred years of a once prosperous and now crumbling whaling family, told by its last surviving member.” I don’t think that’s a completely accurate description. There were strong fantasy and mythic elements to this book. If you enjoy that type of story, you may enjoy this book. For me, I didn’t mind listening to it in the car, but if I had been reading it, I may have given it up.

In 2013, I did several “Every Day Ugly” posts on the second Wednesday of the month. What is “Every Day Ugly?” It’s where I look around at all the things I use the most, to make sure those are my “best” things. This series was inspired by my friend, Amy, who noticed that some of the ickiest things she owned were the things she used the most. She wanted to change that to make sure that her every day life was filled with beautiful, functional things. This inspired me to take a look around and make sure that I wasnâ€t saving “the best” for days that rarely come.

I don’t have any “improvements” to report this month, but my friend Sue, of Graceful Greyhounds, sent me this lovely project.

She took a plain glass vase.

Punched out flower shapes.

Adhered them to the vase.

And Voilà! The perfect reminder that spring is a mere three months away. Thank you, Sue. What a beautiful project.