Houseplants and Air Quality

Probably I shouldn't have jinxed myself with the norovirus because both Chris and Ava threw up and had to come home from work and school.  And they both aren't doing all that great today.  I am totally waiting for the other foot to drop.

I can't even begin to tell you how true this is from a microbiological standpoint!

This morning at 7 I opened a bunch of windows in our house to circulate the bad air out and the good air in.  They say that if people would have done this during the Plague that thousands upon thousands would have lived, but of course, they could barely afford to heat their homes so that would be the last thing they would have done.

Coincidentally, I bough a snake plant the day before everyone got sick, and it happens to make the top 15 houseplants for air quality by the NASA.  Here is a link to an article about it, and here is the list:  (I think I posted this list a year or so ago)

1. Philodendron scandens `oxycardium', heartleaf philodendron 
2. Philodendron domesticum, elephant ear philodendron 
3. Dracaena fragrans `Massangeana', cornstalk dracaena 
4. Hedera helix, English ivy 
5. Chlorophytum comosum, spider plant 
6. Dracaena deremensis `Janet Craig', Janet Craig dracaena 
7. Dracaena deremensis `Warneckii', Warneck dracaena 
8. Ficus benjamina, weeping fig 
9. Epipiremnum aureum, golden pothos 
10. Spathiphyllum `Mauna Loa', peace lily 
11. Philodendron selloum, selloum philodendron 
12. Aglaonema modestum, Chinese evergreen 
13. Chamaedorea sefritzii, bamboo or reed palm 
14. Sansevieria trifasciata, snake plant 
15. Dracaena marginata , red-edged dracaena

And they also recommend that a house 2000 square feet or smaller is supposed to have 15 different types.  Um, I don't know about your house, but mine does not have room to have 15 types of plants just hanging around begging for my kids to dig in them.

Here's three on the list that are highly ubiquitous and should be easy to find.

Spider Plant

Snake Plant

Bamboo

I'm halfway serious about rushing out while I still can and buying a bunch more plants to toss around the house in the hopes that it would make a difference.  Although, I don't think that the plants are really helpful with biological agents.  Maybe the placebo effect?  I think they'll help so therefore they will?

Here's to hoping that the three babies and myself don't get sick.  Chris has massive projects due on Friday of a very important nature and wouldn't be able to stay home and nurse us back to health.  I am having a hard time imagining myself feeding and cleaning up puke in between puking myself.   Yuck.

Stitches and Chaos

Monday night Moyz is running down the hallway, trips and hits the bolt on the hinge of the pantry door.  He had a smallish gaping hole in his head, but I was slightly concerned at how deep it was, and the fact that it was a strange shape and just sitting open for all of the nasty bacteria to crawl in.  You could see all the way down through the fat layers.  But, I wan't quite sure if it was "stitch worthy" so  I decided to wait until Chris got home about an hour later to determine if we needed stitches.

Yup.

 The Culprit

So off to urgent care we went.  Once there, everyone was covered with those face masks, so of course we did too, and it made me feel all crazy like everyone in Asia they showed on the news with face masks to avoid the bird flu a couple of years ago.

Numbing cream and 2 stitches later, we were out of there.  They would have liked to do 3 but the zigzag of the cut created a problem for them but they got the deep part closed.

It doesn't actually look too bad from these pictures.  (Post Stitches)

I think it's going to leave a mark.  (Post Stitches)

And then yesterday we had to go and get a tetanus booster because somehow in the 8 million doctor visits he's had in the last year and a half, we got behind on shots and since he cut his head on metal they wanted to quick get it in his system.

He started yelling the moment we walked into the office.  I don't know why, it probably had nothing to do with the fact that the night before they covered his face with cloth, had a nurse holding his head still, and his mom laying on top of him to prevent him from thrashing around, not to mention the actual doctor who was stitching his forehead shut.  And to top it all off, while we were in the waiting room another family came out, sat down and looked at all my kids and then said "Are all these kids yours?"  Yes.  "Well one of them pooped their pants".  So I had to go around and look at all their butts, except we were poop free, so I chalked it up to gas.  And Owen kindly offered that maybe it was baked beans.

And then afterwards when I decided to take the 4 of them to Wendy's to eat lunch, a little old man came up to me inside and told me "I hope that kid of yours (Moyz) isn't sick because he's licking the kitchen".  And by kitchen he meant the counter where you pay for your food.  New, terrible, rampant Norovirus here we come.

Downton Abbey- what happened?!

Okay, so I did not see that coming.  And if you haven't seen the last Downton Abbey episode, look away right now.

Sybil died?  Why on earth would they do that?  She was my favorite character after the Countess!

What is going to happen now?  I wanted to strangle the fancy doctor from the city and beat him with a cane or something along those lines.  Once they really started arguing I kind of started thinking that she would die, but every ounce of me was fighting it.  I cried real tears, probably because I started thinking about how upset I would be at Chris if he decided that no medical care was necessary for our daughters in a similar situation.

Good grief, look how wrapped up in this I am!

And, to top it all off, I got around to watching PBS' Sherlock, and oh my goodness, you must watch it.  Amazing.

It's a 21st century Sherlock.  Absolutely love it.  I love it just as much as Downton Abbey.  If you are a member of amazon prime you can stream it for free so it's probably on netflix too.  Season 1 episode 2 is kind of lame, but hang in there, because I just finished the first episode of season 3, and it rocks.  How are the British coming up with all of this stuff?  And why do we Americans have shows like Dancing with the Stars and the Bachelor??  Not even comparable!

I haven't been this addicted to tv since I was in college!  Which is also why I don't have a tutorial on how to make the oversize growth ruler I showed you earlier in the week.  I spent most of my weekend watching tv.  And cross-country skiing for the first time in the dark by candlelight.  Which was romantic, but not really the best way to introduce yourself to the sport.

"Twirly" Project

Remember this fabric?

Well, I had this great idea that I was going to make curtains out of it.  And here's what happened

 Before curtains

 After curtains

Not sure that I  like the curtains.  And what a pain in butt they are turning out to be.  The fabric is pretty thick even though it said it was perfect for curtains, so they don't want to push back well and so it blocks the light unless I tie them like on the right, but I don't really like the look of it.  Plus, genius that I am, I went and cut the first panel right away off the bolt, and when I finished it realized I ordered double what I needed since it won't push out of the way like I was hoping, and since I already cut it, now I can't return it and only get what I need.

And now I am kind of liking the cleanness of the first picture with no heavy curtains, so now am thinking to get blinds of some sort in each window section, and then just have sheers to add a little softness around it.  I still have to paint all the trim white and finish one wall.  The painting that never ends, I swear.

Ava says that we need more color in the room, and I have to admit, it is looking a little spartan and bare for my tastes.  

All in all, I'm a little bummed with my $70 spent on way too much fabric that in the end, I'm not really crazy about.  And if I do get blinds with sheers, what in the heck am I going to do with 12 yards of twirly fabric?  This is the type of thing that happens when you like change too much.

How Kembia feels about sledding is how I feel about my curtains.

Onscreen/Offscreen Downton Abby Actors

So I came across this post through another blog that has onscreen vs. offscreen pictures of the Downton Abbey cast.  (Originally from a site called Papermag, never heard of it before)  Jump over to see all of them.  But holy smokes, I had to post a couple of the most different!

On Screen Ms. O'Brien

Off Screen

Can you even really believe it?!  Look how gorgeous she is, I had no idea!

On Screen Mrs. Hughes

Off Screen

Another holy smokes, who knew?

What a difference between these two woman's before and afters!  It makes me think that perhaps I should be busting out just a touch of make-up other than mascara.

And go here to take the PBS "Which Downton character are you" quiz.  I ended up being Isobel Crawley.  Which both annoys me and makes me happy.  It annoys me because somehow I find her antics the most grating on me of all the women on the show, even though I love the decisions she makes and what she stands for, but makes me happy because I love the things that she does.  I am truly hoping that she hires Ethel to come and work in her house.  That ought to shake things up a bit!

Oversized Growth Chart Ruler

So I saw this ruler over on Dear Lillie blog a long time ago and pinned the image away for later.  And just recently decided that it would be perfect in my living room to help warm up the cold white walls.  If you have more money than time, hop on over to her blog and purchase it.  They will be restocked on January 31st.  If you have more time than money, or are willing to find the time, try to do it yourself.  

I am going to attempt do DIY this coming weekend, and am hoping it won't cost too much.  I would love to order it already done, but I think I can save quite a bit if I go it on my own.  I already own the stain, so it would just be the board, and trying to think of how to do the black numbers to measure.

Wouldn't this be a fun gift for a new baby?  Strange, perhaps, but it sure beats leaving a mark on the wall!

Caviar

Saturday I managed to sneak out of the house for awhile and made my way down to World Market.  I absolutely love their food section, and usually bring something home to try.  This time, it was caviar on super clearance from Christmas.  I got 4 different kinds for $5.

I have never actually eaten caviar before, but it kind of seemed like one of those things I should do since some people spend a fair amount of money to eat this stuff.   And you know how fancy we are here at the Nelson household/

Chris and I hated it.

And then, because we rock as parents, we made our kids try it.

The babies ate it right up and loved it.  Ava and Owen both started crying.  For real.  They cried because it was eggs from fish, and how gross was that?  So of course I tried to explain that they ate chicken eggs out of chicken butts and how gross was that?  But somehow that argument didn't work in my favor.

Eventually, we had to threaten that they wouldn't get to have friend birthday parties if they didn't try it.  I know that probably sounds harsh, and we were only kidding, not that we let them know that, but we took the time to tell them that it was good to try things even if we thought they sounded gross, and that if we had raised them on caviar they wouldn't think twice about it like they don't with eggs or anything else.

They both eventually ate it.  Ava really fast, and Owen slow so he gagged.

It was pretty funny.  Also, don't ever by caviar because it just tastes like salty fish with a weird texture.

The GIANT Chop

So, I couldn't handle it.  My hair that is.  The bangs with the super long tresses just read "mom to 5 kids".  I know, that's what I am, but that doesn't mean I want to look like that!

Before, (after the bangs)

And post giant chop plus a little highlighting

I do like it, but I have to admit it is quite the change.  I haven't had short hair in a very long time.  And a little part of me is wondering how long it will be before I can wear a ponytail!  It's an inverted bob and the back is extremely short.

Anyway, can't wait to see Chris' face tonight when he comes home.  He's going to freak!

Bright

I started painting.  And all white is awfully bright.  And a tad cold looking.  Plus, it's taking a ton of paint to cover my dark gray walls.  I am on my third gallon, and I only see more coming.  It's taking about 4 coats for trim work, and 3 coats to totally cover the walls.  Poop.

Definitely feels weird to me, to have walls that are all white, but I am going to shake that up a bit with this fabric.

Premier Prints Twirly from Fabric.com

Quite possibly one of the coolest looking fabrics ever.  Hopefully, my idea turns out awesome, because if it doesn't I am not quite sure what to do.  

I am stuck between wanting to go natural or to throw some bright colors like pink and teal in there and shake things up.  This is what happens when you like all sorts of stuff and don't want to be stuck with one thing so long.  

PS:  I was messing around with the blog trying to make the pictures on the side a little bigger, when I pushed something that turned everything dark.  Sorry for the chaos.  Now I have to figure out how to get back to white.  Of course, I don't really know how to do that, so perhaps this black will stay?  Sorry if it looks different every time you see it in the near future.

Photo Dump

Mostly for the grandparents, here's recent photos of all the naughty Nelsons.

Sledding when it was 3 degrees out.

After he threw his plate on the floor.

Chillin'.

Ava seriously got stuck in this bush and needed help to get out.

Muppet boots and reflective shirt.  The kids went crazy for the sparkles projected on the floor.

Total trouble, don't let the cuteness fool you.

And then I decided to chop bangs.  I have been seeing them everywhere and finally ran to the bathroom 20 minutes before Chris got home.  His jaw hit the floor when he saw me.  I have not had bangs in honestly, 18 years.  That is a very long time, and I should have taken note of that and what that meant.  

I have decided that this look is not for me.  This picture is okay. but I took like 20 to get these two and I have decided that I NEVER.EVER. should have done this.  

Please, please, let me have uber fast growing hair.  

Confessions Of A Busy Mom

It seems that whenever I do a confessions post, another mom chimes in and says something like "I'm glad I'm not the only one who does such and such".  So, I thought it was time for another one.

1.  Kembia wears mostly boy underwear.  That stuff is expensive and we have a plethora from Owen, so why not?

2.  Truitt mostly wears Kembia's jammies.  They're the same size and since I  never do laundry as often as I should, and she has a ton, so in them he goes.

3.  Truitt fell down our stairs last week. (sorry dad, I tried to stop it)  At first I was concerned about all the head damage he's received lately, but then I remembered that Owen did it probably just as much and he turned out okay...

4.  I still haven't rebraided the hair Kembia cut.

5.  Sometimes for breakfast I feed the three littles bananas and buttered bread. Cause that's well balanced.

6.  We make a lot of soup meals for supper, and since it's messy for the youngest three, and to stretch it, we always put 5-6 saltine crackers in their soup.

7.  I haven't taken the time to do much learning things with Kembia and Moyz, but they can both almost count to 10, which can be attributed solely to large amounts of PBS

8.  Moyz is tricky to understand if you don't spend a lot of time around him, but he can say "Wild Kratts" perfectly.  Man I love PBS

9.  The 3 littles share toothbrushes.  They do each have their own, but it's hard to keep them apart, and they swap of their own accord anyway, so what are we supposed to do?  Go with it.


That pretty much sums up our philosophy on raising kids- go with it.

5K Color Run

I came across the event call the Color Run last year on one of the many blogs I follow.  I mean, just look at this picture?  How could you not want to participate?  And since losing weight and getting in better shape is a New Year's resolution for 90% of Americans, what better way to get you motivated?



Click the link The Color Run to see if there is one near you.  The proceeds go to a local state charity.

Now to convince three friends to do it with me......

PS: I just bought this book A Year of Biblical Womanhood:  How a Liberated woman found herself sitting on her roof, covering her head, and calling her husband Master"

Here's a tidbit of an explanation on the book:

"With just the right mixture of humor and insight, compassion and incredulity, A Year of Biblical Womanhood is an exercise in scriptural exploration and spiritual contemplation. What does God truly expect of women, and is there really a prescription for biblical womanhood? Come along with Evans as she looks for answers in the rich heritage of biblical heroines, models of grace, and all-around women of valor."

Should be interesting!

Calm

I'll get to the calm in a second, but first I need to vent about the fact that Kembia cut her hair.  I put her down for a nap in her and Ava's room, and when I went down to get her after she woke up I saw her pretty little braids on the floor.  She had grabbed a kid scissor before falling asleep and chop, chopped 3 braids off.    The good news is that it was the yarn extensions, but she almost cut up high enough to cut off her actual hair, and I would have been so sad.  When questioned about what happened, she lifted up her hands and said "I don't know".  Right.  And then later that day, I caught Moyz trying to put Kembia's doll into the toilet.  And then I fed the babies bleu cheese stuffed olives, and Kembia told me "It tastes like poop".  Which was an interesting response because I am fairly certain she has never heard that expression before.

This is such a good idea, but so impractical.

Okay, now to the calm.

We visited some friends when we were on the Great Christmas Trip.  Both Chris and I walked through their front door and said something along the lines about how the house was so calming.  Seriously, you walked in and it was like time momentarily stopped.

Basically the walls were a very, very light yellow, although Chris thinks it was cream, but since I know more about colors and have a better eye, I'm going with light yellow.  And then the furniture was all white.  With three young girls running around and an outdoorsy husband.

It's no secret that Chris doesn't like the new blue/gray living room paint.  To put it more bluntly, he despises it.  So, both of us came away from the visit thinking that we need to paint the living room.  Again.  Well, actually I came away thinking I should paint, and Chris came away thinking we should paint but that we probably wouldn't because it's a time waster.  I am not sure what to think about that.  So if I died and he didn't like the color of something, he would just live with it because it takes time for change?  (I should probably add here that we had the best time with our long moved away friends and we didn't just come away with vain things like painting our house!)

Anyway, I have always loved images of white rooms with color in them but not on the walls.  I pin images of mostly white rooms (all white rooms look cold and sterile to me) and absolutely love the look of white with rustic elements in them.  But I have always thought that white rooms were for people who were afraid of color.  Kind of like long hair was for people who were afraid of themselves and life, and needed it to hide behind.  (Coming from someone who now has very long hair because it's totally the best for pony tails and buns.  I've since changed my opinion about long hair, but I do think there are people who hide behind it.)

But, I think I might, yet again, paint the living room/hallway/trim.  Chris doesn't think a very light yellow/cream would make me happy, I don't understand his reasoning myself, but we did find a warmer white to try.  Still, I have my doubts as to how I will feel about it, even after seeing their house and knowing all of the images I have pinned.

Examples of what I like

I don't like the weird yellow artwork or the ugly green pillow on the couch, but I'm feeling everything else.

I lament the fact that we don't have a fireplace a lot.  This picture only makes it worse.

So there's a couple of ideas on what floats my boat.  It will be at least a week before I can try to do this.  Also, I am going to have to paint my curtains because I feel like it is going to be way too much white with white walls, white furniture and white curtains.  I am also thinking that since my bathroom is white (except for the ugly blue and white early 90's countertop) I should probably put a black and white striped shower curtain in there, since I appear to now be going for a black-and-white-with-color house.  I'll probably paint that too because if everything costs a lot Chris will freak, and spending loads of money wasn't one of our 2013 goals.

And then there is the fact that both Chris and my bedroom, and the boys' room, both upstairs and visible from everywhere else, are tan, which doesn't really go with the black and white theme I have moved in to, so probably I will have to paint those two rooms as well......

Obsessed with Life In Grace

Once upon a time, I stumbled across the blog Life In Grace.  And as the nature of trolling around the net, I don't know how I landed there, but I am so glad I did.  More like I am in love with this blog, and I think she and I would probably be good friends.  I want to be her when I grow up.

Recently, she did a post on how they home school, and let me tell you, it is not for the faint of heart.  I technically haven't given up on the home school dream, so I am filing that post away for later.

I am also 100% obsessed with her home.  Amazing.

I mean just look at this.

Her workroom/homeschool room:



I could move right on in, no adjustments necessary.

And then there is the kitchen.

I have contemplated trying to copy those cupboards for several months now.  They would match my map perfectly.

And here is her master bedroom.  

I am seriously dying here.

Plus she does an online book club.  The last one they did was Plato's Republic.  She does a vlog (video on the blog) about her thoughts.  

Anyway, had to share my recent blog world obsession.  Hope you like her as much as I do!

What I'm Reading

So before I talk about what I've been reading, I have to take a  moment and talk about Downton Abbey.  Oh my word.  The casting person needs to be given a raise.  Shirley MacLaine is amazing.  The perfect foil to Maggie Smith's Countess.  I would turn in every Sunday just to listen to her lines.  Also, I am curious about who would be so fastidious about not accepting millions of dollars if you were the last given heir like Matthew Crawley.  It's kind of taking the whole nice guy thing to the extreme, especially given that his wife's family is going to lose their home and complete way of life.

Anyway,  I've waited months for it to come back and I was not disappointed.  We had some people over for a party, and 4 of them had never seen it before and the husbands even loved it.  A fun evening all around.

Okay, moving on to books.

Like the humongous nerd that I am, I rushed out to see the Hobbit, only to discover that it was a series of movies.

I absolutely hate that.

I would much rather be late to the party and have an entire series of books or movies at my disposal then have to wait years for everything to play out.

So, in honor of the movie, I just finished reading The Hobbit, and am moving on to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy again.

I swear to you last night while I was reading in bed, that Chris laughed at me and said the concept of reading for entertainment was just so foreign to him.  Meanwhile, the concept that someone could not love reading is one of the most absurd things I have ever heard.  

I have also been reading the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan since I was a senior in high school.  And the series was originally started in 1990.  How's that for waiting for a long time to finish?  Plus, Robert Jordan died in 2007 and all those highly invested in time spent reading his books panicked that they wouldn't be finished.  But he had notes for another to help, and his wife to edit like she did all of the books, and the next one, the last, comes out tomorrow.  (I pre-ordered it from Amazon so I will get it on Tuesday without leaving my house!)  I have contemplated starting this series again from the beginning, but at 14 books, each about 800 pages long, I don't think I will.  Maybe when I am old and retired.

Yes, the genre is science fiction/fantasy.  If it has a wizard or an elf in it, I am sold.  

And this is also supposed to be the year that the third book in the Divergent series by Veronica Roth comes out, but not until next fall, so I am not even remotely excited about it yet.  Okay, maybe a little bit excited but truly not that much.

I'm also continuing to pluck away at the classics, and read Sherlock Holmes for the first time this year.  Don't know what took me so long.  I heard that PBS has a series called Sherlock and it is supposed to be amazing.  Maybe in between Downton Abbey I can squeeze it in there.

Lest I forget, I will also continue to partake in all CIA, black ops type of books, that I probably shouldn't love as much as I do, and that I pick up for 50 cents at the goodwill.  Totally worth it.  

And then there is Les Miserables.  I have never read the book, but have plans to go and see the movie this week.  After which, I will read the book, but I am a little bit intimidated.  And probably I should read the book first, but I don't think it's going to happen before the movie leaves the theatre.

Okay, that's what's on my list.  Am I missing anything good?  

Acai Berries

Do you see that picture?  It is a deal breaker.  As in, I can't deal with it when they are in my house.  I cannot stop eating them.  They are 100% a diet buster.  My sweet girlfriend gave them to me for Christmas.  I think she was trying to sabotage my diet.  So, I have decided the best way to get rid of them is to eat them as quickly as possible.  

Bad, Jess, bad.

Over the time I was gone I gained 3 pounds.  In 10 days.  That is a lot of really bad calories for you.

But I am bouncing back.  Hopefully.  Because when I go to New York this spring I want to be able to eat my heart out (what a dumb saying) and not gain a pound.  Of all the things planned in New York, I am most excited to eat at amazing restaurants.  You don't have to tell me how low I am setting the bar for myself.  What about culture?  It's in the food people.

Moving on.

Downton Abbey Season 3 begins again this Sunday.  You are watching aren't you?  I am frantically trying to find foods, snacks and drinks that completely sum up being British to serve at my soiree.  Not doing well on that front.  If there is anyone British still reading (something I seriously doubt, who blogs about dark chocolate covered blueberries?) please feel free to chime in.  

And on the whole journaling my life, I have done two entries.  Not bad considering we are only 4 days in to 2013 and I set my goal at least 3x per week.  Day one was kind of a cop-out though.  My journal went something like "decided to journal for 2013.  wish me luck".  I'm not even sure it counts, but since I was a little irritated at Chris I decided that it was better to write that then complain about hubby on the first day of the New Year. 

Now that I have just sort of mindlessly written a post, I think I should call it good.  See what traveling for extended periods of time with 5 children causes you to do?  Drift.  A week home and it's like I have ADD.  Can't even concentrate for one post.  

Adjusting

Our family was gone for 10 days over Christmas.  The longest the whole group of us has ever been gone together.  Today is our first day back to a normal routine.  It is not going well.

Someone tell me what I did with three toddlers all.day.long. before this?  Cause I can't remember.  

Also, I got my newest Elle Decor magazine, my least favorite home decorating magazine, and it looks like I somehow renewed it for the next 4 years.  Good until fall 2016.

I almost got a new computer a few days ago, but then we discovered that it's not a motherboard (love that word) problem, but just the AC adapter.  So instead, I will continue to plunk along on this beast with several missing keys, gunk in between all the remaining keys, and hope that when Truitt dropped it on the floor today it will recover.

My kids got the movie Spy Kids 4 for Christmas.  They love it with a burning passion.  Both Chris and I have declared that we become dumber every time we see it.  So far we've only seen it twice so we have most of our brain cells, but they are quickly diminishing.

To get home from our Christmas travels we had to leave large amounts of stuff at both grandparents' homes. We had this great idea of taking the oldest kids out into a nature refuge to winter camp but then Chris got sick with fevers and the weather was below zero so instead of using all of the skis, tents, and other miscellaneous camping gear, we just hauled it around and let it take up valuable space.  The kids are already whining for the presents we had to temporarily leave behind.

And then somehow among all the madness I forgot to pay a bill.  But the good thing is we have a 14 day grace period so I didn't up and go and ruin our credit.

2013 is starting out with a bang.  Oh wait, that's me retreating to my bedroom away from it all as quickly as I can.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat

2013

Normally I don't do resolutions.  I have this tendency to not follow through with them.  And it is so embarrassing to publicly state that you will do such and such and then fall flat on your face by February 1st.

But this year, I really want to do something.  I want to journal my life.  (From this day forward, not everything I have already done, although that would be cool, but would take a long time and probably turn me off permanently from journaling.)  I have never done this, but I was thinking about all of the traveling I have done and how I already can't remember very much of it, and thus decided that if I journal my life, then when I am old and senile and cannot remember anything, I can read it or have it read to me and think back fondly on all the things I did during my life.

So there it is.  My public statement of journaling most nights in the year 2013 and hopefully forever more.

Aaannd if I am honest with myself I would also add to that: lose weight, cook better (using my 3 awesome new cookbooks), travel more, be a better wife, be a better spouse, be better in terms of doing things better for the earth, learning one new thing per month and the list could probably go on and on for awhile.  So I will stop there.

Seriously though, I do want to do the journal thing.  One day I know I will appreciate it more then the pain it is to write in it every night.

What are you going to do in 2013?