Tsunamis and Resolutions
Jan. 3rd, 2005 07:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
judecorpI am still trying to wrap my mind around the sheer amount of death and tragedy caused by the earthquake in the Indian Ocean and the resulting tsunamis. I don't think I have enough emotion in my body to really feel appropriately for these events of destruction and death. I totally can't even comprehend the masses, the number of broken families. When the WTC went down, that seemed /so/ /big/ to me, and in comparison to this, it's just a speck, a fraction. I remember walking past the sea of "Missing!" posters at Ground Zero with Jodie and being totally overwhelmed. I'm afraid to look at the bulletin boards for people looking for loved ones in Thailand and other places. I don't think I can handle it.
~//~
I'm not one for New Year resolutions, but I think I'm really going to try to better myself and bring myself closer to my goals and dreams in 2005.
Health: I need to get into better shape so that I am a healthier person who is actually active. I'm going to start with the gym (apparently several of my coworkers go to the gym I want to sign up at, and one of them wants to take classes with me) and hopefully find a softball league or something to goof off with this summer. I also want to get back into eating more healthfully and preparing more healthful foods at home. I've already gotten us away from trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils) as much as possible, and too much sugary soda, and too much caffiene. I've gotten back into taking a multivitamin and a calcium supplement daily. I want us to become a healthier food household for when we bring children into the picture. And I want to be healthy enough to run around after my kids!
Dreams: I want to be able to start making more serious, more concrete plans toward owning a home and having a baby. At this juncture, it looks like staying in Massachusetts is our safest bet (legally), and that Western Mass is most likely for the house-buying. We've started perusing the job market out there and have been putting out some feelers. But I want to go past the feelers stage and into something more concrete by the end of the year.
Finances: We've been doing well, though the holidays and massive amounts of eating out have certainly messed that up a bit. Paying off Jennifer's credit card with our savings was great, but now we need to pay back the savings account with the monthly amount we were paying her credit card. And unfortunately the credit cards got a workout thanks to Christmas gifts. However, our rent this month is being paid with our security deposit, so we can use our monthly rent payment to pay off Christmas. And maybe even have a little to put in savings, too. Ideally, we'll have a home purchase and a move in our future, and I'd like to start preparing for that eventuality now. So we need to buckle down a little bit and eliminate some extraneous expenses again like we were doing when we were broke. We've got to get back into eating in almost every day of the week, bringing lunches to work, finding free movie screenings, and eating the food we buy instead of throwing away things that don't get eaten.
Love: This area is pretty much great, but I don't want to start slacking off now that all of the craziness of the summer and fall has drifted away. I really want to concentrate on becoming a better communicator with Jennifer, trying not to take everything in the worst possible way, and being a little less sensitive. Other than that, I just want to enjoy us.
Prevention: I need to go to the dentist this year, no questions asked. And continue to keep up my dental health. I also need to continue making and keeping doctor appointments so I can stay healthy. And I need to make an eye doctor appointment because my glasses are three years old and aren't working as well for me as they used to. I need to be proactive with car maintenance also. And budget for all of these things.
Friends: I need to spend more time cultivating the friendships I have, and branching out to try to meet new people. I'd like to make plans with at least one person per week. And I'd like to spend that time really getting to know the people I've known for years. I think sometimes we forget that even old friendships take work. I'd like to re-discover why I love the people I love. I'd like to take more trips to NYC to see friends there. I'd like to try to arrange for Jennifer and I to take a trip to Columbus to see everyone there. I need to get back into the swing of answering my e-mails and writing letters. I've been lax in my friendships. Who wants to help with this? Any takers?
I think that will do for now. I'm going to rot my brain with trashy television. I think that "Who's My Daddy?" reality show is on FOX tonight. Yes!
~//~
I'm not one for New Year resolutions, but I think I'm really going to try to better myself and bring myself closer to my goals and dreams in 2005.
Health: I need to get into better shape so that I am a healthier person who is actually active. I'm going to start with the gym (apparently several of my coworkers go to the gym I want to sign up at, and one of them wants to take classes with me) and hopefully find a softball league or something to goof off with this summer. I also want to get back into eating more healthfully and preparing more healthful foods at home. I've already gotten us away from trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils) as much as possible, and too much sugary soda, and too much caffiene. I've gotten back into taking a multivitamin and a calcium supplement daily. I want us to become a healthier food household for when we bring children into the picture. And I want to be healthy enough to run around after my kids!
Dreams: I want to be able to start making more serious, more concrete plans toward owning a home and having a baby. At this juncture, it looks like staying in Massachusetts is our safest bet (legally), and that Western Mass is most likely for the house-buying. We've started perusing the job market out there and have been putting out some feelers. But I want to go past the feelers stage and into something more concrete by the end of the year.
Finances: We've been doing well, though the holidays and massive amounts of eating out have certainly messed that up a bit. Paying off Jennifer's credit card with our savings was great, but now we need to pay back the savings account with the monthly amount we were paying her credit card. And unfortunately the credit cards got a workout thanks to Christmas gifts. However, our rent this month is being paid with our security deposit, so we can use our monthly rent payment to pay off Christmas. And maybe even have a little to put in savings, too. Ideally, we'll have a home purchase and a move in our future, and I'd like to start preparing for that eventuality now. So we need to buckle down a little bit and eliminate some extraneous expenses again like we were doing when we were broke. We've got to get back into eating in almost every day of the week, bringing lunches to work, finding free movie screenings, and eating the food we buy instead of throwing away things that don't get eaten.
Love: This area is pretty much great, but I don't want to start slacking off now that all of the craziness of the summer and fall has drifted away. I really want to concentrate on becoming a better communicator with Jennifer, trying not to take everything in the worst possible way, and being a little less sensitive. Other than that, I just want to enjoy us.
Prevention: I need to go to the dentist this year, no questions asked. And continue to keep up my dental health. I also need to continue making and keeping doctor appointments so I can stay healthy. And I need to make an eye doctor appointment because my glasses are three years old and aren't working as well for me as they used to. I need to be proactive with car maintenance also. And budget for all of these things.
Friends: I need to spend more time cultivating the friendships I have, and branching out to try to meet new people. I'd like to make plans with at least one person per week. And I'd like to spend that time really getting to know the people I've known for years. I think sometimes we forget that even old friendships take work. I'd like to re-discover why I love the people I love. I'd like to take more trips to NYC to see friends there. I'd like to try to arrange for Jennifer and I to take a trip to Columbus to see everyone there. I need to get back into the swing of answering my e-mails and writing letters. I've been lax in my friendships. Who wants to help with this? Any takers?
I think that will do for now. I'm going to rot my brain with trashy television. I think that "Who's My Daddy?" reality show is on FOX tonight. Yes!
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no subject
Date: 2005-01-04 01:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-04 01:27 am (UTC)Part of me thinks it's not /that/ bad, since regardless of who she picks, she is definitely going to find out who her dad is at the end. But yeah, it's totally trashy.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-07 04:37 pm (UTC)I'm surprised that people think it's so offensive. I don't think it's offensive. I just think it's remarkably stupid. For some unknown reason, FOX continues to amaze me by always surpassing their previous superlative level of stupidity.
My son is adopted.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-08 03:33 pm (UTC)I think a lot of people's offense stemmed around the fact that this woman was looking for her birth father, and he was looking for her, and the network knew both parties and instead of creating a blissful reunion, turned it into a game show for money. Of course, I certainly know that both parties agreed to be exploited in this way.
My cousin is adopted, and it's always been an open and discussed topic in my family. And he's always had the option of locating and contacting his biological relatives. But it would be a little weird seeing him trying to "guess his mom" for $100,000 or whatever.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-04 01:21 am (UTC)Yeah. Yeah.
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Date: 2005-01-04 03:50 am (UTC)Positive thinking....
Date: 2005-01-04 02:49 pm (UTC)Re: Positive thinking....
Date: 2005-01-05 03:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-06 01:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-06 10:09 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2005-01-11 12:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-14 04:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-01-07 04:45 pm (UTC)I don't know if that helps you, but it helps me get my brain around it, at least.
Or maybe I'm just a callous jerk.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-08 03:30 pm (UTC)I guess I just plain can't wrap my mind around so much death. Numbers. I don't have comprehension for the numbers. (Let alone the faces.)