2011 Already?!?!

Happy New Year to all of you! I hope that 2011 brings you much happiness. Many people use the changing of the calendar year to reflect on the previous year and make plans to improve their life. I’m not going to talk about resolutions. Majority of the people don’t keep the ones they make, so why bother? Besides this is already January 4th and many have already been broken?

It seems to me our society expects us to make resolutions that we won’t keep, and that seems like a huge waste of time. It seems like if we don’t live up to the expectations then we are a wasted life. I got many lectures about my seasonal attitude from a lady at work. My family decided not to “celebrate” Christmas with presents. Just a bit of background my family consists of my mother and me. We both go out and by what we need/want, and have way too much stuff. We did go to Christmas Vigil services and we also talked about those we loved that are no longer with us – it was nice. My family will never look like a Norman Rockwell painting, so why try to pretend that we are? If we do pretend that we are it will never feel right and should be stamped with a huge “FAIL”. I will admit there are a few more things that could be done to get into the holiday spirit. Overall we are doing our best to celebrate the meaning and not the commercialization. We also joined the other misfit toys at some casinos.

Now I feel like I’m being encountered with the idea that that my life will suddenly change when the calendar switches years. (It didn’t) If that is the case then why do we need to have resolutions? Please don’t get me wrong, I’m all for making what you deem to be a positive change in your life. I also realize sometimes the changing of the calendar year is a good time to start, especially if you need to psych yourself up for something. However, even if I did follow through with two of the most popular resolutions – get fit and get organized – how much would my life change? I get the feeling that I would find something else in my life that needs to be fixed. How satisfied are we ever with our own lives?

To those reading this I hope 2011 is a year of great things to happen!

-Disaster Chick, Weekly Coorespondent

Status of my Type B metamorphosis

I am taking baby steps to my goal literally. I am walking much slower too and from the subways. What used to take me 5 minutes from my apartment to the train station, now takes 8.
Then when I get out on Madison Avenue, I let everyone walk, push, rush past me and I am the last one up the stairs and out of the station. Really now, why rush? So I get to my cubical at 8:55 instead of 8:52. Meanwhile in this tortoise-like walk of mine, I am either grooving to my iPod or just breathing in all of God's nature that midtown Manhattan has to offer (Exhaust fumes, truck horns, panic). Ahhhh, serenity. It is mind control. I am beginning to block it out like Brett Farve on a Sunday in front of 80,000 screaming Cheeseheads. I am in the zone to total Type-B-ocity. I have found myself enjoying those precious moments more. Why rush through life?
- The Mountain Cat

No more theft in '08

The following posting is from a Senior Mountain Cat:

While pouring my second cup of coffee in the deli on my way to work this morning, I thought to myself...this year I am going to stop stealing the Equal. There it is. The true confession. Total honesty. And even though I cannot escape from this truth, it seemed a metaphor for my greater New Year's resolution - which is to be honest with myself. By nature, I believe I am an honest person...and I don't often "steal." But I'm not sure I have been seeing all the possibilities for myself and even others quite clearly. This year I vow to take a more honest view of how I perceive myself, how I perceive others (especially in love relationships) and take an honest view of what I can achieve. I set out this year confident that with changed thinking, I can change my life and better serve others...and without stealing anything from anyone or myself, I will remain true and grateful.
Peace,

Christine (Vince's sister)

My Wants and Need for '08

2007 has given me many things to be thankful for (wife got her BSN, everyday I have w/ the kids, Gators were champs...twice), even if there were bumps along the way (family concerns, illness).

A lot of people use the words 'wants' and 'needs' as synonyms these days inappropriately. To be clear on what I would like to see/do/experience in '08, I have a need and short list of wants:

(BTW, as I write this, the following line from the Rolling Stones is stuck in my head: "You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need.")

Needs:
Honestly, I feel that all but one of my 'needs' is already met. I already have a wonderful family, great friends, and a spiritual relationship. The one need is better and more consistent communication with all them. For example, Doc and I pick up conversations after 2-3 months of not talking to each other like we never missed a beat. However, when you do this there are things that go unsaid (forgotten or omitted) that are important and help to further relationships.

Wants (for me or society in general):
To begin a new business venture: My wife and I have a business model we'd like to plan and implement. Maybe this is the year.

Spend quality time w/ my family, especially my Dad: You never know how much of it you actually have.

For people to be more respectful of others opinions: People will always disagree, but the spiteful way in which we view people with differing opinions is disgusting. Example, if I hear one more person say Bush is stupid, I'm gonna puke. He's smarter and could out debate 99.9% of the people that say he's dumb. Even worse are the people that believe someone else is misguided or an imbecile just based on their position (regardless of topic) without giving them a chance to explain why they feel that way.

(Addendum - Its okay to vent from the top of a soapbox every once in a while!)

Have more fun: I don't mean week-long vacations, we do that. Just throughout the day take the time to enjoy life and those around us. Stay away from assholes (if you need help w/ this in your workplace, then read Robert Sutton's The No Asshole Rule). I'd also like to take more short trips w/ the family. Too many weekends go by w/ nothing to show for it.

Continue getting in better shape: Over the last year I have changed the way I eat and exercise. Got to keep that up! I want my kids growing up w/ the understanding that exercise should be part of a daily, healthy routine.

Spend more time doing: The Internet is a great tool, especially for keeping in contact. There are just too many things on it that waste our time or get us in trouble. Get on, do what you got to do, and get off your ass...have a real life.

There are a few more things I could list, but these are my top wants as I sit here now. Besides, I have to get off my ass and go cheer for the Gators.

I wish you all a Happy New Year and that you each receive your needs & wants this year.

-The AbsolutGator (Chris - Guest Contributor)

I want to learn my alphabet in 2008

I am grateful for the abundance in my life. I am very luck to have a big family and a lot of good friends who I can rely on. I am blessed.
My goal in 2008 is an odd one (What else would you expect from me?) I want to become a Type B personality. I have always been a Type A person. Always restless. Always looking to improve. Always talking. And always complaining. I want to become more of a Type B person who will take everything in stride. Enjoy my down time. Take my time with things. And laugh at myself more. And the way I figure it that sure Type A people get more things done, but Type B people live longer!

Like I said, I have abundance and a lot people in this world don’t.

My life is good.

Happy New Year to you all!

- Vince (The Mountain Cat).

Happy New Year - Reflections and Resolutions

Ok, so another year has come and gone. This year has been particularly good for me personally. My wife and I had our first child a son and even though there were a ton of things I complained about (see this post) nothing really compares to the whole experience of becoming a parent for the first time. My wife Melissa and I have done our best to document each "first" in Patrick's life and will continue to do so in 2008.

So many times in my life on New Years Eve I have found myself toasting with others around midnight and hearing the familiar "Here's to a better year in ___ " Well I think I had a pretty good year this year. I quit smoking back in June (for my health and the health of the baby too) a habit that I have been struggling with for over 10 years and although that was not a resolution Per Se I still consider it an accomplishment. So I guess what I am saying is that not only was 2007 a pretty good year but now here I am staring at 2008 wondering how can I top this year?

What do I want to do better in 2008? I am not usually one to make New Years resolutions but that doesn't mean that they aren't useful. Off the top of my head (other than wanting to exercise more to lose the weight I put on when I quit smoking) most of the resolutions I would have probably involve my family. I want my wife and I to be there for my son's first steps (he can almost already walk - just doesn't have the balance yet). I want to make a trip to Florida this spring to see some good friends and get a chance to see one of my best friends' father whose cancer has returned again and it's not operable. I want to be able to relax and leave work at work and have home time to be with my family more in 2008. I also want to get more involved with our church and volunteer more time to help out with several things there as well.

Do those count as resolutions? What do you think? What kinds of resolutions or at least things that you want to do in the next year do you have? Give some comments and some feedback and leave your resoultions for making 2008 great...

-Shane (doc)

(One other thing that I hope Vin and I can accomplish with this blog is to start to write out the crazy story which has been our friendship over the past almost 20 years and all the crazy things that have happened to us - Look for those stories to start appearing here in 2008 archieved as "The Misadventures of Doc and the Mt. Cat.")