New Years Resolutions

Here it is already January 6 and I haven't done much thinking yet about resolutions or goals for 2010 and the new decade. Maybe one of my goals should be to not procrastinate! Get it? Not procrastinate, January 6?

Anyway...

I do have so many areas I want to improve: be healthier, lose weight,be more fit, be a better parent, wife and friend, keep up with housework better, save money, etc., etc. etc. But where to start? That is always the hardest part, taking those first steps. FlyLady teaches to take baby steps and to jump in where you are. So yesterday, I ordered some parenting books off Amazon yesterday (10 Days to a Less Defiant Child: The Breakthrough Program for Overcoming Your Child's Difficult Behavior, The New Dare to Discipline, One Tough Mother: It's Time to Step Up and Be the Mom, She's Gonna Blow!: Real Help for Moms Dealing with Anger) that I am looking forward to reading.

Can you tell I am struggling with parenting at the moment??

And then yesterday, I had an epiphany. I was pretty frustrated yesterday morning with the girls, trying to get them dressed and out the door for school and me to work. There was yelling and tears and the black cloud followed me through most of the morning. It hurts to think that my beautiful little girls may have had that same black cloud over them. It was the first day back, so some dawdling was to be expected. I should have planned better for that. I got up late, then tried to rush all of us to get ready and get out the door on time. Well...the epiphany part...I am a firm believer of the thought that the only person you can change is yourself. I got to thinking that I am the adult here and could certainly change my behavior. So I set my alarm clock for earlier, got up earlier, and got ready for the day before the girls were even out of bed. This made our morning a million times better than the day before.

So, I am starting to realize that change is possible with small steps and changes so for the new year, I am moving forward with that.

Barn Owl

Yesterday I heard Barko making some commotion (even more than usual) from the backyard. When I went to check it out, I saw there was a smallish animal by the side of our garage. Barko was wildly running in circles around it, barking his unhappiness at having his territory invaded. The animal had the strangest face, that it took me awhile to even identify what type of animal it was. First I thought a possum, but no. A rat? Hopefully not! "Is it a cat??" I asked Kaelyn? I ran inside to get my camera (yes, leaving my daughter outside alone with a crazed dog and an unidentified wild animal). While I was gone, the animal flew (AH HA! Must be from the bird family!) across the yard with Barko in hot pursuit. Kaelyn spoke up, "I think it's an owl. I am a bird expert." She must be, because it was a Barn Owl (verified by Google). It hissed at Barko a few times and then flew off, landing on our fence post. Barko, ran around a few times, very proud that he had done his job and cleared his yard of any dangerous tresspassers, then returned to the house to take a nap in the warmth.