Anew, we enter the vaulted halls of the blogosphere. Last night, we danced with the one we loved. We kept traditions alive by eating pork, coleslaw, and delicious slices of an immense pretzel. We even watched a John Hughes movie we had never heard of before. We went to bed, hoping to wake up to a completely new world (like we turned sixteen and expected something more than our grandmother feeling us up--think John Hughes--that was not a personal confession).

We awoke this morning and bustled about, trying to accomplish a little before our first day of afternoon church. Church confused us as we tried to figure out which class was first and when it would be over. We were reminded to pray often, show charity to those around us, and be grateful for so much light in such a dark world. We sang a little and wondered if our husband was laughing at us because we sang the song so poorly. We realized he was laughing at the boy in front of us who picked a winner from his nose, licked it off, and wiped the residue in his unsuspecting mother's hair. It was a big day...

The evening could not be complete without the final delivery of Christmas presents to our friends. We enjoyed delicious salsa and a little Cajun cuisine while small children crawled around on the floor at our feet. A group of seven adults and four children can be expected to entertain such oddities. Needless to say, we returned home feeling both full and entertained. Now we're catching up on the Steelers game. Shh! Don't tell us who won.

The new year is starting out okay. I made it to the gym on the first Monday morning of the year. I was not alone. Dozens of people were making circles on the indoor track while others vied for the varied machines. Some of them smelled suspiciously as if they choose not to wash their gym outfits very often. For those planning to join a gym, please wash your workout clothes after every workout. I say this for the health of your body as well as the working noses of other gym members.

I continue to find that when I exercise in the morning, I accomplish more throughout the day. I have a pile of notebooks waiting to be assembled at my leisure after some time spent counting and examining paper. A new story is already in the works for my Thursday posting needs. I even made my daily quota of names in family search indexing.

I even flipped through a puzzle book a nice lady at church gave me for the ones I like the best. I probably should do some of the more difficult ones. After all, the new year is all about accomplishing what we find more difficult, isn't it? Anyway, stay motivated and keep on being better. (Oh, and, think about changing your toothbrush.)

As my co-hobbits live thousands of miles away, we do not get to meet up and discuss all things precious and edible very often. Luckily, one of them visited a nearby metropolis this weekend, so my husband and I took a trip to catch him before he could catch his plane. We caught up over breakfast at a restaurant called Miss Shirley's.

Honestly, I expected something a little more homey, but the food was pretty tasty despite the fact that I got four raspberries on my mini Belgian waffles. They probably spent more on the white chocolate chips than the fruit since I thought they used too many. However, I have resolved to make my own white chocolate raspberry waffles in the future. I am sure mine will be much tastier though I may not get to eat them with a hobbit.

I need to put on my game face and buckle down. I have not been having as much success as I had hoped to have with this year's resolutions. Some of this might be because I suffer from obsessions, manias really, like the incredible Mr. Toad of a book about wind in willows. If you don't know it, you should figure it out and read it. You could also watch the Disney movie, but that wouldn't be as fulfilling.

My book club is meeting next week, so I have been spending more and more time with "The Help". Sometimes the people and events remind me of the place I grew up, which isn't complimentary to either of them. This has served to remind me that I often focus too much on one goal and neglect the others. For instance, my guitar has been touched once since the new year began. I will never earn calluses or nimble fingers at this rate, so I should make more of an effort. I have also only visited the gym three times though I have made myself get off the couch for a walk almost every other day, so I am not completely failing.

Don't get me wrong. I am not blaming my book or book club. Anyone who has been observing me knows that my online activities are sucking away my precious time. Of course, I had been complaining about another player on one of my games (to myself and my husband) because they have to be cheating to accumulate points at the rate they do. The game developers posted a warning that people who are cheating will be banned from the game and, suddenly, I am catching up again. It boggles my mind that people want to win a game so much that they cheat. I really shouldn't be surprised considering how much time I spend actually earning points, but I swear I intersperse game play with other activities.

So where am I excelling in my goals? I have been weeding through some old emails, which is a plus. I've been indexing at my normal rate. I have also posted on the fiction blog both Thursdays of the new year, so that is a good start. We can all see I need to drop in with you for these little one-sided chats though. I'll work on it. I'll even bring my funny face to the table again soon. Cool? Cool!

So today was full of running around. My first goal of the day was cancelled due to sick child. This made me a little sad because I like visiting my girls, particularly the genius quilters. Hopefully, her little one feels better and doesn't share her cooties with the other kids. You know you feel sympathy for her predicament...

Anyway, I spent most of the day reflecting on opportunities missed. One of the ladies from church passed away this week. I didn't know her very well. I know that she had a delightful southern accent and always had something nice to say. In a world where so many of us can be negative, she will be greatly missed.

We held a memorial service for her today. This gave me the chance to bake up some goodies and buy some cheese. Since I like to be helpful, I bustled around offering small bits of assistance. I loaded a tray with cheese, filled glasses of water, offered input on food placement, and occasionally made sure a little princess didn't get lost or wander outside. I also helped a lady get her food. As I wandered away, I heard her and her friends talking about how nice I was like it was a surprise. Maybe I spend to much time with other Latter Day Saints, but I really do expect people to be nice as a rule (unless they are driving, but you've heard that before.)

The point behind this post? We all need to take the time to get to know the nice, sweet people in our lives. We shouldn't deny ourselves the chance to be influence in a positive way. Go out and find some sunshine. According to an article I skimmed this week, this is the week when we are most likely be depressed, so we need to soak up as much sunlight as we can.

Since I had to restring my guitar, I dropped into the local Guitar Center in search of new strings. I like to keep an extra set on hand for the inevitable time I snap another string. Historically, this has taken a year to happen, but I am sticking with my goal to learn to play my sweet, sparkly, blue baby. I decided to ask annoying questions of the unfortunate soul who decided to ask if I needed help as I contemplated the wall of choices. It turns out that guitar lessons are expensive, so I will continue to teach myself something that I don't know. Feel free to send me emails with tips.

I also wandered through a few other stores to kill a little time. I should probably stop buying fancy paper at some point, but I just can't help myself. Too bad more people didn't take advantage of my "pay it forward" status. I could use some more appreciation for my handiwork. I also picked up some candy, so I can try out one of my many recipes. Then I saw a blurb about today being national chocolate cupcake day (or some such) and plopped them on top of some mini cupcakes in lieu of icing.

I only managed to squeeze one of these in before my husband and I raced off to a ritual known as the Pinewood Derby. Even the boys whose cars were being raced lost interest before we reached the end of the evening. We lured them back into the gymnasium for the distribution of cookie medals. Some of the people in my world prove to be creative geniuses. Go ahead. Be impressed by them.

January will be over by the time anyone reads this entry (email me if I am wrong). I've been struggling to be a productive and keep up with at least half of my goals. After all, I can leave the rest of them until the end of the year, right?

The past couple of days have been devoted to using some of the fabric that continues to pile up in my home. I devoted yesterday to making myself a new friend who should be featured on my photo blog on Monday. He amuses me so much that I may end up making him some friends by the end of the week. Today has found me devoted to making a new skirt. In theory, this promised to be an easy task until I realized the material needed a little extra care to keep my seams from tearing. I do enjoy French seams. If only I was good at them...

I should probably cut this short, so I can play with my guitar. I am obviously not doing so as often as I should since my fingers don't hurt. I hear that real guitarists have calluses. Someday, I will acquire those marks of distinction.