How To Survive In Life

It's that time again ... time to brave crowds at the mall make out those lists for Santa think about what we would like to do a little differently in our lives in the coming year. And to get excited to open some presents (let's just be honest with each other).

Ok - so maybe most people start thinking about resolutions and all that after the 25th. What can I say? I like to get a jump start on these things. Plus it's not like changing the way I do things hasn't been on my mind lately or anything (ha).

But as I was sitting around thinking about how totally, rock your face off awesome 2010 is going to be I was struck with a thought. A thought that made me think of this one post I wrote at the start of 2009 called Sometimes I Wonder How I Survive In Life. It's a question I've been asking myself a lot lately.

ANYWAY. So I was thinking about making a list for myself of Ways TO Survive in Life.

2009 was a big year for me in terms of things I learned about life and about myself and I think it would make a nice addition to my usual set of 10 (or so) resolutions for the year. And then I thought that it would be enlightening to see what the blogging community would have to add to such a list.

So I'm turning it over to you guys. I want to hear about how YOU are going to survive in the coming year. Tweet it! Collect ideas from your friends! I will post everything I get on January 6th, two days before I leave for China. And yes, you can send me as many ideas as you would like.

I'll go first ...

1. Sometimes you just have to make the decision and deal with the fall out after the fact (especially if it's something you know you really want).
2. Dealing with bad situations with grace is harder than you might think.
3. Sometimes the second (or 3rd ... or 16th) cookie/piece of cake/chocolate frosted doughnut with rainbow sprinkles is necessary in order to avoid a mental breakdown.
4. A good friend is more valuable than anything else in the world.
   

The "Why I Haven't been Posting" Post

I know, I haven't been posting and here I come back with the type of post that everyone hates. But I have to say that this particular post has been rolling around in my head for about 2 months.

And I hate these posts too, but I just have to get this one out so that I can use the space it's been taking up to think about other important things like knitting projects and binge drinking. You have to have priorities.

So let's get into the meat of the matter:

1. I don't work at a desk anymore
• Nannying doesn't allow much time for blogging the way that sitting at a desk all day does. However, I am working on perfecting my ability to balance a laptop, type and deal with a cranky baby all at the same time. It's a process.
2. Armini
• There are only so many "Oh, I miss him so" posts I can write before people stop reading and I become totally disgusted with myself.
• Then there's that question of what I can post about my single life because Armini gets my RSS feed (and no I have not been brave enough to just ask if he is still reading) and I don't want to post anything that might upset him because I'm nice like that.
3. My blog and my life
• I needed a moment to figure out what this blog really is and how I want it to exsist within my life. Which I figured out (sort of). It's a process.

Whew. That was heavy and it's nice to have it off of my chest. I am now at a point where I can really start working on my blog(s) with a renewed enthusiasim. Dorky? Yes. But at least I'm excited about this again.

My First Conversation with my Sad Little Ghost

(Just so you know, I originally wrote this post on June 4th but for some reason never hit publish. It's the conversation I had as a result of discovering my Sad Little Ghost in this post here.)

This Scene: It's about 10:00, I'm in bed about to fall asleep when I realize that I still haven't taken the time to talk to my Sad Little Ghost.

ME: I'm sorry that I didn't take the time to talk to you today.
SLG: It's alright. You need your rest (he pats my head).
ME: What? But ... Why are you being so nice about this if I've made you so sad? Now that I know you're here, don't you want to talk about it?
SLG: Well, yes. But I don't want you to lose sleep over it. You know that I'm here, and that's enough for today.

From this very short snippet of conversation I learned a few things about my Sad Little Ghost and his (yes, it's a he) existence in my universe:

#1. My Sad Little Ghost isn't haunting me because he wants me to feel bad about myself. It's a Sad Little Ghost because he's just trying to get me to the things that he knows (and for that matter, I know) would make me happy in the long run. He's sad because I don't listen to him.

#2. There is another something in my universe that was standing in front my Sad Little Ghost; blocking him from my view, making sure that I wasn't paying attention when my Sad Little Ghost would try to speak to me through Armini or SuperMama (or for that matter, anyone who would try to talk to me about this stuff). Something that was providing me with the excuses and tools to think that I was happy not listening to these things. I don't know what this something is quite yet ...

#3. My Sad Little Ghost is very nice and sweet and way, way, way smarter than me. I think that we are going to besties. Especially since he lets me sleep even when we really do have a lot to talk about and catch up on. And plans to make.