Monday, January 09, 2012

Lady Grantham's Greatest Hits + White Feathers

A friend posted this on Facebook earlier today. If you like Downton Abbey, you'll get a kick out of this. I just love the Dowager Countess of Grantham, and I don't think anyone but Maggie Smith could have played her.



I watched the first episode of Season Two last night and loved it! If you'd like to read more about the symbolism of the white feathers involved in one scene, check out this post at Jane Austen's World. I was kind of glad I'd read it ahead of time.

This made me giggle...

PotentialThe bunch of disadvantaged kids I was tutoring became too good at writing, and their essays were forcing me to confront painful existential questions, so I started trying to turn them on to drugs and crime instead.

via XKCD

2012 - Week 1

I'm trying to check in and keep track of what I did over the last week, so I have something to look at when I start to beat myself up for not being Superwoman. So many times I get to the end of Sunday and I feel like I didn't accomplish anything through the week, when really I did. So, these are the things I DID ACCOMPLISH last week, to counter the hundreds of things the unhealthy voices keep telling me I didn't do:
  • Did at least 30 minutes on the Wii Fit every day, including Saturday and Sunday (bonus points there - I usually slack off on the weekend). I did 1 hour one day, but I hurt A LOT afterward, so that's definitely something I need to work up to as I go.
  • I did all my scheduled breaks for stairs at work (I noticed they were a bit easier this morning - I think doing the Wii over the weekend helped with that). 
  • I went to church - I think I've figured out my key to getting there regularly: I prefer to go on Saturday evening and if I tell hubby on Saturday morning that I am going, it not only solidifies it in my head that I'm going, he'll give me a nudge out the door as well (even though he rarely goes along). Really, for me, the hardest part about getting to church is getting out the door; the rest is gravy.
  • I finished reading one book: The Book of Ancient Bastards: 101 of the Worst Miscreants and Misdeeds from Ancient Sumer to the Enlightenment.
  • LilGirl and I caught up on the dishes (you'd be shocked at how often this doesn't happen).
  • I saw a movie and didn't get a soda (it helps that this theater had self-serve fountain drinks, which include water, so you're not paying $6 for a small bottle - definitely a reason to continue going there).
  • No new pages written, but I did make a bunch of notes for my WIP.
  • Took a load of stuff to Goodwill (and threw away several things not worth taking there).