Z
Plan Now for Happier Holiday Spending in 2012
Every year I set a budget for holiday spending that includes gifts, food, stocking stuffers, Christmas cards and postage. Every year I go over and I can’t always blame the U.S. Postal Service. . . . This is one tradition I’d like to break. [...] Read More
Ring Out The Old…
Here we are again—getting ready to wrap up another year. Lily and Z have shared a lot with us in 2011. Because January is almost here and we’re busy getting ready for 2012, we thought we’d give you a chance to look back at 2011 and see if you missed anything.
In January it was time to know your numbers. Everything from calories to blood sugar to taxes was discussed. Then take a look at your BMI and weight.
Guest writer Chitoka Webb offered advice on how to love the skin you’re in. You should also check out the February archives if [...] Read More
Healthy Eating Choices at the Holidays
NAME: Z
STATUS: Festive
GOAL: Festivities without the fat
PEEVE: Holiday parties without healthy options
GLEE: Wearing the same size in January!
I am a social animal. I love parties. I love planning them, I love having them and I love attending them.
Usually.
Over the years, I’ve over-indulged at holiday parties, mostly when I am stressed. This was especially true during my first marriage because I didn’t care much for my ex’s colleagues. At the company’s shindig and private parties I sought comfort in food and, at times, a bit more wine than proper.
I developed a few coping strategies. Behold, the unofficial “Z’s [...] Read More
Enjoying The Holidays With Less Stress
One of the best parts of the holiday season can quickly morph into one of the worst.Yes, I am talking about family.
You love them, they annoy you (okay, maybe they just annoy me) and they are all over your house, bumping into each other and trying to be helpful but elevating your stress level. [...] Read More
Helping Others For The Holidays
NAME: Z
STATUS: Grateful
GOAL: A thrifty holiday season
PEEVE: Electronic holiday cards
GLEE: Donating stuff we don’t need
Twice a year, our household participates in a purge.
Spring cleaning and autumn’s onset launch a review of clothing, toys, books, DVDs, CDs, kitchen supplies and canned goods to determine what can go. Clay, Troy and I each get a bin and we work our way through the house.
Nice but ill-fitting clothes, outgrown toys, books we won’t read, old magazines – you get the idea. We store the spring collection, combining it with what we assemble in the fall, and donate our “gently used items” to a [...] Read More
Taking Care Of The “Girls”
When Sheri, my daughter from Marriage No. 1, was “old enough,” we sat down for “the talk.”
I was nervous; she was mortified. I forget her age but most of what I told her about periods and boys and sex and safe sex she already knew. During junior high school, high school and college, Sheri didn’t come to me with questions or concerns. We existed in that awkward place where many families find themselves with this subject – don’t ask, don’t tell. [...] Read More
Social Media
NAME: Z
STATUS: Chatty
GOAL: Keeping an eye on Troy
PEEVE: Facebook updates that say nothing
GLEE: Connecting with old friends
Troy is in sixth grade this year and wants to get on Facebook. Many of his friends are social media masters already but Troy hadn’t shown much interest until now.
He will set up his Facebook page this weekend and I will be in his first round of friend requests. That’s the House of Z rule. In a few years, after he turns 18, if Troy wants to “unfriend” me and post stupid stuff on Facebook that could jeopardize his career or college scholarships or [...] Read More
Home Repairs
NAME: Z
STATUS: Watchful
GOAL: No ER visits this year
PEEVE: Proscrastination
GLEE: A good contractor
We pay a handyman to clean out our gutters. We’ve done this for a year or two, ever since a friend fell off a ladder and dislocated his right knee and made his wife miserable complaining about it for the next two months.
Our friend was on this ladder trying to replace a wood soffit. The soffit had rotted because debris piled up in the gutters, trapped water and kept the wood wet because the gutters had not been routinely cleaned.
For them, it was a painful lesson [...] Read More
Beyond College Education
NAME: Z
STATUS: Thirsting for knowledge
GOAL: Learn new stuff
PEEVE: College kids who complain
GLEE: Conquering a fear
Don’t hate on me but I liked school. I liked college. Even now, learning new things makes me happy.
I was never very good at other languages, but I still have what some consider an insane desire to learn Latin. My goal of speaking and reading functional Spanish is more understandable and probably more realistic.
Mythology and the ancient worlds fascinate me. Although I’ve seen “Cleopatra,” the tortured epic movie with Liz Taylor and Richard Burton at least 20 times, I want to know the [...] Read More
Time Management: Simplify
NAME: Z
STATUS: Overheated and cranky
GOAL: Time to cool off
PEEVE: Disappearing days
GLEE: Watching clouds on a breezy day
The summer is more than half over and I don’t know what happened to it.
The big bag of dog food I thought we bought last weekend is nearly empty. Baxter, our beagle mix, loves to eat but even he can’t finish a 20-pound bag in one week. I can’t seem to keep food in the fridge or laundry in order or bills paid on time. I need more hours in the day or less sleep, or both.
I always feel off my game in the [...] Read More
