Aaaaayyyyyyy It's a New Year!

Happy New Year!

We survived another holiday season.  Fancy foods have been consumed and subsequently purged from the fridge while the purgee made heart felt promises of NEVER eating half a ham ever again. 

Gifts have been wrapped, opened, admired and put away while pondering the thought process that brought the giver to think the box of plastic hockey guys would truly be loved by the 61 year old recipient.

the face off

a skirmish resulting in the Yellow Guys goal

and the inevitable fight which broke out after that controversial goal

Loved ones near and far have been hugged and made to promise to visit more often, all the while hoping that the ukulele concerto will truly become a real thing.  

Resolutions have been made. Goals have been set, which is really just a kinder, gentler way to say resolutions.

And now it’s January 5^th. And if I don’t get this post up by Tuesday, I will have blown my goals for 2020, one of which is to post here once a week. And being as Jan 7 – which technically is a week from Jan 1 – is Tuesday, I figure I am still good….

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I am not great with goal setting.  I don’t like putting them out into the world as I seem to take that as a challenge to see just how quickly I can screw it up. But, as the holiday season one horse open sleighed right over me, I decided it was time to change it up.

Truthfully, I prefer the option of picking a word to represent your plan for the new year. I toyed around with ‘reset’ and ‘reconnect’ but finally – This Morning – settled on Time Out.

Not the sit in the corner and think about what you did Time Out, but more of a last 20 seconds of a football game, there’s no way they can win but maybe if they run the clock out there could be a miracle Time Out.

I can’t quite figure out why I don’t seem to have any free time these days. Time where I don’t HAVE to do anything. Or, more honestly, have time to do the things I really enjoy doing.

I blame my upbringing.

I grew up in a house where you did your chores before doing fun activities. Those activities became the prize for dusting that stupid dining room table with the giant carved legs and cross pieces requiring me to crawl under it and then crack my head as I crawled back out – all the time hoping I hadn’t passed out and missed Johnny Quest.

This philosophy was reinforced by my 5^th grade teacher, who noted on my report card that ‘Laura does not use her time wisely’. Apparently, completing my homework and then quietly reading a much more enjoyable book at my desk was not satisfactory. It only reinforced my believe that I needed to always be productive, although at this writing I suddenly realized that perhaps it was more of an insult to her worksheet producing abilities. And now I am picturing her tiny, support hose wearing body hunched over a desk, late into the night, trying to create the ultimate mimeograph sheet of questions set to finally, at last, stump that little Schloz girl…

It isn’t easy to break those habits reinforced nearly daily.

(Don’t get me wrong, my childhood was not a coal mine of constant household chores. I had plenty of time for Barbies and imaginary adventures and getting trapped in trees. And 5^th grade was, in reality, pretty fun, except for this teacher’s penchant for spraying the room down with Lysol daily and discussing her varicose veins.)

And that philosophy has served me well throughout my adult life. I have run a tight ship around the house, and I hope, impressed my managers with my great work ethic.

But I have a terrible time doing fun things when I know there is another load of laundry crawling up the wall, or a fine layer of protective dust on the furniture.              

So, to that end, I have made my Word of 2020 – Time Out.

(Fine, it’s two words. Just me, overachieving again.)

And to manage making this a year of Time Out, I needed to set some goals.

Goals such as ‘reading for enjoyment every day’ and the afore mentioned blogging goal.

But the biggest is to just allow myself some TIME.

And it hasn’t been easy.

Into the new year by 5 days, I have managed to read a little each day, however, it took every fiber of my being to stop taking down the Christmas decorations to take a ride up the river for some music and a glass of wine.

a cold day on the Mississippi. the barge is parked. taking a Time Out!

Bluffs along the river road

sunset at the confluence of the Mississippi and the Illinois

And at the end of the day, as I was making pancakes from scratch with the odds and ends of dairy and non-dairy products I had in the fridge as I have yet to grocery shop this weekend, I had to agree, those hours were truly Time well spent.

So I will again wish you a Happy New Year from the Coast of Illinois.

May your New Year be as productive as you need and as fun and exciting as you want!

me and the Bronze Fonze

(while the above pic was from a quick before Christmas wedding trip in Milwaukee, I had to include it because....Aaaaaayyyyyy,,,, it's the Fonze!)

See you next week!!

A Slight Deviation from Normal

I have been needing/wanting to update the Coast of Illinois for a week now. However, everything in my life has taken a back seat to the revolt occurring under my far back molar. I find no humor in dental work. Although hearing the dentist assistant describe the fact that my teeth have extra roots as a 'slight deviation from normal' would have been sort of funny it I didn't have flatware for eight sticking out of my mouth at the time. 

But, it has been four days, six Vicodin, eighty Advil and a small duodenal ulcer since then. It is Friday and 70 degrees outside and the Sunday before the this whole oral assault happened I spent a fabulous afternoon at a winery on the Coast of Illinois and I wanted to share some photos from our coast. 

Eat your vegan hearts out Malibu!

We were at Grafton Winery and Brewhouse. It was one of those rare pre-spring afternoons when the temp is really only 50 degrees but everyone is so excited to see the sun that we are willing to brave a semi-blustery breeze to sit outside and get a pre-summer sunburn. 

Oh sure, it's not a Carnival Cruise ship, but then again, there is no random gastrointestinal attacks going on.

We watched barges moving up and down the Mississippi as Terry Beck played tunes. There was wine and olives and salami and cheeses and enormous chocolate chip cookies and the company of three good friends plus one more who insisted on buying everyone a cigar. 
I do not smoke cigars.
Anymore. 

Seriously, even without the ocean breeze this is beautiful.

And on the ride home we saw the full moon peaking out from behind pink and purple clouds. 
This is the Coast of Illinois.