Happy New Year, dear readers! 2019 is a brand new year, and I hope you are off to a terrific start. My year was running smoothly until this morning when I drove over a curb at Southeastern University and damaged two of my tires. Thankfully, I was not too far from the Hyundai dealership where the service technician replaced both tires with new ones and got me back on track. It was an expensive lesson learned about being fully present and paying better attention.
And, that experience segues nicely to the word that I have chosen for my theme this year. COMMIT. In 2019, I want to commit to improving my health, wealth, home, and overall well-being (like being more present). Since I successfully completed the majority of the items on my 18 for 2018 list, I decided to make a 19 for 2019 list. Is it more ambitious than last year’s list? Yes, indeed! Will it increase my happiness? Definitely!
Kat’s 19 for 2019 list:
1. Get a massage.
2. Get eyebrows waxed.
3. Get a colonoscopy.
4. Lose 19 pounds.
5. Go to the gym at least once per week.
6. Run a 5K.
7. Donate blood.
8. Read one book a month for self-improvement.
9. Purge stuff in my house one room/closet at a time.
10. Organize my master bedroom closet.
11. Clear out the front bedroom and make it my scrapbook room.
12. Complete Andrew’s Ireland scrapbook.
13. Organize photographs/mementos.
14. Buy a new bed for master bedroom.
15. Pay off one credit card.
16. Take a voice-over class.
17. Visit Aunt Carolyn in Utah.
18. Participate in NaNoWriMo in November.
19. Create my “List of 100 Dreams.”
Other Plans for 2019:
- On Goodreads I joined the 2019 Reading Challenge, and my goal is to read 50 books again this year. I barely met my goal of 50 books in 2018, so increasing my goal did not seem like a good idea.
- Andrew and I will be attending Comic Con in New Orleans this weekend. I’ll be checking out The Walking Dead actors.
- Andrew and I will be attending Fleetwood Mac’s farewell tour in February. I’m super excited that they included New Orleans on their tour schedule.
- I will be attending my annual scrapbooking convention with my gal pals June 20th-June 23rd.
What do you have planned in 2019, dear reader? Have you made some resolutions or a 19 for 2019 list? If you could choose a one-word theme for this year, what word would you choose? Let me know what your plans are for 2019. Happiness!
“Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it.” ~ Marcus Aurelius, The Emperor’s Handbook
Today marks the end of the third quarter of 2018. We have completed three fourths of the year. The new year is just around the corner. Today is also the 8th anniversary of Comet, otherwise known as Tooty, becoming a member of the Loyacano family. Eight years ago today, Andrew and I rescued Comet as he was dodging traffic on Happywoods Road. We were on our way to school. Personally, I was not planning on keeping him. However, my hubby and Andrew had other ideas. No chip, no collar, no owner to be found. Needless to say, we kept him, and I am happy we made that decision. He brings us so much joy.
Tomorrow begins a new month. I have 12 items to complete on my 18 for 2018 list. I am confident that I will be successful in the remaining last three months of the year. I hope, dear reader, that you are succeeding with whatever goals you have set for this year. Enjoy the remnants of your weekend. Happiness!
Subsequently, I dragged my booty out of bed the next morning, took a selfie of myself making the commitment, and walked for an hour. After walking, I documented my starting weight at 158 pounds. I dug in a kitchen cabinet and pulled out my “pounds to go” and “pounds lost” containers. Diligently, I counted out 18 marbles, dropped them all in the “pounds to go” container, and sat both containers on my kitchen counter. This means that by 31 December 2018, I will need to weigh at least 140 pounds. There is no more “I don’t have time” because taking care of my health is important, and it is time for me to make my health a priority.
This past Thursday, Andrew and I went shopping for school uniforms for the last time. It was the first of the “lasts” that we will experience in the upcoming school year. Soon, he’ll be taking senior pictures and applying for college. While senior year is an exciting time, it will be bittersweet (for me). Andrew is the baby, so my hubby and I will be empty nesters. Thankfully, Andrew will not be going too far away for college. He has decided to attend Southeastern in Hammond to earn his undergraduate degree in Biology. While he could easily live at home, he wants the “college experience” of living on campus. After talking to parents of college-age children and to college students who live away from home, I can see the benefits for him.
I had rough drafts, lesson plans, and graduation tasks to complete. I admit, I was disappointed because of everything that I wanted to do during the break, this was on the top of my list to accomplish. This would have been possible had I been able to take care of the school stuff the week before break. Unfortunately, the week before my break was pretty hectic. You win some, and you lose some. The silver lining is that I now plan to scrapbook Andrew’s trip to Ireland, Wales, and London. Furthermore, I will start organizing the materials next weekend.
Yesterday morning, my hubby and I brought Andrew to the airport, so he could embark on his journey to Ireland, Wales, and London. I will not see my baby again until April 7th. It will be an unusual week being home alone with just my fur babies. I guess it will give me a taste of what it will be like when Andrew goes off to college.
I realize that I am probably one of the last humans on the planet that waited so long to watch Stranger Things. In my defense, I do not have much time to watch television, and there are few shows that I watch alone in real time or with Andrew. He is just as busy during the school year as I am, so coordinating our schedules to watch a couple of hours of television together can be difficult. However, we manage to squeeze in some time here and there for our favorite shows. Andrew and I had finished watching Parks and Recreation during Mardi Gras break, so we decided to start watching Stranger Things. Many of my friends, family, acquaintances, and even some of my students encouraged me to watch it since they thought it would be a show that I would really enjoy. Boy, were they right. Stranger Things is SUPER awesome! I’m obsessed with it. I absolutely LOVE that it takes place in the 1980s. The show is basically about a group of geeky kids who meet an unusual girl with special abilities around the same time that one of their friends vanishes into a mysterious place that is home to a disturbing creature. It is like the X-Files meets the Goonies. The seasons are not very long, so we blew through both of them within a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, the next season does not come out until 2019. Alas, Andrew and I will just have to watch Beyond Stranger Things which delves into the secrets of the Stranger Things universe, specifically Season 2 and re-watch the two seasons prior to Season 3 premiering next year.![MC900432635[1]](https://katloyacano.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/mc9004326351.png?w=500)
Three weeks ago I assigned myself some action steps for improving my health that I wanted to complete by today. Unfortunately, I did not complete them all. I have been working quite a bit at school and helping Andrew get ready for his upcoming trip to Ireland. Instead of admonishing myself, I am praising myself for the steps that I did accomplish (week 1). After all, I do have until the end of the year to complete this goal.
The Kat Files 