Testing, Testing, One, Two, Three

Hello . . . hello. Just checking to see if anyone is still out there. I can't believe I have only one measly post for the whole month of November! Good thing I didn't attempt NaBloPoMo. Geeze. You would think that I've been crazy busy or struggling to keep up or getting mad amounts of things done around our house. But no. Just been doing the usual. Working. Meal preparing. Wrangling. Reading. Chatting. Drinking. TV watching. Refereeing. Voting. Celebrating. Errand running. Shopping. Hugging. But not posting. Definitely not posting.

In my defense, work has been very busy with all of my list updating after the election. And also with our work for the upcoming inauguration. When it rains, it pours! But overall, things have been great. We've had two low-key weekends in a row, with few commitments, lots of play time, and pretty nice weather. I've accomplished my 2012 goal of reading at least 24 books. And it looks like I will probably end up reading 30 before the year is out. (That's ONE New Year's resolution accomplished, in case you're counting.) Speaking of resolutions, in true Beth fashion, I've put off the whole exercise goal until the very end of the year. But I haven't given up! After the four-mile run in May, I pretty much stopped exercising again. But after talking to a friend about focusing on weight training, I decided to make an appointment with the trainer at my gym. We met on Thursday and are meeting again tomorrow. The plan is to do 20 minutes of cardio, then lift weights twice a week. One other day, I'll do something on my own. Either a long walk or a video or maybe some kind of class. I might sign up for yoga, and in the spring I want to take tennis. So my goal for now is 3 days a week. Totally doable, right?

William and Seth are awesome, though not without their challenges. They are super excited for Christmas and can't wait until Chippy the Elf returns. They eagerly pour over toy catalogs, circling everything they want for Christmas, which amounts to just about everything on every.single.page. Santa Claus is going to have fun figuring out what it is they really want! They also have each chosen a little boy their own age from the Angel Tree at William's taekwondo studio and are trying to decide what they want to get for their "angel friends" as they call them. They are very excited about it, which makes me happy.

As Thanksgiving approaches, I have felt so much gratitude every single day for all that I have. There are so many moments that bring me so much joy. At night, while I read to the boys, while William reads to me, while Seth sits in his bed after the lights go out flipping through books, while William crawls into our bed in the wee hours of the morning to snuggle with me--these are just some of the moments. Even when I've had it up to my eyeballs with the whining and the fighting and the eye-rolling and the outbursts and the ignoring and the rudeness, I know in my heart that I am so fortunate to be experiencing all of those things with two healthy kids, in a warm house, in a nice neighborhood, with a loving husband and father and a supportive family. It's such a cliche at this time of year to be "thankful" for our lives. But it's a worthy cliche, and one worth repeating. Our friend Maria challenged a group of us to give five "gifts" in one week--whether it was to our friends, family, or complete strangers. It could be a compliment, a note, a paid coffee tab, or an actual gift--anything that might make a difference to another person. I took her up on it and it made a big difference in my week. I hope it made at least a small difference to those I "gifted." I have tried to continue giving gifts over the past few weeks. I've given a gift card to the last person in line at Starbucks. I have hugged my kids and made it a point to tell them that I love them and complimented them when they deserve it. I drove around the block a few times today until I found someone about to pay the parking meter and handed her my ticket, which still had two hours on it. I've complimented people--both strangers and people I know--and I've held my tongue with people close to me, because as LauraC noted, sometimes, not saying something is the nicest thing you can do. I feel like performing these small acts of kindness are a great way to not just feel grateful, but to be greatful. Like all new habits, it's hard to get started, hard to get to a point where the habit takes on a life of its own. But this is one habit I'm really, really working toward owning. This also all points back to an essay I posted years ago from NPR's This, I Believe series called Always Go to the Funeral. I love the whole essay, but here's what I keep coming back to:

"Always go to the funeral" means that I have to do the right thing when I really, really don't feel like it. I have to remind myself of it when I could make some small gesture, but I don't really have to and I definitely don't want to. I'm talking about those things that represent only inconvenience to me, but the world to the other guy. . . . In going to funerals, I've come to believe that while I wait to make a grand heroic gesture, I should just stick to the small inconveniences that let me share in life's inevitable, occasional calamity.

So this Thanksgiving, I'm trying really, really hard to not just talk the talk, but to walk the walk. Following through on things has always been one of my biggest challenges--one of my biggest weaknesses. So I make this pledge knowing that I will not always succeed. But also knowing that when I do succeed, it will make a difference to others, and not just myself. We would all love to make profound changes in the world, but everything that is profound starts off as just one small thing that usually snowballs. For now, I will work on that one small thing and feel grateful that I might make even a tiny difference in the world. Thanks Maria! And Happy Thanksgiving!

Company

We had company this weekend! Heather and Ben drove up from North Carolina to spend some time at the Air and Space Museum, and we were fortunate enough to get to spend some time with them as well. William and Ben were like two peas in a pod and spent as much time as they could playing with toys and watching really bad TV shows.

Heather and I got to chat quite a bit. (I guess the kids really are getting older! I'm not used to actually getting to talk with a friend when the kids are around.) I feel like I've known her forever. And I definitely wish we lived in the same town.

Can't wait to see them again soon. Hopefully next time they come, I can be their tour guide and show them lots of cool DC stuff. This time around, they were pretty much on their own. The good thing about DC is, there will likely always be something here that hasn't been done or seen before.

After Heather and Ben left this morning, we did the usual Sunday morning laundry/grocery shopping/playing. At 2:00 p.m., William had his final tee-ball game It was chilly out there, but he had a good time, and he says he wants to play baseball in the spring. I did manage to take a few pictures.

Overall, it was a really great weekend. Made even better by the return to standard time. I may be one of the few people who actually dislikes daylight savings time. I do appreciate getting an extra hour of daylight in the spring and summer, but losing that hour in the spring is the WORST. Getting that hour back--even with darkness falling at 5:30 p.m.--is awesome. An extra hour is like manna from heaven. And now when I wake up, the sun will be rising! I hate waking up to blackness. (I realize as the days get shorter, I'll eventually have to wake up to darkness again, but for now, I'll take it!) So I'm off to take full advantage of my extra hour by immersing myself in a book. Or maybe watching Revenge. Or maybe just going to sleep.