Unmentionables

Today I spent almost $100 on underwear. No doubt some women - such as any of The Real Housewives or Kardashian sisters - spend more than that on one tiny pair of panties.  But for this real housewife, that's a big number to spend on something that will only ever be seen by one man (and two dogs).

This unprecedented purchase was inspired in part by my boss.  Now before you get all weird about that, let me explain that my boss is  (1) a woman about my age;  (2) extremely stylish and well put together; and (3) generous enough to give all of her employees a nice cash bonus for Christmas.

In a small office where every employee is female, style, fashion, and beauty are familiar topics of conversation.  "My mother worked in lingerie at Crowley's (an upscale department store in the Detroit area) and she convinced me of the importance of good foundation garments," my boss said during one of these conversations.  She went on to tell us about shopping at Harp's Lingerie, a classic shop (est. 1947) in downtown Birmingham, Michigan, where women are assigned personal fitters and their measurements kept on file.   "Whenever I'm dressing for a special occasion, I go there," she said.

Without revealing too much, I confess I've always been very utilitarian when it comes to undergarments.  The older I get, the less I care about them.  As long as they provide the three C's-coverage, comfort, and cleanliness - I'm happy.   I don't need them to match or even coordinate top to bottom.  But I've recently lost about 10 pounds, and my clothes are all fitting more nicely, and it occurred to me that it would be fun to have some new undies to wear with my new, improved shape.

So I took some of my Christmas bonus and went to Macy's where they were offering a "buy two get one free" sale.  Before long, I had stocked up on enough new "dainties" to provide a clean pairing for every day of the week. There was quite a little line at the sales register, too.  "Looks like everyone's starting the new year with new underwear!" the sales clerk said.

I have to admit, it's  fun to wear these stylish pieces underneath my everyday jeans and sweater.  I feel secretly glamorous and -dare I say - even sexy.  A small pleasure, surely, but one I've never allowed myself to indulge until now.

Makes me wonder what else I might be missing.

Smiles

Despite it being Monday, it was a happy day, and I didn't even have to work very hard to make it so. Here's what put a smile on my face today ~

First and foremost, the SUN was shining all day.  Sunshine has an amazing effect on my mood - it's like switching on the happy button.  Suddenly I have energy, I'm optimistic, I'm excited to do even the ordinary stuff.  I'm beginning to think I need one of those ultraviolet lights when I'm stuck in the dark winter doldrums.

Secondly, the snow is all gone and the ground is dry.  Which means I was able to walk the dogs today ~ so they were happy too.  Nothing better than a happy dog (unless it's two happy dogs).

Probably as a direct result of  the energy and optimism I get from number one, I was able to get through everything on my to-do list.  And you all know how happy that makes me.

But the best thing today was visiting a dear friend who was hospitalized Friday morning with a serious case of endocarditis (infection in the lining of the heart).  He was greatly improved today, and seemed more like his old self than he had in weeks. That really made me smile.

Smiling and sunshine - two very big mood brighteners for me on this first Monday of 2011.

How about you?  What made you smile today?

But Most of All...

Although I don't typically make resolutions, when a brand new year rolls around it's pretty difficult to ignore the impetus of new beginnings, the opportunity to change things, do things differently, make significant improvements in one's personal life and health. Yesterday, Andi posted a list of "Things I Would Like to Do" in 2011.  That sounded good to me ~ certainly there are things I'd like to do with this New Year, but I accept the fact that time and circumstance may not always make it possible.

In that spirit, then, here is my list:

• Spend less time on the internet and more time reading books and/or articles of substance
• Spend more time with my friends, which will require me to make more of an effort to connect with people
• Write more on both my blogs, and focus on writing well
• Make some positive headway on two writing projects I've had in mind for a few months now
• Make music more often
• Learn something new, like the art of creating beautiful handmade cards ( I have several friends who do this, and their cards each holiday season are miniature works of art)
• Take a yoga class

There's one other very big thing I hope do to in 2011.  You all may not know it, but  I have a melancholy streak a mile wide and it takes an enormous amount of effort to keep that from ruling my life.  Sometimes, the effort becomes nearly overwhelming ~ those are the days I come home and either collapse on the bed, throw things against the wall, or sit in stony silence until I can gather the courage to continue.  So as I put together a list of things I'm hoping to do this year, this tops the list:

.

One of the things I learned in therapy was that happiness is a state of mind.  "You're not happy unless you think you're happy"  says Gretchen Rubin, of The Happiness Project.  So this year I'm making a conscious effort to think about what I need to be happy and trying to make it so.

I'll keep you posted on my progress <smile>

How about you?  What things would you like to do in 2011?  What brings happiness to your life?

Day One

This isn't your typical New Year's Day post. I'm not going to talk about all the resolutions I'm making.

I'm not going to wax poetic about the future and all the wonderful opportunities waiting to arise in the New Year.

I am going to tell you one of my favorite things about the New Year.

My new calendar.

If there's anything I love more than notebooks, it's calendars. Paper calendars, mind you, none of this digital scheduling business.  Sure, I could enter all my activities in my phone or on my computer (like my husband and most of my friends do).

But for years and years, I've carried a little weekly pocket calendar in my purse, with a pen or pencil attached, and that works just fine and dandy for me.  Of course, my life isn't all that complicated.  I don't have many any business meetings to attend, my social life consists of getting together with a friend for lunch or dinner now and again,  and I go to doctor appointments once or twice a year on average (knock wood).  Since the wonderful intervention of post-it-notes, I jot down my to-do lists, or phone numbers and stick it inside on the page.

A few years ago my husband and I were at a meeting with our financial planner.  The three of us were trying to schedule a follow up meeting.  I whipped out my pocket calendar and sat poised and ready while they fumbled through their electronic scheduling devices searching for an appropriate time.

"What about June 9?" I asked.

Wait. Wait.

"No, can't, have a meeting," Jim answered.  "What about the 14th?"

"That fine for me," I replied, glancing at the little square marked "14" on the page.

Wait. Wait.

"Oh, looks like I'm on vacation," our FP said.

After about five minutes of fumbling around, they finally found a mutually agreeable date.  Within seconds, I jotted it down on my calendar and put it back into my purse.

Wait. Wait.

Sigh.

Aside from the increased amount of time it takes to manuever through the days on electronic calendars, I like to see the entire spectrum of a week or month right before me.  It bothers me to see my life split up into sections of time small enough to fit into the screen.  I guess I'm a big picture person ~ I like having it all laid out there in front of my eyes.

That's why I keep going back to my paper calendars.  For the past three years, my calendars have come to me from marketing samples sent to our company.  There's always lots of choose from, and they're nicely embossed with the company name.  Plus ~even better~ they're free!  <smile>.  Although I admit that I do covet fancy day planners, like these from Levengers.

But I guess I'll stick with my little free pocket version.  It serves my rather uncomplicated life quite nicely.

Why mess with success.

How about you?  How do you keep track of your days?

Re-Entry, Re-Newal

You probably thought I was still languishing on that sunny Floridian beach, didn't you? I'm not, more's the pity.

No indeed, late Monday evening I took the silver bullet express straight back to the hell that is Michigan in mid-winter.  When I woke up yesterday morning, I was greeted with skies the color of a battleship, and just about as menacing.  But they coordinated perfectly with the two inch layer of ice carpeting the driveway, not to mention the three week old slushy snow that's still piled in mounds along the roadsides.

Ick.

"How can you stand to come back here after being in Florida?" my boss asked me yesterday morning.

"It's not easy," I replied. "It always takes me a few days to accept the reality of my situation and come to terms with it."

I must admit that this particular re-entry has been harder than normal, and I'm sure I haven't been the most pleasant of people to be around for the past couple of days.  Even the dogs seem to sense it, looking at me warily from a distance as if they're unsure whether it's safe to approach.  I've actually written three blog posts since I got home and deleted every one of them as simply too depressing to post for public consumption.

So I'm trying to get myself into a more positive frame of mind before the ball drops on 2011.

One of the things I hope to do in 2011 is write more ~I say that every year, but this year I have a couple of writing projects in mind that might provide the impetus I need.  Also, several of my blogging friends (including my son!) have announced their intentions to do more writing...maybe we can all keep each other honest.

And in that vein - Wordpress just announced a new initiative called The Daily Post, a blog on which they will post something everyday in an effort to inspire other bloggers to do the same.  Check it out - I'm planning on signing up.  Nothing like a new project to give me something to look forward to.

It's not quite a walk on the beach, but it'll do for now.

How about you?  What creative goals do you have for 2011?