I had wanted to get this post up yesterday but my Beloved and I were on the road for a good 11 hours doing our Annual New Year's Day Road Trip (post coming soon) and I was too pooped out afterward to do much of anything other than put some Taco Bell down my gullet while we watched 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
I don't make public resolutions because I don't need to be reminded of how many things I resolved to do yet didn't achieve. I'll keep all of that to myself, thank you very much.
We are going to make this year different though. So here goes, I plan to:
1. Say "I love you" more
2. Knit more
3. Find something, anything, at least one tiny morsel of happiness in every situation
4. Read more
5. Smile more
6. Blog more
7. Be more patient
All achievable, right? Nothing too strenuous there (I think).
Number 7 brings me to the whole "Word of the Year" thing that I have been reading about for a few years on other peoples blogs. It just so happens that this morning I was reading a blog (or five) and one word kept popping up. Patience. Which I have laughably minuscule amounts of. Most especially with myself.
1. the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.
2. an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay
I tend to get very frustrated when things: don't go according to my plans; the way that I have envisioned them needing to happen; when other people don't know my vision of the perfect _(anything)_; with the way that it's supposed to be! Wow. Wow, wowy, wowzers. Selfish much?
I also need to remember that not everyone moves at the Speed of Poppy. My Beloved for instance, he does things at a slow, even pace. He's methodical, deliberate. He's all kinds of slow and steady wins the race! Me? I'm all kinds of instant decisions! and damn the torpedoes! and full steam ahead! and we'll deal with the consequences later! So, yeah, there's that kind of patience to work on too.
Hey, you're welcome for the insight into my internal struggles.
Moving on to muuuch better things, another thing that some of the fo'real bloggy peoples I have been stalking for years have been doing is their Saint of the year. Well, I'm not Catholic and there is no Greek Orthodox Saint Picker out there -which is why I haven't ever participated- but this year is different, right?
So I went to Jennifer Fulwiler's blog
Conversion Diary, which is what the other bloggy peeps use, and I had the generator choose one for me, one for my Beloved and one for "the house" (my little homesteady family).
Here's what it came up with:
Me-
He is the Patron Saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travellers, young people. He is represented in pictures with birds and roses.
Excellent! I love love, birds, bees, flowers, my happy marriage and traveling. It'll be a good year with this guy being on my team!
Moving on to my Beloved-
And I was all "nuh-uhhh".... But, there you have it. St. Isidore the Patron Saint of farmers and laborers who had a great concern for the proper treatment of animals. Another great addition to our team - I pray that he will keep my Beloved safe while he is out there driving that big ol' truck and working his behind off in order for us to move closer to being a little homesteady/farmy family.
And, lastly for our house/homestead-
St. Benedict
He is the Patron Against Erysipelas; Against Fever; Against Gall Stones; Against Inflammatory Diseases; Against Kidney Disease; Against Temptations; Agricultural Workers; Civil Engineers; Dying People; Farmers; Monks; People in Religious Orders; Servants Who Have Broken Their Master's Belongings; Speliologists; Spelunkers; Students
Would you look at that? It looks like someone is cheering us on this year!
I hope that you all have a beautiful, wonder filled 2015 - FULL STEAM AHEAD!