My heart is heavy for those suffering from the devastation in Haiti. I know it’s not much, but I donated a little to one of many charities pledging to help. I urge you to as well.

Even if it’s $5, that’s gotta help. Here are some links.

Red Cross
Canadian Red Cross
Mercy Corps

And above all, keep these people in your prayers.

Ever hearing the song My Favorite Things for the rest of my life. Seriously. I can’t stand that song.

‘Tis true, it is my birthday.

Having you birthday fall on Monday can seem a little dull. I opened my gifts yesterday so I could enjoy that with my family without people dashing off to work and school. But today I was able to enjoy a birthday nap with my little fellas, and after dinner tonight we went to Coldstone.

I got a lot of lovely gifts, but wanted to share with you what my young sons bought me:

Elijah picked them out himself. He said, I love you and I know you like pretty flowers.

Here’s hoping 2010 is a great year for us!

Alright, here it is. I’m giving up on NaBloPoMo’s theme for January.

I’d much rather post what I feel inspired by rather than being obligated to “bests”, and I’m struggling being held to a theme.

I am going to do my *best* to continue to post each day, because I know how you all will feel lost without my posts.

Hubby is making shepherd’s pie again for dinner. If you read my posts on Facebook, you’ll know that I was never a fan of the dish. But the last batch turned out pretty yummy, so we’re giving it another go.

Sometimes I struggle planning my meals, not wanting to grow bored or tired with having something too often. I map out all my meals on shopping day, and buy accordingly. A better way to shop might be to buy what’s on sale, and then plan meals around that. But if I’m craving gyros, I’ll buy gyro meat, regardless of the price. Well, maybe not regardless. I am after all part Scottish.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I’m still sick. The cough I hoped wouldn’t come, arrived on Friday. And I’ve been pretty sad ever since. Thank you Tylenol Cold for helping me make it through the day. Now if I could only sleep through the night…

First let me say I was truly touched that my friend Kelly made me a birthday cake for my party tonight.

It was very tasty, but the best chocolate cake I ever had was last year’s cake, made by Geoff, recipe by Food & Wine and it required a lot of work.

Photo courtesy of F&W Magazine

We had invited our good friends Chad & Khara to come to dinner, and since Chad & I both share January birthdays, I could justify the need for a cake. It was rich, almost too rich, as only one slice was needed before you felt overwhelmed by chocolate.

But it was sooo worth it. Nothing beats a homemade cake!

My best friend is Lisa. We’ve known each other an insanely long time. Seen each other through teenage years, bad relationships, fights, and losing parents. WE talk on the phone several times a week. When I’m upset, she’s the first one I call (after Hubby). When she’s upset, she’s calling me. We live far apart, but I feel closer to her now that I ever did as kids.

I love her like family. She’s is family to me. I’d do almost anything for her.

Lisa & I with our husbands in Vegas, 2004

My cat, Honey, is seriously the best cat I know.

She’s low maintenance. She only meows at her meal time. She almost always coughs up her hairballs on the kitchen floor, not the carpet. She lets us clip her nails, and has only tried to scratch the furniture once.

She gives kisses (when she feels like it), and she tolerates the boys tormenting her.

When people spend anytime with her, they are swayed to get cats of their own.

We adopted her at age 4 from the Irvine Animal Center. She was the only cat to come to me when I called. All the other cats were snobby. She was a 3rd try cat, meaning if we hadn’t adopted her, she would have never found a home. We never changed her name, because Honey suited her.

Honey is now 13 (I think) and while not as playful as she used to be, she’s a very sweet cat.

Honey Cat, asking for her breakfast

For some reason, I have always been able to recall my dreams. Even years later, I can recall dreams I had. The best dream I had was of me performing on a stage. I was singing Stupid by Toad The Wet Sprocket, and I hit every note, and it was amazing.

I don’t know I chose that song in my dream, or what it all means, but when I think about it, I get a peaceful happy feeling inside.

And that rules.

The theme for January’s NaBloPoMo is Best. Not intimidating at all, is it? To look over your life, and pick out your best moments, your best achievements and try to do them justice by putting them into words.

I often wish I could express myself by showing someone what is in my head. The images, the feelings, sometimes even the song that is playing through it all.

Forgive me if some days my list seems cliche. For me, this month is to motivate me to write, and hopefully a few posts will be well written and gain me more readers.

Best New Year’s Eve? 1998, DisneyWorld with my husband. My wonderful in-laws paid for us to join them & my sister in-law on a vacation to Disneyworld! Hubby and I spent it in Hollywood Studios, and I got to meet one of my fav characters-Eeyore. It was a pretty wonderful time for a pair of poor newlyweds.

Your best New Year’s?

I said I was going to be serious about my blogging, and I like the accountability of NaBloPoMo. So I signed up for January. Really, I should have signed up for February- a nice short month!

The theme is Best, and I welcome suggestions on “best” topics to write about.

Looking back on 2009, I felt like I didn’t do much this year. But my goals for 2010 are to work on my strengths, read more books (that aren’t children books), exercise more, eat less, try new foods and make more friends.

A wonderful 2010 to you all!