Clutter

There's clutter in my brain, there's clutter in my house. Here are the things I should tell you about but probably won't:

1. Wyatt rang in the new year with us. And he had more energy than most adults in the room.

2. Natalie cruises around all day, every day, making her funny Natalie noises. Yet when I turn on the camera to capture her sounds, she falls silent.

3. I spent waaaaaaay too long agonizing over which camera bag to buy and then bought two so I could try them out but got distracted when I got home and now it's bedtime and I haven't thought about them since 4:00.

4. I'm coveting high-end closet organizers. I loathe their price tags and will settle for something we can finagle out of plywood, paint, duct tape, twigs, whatever. Just as long as they look pretty, don't involve wire shelving  and feel organized in the end.

5. I'm in a serious shoe and clothing funk and am pretty sure it has to do with the fact that I've not purchased anything new in months. Okay, that's a lie. I got a new pair of dress shoes for our Christmas party.

6. I really want to be training for another race and have verbally committed over and over, but then it's freaking cold outside with blustery winds to boot and I'm less motivated. Darn the 30 minute cardio limit at the Y!

7. Our bathroom project is still only almost finished. We have a list of about ten items our contractor needs to fix/finish (one of which is to install the lights in our bathroom that FINALLY arrived) and we still need to pick a paint color. Think we'll finish it before we move out?

8. Jeff got his rip for the next move more than a year in advance. That never happens! There will be payback for this, I'm sure.

9. I just read Three Cups of Tea and totally enjoyed it. It's also made me want to volunteer in a third world country and do something of greater purpose. And it makes me question what I hear in the news (even more than I did before).

10. I'm really bothered by the fact that Avatar is pulling in over a billion dollars. Seriously? A billion dollars? Shouldn't there be some law that at some point these profits have to be donated to a greater cause like, I don't know, the national debt? Surely that's something that we could all benefit from.

11. I need a vacation like you read about, but the kind that takes me out of my comfort zone and challenges me and surprises me and makes me feel less....suburban. But since that's not on the calendar, I'm mentally preparing for my trip to Kansas in a couple of weeks with two kids in tow.

12. Wyatt is seriously hilarious these days. I wish I could capture his essence and put it in a jar because he's really great. Someday I'll really miss these days of football helmets, silly sayings and spontaneous laughter.

13. Natalie is already starting to laugh at me when I tell her no. And she bit me yesterday. I have a feeling life will just keep getting more interesting!

14. While I can't really verbalize any new year's resolutions, I have a lot of them pent up inside. I'm contemplating writing a letter to myself to be opened at the start of the next decade because I think I might surprise myself.

15. Every time I head out to run errands I question how our economy is in the tank because it seems as though people are out in droves spending money. I can't tell you how many giant televisions I saw walk out of Best Buy today.

16. My cell phone spontaneously shuts off. It's totally annoying and I finally got irritated enough that I braved the Verizon store. Please imagine my delight when they didn't hassle me at all, but instead told me to expect a new phone in my mailbox this week. Surely this is a first in the history of cell phone companies!

17. I can't decide if I really really really really want a new (fancy web browsing) phone because of the freedom it would give me or if I'd actually be tethering myself in a new way.

18. I'm still enjoying my Relish subscription and have found some good new recipes that way. But it's completely annoying that there's always at least one thing the commissary doesn't have for my "fancy" new meals. This week's misses? Bean sprouts and frozen pearl onions.

19. We activated our Netflix account last night (thanks mom & dad!) so now I'm anxiously awaiting our first movie-in-the-mailbox. Might it feel like a little gift each time one shows up?

20. The battery is dying - maybe that's another reason to get a Mac? Ahhh, can't wait for the tax refund this year!