I don’t know if you’re a resolutions type of person, but I know I’ve made and broken more resolutions in the past than I care to admit. Some people like picking a ‘word for the year’, and that always seems like a good idea. This year I’m feeling more resolved about a lot of things, but not particularly wanting to focus on a particular word-theme. My plan is to devote more time to writing and sharing things that I think others might enjoy, while giving me this creative outlet at the same time. So here is Part One of my 20 Thoughts for 2020, for what they’re worth:

1. I enjoy my husband’s Italian family so much. We got this beautiful (and cleverly wrapped – I just love the Pasta Emergency Kit label and the raffia bow!) collection of Italian pantry must-haves from his family in Loreto Aprutino, Italy. Specifically, from the enterprise they began a few years ago Fattoria DiTullio, creating delicious farm-to-table products from the family-owned farm. Their website is in-process but I know they would appreciate a ‘follow’ on Instagram. Enjoying your heritage, even one I married into, is a real joy. I can’t wait to cook dinner with these!

2. My husband’s Italian heritage, part 2 – we recently came across this photo on a website on Facebook, “Italian original recipes, and customs”, where people of Italian descent share all of the above. The photo shows a family gathered near the life-preserver of a ship, the “Saturnia”. Well….my mother-in-law’s name was Saturnia, and (I didn’t know this before) she got her name because the Saturnia was the ship her father came to the United States on. Isn’t that amazing? Finding out tidbits about your (or your husband’s) past that you didn’t know before is fascinating and something to cherish. (My brother-in-law has been doing this for my side of the family for years, for which we are grateful.)

3.  Young pup – Old pup. As our sweet Bucky turned 16 this past year, we’ve had a few medical challenges to deal with – not huge ones, but smaller, daily ones. Not unusual – I hope when I’m his age, which one chart puts at 87, that I’m half as with-it as he is. It’s bittersweet times with him now, knowing that we may not have him that much longer. Along with that is our grand-pup, Franklin, who is a hoot at 1-1/2 years old. He’s a GoldenDoodle and is such a sweetie. You forget what a puppy is like when you live with an older dog, so needless to say that over the New Year’s holiday, we had a few reminders. One silly thing this puppy does is to lay between the bar of any table that’s around – I guess he feels snug that way. (Franklin has his own Instagram page – Littlemuskrat – if you want to follow his antics.)

The funniest thing that happened was on New Year’s Eve when we returned home from the night out – entering the front door to see a partially torn-apart fake poinsetta plant, “Oh no – Franklin!” (Young pup.)  Then, moving into the family room, a bathroom accident, “Oh no! Poop – look out! Oops and there’s one here – get the dog!” (Old pup.) Then, noticing that the house alarm was still beeping and ready to go off. “Oh no – the alarm! (Old people – lol!)

Life with animals is rich, no matter the age.

4. Speaking of New Year’s, we had a ball with son and daughter-in-law at a local venue, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, where they had four floors of food and music. Lots of the music was unknown to us (how did it happen that we lost track of the latest tunes?) but fun nonetheless. Even when our shoes were killing us girls to the point of having to take them off towards the end of the night, I took heart that the young girls were doing it too. It was fun to get all dolled up once in a while (not waiting for a special occasion)  – we clean up pretty good!

5. Moving every day – just do it. I used to be so diligent about exercise, getting up super early to make sure I got the workout in. I guess it’s a matter of age, or maybe just laziness, but I’ve let this slip over the last year or so. I decided to make a change – not a resolution – but a change to get at least 20 minutes of ‘something’ in every day. I got spurred to action by a favorite podcast, Gretchen Rubin’s “Happier”, which I talk about a lot. She is starting with a “20 in 2020” idea of increasing your physical activity by 20 minutes a day over what you did last year.  She’s specifically talking about walking 20 minutes a day, but it could be any kind of exercise – the idea is to get moving. (So if you exercised 30 minutes a day last year, then you would do 50 minutes now. Or if you did 15 minutes a day, then now you would do 20.) This is doable! I’m making a note on every day of my digital calendar whenever I do it. (Can I get several days credit for the day I packed up the Christmas decorations and made a bazillion trips up and down three flights of stairs to put everything away? Please?) I know I won’t get it in every day, but I’m going to aim for ‘most’.

6. Starting the morning off ‘right’ is important. What’s right for me may not be the same as what’s right for you, but I’ve found if I skip my morning meditation, I really feel something’s missing.  This is something I do almost 100% of the time. My routine is beyond simple – rinse off the face with cold water, followed by drinking a glass of cold water to wake up. Then put on the coffee pot, followed by ~10 deep, full body inhale/exhales. Take my coffee to the couch, put on some ‘zen’ music, and do my Bible readings and prayers. After all that is done, then I can get a second cup of coffee and check emails, etc. Getting centered on the important things every day helps keep my day (and mind) on an even keel.

7.  Enjoy where you are right now. This was brought home to me when a friend sent a photo of us from a New Year’s 15 years ago. Yes, I know – it shouldn’t be a shock, but when you look at a photo like that it smacks you in the face. I think of this when I see particularly short or sexy clothes too – because I want to tell younger women to wear the things that you can, when you can, because there will come a time where it just won’t be appropriate. (I know, I know…modern culture says we’re supposed to wear anything we want, whenever we want, regardless of age. If that works for you, go for it. It doesn’t work for me. I just don’t look good in some styles anymore.) If I can just remember that, although I’m older than I’ve ever been, I’m also younger than I’ll ever be again, then I can enjoy right where I’m at. (Maybe I’ll try that longer, wilder hair again, though!)

8.  Reading is my great escape. I made a concerted effort to get back into reading over the past couple of years. I’ve always loved reading but for a few years there I hardly read at all. When I realized it, I vowed to make a change. This coincided with easy access to my local library – I didn’t have to drive far to access all their great services. Since there aren’t that many books that I need/want to own, renting is perfect. In 2017 I read 36 books; in 2018 it was 33. Last year I blew it out with 46. Wow – that even impresses me! This year I’m going to make a simple note by my listing of each book, to remind me of what I thought of it overall, since over time, memory fails on the particulars of most books. One thing’s for sure, I never finish books that don’t grab me – life is too short. That makes time for the books that I can really enjoy.

9. What would I have done with this? This question was asked by a lady in the UPS store when she was trying to find something she had misplaced in her purse. My ears perked up at this and we made eye contact and I told her, “That’s exactly what I say to myself in the same circumstance!” Because we’re all creatures of our own habits, we tend to do things in the same way, and put things away in the same way, because of the way we look at the world. So if I’ve ‘misplaced’ something, usually if I just ask myself, “If I were me, what would I have done with this?”, 9 times out of 10 I’ll be able to figure it out. May be silly, but it works!

10. Letting go of the unthinkable. For me, it’s…yep….fashion magazines. Not all of them! But I finally faced the fact that I am not keeping up in any way with reading all of the fashion magazines I subscribe to. It’s embarrassing to say but I end up tossing them in the recycle bin after a few months because they just accumulate and I (eventually) admit to myself that I’m not going to ever get caught up. (Part of the reason is #8 above – I’m enjoying reading my novels much more these days.) So I bit the bullet and am not renewing my subscriptions as they come due. I can always pick up a particular issue if one appeals to me, but I surely don’t need all of this input every month, and it might even help save a tree.

Well, that’s the first 10 thoughts for this year…we’ll see what the next 10 bring.

Thanks for reading – stay stylish!
Adena