It’s New Year’s Day—January 1, 2011, and I suppose today of all days would be the day to blog. After all, it’s now the year in which I will leave for Papua New Guinea. It’s a chance to reflect and pontificate about all the happenings that have brought me to this point. A chance to remember how unaware I was of all the upcoming changes last January 1st . A chance to make happy (though ultimately unsuccessful) resolutions. A chance to laugh at how optimistically inaccurate the movie 2010: The Year We Make Contact was.It’s a fresh start to the year, and a day when people are open to thinking profound thoughts. When I was young, I often tried to start journals or diaries on the first of the year and try to say something that would inspire me to keep writing for the rest of the 364 days… it never worked.
I hope you aren’t expecting such things from me today.
I have no profound thoughts. No great insights. No wisdom from beyond.
But, since you read this far and would probably feel cheated if I ended the blog post right now, I here are 10 things that I really am thinking about this New Year’s Day.
1. No, I did not do anything to celebrate the New Year. I didn’t even stay up until midnight. Midnight is overrated. I seem to have lost that ability (or desire? I never had that desire…) upon graduation from college and beginning full-time work. I was invited to a party last night, which would have been quite fun, but I sadly declined due to two things: Ice and long lists.
2. Ice. I hate ice. I don’t really have a list of things that I fear, but if I did, ice would be on it. Especially the kind of ice we are having, where it rains, freezes, and then snows, so the poor unsuspecting person will step on death traps without warning. Almost two years ago, that poor unsuspecting person was me, and I broke a bone in my left wrist that is so difficult to break that typically only hockey or football players ever achieve it. And me. That notoriety also means it’s one of the hardest bones to heal, a process that took nearly 6 months, several of which were spent in a cast past my elbow. I’m glad PNG doesn’t have ice.
3. I love lists. I am The List-Maker. I make lists for everything. And then I organize them. And I give them headings. And I consolidate. And if I do something that’s not on my list, I write it on there just so I can cross it off. Post-it notes and note pads are some of life’s greatest inventions. Yep. I’m weird.
4. Right now, filling up my lists is everything that I have to do to get ready for a great many events in January. What events, you ask? Well, I invite you to visit the new calendar page on the menu bar at the top of the screen. I am now posting my public events up there!
5. I just got to cross another thing off my list—writing my January newsletter! I mailed the hard-copies yesterday and sent out the email version today. If you didn’t get one and want one, please send me an email (catherine_rivard@wycliffe.org).
6. This article from yesterday’s Star Tribune makes me laugh: http://www.startribune.com/nation/112710689.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU They are so enthusiastic about an impossible task that it’s almost epic.
7. Today our agenda includes re-painting my bathroom. What color? Rose (or a fancy name for a deep pink), which happens to be one of my sister’s favorite colors. What color was her bathroom repainted? Blue. What happens to be my favorite color? Yep, you guessed it…ironic, isn’t it?
8. 2011 looks like a backwards addition problem. 1+1=02
9. I’ve been asked by several people how to keep up with my blog (perhaps after this post they won’t want to…). There are several ways, both on the left-hand sidebar of this screen. Google Follower is for those who have gmail email addresses. It doesn’t send you emails of new posts, but there is a home page that you can visit that will tell you when I’ve updated. Subscription allows you to different ways of following including having emails sent to your program (under "posts," click “atom”).
10. Do you have questions or ideas that you would like answered here? I’d love to hear from you! Email me at catherine_rivard@wycliffe.org
And there you have it—Catherine’s 2011 opening thoughts.
Happy New Year!
