The Ides of March

“Beware the Ides of March.” This is one of the very few lines I remember from Dr. Miller’s Shakespeare class I took as a junior in college. I vividly remember signing up for this class. Shakespeare was offered for spring quarter. The goal of many college students was to get the ABC class schedule: 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00, so we would finish at 12:30 and be out tanning by 1:00. Shakespeare was not a class I wanted to take, but as an English major it filled a graduation requirement and as one who wanted to work on her tan, a sun schedule requirement.

“Beware the Ides of March.” A date that lives in infamy for Julius Caesar. A soothsayer gave Caesar and early warning of his impending death with these words. Later on in the play, there was a big storm (definitely a foreshadowing element). To find out what it meant, Caesar had priests sacrifice animals and then read the omens in their entrails. The message: DON”T GO OUT. And in typical horror movie fashion 415 years ago, Caesar ignores the warnings, goes out (idiot), and gets stabbed to death on the steps of the capitol.

“Beware the Ides of March.” From the Shakespeare’s play, these five words have a doom-filled reputation, but every month has its Ides. Ides is derived from an old Latin verb, iduare, which meant to divide. It was the Roman term for the day that came in the middle of each month. 

The Ides of March...an American rock band that played the hit 70s song, “Vehicle.” Every trumpet player in the 70s could play along with this song, every teenager would blast this song, and to this day many boomers still crank it up. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxJFjO4Skgo

And the lyrics...what kid in the 70s didn’t sing them at the top of his or her lungs...

I'm your vehicle baby

I'll take you anywhere you want to go

I'm your vehicle woman

By now I'm sure you know

That I love you (love you)

Need you (need you)

I want to got to have you child 

Great god in heaven you know I love you.

So as a teenager in the 70s, “Vehicle” or “Julius Caesar,” I know which Ides of March was my favorite. Apologies to Dr. Miller ~ 

Resolutions

Thanksgiving to New Year's Eve...roughly six weeks of loosening our self-discipline and our belt buckles. From turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing, to frequent parties with all kinds of yummy hors d'oeuvres and drinks, to Christmas cookies and egg nog, it's an eating celebration with few regrets.

Until January 1.

It's a new year and time to get back to a more disciplined life. Here come the resolutions: Go on a diet, get organized, quit smoking, start an exercise program, etc., etc., etc....

Been there, done that, too many times, except for the quit smoking. (I've never smoked).

People tend to create resolutions as a punishment for their over-indulgent behavior, but a person can endure punishment for only so long. People also tend to create resolutions that are too big and broad, and those are hard to meet. And then it's February 1 and the resolutions have gone by the wayside.

I have found that taking a closer look into my life and making smaller, more specific resolutions, success comes more easily. My 2014 resolutions:

READ
Five books are on my reading table:

• Quiet by Susan Cain. It's about being an introvert in a world that can't stop talking.
• My Life in France by Julia Child. Julia Child was a woman who dove into an unfamiliar culture, embraced it, and pursued a passion.
• Inferno by Dan Brown. Brown's 4th book with symbology expert Robert Langdon.
• Cooked by Michael Pollan. How food improves health, connects us with others and the natural world, helps us achieve self-sufficiency.
• Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. A cookbook with beautiful photos, stories, and recipes. Reading and cooking all in one!

FINISH THE AFGHAN

My nephew graduated from high school in May and is now a freshman at Ohio State. I started a hairpin lace afghan right before he graduated with the goal of completing it for his birthday in July. Didn't happen. So then the date of completion was set for when he left for OSU in September. Nope. Christmas. Not finished. It's going to be a good project for this winter and will be done by the time he completes his freshman year.

CROSS SOMETHING OFF MY BUCKET LIST

Actually, I don't call it my bucket list; it's my living list. On my birthday in September, I resolved to do 56 new things before turning 57. I've done 20 so far.

BE MORE DILIGENT WITH MY BLOG

Last year I made 65 posts in House Dust and Wanderlust. My goal for 2014 is 100.

WEAR MORE COLORFUL CLOTHING

I wear a lot of black. It's a go-to when I can't decide what to wear. Particularly for spring and summer, I want to have bright, fun colors in my wardrobe.

RUN A HALF MARATHON

Last year, one of my resolutions was to participate in an organized athletic event and I ran in the Air Force Marathon's 10K. My daughter wants me to run a half marathon with her. 13 miles seems like a long, long way, but I will do it...I CAN do it. 

LEAVE THE COUNTRY

In 2010, hubs and I went to Italy to celebrate our 30th anniversary and ever since then I have be dying to go back to Europe. I have so many possible itineraries planned! As fate would have it, my sister who travels internationally for her job, called and asked me if I wanted to go to Madrid in March! ¡Sí, sí, sí!

New Year's resolutions offer hopefulness and are about embracing the present, the here and now. 

"Approach the new year with resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day."

~ Michael Josephson

Happy 2014!

Have a Cookie ~

I have four kids so over the course of many years, I have had many "mom cars." My first mom car came after the birth of my son and it was a little navy blue Ford station wagon. It served its purpose well...got to child #3 with that one. 1990 came and #4 was on his way. Time to jump on the mini-van bandwagon. Hello, Dodge Caravan. The Caravan logged lots of miles and then the kids became involved in sports which took us to out-of-town tournaments. Hello, carpools and the big ole urban war wagon, the Chevy Suburban. I LOVED that truck! Lots of miles, lots of memories in that one. Then all at once, it was time for child #1 to go to college. We decided to downsize to a Chevy Tahoe. That Tahoe has hauled each kid and his or her stuff to college, moved college furniture to storage facilities and then back to the new college residence, trekked on many Spring Breaks, and yanked a few stubborn stumps out of the ground . It's my "baby," fondly nicknamed War Horse.

Backtrack a few years. My 27th wedding anniversary, my 50th birthday, and Christmas all came within a span of 5 months. My so very thoughtful husband who loves nice cars surprised me with a fun hard-top Lexus convertible for Christmas. I am a lucky girl. It's a great car (even though way down deep I am a truck girl).

My only beef with Lexus is that service is EXPENSIVE. One of my windshield wipers broke and after calling around town to find a non-Lexus place to replace it and having no luck, I took it to the dealer. The waiting area was just lovely, the bathroom had beautiful artwork and good smelling hand soap from Bath and Bodyworks, fresh cookies on a table. It was a lovely place to wait an hour and read.

The very nice service consultant directed me to the desk to pay my bill. $78.00 to replace both wipers. 

Ouch. 

Thanks for the cookie.