Chats on the Farmhouse Porch

Well, I was all set to (finally!) post my "December Ends on Pictures" post (after all, it's less than a week into January...), but for some reason, Blogger will not allow me to load pictures from my computer.  So many options!  Would I like to load pictures from my blog? 
Why would I want to do that?  Those pictures are soooo yesterday.
From a URL? 
No, from my desktop would be fine.
From a Picassa site?  From my web cam?  From my phone? 

Nah.  How 'bout from my computer?  Like we usually do? 

Sorry, not today.

 

Soooo...  I have just started visiting a blog called Everyday Rurality  and she has a linkie-poo to some questions.  This is called "Chats on the Farmhouse Porch". Since I live in a barn with a porch; and since that porch has a nice swing (well, it's nice in the summer); and since my muse is experiencing technical difficulties, I will play this game instead.  So there, photo loader. 

1. Do you make New Years resolutions?

Not really. I make Bedtime Resolutions.  These take place at the end of the day when I stand in the shower and think about how much I need to improve myself.  Tomorrow.  Tomorrow is a new day and I will reform my behavior as soon as my feet hit the floor in the morning.  Really.

 

2.  What do you hope to accomplish this year?

 

Hoo boy.  Can we leave my work stuff out of it?  Not really.  I am the director of an adult education program - mostly English as a Second Language. I am so goal-oriented at work and I have to write so many reports about what I am going to accomplish and whether I have accomplished it that I feel like I am kind of talked out on that topic.  Let's just say that the students will have phenomenal attendance, retention and progress.  That we will lay more groundwork for vocational and post-secondary education; that we will track job progress and attainment; that we will have excellent volunteer involvement. 

 

As far as my other life is concerned, I would like to sew curtains for Sara's room and the guest room.  I would like to marry Chuck on a day this summer when he, I and all four of our children can attend.  I would like to save enough money to pay for a trip to Spain this year; or a trip to New Zealand next year.  I would like to successfully pull off our journey down the Grand Canyon next November. 
 

3.  Tell me about your favorite place to think, create, or just relax.

 

My Cozy Spot.  I'm sitting in it right now.  A blue futon in front of the wood stove, which is faithfully cranking out heat.  Braided rug at my feet.  Cup of tea perched on the little table at my elbow.  Standing lamp with a  "Grandma Moses" shade.  The nighttime French doors beside me reveal nothing in the blackness in the back yard but reflect back to me the shimmering lights from all the Christmas strings we still have suspended all over the inside of the barn.  And YES!  OK!  Just now, I realized that I have a picture of the cozy stove that I had posted in an earlier blog entry, and I DID load the picture "From my bog". I admit it. 

 

4.  Are you a fan of old movies? (Like the ones that were originally black and white.)

 

Not really. Or more accurately: not specifically.  Some, I like; some, I don't.

 

5.  Tell me something that made you happy since our last porch visit. If you're new to the chats, tell me something good that has happened to you lately.

 

Things that have made me happy in the last 24 hours. My family loved the Cashew Chicken I made for supper. I successfully baked Oatmeal Pecan Pie in the wood stove. Look out! Here comes another picture!

 Chuck went to the gym with me and showed me a fun way to do crunches with the medicine ball.  Sign-up for the Family Literacy Program and the Monday / Wednesday program are both looking good, and I hope both will be filled to capacity when I close enrollment in a couple weeks. I got to sleep late this morning.

 

And now, I shall get everything laid out and ready for a busy day tomorrow.  I will take care of my daily accounts and expenses.  I will set up my crock pot.  I will curl up with Chuck and we will talk nonsense until we fall asleep.  Bliss.