December 12: Body integration. This year, when did you feel the most integrated with your body? Did you have a moment where there wasn’t mind and body, but simply a cohesive YOU, alive and present?

In the spirit of being honest with y’all, I’m going to tell you: I’ve never felt more at war with my body than in this past year. With a back injury, weight-gained, and persistent other issues, my body has become an antagonist in my story.

I noticed in the past month that a lot of these issues are probably a result of having my most sedentary job ever. Sitting in a crappy computer chair for forty hours a week without any kind of physical activity AT ALL has been hard on my body in ways that all my years of playing sports and pushing myself to the limit could never touch. So I guess my mind fired the first shot in this war, but I’m calling a truce.

Maybe losing my job is a blessing in disguise? Time will tell.

December 13: Action. When it comes to aspirations, its not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen. What’s your next step?

To get back in shape:

1. Go to the gym.
2. Take Jasper on long walks
3. Find good places to hike
4. Try yoga
5. OK, maybe not

To find a job:

1. I’ve already spruced up my resume
2. Continue networking
3. Get shifts at Gaylord to pay the bills until I…
4. Find a job I really want

For my writing:

1. Continue to query THE DEMONS YOU KNOW
2. Re-start writing my next book…
3. My MC needs to be revamped so I need to do….
4. Character sketches.

December 14: Appreciate. What’s the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it?

This is an easy one: my friends. It’s funny; I’ve never had fewer friends that I regularly spend time with, but that’s only made me appreciate them more. And I hope they know it. I hope they notice when I can’t help but smile when I see them. I hope they notice that when I hug them hello, it’s more than just going through the motions. I hope they know that every time I ask them to hang out, I truly do want to spend time with them.

For anyone who hasn’t heard, I was laid off last Thursday. That’s kinda why I haven’t been posting here the last few days, but apparently I’ve run that excuse dry – or I think that’s what Adam has trying to tell me. :-) So here’s some catch-up…

December 10: Wisdom. What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out?

I can’t say there’s a single decision that sticks out to me from this year – at least not one I haven’t mentioned in the past two weeks. If I’m being completely honest, ‘wisdom’ doesn’t hold that much weight in my decision-making process lately. The process is kinda more like this:

1. What do I want to do?
2. Do that.

Most of my life, I’ve been doing what I ‘should’ do. I’ve weighed the pros and cons, evaluated the situation, always taken the safe path.

And it just wasn’t working for me. So I’m trying something new. And I guess there is some wisdom in that, even if it is unconventional.

December 11: 11 Things. What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life?

Cutting back on things is actually something I’ve been working toward. I know a lot of people took this in the non-literal sense, but I think it’s important to literally un-clutter your life also.

1. Dishes. Not all of them, just a lot of them. Our kitchen has quadruples of pretty much everything. It drives me nuts.
2. Clothes. I have a huge closet, half-filled with clothes I haven’t worn in over six months.
3. Stuff. Anything I use less than twice a year. I don’t even like to keep trinkets or seasonal decorations. It’s apparently weird, but I don’t imbue emotions on material possessions – so why bother keeping them around?
4. Weight. Some extra pounds. I won’t say how many, but they’re as good as gone. Just give me a few months.
5. Toiletries. I don’t know why, but I collect lotion, shampoo, body wash, etc faster than I can use it.
6. Dust. Though I’m totally anti-clutter, I’m not a fan of dusting. I know I should, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to do it. I’ll try.
7. Lame Duck Friends. You know the ones. You think they’re a good friend, until you need them. Or maybe you keep inviting them to things and they always have an excuse and never return the invites. Not worth it.
8. Rejection Letters. I hate them. I know they’re inevitable, but I’ll do everything I can to keep them to a minimum – short of not submitting, of course.
9. Traffic. Sounds awesome, right? I can only think of one way to do this: move somewhere where I can walk to just about anything I need.
10. Uncomfortable Shoes. Life is way too short for me to spend any amount of time thinking about my feet hurting – especially when I’ve done it to myself. If I can’t dance in them for hours, they’re gone.
11. Junk food. I’m not saying I want to get rid of it completely (I’m not one of those people), but cut down significantly. I guess this will help with number four too.

So I was planning on doing at least one more post, but I’m tired and it’s time to go to bed. Expect more tomorrow!

Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?

I’m not sure if this was the true intent of this post, but the last thing I ‘made’ was these:

Normally, I wouldn’t be so proud, but I made these without a recipe, not even sure if the ingredients would taste good together – and they were delicious! On top of that, it’s the second thing I’ve EVER fried.

I had some leftover pre-cooked chicken, wontons and cheese and I was hungry.

If you want to recreate them, here are my sort-of directions:

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup – ish pre-cooked chicken
• a handful of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 heaping spoonfuls of small-curd cottage cheese
• Small wonton wrappers
• oil – I used canola but just about anything will do
• a few sprinkles of Provencal Herbs (or you can try something else)
• bowl of water

Instructions:

1. Mix the chicken, mozzarella, cottage cheese and Provencal herbs in a bowl. Adjust ingredients as you see fit.
2. heat oil approximately 1 inch deep in a large skillet or wok to around 375 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, I used the setting a few clicks past “medium” heat. You may actually want to do this once you are almost done with the next step, depending on how quickly your stove heats up.
3. Place a little spoonful of the mixture on a wonton wrapper. Stick your finger in the water and lightly wet all four edges of the wrapper.
4. Fold one corner of the wrapper over to form a triangle and press the edges together to seal all the filling inside.
5. Stop when you’ve run out of filling or wontons. *shrug* this isn’t exactly a scientific process
6. Once the oil is heated, place four to five wontons in the skillet with tongs. After approximately 30 seconds, or when the underside is brown to your liking, flip them over.
7. Remove the wontons from the oil with the tongs (Tip: turn them sideways to drain out any oil that may have gotten inside the wrapper) and place them on a plate with a paper towel.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until you run out of wontons.
9. Enjoy. Open your windows, turn on your fans, and use lots of air freshener. ‘Cause grease STINKS.
10. Send me a thank-you email.

See, that wasn’t so hard. I could so write a cookbook. It’d be called: Sarah’s Kitchen: No Measuring Things Required

The day before, I also made this:

It’s stuffed with chicken, red peppers and cheese and it’s as delicious as it is pretty. I have an actual recipe for this and if you ask nicely, I may give it to you.

For those of you who came here looking for some sort of crafty thing? I tried that once, for a month. It didn’t end well. I have the hand-eye coordination of a walrus that’s never had to catch his own food.

One thing I’d like to do is take all my sorority tshirts and make a quilt-blanket thing out of it. Or maybe I can trick my roommate into doing it for me! :)

This post is part of my #reverb10. Visit their website to learn more.

Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?

I actually blogged about this not too long ago, shortly before I switched my blog here when I announced my resignation of my VP of Development position for a small non-profit. This past year I’ve given myself permission to take a step back and drop some things that weren’t a top priority. I really enjoy volunteering, but it took me a while to realize I can’t say ‘yes’ to everything AND give every project my best effort. I’m fortunate that I’m able to choose the projects that are important to me, but I know I have to limit my involvement or things start to slip.

And it’s worked out pretty well for me. I’m working on some projects that are really exciting. This year I was able to finish The Demons You Know and have begun the querying process. That’s a major milestone and it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t learned to say no.

This post is part of my #reverb10. Visit their website to learn more.

Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors).

I must be feeling ornery or something the past few days because I keep wanting to defy the prompt.  Every time I tried to whittle it down to a single moment, hundreds of memories flash through my mind.

I may be picking at semantics here, but I don’t think there are times when I feel “more alive” than others, but there are certainly times when I feel “less alive.” Because, for me, “alive” – and I mean really being and feeling alive – is my natural state. Maybe this isn’t so for others? I don’t know.

So, blog rebel that I am, I give you some moments:

• That moment in a conversation with a good friend when I realize five hours has passed even though I could swear he/she only arrived fifteen minutes ago.
• That moment just after I wake up when my dog is cuddled up next to me and I can feel his warmth and breathe in that puppy smell while lying in that quality of light that only occurs as the sun is crossing the horizon.
• That moment when I realize I’m dancing for joy with people ebbing all around me and I don’t care what they think because it really doesn’t matter.
• That moment when I just know I’m where I should be and working toward my true heart’s desire.
• That moment when my friend and I make the same exact joke at the same exact time and laugh at each other and time seems to slow down so that we can laugh a little bit longer.

What about you? What makes you feel alive?

This post is part of my #reverb10. Visit their website to learn more.