We have a lizard!

Ooh, and a lovely lizard it is, too :) It hissed at me once, when I was picking it up to place it in its new home [probably because I scared it]. Since then, it has been handled [and mauled] many MANY times a day. It has been given a "tissue dress" and a "lizard blankie wrap" and has been carried around and placed on a bed and fed multiple times [all approved food, thank goodness]. It has a heating pad and a lamp to keep it warm, its own little water dish specially designed and made by Jared, and an awesome top to its cage, also designed and made by Jared. It has also been named "Perky" and given more love than any lizard should be asked to endure :)

Most lizards are active in the day, and sleep at night. I think ours will be sleeping when Morgen is in school, and hoping for after-school activities!

In other news, vanilla cupcakes are a delicious treat :) and a great way to keep children [both my own and visitors] entertained for a good 2 hours. BTW, chocolate buttercream frosting goes quite well with the above cupcakes. And, 3 days later, it tastes divine on graham crackers, too! [Assuming you forget to hide a stash of cupcakes especially for your own self] The stash of chocolate buttercream frosting is safely hidden in the fridge, in one of the left-over containers. Kids never check those :) so I'm thinking it's safe.

My New Year's Goals are as follows:

1. Exercise and lift weights 4 times/week. [the end result should be a healthier me]
2. Daily meditation
3. Finish all my UnFinished Objects [this means, specifically, every single craft that has already been started. I either finish it or find it a new, and loving, home.]
4. Keep to our budget :) and save for a down-payment on our next home.
5. Have a nice long bath every week :)

Gratitude List:
* Meditation time.
* I love having too much music to fit on my ipod :) so many choices...
* A fast new computer, which means less time online and more time for those UFOs...
* This quote:

Failures want pleasing methods.
Successes want pleasing results.
-Earl Nightingale

which reminds me that the reason I make goals is not because I enjoy the process, but because I want the outcome. Good thing to focus on while I'm riding my bike, with my leg muscles burning and sweat dripping down my back.
* Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting!
* Just got a call from my doctor's office :) and my cholesterol levels are [and I quote] "Great!" :)I love getting good news from my doctor :)
* Good friends and neighbors.
* A loving, supportive, extended family.
* A husband and children I love very much.
* Faith in God.