Today Is The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Blog

A few weeks ago, my friend Amber asked if I'd do some pledge of allegiance to the blog for 31 days in America, and I said no. I can not, will not pledge to write on my blog for any given period of time, because I have not all year. Scratch that. I only have six times this entire year.

Six times.

This is sad for a variety of reasons. Most of which I can not talk about. Which only adds to the lack of blogging. It's a vicious cycle, this not blogging thing. I don't know how most of the world does it. The not blogging.

Because, in retrospect and in truth, it has taken a lot more energy for me to not blog.

Meaning, the guilt and longing associated with not blogging has far outweighed the time, effort and consequence it takes to blog. So I choose that. The time and effort. And consequence. From today forward. And so begins again The Queso.

The Texas Queso

• 4 cups grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese (about 12 ounces)
• 1 1/2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese (about 6 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 cup minced white onion (about 1 small onion)
• 1 (4-ounce) can diced mild green chiles, juices reserved

Place cheeses in a large bowl, sprinkle with cornstarch, and toss. Transfer cheese mixture to a large saucepan and add milk. Set over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is smooth and melted, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in onion and chiles.

Enjoy.

Oh Happy Day

It's been a wild week.

But I came in the office to find a ton of happy greetings,
including this lovely photo from my friend Kristen.

I'm so thankful for all the blessings in my life.

And I'm super excited to celebrate another year in this wonderful world.

Don't Talk To My Husband.

He's wearing headphones for a reason.

James is building complex financial software for very cool company. One of his co-workers just sent this to me. As you can see, he's very busy thinking. And coding. And architecting and stuff. So don't talk to him. Trust me.

Simplify Media = 10,000 New Songs

James introduced me to this magical concept called Simplify Media today. I really have no idea what it is or how it works. But as far as I can tell, you go to the Simplify Media web site and download an application that magically appears on your computer and allows you to share iTunes libraries over the internet.

In other words and most importantly, with the click of a few buttons, I now have access to my husband's ridiculously gigantic collection of music.

This also means that I'm now listening to Glasvegas and Low vs Diamond almost nonstop.

But it goes both ways. I plan to share my latest finds. Like Chris Mann (who will be at Mom 2.0 Summit on February 20th). I also have a surprisingly large collection of The Wiggles. I know. I'm a giver.

Obviously Simplify works out better for some of us than it does for others.

30 Days to Make a Habit

I wrote the above on Twitter two weeks ago and got a number of disagreeing responses. This doesn't really matter, and is probably an entirely different post (because he so is, and I'll tell you why), but the point is, Will Smith is smart. As I was typing that Twitter post, I was watching him on Jay Leno, and he said something that made a lot of sense to me.

He says he attempts to set an example for his kids by reading everyday and running everyday. His philosophy is, if you do these two things, almost everything else falls in line.

This makes a lot of sense to me. Read everyday. Run everyday. Simple. I'm adding write everyday as well, and that takes me to my next three ambitions for 2009.

Read everyday. Not a lot. Just a little. Right before sleeping. I'd like to finish one book a month. Totally doable.

Run everyday. To be realistic, everyday is four days a week in my mind. And running is walking. Or yoga. Or running. Whatever. Movement of some kind. At least a little.

Write everyday. This doesn't mean write on this blog. This just means write somewhere. (I have been posting daily at Cool Stuff, so there's that.) This really isn't a problem. In fact, it's a gimme goal.

So far I've kept to these. Okay, it's only the 11th, but I'm all for celebrating baby steps.

I'm also attempting to make four Blurb books and to cook more.

Hey, it could happen.

Reality Check. I need to read more.

I traded in my books for a laptop. Literally. Figuratively. Compulsively. Without really thinking about it or meaning to, sometime over the last two years I began to spend all my reading time online. Reading online. But still.

This is a surprise from someone who once broke up with a cute boy about 2 minutes after he said, "Books are over. Reading fiction is a waste of time." Oh yes I did.

And I'm here to say, even though it may have seemed so in my own household, books are so not over. Not so much (now that phrase is over, according to this 2009 list of "Banished" words.) But books, no. If they ever went away for some reason, they're back.

Just like depressions are good for design, they're great for the permanent art form of alibris.

Seriously.

Mark my words. 2009 is going to be the year of the book. Watch for it.

(Also this book by Guy Kawasaki. It's awesome. Even if it's not fiction. In fact, it's not fiction at all. And in this case, that's what makes it great. Check it out.)

(Double also, I noticed that Monica has resolved to read more this year. And I noticed this on the Mom2summit flickr feed. They're having a big contest over the next 10 days. If you post a photo representation of your resolution, you're entered to win a free pass to the Mom2Summit in Houston in February. I'll be posting resolution shots everyday. I have 12 after all.)

Being So Resolved

Each year, everyone in my department at work writes secret goals and puts them in a sealed envelope to open the next year and see if they met them. Kinda like 'The Secret' meets a time capsule. The theory being that there's power in things written down... even if you don't remember them. Like magic. But I was thinking about it, and it seems if there is power in words you forget, surely there is even more power in those you deliberately write down to remember.

And since 'tis the season to make a resolution, I'm going to make 12. Like the 12 days of Christmas. Or the 12 months of the year. I know it sounds a bit overwhelming, but I do better when I have more to do. Plus they're totally doable. And I want to do them.

The first one has everything to do with this space right here. The Queso. And Cool Stuff con Queso. And Hurricane Tracking. I'm resolved to doing more here in 2009. This will include a redesign and a lot more entries. The last part of last year I found it very difficult to make time to spend time here. And I was always pretty sad about that. But since a number of these 12 will be supported here (they're somewhat woven together), it makes sense that this one should be the first.

I feel super motivated for all things to come in 2009. In fact, I was ready to start before it started.

The week between Christmas and New Year's has always been one of my favorites. It's such a great combination of laziness and ambition wrapped in long open days. And on Monday of this week I was so excited about what is to come that I packed up every bit of holiday around our house, boxed it up, and put it away to make space for what's next.

I can hardly wait.

2009 Rules.

Here's to the greatest year yet!

All the best from the Mayes home to you and yours...

Cheers!