Well, this is it. The holiday season is nearly at an end. I hope these two months have been peaceful, successful and healthy for all of you, and I hope this website has played even a small role in your efforts toward self-care and wellness.
As all the holiday stuff begins to wind down, I thought it might be fun to play a game together. Use each bold, italicized phrase below as a fill-in-the-blank. Share your responses in the comments here, on Facebook, or on Twitter. Submit your responses by January 5 JANUARY 9, and I’ll announce the winners the next day. Prizes will be awarded for the comments that strike me as particularly funny or insightful – I’m not telling you what they are yet or how many I’ll distribute, so you’ll have to play to find out!
To get the ball rolling, I’ve provided my own responses for each fill-in-the-blank.
Over the last two months, I have developed a greater appreciation of __________________.
* The merits of planning and organizing – especially heading into the tax season
* Myself, my abilities, and how I can best utilize my skills and talents
* The resources I have available to me, both in my physical community and out there in the world
The absolute best part of the holiday season was __________________.
* Savoring a cheese plate in front of the fireplace in lieu of hosting the family’s traditional Thanksgiving dinner
The absolute worst part of the holiday season was __________________.
* Realizing that the smoked turkey in the refrigerator had gone bad (oh, it was foul)
The funniest thing that happened during November was __________________.
* Listening to my twelve-year-old nephew explain the Internet to me – he wasn’t sure if I’d heard of email
The funniest thing that happened during December was __________________.
* The look on my four-year-old niece’s face when I showed her this video. She insisted we watch it four more times. This was several days ago, and I’m still laughing.
Things I want to work on for 2012 include __________________.
* Self-discipline
* Pacing
* Learning when to say “No” and when to say “Now”
The things I’m most looking forward to in 2012 include __________________.
* The imminent birth of a new niece or nephew
* The first classes at The Studio at The Frida Center for Fibromyalgia
* Painting the house
The things I’m least looking forward to in 2012 include __________________.
* Painting the house
The one word I would use to sum up 2011 is __________________.
* Educational
The overall mood with which I’m approaching 2012 is __________________.
* Optimism
The single most important thing I will do in 2012 to make myself stronger, healthier, and happier will be to __________________.
* Get as much myofascial release therapy as feels appropriate for my body
Thanks for playing! Remember, the deadline to submit your responses is January 5 JANUARY 9. I’m looking forward to reading your submissions!
And to all of you and your loved ones, best wishes for a healthy, happy, and peaceful 2012.
Follow PracticalFibro on Twitter
Visit TPF on Facebook!
Well, I was going to play until I realized that I couldn’t come up with anything funny for November or December. So, I now know the thing I want to work on for 2012 is having more FUN! LOL!
Tamara — That counts as insightful
1) greater appreciation of the sheer amount of hot water my shower is capable of producing in one day.
2)best thing evar was hearing my toddler say “tismis twee”.
3)worst was starting the zombie apocalypse via food poisoning and stomach virus.
4)november funnies: joined regretsy publicly and finally got to use the word douchecanoe in a sentence.
5)december funny: dropping an entire pan of cookie dough on myself and realizing that for the first time. I didnt care about the mess.
6)2012 goals: finishing projects, finishing exercise routines, finishing the crappy cup of starbucks coffee ill overpay on.
7)
Hooray for FJLs! Thanks for playing, Morgana!
And “Tismis twee” is just plain awesome.
*I have developed a greater appreciation for the fact that having a two-year-old means that he can help me with daily tasks now. That task includes throwing away his own diapers.
*The absolute best part of the holiday season was going out in our pajamas with mugs of hot chocolate/chocolate milk to look at the most heavily decorated neighborhood in town on Christmas Eve. I think it is a new family tradition.
* The absolute worst part of the holiday season was learning the hard way that skipping a dosage of Cymbalta causes very wretched withdrawals within a very short amount of time.
* The funniest thing that happened in November was my son insisting that my Great Aunt Sandra’s name is “Unka Bill” (her husband) and each time she said “No. Saaaaaannnnn-DRA!” trying unsuccessfully to keep her anger and frustration from showing, my son said “Nope. Bill.”
Uncle Bill fell on the floor laughing after about the 5th round of this after holding his breath to try and keep it in, and Aunt Sandra started beating him with a dish towel. Her grandsons (ages 5 and 7) thought this was a fantastic game and started hitting her with dish towels. All with my son shouting above the noise “What wrong, Unka Bill?” to Aunt Sandra.
* The funniest thing that happened in December was having to explain to my 15-year-old nephew what a busy signal was. He’d never heard one before. Every adult over about 35 had to get up and leave the room because they were either feeling more and more ancient, getting more and more frustrated, or were having a harder and harder time keeping from laughing at everyone trying to imitate what one sounded like for him and over him just not getting what a busy signal could possible be for. (“Why didn’t it just send them to voice mail…. Huh? Okay, fine, why didn’t it send them to the answering machine?”) Some had to leave because of all 3.
* Things I want to work on in 2012 are: learning to ask for help, learning not to lose my temper or snap when the only thing wrong is the pain I’m in, and looking for a specialist(s) that will take a big picture approach to managing my condition instead of throwing even more pills at me and saying “There’s nothing else I can do.”
* Things I’m looking forward to the most in 2012 include seeing my dad more often, enjoying time with my husband and watching my little boy grow up even more.
* Things I’m least looking forward to in 2012 include: facing my limitations even more and watching my little boy grow up even more.
* The one word I would use to sum up 2011 is “challenging”.
* The overall mood I’m approaching 2012 with is cautious optimism.
* The single most important thing I can do in 2012 is to enjoy time spent with my family instead of lamenting what I can’t do with them.
Over the last two months, I have developed a greater appreciation of ______myself. I have been pushing myself more in the last month than I have in the last 5 years.
The absolute best part of the holiday season was ________________watching my kids discover that Christmas doesn’t come from a store, that Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
The absolute worst part of the holiday season was _________________knowing that after the glow of Christmas was over, that I had to come up with a way to feed my family for the rest of the month with no grocery money.
The funniest thing that happened during November was __________________watching my 18 y/o daughter trying to teach her grandfather to do the Party Rock Anthem dance.
The funniest thing that happened during December was __________________the Regretsy Secret Santa gift exchange, can’t wait for Valentine’s Day!
Things I want to work on for 2012 include __________________my self-esteem issues and making IRL friends.
The things I’m most looking forward to in 2012 include __________________going back to college on the 17th, I’ve been waiting 18 years to go back.
The things I’m least looking forward to in 2012 include __________________having to start all over with all new doctors, so frustrating!
The one word I would use to sum up 2011 is __________________watershed.
The overall mood with which I’m approaching 2012 is __________________Stressfully Optimistic
The single most important thing I will do in 2012 to make myself stronger, healthier, and happier will be to __________________quit beating myself up about the things I can’t do, and cherish the things I can.
I hope I did this right, here’s to a better 2012!
Luv, Babs
CF4L!!
CF4L, Annie and Babs! You did it perfectly.
Over the last two months, I have developed a greater appreciation of _how great my family is when experienced in small doses_.
The absolute best part of the holiday season was _getting engaged! And giving away all the fruitcake I was given._.
The absolute worst part of the holiday season was _getting fruitcake in the first place_.
The funniest thing that happened during November was _my Grandmother calling me to share that she had found “this website called Youtube with funny videos of cats on it!” Welcome to the internet, Grandma._.
The funniest thing that happened during December was _breaking two mixers in a row on cookie dough. One breaking? Bad luck. The second one? Coincidence. I half expected my fiancee to break his ARM mixing those cookies. I was rolling around laughing at him but he didn’t find it as funny._.
Things I want to work on for 2012 include _motivation and less procrastination._.
The things I’m most looking forward to in 2012 include _being unpacked and moved into in my new house_.
The things I’m least looking forward to in 2012 include _unpacking everything that’s just been moved into my new house. Also, that whole Mayan Apocalypse doesn’t sound too fun. _.
The one word I would use to sum up 2011 is _unemployed_.
The overall mood with which I’m approaching 2012 is _not so much optimism as “well, it can’t be much worse!”_.
The single most important thing I will do in 2012 to make myself stronger, healthier, and happier will be to _make sure to take care of ME before taking care of everyone else._.
Thank you for playing, Michelle!
Over the last two months, I have developed a greater appreciation of __ibuprofen.
The absolute best part of the holiday season was __the first glass of eggnog.
The absolute worst part of the holiday season was __being sick on Christmas (complete with being in bed all day!).
The funniest thing that happened during November was __Had to be something my friends said…I have funny friends
.
The funniest thing that happened during December was __I found Regretsy, and it was AWESOME.
Things I want to work on for 2012 include __my jewelry business and my health.
The things I’m most looking forward to in 2012 include __lots of sales growth.
The things I’m least looking forward to in 2012 include __still being chronically sick.
The one word I would use to sum up 2011 is ___insane.
The overall mood with which I’m approaching 2012 is __ambivalence (will there be enough eggnog next year?).
The single most important thing I will do in 2012 to make myself stronger, healthier, and happier will be to ___be more independent.