I’m on another staycation. Only this time I am getting more done than before. As I prepare for 2010, I’m ready to throw out the old and bring in the new.

My New Home Office: So glad the 1-800-GOT-JUNK guys showed up promptly this morning to remove my son’s old bedroom furniture. He has had that furniture since he was two years old and now he is 19. The JUNK guys did a great job. It took them about five minutes to dismantle the hutch from the desk and load everything into their van. While it was a tad on the expensive side, I was so glad to see that old furniture go out the door.

Now I have room to set up a new desk and start to watch my new home office take shape. (However, my son still thinks this new home office is for him. I did keep his bed and a chair, but that’s about it. Oh, yes, and I kept a picture of him from when he was two years old and was a bumblebee for Halloween. He found the picture in his desk drawer. He was such a cute bumblebee. I couldn’t let him throw away that picture. So I kept it. I also kept some of the picture books that I used to read to him when he was a toddler, like Jamberry and In the Night Kitchen, and The Giving Tree. Maybe I will read them to my grandchildren one day.)

Tomorrow, my kids and I are off to IKEA to buy new furniture. Yeah! (I should not get too excited, as it will likely take me quite a while to put the IKEA furniture together. Maybe I can bring the JUNK guys back to set up my new furniture?)

My New Kindle: I was going to bring new technology into my life last nite when I decided to fire up my Kindle. “No more books for me,” I told myself, “I’ve had this Kindle for two years. It’s about time I finally use it.” I charged the battery and then went to register it on Amazon.com.

“Someone has already registered that serial number,” said Amazon.com. “You must call customer service for help.” It seems that the person who purchased the Kindle as my gift two years ago had already registered it. I spent about 30 minutes on the phone with the nice customer service representative. Unfortunately, he could not fix my Kindle. He said he would check with the Kindle experts and call or email me on Tuesday.

I do hope they call me back. I want to be ready to read all my books that I plan to download in the new year. (I have so many books on my retirement reading list that I was going to start to download. I know I have lots of time until I retirement, but I had plans to possibly begin to learn to use this new technology in 2010.

My New Exercise Routine: I always start the new year saying how much more I’m going to exercise. Don’t you do that too? I went out and bought two new sports bras yesterday…the Everlast bras that make me want to start kickboxing. I need to add some new cardio workouts to my routine. I also should start using my stationary bicycle in the mornings. (Ha, ha, ha.) I do wish I could have more time to do yoga more often. And I should really start training for the Komen Race on Mother’s Day – I do want to run this year instead of walking. Hmm, hmm, hmm. Maybe on second thought, I’ll just keep doing what I’ve been doing in 2009 and try one new weight machine.

My New ‘To Do’ Lists: I’m definitely going to have shorter ‘to do’ lists in 2010. My sister visited me this week and she said that in social work school they taught her to put all her ‘to do’ lists into compartments and do a few at a time so the ‘to do’ list isn’t overwhelming. Like this week…I only put seven things on my ‘to do’ list for my staycation week. And I accomplished almost all of my ‘to do’s’ so far. I’m so proud of myself.

1- Go To Foot Doctor: I went to the foot doctor and got my new orthopedic inserts for my shoes. “You are going to stand up straighter,” said the podiatrist this morning as he put the new orthopedic inserts in my shoes. “They will take time to get used to, but soon you’ll be walking straighter, you’ll have less lower back pain,” he added. I am so excited to finally have my feet and body aligned and ready for the next decade.

2- Call Snowblower Repairman: I called the snowblower repairman to fix my broken snowblower. (Of course, my super duper snowblower did not work during last week’s 20+ inch snowstorm.) The snowblower repairman actually arrived this afternoon and took my snowblower away to the repair shop. He gave me a ticket and said he would call with the estimate. I do hope he comes back with my snowblower before the next major snowstorm in 2010.

3- Call 1-800-GOT-JUNK: I already told you about the JUNK guys. Check, check.

4- Go to IKEA and Buy New Home Office Furniture: And the 4th ‘to do’ I’m doing tomorrow when I go to IKEA for my furniture. Check, check.

5- Call the SEARS Serviceman: I still have to call the SEARS serviceman to come service my washer and dryer that is due for service in January.

6- Bake Bread: I promised my kids I would try to bake another challah bread during my staycation week. The last one I made did not rise (think my daughter boiled the water for the yeast instead of just adding warm water). Check, check, I made the challah yesterday and it rose to perfection. In fact, it had extra time to rise because I was busy on the phone trying to get my Kindle to work. I told the nice Amazon Customer Service man that I had dough rising so I couldn’t stay on the phone too long. (I’m such a good multi-tasker! I can bake bread and try to fix a Kindle at the same time.)

7. Shred Old Papers: I have so many papers to shred. I always try to shred some of the old papers at the end of the year so I can make room for all the new papers that I have to file away. I did a few stacks today in my tiny shredder and must shred more later in the week.

There. I’m done with my ‘to do’ list. I like this new ‘to do’ list system.

Out with the old. In with the new. 2010 will be here in a few days. It’s time to sing that old song people sing when the clock strikes 12:00 am on January 1st…

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

I like Auld Lang Syne.

Have a happy new year! I’ll be back in 2010 with more stories to share about my life after 50. Wait. My birthday is coming up a week after the new year. I’m going to be 52. Oh, I think I’ll forget about my birthday and sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ again.

Judi

I’ve spent the past two years strengthening my life. Yes, since my husband passed away (it will be two years next week), and my kids have officially left the nest (well almost, the younger birdie tends to come back more often than the older one), I’ve had a chance to concentrate more on me, myself and I.

So, it was very fitting when the publicist for Marcus Buckingham, the author of “Find Your Strongest Life, What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently,” contacted me and asked if I would like Marcus to write a guest post for my blog.

“Absolutely,” I told the publicist, “but first I need to take The Strong Life Test and discover the role I was born to play, as Marcus’ book says.” At 50+, it’s time to find out what my role in life is truly meant to be, and pay more attention to my strengths. I do want to be a happy woman during the second half of my life.

I heard Marcus speak at a recent women’s conference this past October and loved his presentation on the topic. He described nine different life roles:

1. An Advisor is good at giving advice. (Am I good at giving advice? I do try to give advice to people.)
2. A Caretaker always wants to make sure that everyone is okay.(I must be a caretaker, I’m always trying to be inclusive.)
3. A Creator wants to understand, take notes. Marcus says creators like time for themselves and have the best conversations with themselves. (I must be a creator. I always talk to myself.)
4. A Motivator wants to raise the energy in the room. (Well, that’s me. I like to pump up the volume when I’m in the room.)
5. An Influencer wants to move people to action. (That could be me too. I don’t like to sit around. I like to execute and move people to act.)
6. An Equalizer sees the world as a whole and wants to do the right thing. An Equalizer is a passionate defender. (Hmm, am I an Equalizer?)
7. A Pioneer loves the new and has a strong tolerance for ambiquity. (Not me. I don’t think dealing with ambiquity is one of my strengths.)
8. A Teacher asks ‘how can I help others learn and grow?’ (That’s me. I like to teach others.)
9. A Weaver sees the world as a web of relationships and is always looking for what’s best in other people. (Hmm, am I a Weaver?)

Once you discover your lead role and your supporting role, Marcus says you should follow your internal compass to live a stronger life.

I was intrigued by Marcus’ perspectives and especially eager to take The Strong Life Test. I did. And guess what I found out? Surprise, surprise, surprise.

My lead role is ‘Teacher.’ A teacher ‘begins by asking ‘what can I learn by this?’ My focus is instinctively toward the other person. Not her feelings, necessarily, but her understanding, her performance, her skills. (No wonder I have so many people on my gift-giving list. This fits me to a tee. Plus, I did get a degree in education more than 30 years ago, but I never did teach. Why didn’t I teach? I can’t remember! I like The Strong Life Test. Tell me more. Tell me more.)

My best quality is ‘my faith in others.’ (Yes, yes, yes. That’s me. I have faith in others and usually in my eyes people are innocent until proven guilty, rather than guilty until proven innocent…like when my son went to a concert in NYC and didn’t tell me.I told the person who snitched on him that he absolutely did not go to NYC to a concert without asking me first. Unfortunately, in this case, he was guilty of the act and did face a punishment.)

Tell me more. Tell me more. Oh no, a Teacher must be careful and not come to believe that everyone is capable of everything. (So true, so true.)

My supporting role is a Motivator. I knew it. I do raise the energy in the room. I do usually sense the energy in a room and feel compelled to do what I can to elevate it – just like The Strong Life Test says. Listen to this: It says that a Motivator is an instinctively optimistic person. (Yep, that’s me.)

But what should a Motivator be careful of? Uh, oh. The Strong Life Test says that I should be careful that I don’t get sucked dry by emotional vampires. (Yep, that’s me. I do let all the vampires suck me dry. No wonder I like the Twilight movies.)

That was fun. I think I would like to have Marcus write a guest post for my blog. I’m going to ask him. Stay tuned. Maybe he will write it next week or the week after.

Judi