This is the archive for December, 2009.
- Day 365 – Final Post
Year two thousand and nine has been an exciting, grace-filled year full of adventures, lessons, and valuable time spent with family and friends. This post draws my modified Project 365 to a close. Posting every day this year has been a challenge and a lesson in discipline, to be sure. Sometimes the posts came after midnight (never after 2 a.m., however), but there was a post for every day and the majority of them came in on time. My friend Emily Fisher did a good job making that happen by scolding me whenever she noticed a late post.
I did my best to make the posts interesting, and I hope you enjoyed them. I know some days were better than others. Those ‘better’ days were usually days I had time to go out and take photos specifically with the intent of posting them or write up some of my thoughts on various subjects. My girlfriend Amanda does a wonderful job writing down the ideas I have when we are together so I don’t forget them, as is too often the case with some ideas I come up with. Many of the things she wrote down for me this year turned into posts in one form or another. Other ‘better’ days were times when I travelled and posted photos/wrote about that day’s adventures. The not-so-good days were usually busy days when I didn’t have a lot of time to put into a post. I apologize for those days.
My immediate and near-future plans:
On this New Year’s eve, my parents and I are driving to Tennessee–a short, unexpected trip for a funeral. We plan on being back Monday, then I am driving by myself to Chicago for a quick visit with my cousin on Wednesday. I will be back Thursday night, then I am headed back to Hillsdale on Sunday, January 10. Somewhere in that time I plan on finishing Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer, a few Platonic dialogues (probably the Meno and Gorgias). As for my blog, I am beginning a redesign. I am not going to continue posting every day, but only when I have something interesting. I will definitely continue to post, though.Whether you’ve been reading my blog all year or you just started, thank you for reading! Have a safe, wonderful New Year!
Read cagrimmett.com’s Google Analytics report for the 2009 year.
- Day 364 – The Fireplace
As I stood in front of the fireplace this evening, I realized that I don’t remember a time when my family has not had one. Both of our houses have had one, and so has my grandmother’s house. It is so wonderful to come inside from a cold, snowy, windy day and warm up in front of the fire. It is also a wonderful place to sit in front of and read or think. As soon as the weather turns cool, I yearn for the smell of a wood fire in the air outside and the warmth inside that it provides. It is something I miss greatly in cold Hillsdale, MI.
Back in October, when the weather first turned cold in Hillsdale, I walked out of my dorm, felt the cold air biting at my face, and breathed in deeply through my nostrils. Almost instantly I stopped in my tracks and smiled. The old familiar smell of a wood fire was in the air and it comforted me with thoughts of home.
I am taking advantage of the fire as much as I can over this Christmas break. Soon I will return to Hillsdale and it will be gone when I return later in the spring when the weather is warmer.
- Day 363 – New Year’s Resolutions
I did a little thinking on New Year’s resolutions today, and they do not make much sense to me. Why resolve to do something that you think will better your life in some way starting at a future date? Whether what you are doing is trying to break a bad habit (smoking, drinking, overeating, procrastinating, etc.) or doing something positive (reading your Bible and praying more, saving money, becoming more disciplined, getting in shape, etc.), why not start as soon as it occurs to you to make a resolution for the upcoming year? January 1, 2010 is really not much different than December 31, 2009, or even December 10, 2009. If you have a change you want to make in your life, it is best to implement that change immediately. Waiting to make a change does not make much sense to me (with one exception, stated below.) If, for example, you want to lose weight but keep overeating until January 1, what have you accomplished? You have only made it more difficult for yourself. If you’ve waited until January 1, what is one more day? Pretty soon those “one more” days might add up… If you are going to do something, do it now.
The only reason I see to wait until January 1 to start a resolution is if the new calendar year offers some strategic advantage not available beforehand. Examples include a discount on a gym membership, daily Bible reading plans that go in order and start on January 1, or something similar. Keep in mind, however, that there are two sides to resolutions–the overarching ideas and the specific details. Waiting until January 1 because of a discount on a gym membership falls on the details side. If your resolutions are detail-specific, find the idea behind those details and implement other complementary details now that help you stay true to the idea behind the resolution.
A loophole I see to this is if you are a type of person who absolutely needs structured dates to start something and thrives on that. In that case, waiting to start resolutions until January 1 might help you. For everyone else, I suggest you start now. If your resolution is so unimportant that you can wait until January 1, why even start it then? If it will really make a difference, start immediately.
- Day 362 – Snowy Hike
Today, Amanda and I went for an afternoon hike in the snow at Schoepfle Gardens and the woods behind. It was snowing a lot, but we had fun. Here are some photos:
- Day 361 – Train Depot
It has been quite a while since I have done much of anything with long exposures, so my parents and I went down to the old train depot and took a few shots. I am getting rusty!
- Day 360 – Answer To Calendar Question and Misc.
This is my answer to the Friday the 13th calendar question my friend David posed to me on Monday:
(I believe it happens when January starts on a Sunday or a Thursday, though I am not 100% on this.)
It happened this year (2009). March and November, with February, March, and November having Friday the 13ths.
January and July in 2012 – January, April, and July have Friday the 13ths.
March and November in 2015 – February, March, and November have Friday the 13ths.
January and October in 2017. Those are the only two months that year that have a Friday the 13th.
The miscellaneous:
I’ve really been enjoying being home, spending time with family and friends, and relaxing. I’ve been able to get things done that I did not have time for during finals, like cleaning off and organizing files on my computer, fixing my external drive and backup situation, and turning in schedules for the spring semester. I plan to write a few letters and come up with a website redesign this week. Also, I have time for reading now! I am rereading The Hobbit so that I can start the LOTR set I got for Christmas. I am very excited!
- Day 359 – Merry Christmas
A few things to reflect upon today:
“Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
- Day 358 – My Little Cousin Evie
Tonight we celebrated Christmas with my Mom’s side of the family. Here is a picture I took of my little cousin Evie:
