JulieLeung.com: a life told in tidepools

I have a confession to make. I probably have quite a few things to confess. But the one I was planning to describe today involves this weblog. I have cultivated a bad habit of writing posts in draft form and then failing to publish them. When I have an idea, I like to play with it, put the words on the page, weave my thoughts into an ordered tapestry, carve my conceptions into life. However, for various reasons, many posts are not published. Often I feel I don’t have time then and there to edit the piece or add the needed links, and then the post disappears into my pile of drafts.

Watch out for the writing!

To start the new year, I’d like to polish and publish some of the drafts that have been sitting in my ecto folder for a while. So please expect an abundance of posts this week as I present some thoughts that have been incubating for a while.

Thanks to Ted’s help, in the past week this blog has now been updated to Movable Type 3.2. I rejoiced to see the following message accompany my first spam comment:

An unapproved comment has been posted on your blog Julie Leung: Seedlings & Sprouts, …You need to approve this comment before it will appear on your site.

I’m grateful for the help with comment moderation. Many nights my allotted “blogging time” has been spent eliminating the ceaseless spam, leaving me with little energy for creativity. Often I’ve been so frustrated by this bane of blogging, I’ve considered quitting. But now, thanks to Ted and MT, I hope to have more resources to put into posts.

Starting 2006

I’m not one to make many new year’s resolutions. I figure that one can make a change any time of the year – why force it on the first of January? As 2006 came into view however, I realized I would like to focus on two changes.

1. Make better choices



Vague, I know, but these three words capture the essence of my failures and encourage me with their simplicity. As I examine my bad habits and lack of discipline in certain areas of my life, I know change easily reduces to making better choices, one moment at a time, being wiser with each minute. I can be more efficient and accomplish big goals but they break down into little decisions I make constantly. This first week has been a roller coaster ride – perhaps due to my determination to change – but I feel I am making better choices little by little.

2. Preserve Saturdays (rest)

When I was a kid I remember Saturday mornings were filled with all kinds of animated creatures and most of all a sense of freedom, relaxation and fun. Sometimes we’d finish breakfast at 11 am, in our pajamas, chomping pancakes while Smurfs squeaked and Wiley Coyote schemed. Saturday mornings were for cartoons and play time. Not that I’m advocating TV time for my family, but recently I’ve missed that sense of relaxation and fun on the weekends. During my childhood, I don’t remember having any obligations on Saturdays until high school, when I participated in athletics and held a part-time job. Now I think it’s a rare child who escapes into adolescence knowing how to rest and enjoy weekends. I know I need time to rest, I realized as I crashed during the weeks after Christmas, sleeping long hours each night. I want to do what I can to help our family have Saturdays and to know the essential ability to rest. Yesterday we only had one event on the calendar. I felt guilty for taking a slower weekend, but I also felt great with the extra time I had to organize and rest.

Hope you are having a restful first weekend of the New Year! Thank you for taking the time to read, comment and care.