Resolutions

Today’s Resolution: Thank Your Mailperson

Today is national “thank a mailman day” (if you believe what the internet tells you). I don’t know about you but I’ve always been pretty impressed with the mailpeople that I’ve encountered in the various places that I’ve lived, and that commercial that they ran after September 11th, while they were dealing with anthrax threats and all that, still vowed, “We are mothers and fathers. And sons and daughters. Who every day go about our lives with duty, honor and pride. And neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Ever.”

And I feel like every mailman or mailwoman I’ve encountered is pretty awesome and lives by this. I mean, when’s the last time you didn’t get your mail on a Monday-Saturday? Even during a snowstorm?

When I was young, I lived out in the sticks of Massachusetts. The mailman I grew up with didn’t walk to each house in those blue short-shorts or anything, because it would have taken him all day to deliver to one neighborhood, since the houses were so far apart. However, one thing I always liked (even as a kid, cause I sent letters often) is that he would always pay your postage, even if you didn’t use enough stamps. He’d leave a little note to let you know, but he never left it in your box. The mail always got where it was supposed to go.

Patrick’s old mailman was walker. He parks somewhere around the neighborhood and hand-delivers the mail to everyone’s mailboxes, which in his old neighborhood, are affixed to the sides of their houses. You have to wonder when the Post Office will require people to cut the mailpeople some slack and throw a mailbox on the curb, but until then he’s out there walking door to door.

So, you know the drill. Today’s resolution is to thank your mailman. If you’re not around during the day to catch him, maybe leave him a note, a bag of cookies, a coffee gift card or something else that’s nice.  A thank-you post-it is fine! They can’t accept cash or booze, so stick so the simple tokens of gratitude.

Happy card-making!

– Amanda

Today’s Resolution: Create Your Own Cocktail

Mission critical: All cocktail recipes have been destroyed, bartenders minds have been erased, and it’s Friday! That means it’s up to you to come up with the most bodacious new cocktail recipe to save the world from vodka, run and tequila boredom.

If you can recall anything, and I mean anything from the days before cocktails were eliminated, you’re welcome to modify a classic, or use your imagination to come up with something completely unique.

Be sure to document this one. Back when cocktails still existed, I can recall making lots of delicious concoctions only to have forgotten them when the sun rose in the morning.

Take photos, post them on our Facebook page, hashtag them on Twitter (#lifeordepth), note your ingredients, and have fun.

Best of luck in your cocktail shaking endeavors,

Patrick H.

Today’s Resolution: Learn Something New

You’re surrounded by people who know more than you about tons of things, based on their own life experience, and vice versa. Today, seek out new information. For example, yesterday I learned that the colors of those little tags of bread represent the day of week that the bread was baked. I mean, how much more information can a person possibly digest in single day?

And don’t forget to tell us what you learned, right here back on the blog!

Three cheers for thinking caps!

– Amanda

Status: Complete!

Today’s Resolution: Try a New Delicious Recipe

Ah food, my favorite subject. I know it’s football season here in the US, so it’s the perfect time to test out that new wing recipe you’ve had your eye on (we have a kick-butt rootbeer wing recipe over here). And if you’re not into sports, or are in any other part of the world, that’s cool too because there are about a hundred billion other recipes out there for you to try.

But let’s start somewhere, shall we? I’m partial to these sites, which are always making me drool:

Pinterest –  the food boards!

SkinnyTaste.com – tasty and healthy?

Tastespotting – visual inspiration!

Summer Tomato – fun recipes out of the ordinary!

The 99-Cent Chef – on a budget? look no further!

Need more? Want to share a favorite?

Get commenting then! And don’t forget to post your photos to our Facebook page!

Best o’ luck,

Amanda

Today’s Resolution: Plan a Party

Plan a Party

Introverts, beware: your goal today is to plan a party! Just kidding, this is your party, so you can invite as many, or as few people as you want. Plan a birthday party for your dog, or throw a giant Superbowl bash – it makes no difference to us. Think you can’t throw a party where you live? That’s fine, plan it somewhere else. We can think of few ways to get out of this one (after all, we didn’t say when the party has to be), so let the party-planning commence!

What kind of party will you throw? An anti-superbowl party? A chili-cookoff party?

Do share in the comments, we all need party ideas!

Best of luck to the party-planning committee,

– Patrick H.

Today’s Resolution: Work On Your Penmanship

I still remember what my penmanship looked like back in the days of penmanship practice. Much like calculus, cursive is just one of those skills that never really transferred into adulthood. That, and typing using “home row”. While I do physically compulsively hand-write post-it notes every day, it’s hard to recall the last time I wrote a letter, or anything that might resemble it. So, for that, today’s resolution is to practice your penmanship.

Today’s Resolution: Sleep In, It’s Sunday!

We’ve always been told that Sunday is a day of rest. Tell that to the manager of that gas station I worked at throughout highschool and my first year in college. 5am on a Sunday? I definitely don’t miss those days. Ehem.. anyway.. Today you have permission to sleep in as long as you want. Or, if you have kids, as long as they’ll let you. And if you completed yesterday’s resolution, you’re probably already completing this one without even knowing it!

Today’s Resolution: Stay Up Two Hours Past Your Bedtime

When’s the last time you stayed up super late? And what’s your version of late these days? 12am? 2am? 4am? Pulling an all-nighter? When’s the last time you really added a few extra hours into your day? Was it college? Was it this past New Year’s eve? Tonight is your night. If you’ve got kids, keep them up late too and plan accordingly, because I’ll give a little hint as to tomorrow’s resolution: it involves sleeping in.

So grab a late dinner, drink coffee until 9pm, pop popcorn, throw in your favorite video game, movie, or art project. It’s all good, you’re in it for the long haul!

Ideas for things to do in the wee hours of the morning on a Saturday night:

  • Go out with friends and plan a late night on the town
  • Watch Saturday Night Live, (and all those other shows)
  • Read the latest Life or Depth email at midnight
  • Go see a midnight movie at a theater close by
  • Catch up on some shows you DVR’d
  • Spend sometime with a loved one… in bed… not sleeping!

What will you do? Bonus point for anyone who stays up to watch the sun rise, but not required. Let me know your plans in the comments.

 

Today’s Resolution: Play With Your Food

Image source: Furryscaly on Flickr

Playing with your food is fun, but decorating your food is even more exquisite. The lost art of the banana tattoo almost got away from us there, but I’m here to bring it back! So, did you know that you can design your own banana just by shaving into it with a sharp object (exact knife, scalpel, whatever)? The usual air-browning occurs and suddenly you’ve got a little piece of banana art! If you don’t have a banana, feel free to… ah… construct a temple from an apple or something.

Complete: Hello Little Orange Man-Turtle

 

Today’s Resolution: Empty Your Cupboards and Create 3 Future Meals

We waste a lot of food here in the United States. As a population, we over-shop, over-consume, and we waste like crazy. When you shop in bulk, you often forget exactly what you have in your cabinets and often end up buying even more of it the next time you shop!

So today your goal is to make due with what you have. You don’t need to eat three cupboard meals today, you simply need to come up with three for future consumption.

If you ever worked your way through college, you’re probably familiar with cupboard meals; Ramen and hotdogs start to sound pretty gourmet! So get creative, you’ll be surprised what you find.

Today might also be a good day for you to create your grocery list for you next shopping trip, taking into account all of the ingredients you might have just discovered. Be sure to share your creations in the comments! We’ll be sharing ours!

#26 COMPLETE: Sauerkraut, Chicken and Rootbeer Wings