Here is a list of my favorite places to go for writing inspiration. Forget a cabin on a lake. There are no people there! All of these places will provide you with the best people-watching opportunities you can imagine. I am certain there are any more inspiring public places than these:

1. Driver’s license bureau
2. Auto tag agency
3. Bus stop or riding bus
4. Train station or riding train
5. Grocery store
6. Post office
7. Airport
8. Dollar store
9. Hospital Emergency Room
10. Doctor’s office waiting room

Millions of adults are going back to work tomorrow after a nice long break, and millions of kids are going back to school as well. Hopefully after the rest (assuming you did rest) you are looking forward to (okay maybe not) returning to your normal routine.  Think of it as a new start. It’s a new year, and you have a new view of the world and perhaps, somef resh new ideas.

If you are not too excited about getting back to reality, think about the positive -

• Hectic holiday schedules are over
• No more shopping and wrapping
• No more heavy eating
• No more entertaining for a while
• More time for immediate family members

And if none of this helps, just start planning and dreaming about your summer vacation!

Want to feel renewed and energized in the new year? Take down all your holiday decorations and put them away! It is so inspiring to just get rid of the cutter and clean up all the dust bunnies that collect during December. I love to put up the decorations and lights, but I equally enjoy taking them down after the new year. If I find any broken ornaments or lights that no longer work, I get rid of them if they cant be fixed.

What is the deal with pine needles? This is the first year I had a real tree. Wow, what a mess with the sap and the needles. ur tree was not dying at at all either. My daughter and I had a hard time lifting the trunk out of the tree stand. We did not want to spill the water. When we finally succeeded, we walked the tree out the front door and all the way around the house to the back alley so we would not drag the needles through the house. I am grateful for wood floors, and cannot even imagine having pine needles stuck in carpeting. I don’t think it would be possible to get those needles out of a deep rug.  Despite that mess, the live tree was beautiful.

Now I say having no tree is beautiful as well.

Happy cleaning.

Is it really 2009 already? What a great feeling it is that we can celebrate the new year and relish in the hopes of good things to come. Here is my list of things you can do to celebrate the New Year, while concentrating on what is important:

1. Spend more quality time with your spouse/kids/pets/family.
2. Pick up a new hobby or spend more time on the one you love most.
3. Get rid of some of the clutter in your home. (closets, toys, knickknacks, etc,) And Do Not replace it with more stuff!
4. Take advantage of many of the programs at your local library, both for you and your kids. And remember to thank yor librarians for all they do!
5. Replace the photos in frames in your house with more current shots.
6. Exercise with your kids.
7. Write an old fashioned letter to a friend far away. Add some photos. Mail it with nail mail.
8. Exchange some good books with a friend. Encourage your kids to do the same.
9. Thank someone who has done something special for you in 2008.
10. Clean up the files on your computer and delete stuff you no longer need.
11. Talk with your family about all the fun stuff and good times you had in 2008.
12. Listen to music more often.
13. Clean out your pantry and freezer.
14. Start a dream diary by writing down your dreams every morning.
15. Practice meditation, and encourage your kids to do the same.
16. Try a new hairstyle/cut.
17. Put new artwork and photos in your office, and rearrange the furniture.
18. Plan a fabulous summer garden now.
19. Watch less TV.
20. Celebrate the little things all year long.

Have a Happy New Year All Year Long!

It is a tradition in our house to watch a marathon of the Twilight Zone on the Sci Fi Channel every New Year’s Eve (and also July 4th). We are addicted! This is the finest show in the history of TV. There’s nothing like those old black and white outdated episodes! It is fascinating to watch and then look up the actors on line to see what other shows and movies they’ve done.

One year I watched 17 hours of episodes one day and 15 hours the next! A bit excessive, don’t you think? I run laps around the dining room and living room during commercials so as not to become a complete blob. I hate to admit this, but I have even created my own index of episodes so I know exactly what is comping up and who is staring in each show. Too bad Rod Serling chose to smoke so many cigs and die young. His show was brilliant.

Check it out tonight while you are waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square!

I cannot imagine going to my local library only to find that it is not open on certain days or worse yet that it has closed completely. One of our librarian contest entrants, Rekha Gandhi, informed me that the Newark NJ Public Library system is reducing days of operation for two of its branches and closing another.

The economic challenges have led to severe budget cuts for many libraries throughout the US. But communities need their libraries. I hate to hear about librarians losing their jobs or facing pay cuts. What can we do to improve the situation?

If you think about it, it does not make a whole lot of sense to wait until the new year to set goals. We should be setting and evaluating our goals all throughout the year. Our children should not wait until January 1 (half way through the school year) to work harder at school. No adult should wait until the new year to start appreciating his or her spouse or wait until now to stop destructive behavior or habits.

So what does work for setting and keeping goals? If the answer were easy, I’d be selling it and getting rich. But the truth is that there are no secrets to setting and keeping resolutions. Everything any human can accomplish can be summed up with one simple word. . .

Discipline

There are no formulas, pills, potions, experts or manuals that can give you shortcuts or tools that will put you ahead of others in meeting your goals. It always amazes me how many billions of dollars Americans spend on weight loss solutions. Our lives are flooded with magazine and newspaper articles, news programs, reality shows, books, radio programs and more telling us how important it is to maintain a healthy weight and what to do to reach that weight. Yet Americans are getting fatter and fatter. If each and every one of us really thought about it, we do not need to be told what we need to do to maintain a healthy weight. We already know what we need to do! But the sad fact is that most people simply do not do it. People criticize fast food restaurants, saying that the food choices are not healthy enough. Then the fast food restaurants add salads, apples and other lower calorie items to their menus, but people still eat the greasy burgers and fries. Is that because they do not know these foods are unhealthy? No!!!!! It is because they are undisciplined.

Let me share with you my personal mantra to maintaining a healthy weight . . .

“Shut Your Pie Hole and Move Your Ass.”

I tell myself this daily, and it live by it. I enjoy fantastic, delicious, healthy whole food, and I am a gourmet cook. I avoid sweets, but eat them on occasion. (I used to be a Sugar Junkie!!) I choose to not gorge myself on anything, and prefer small portions. I try to eat high fiber foods whenever possible. I do not consume processed foods. I do rigorous exercise every day for 30-45 minutes. I am not naturally athletic. (I was always the last person picked for team sports when I was a kid.) I do not have a personal trainer. I do not own workout machines. I have an inexpensive plastic stepper, free weights, a jump rope and some workot DVDs - plus an athletic dog to run with. Working out has become a habit (for 13 years now) and is no longer a burden. In fact, I do not feel good if I do not get some exercise.

Getting fit is much easier than getting rich or finding a cure for a rare disease. You just have to follow my mantra.

And for any other goals? A good plan and discipline will help you reach them any day of the year.

In South Florida we plant tomatoes in October and get the first harvest around Christmas. We had an extra cool fall here, so it really helped our tomatoes grow. I have never had such flawless tomatoes before! I just got a new pressure canner for Christmas, and I am very excited about trying it out.

Check out my tomatoes’ number one enemy (the last 2 photos). The giant adult moths of the hornworm drop larvae on the plants at night. The larvae turn into large worms that are identical in color to the tomato plants. These pests eat the plants and fruit at a rapid rate. We control them by separating the potted plants (the moths seem confused by this) and by inspecting them daily for activity and picking the worms off. They are not eay to see! I also spray the organic plants with a concoction of crushed and strained garlic and cayenne pepper in a water base.

I hope all of you had a great week celebrating the holidays with family and friends. For all of you who are snowed in and  trying hard to stay warm, here is a photo for you. I took it yesterday from South Beach. Sun and warmth all year round- this is why I live in Miami. . .

Chocolate Mint Layer Cake!

Just take your favorite chocolate layer cake recipe, and in place of the vanilla extract in the cake and frosting, use equal parts creme de menthe and peppermint extract. I made white mint icing to spread between the layers and chocolate to cover the cake. I topped it with chocolate curls.