Prompt: Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it? (Author: Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project)

I’m taking these prompt questions very literally. For example, what was the last thing I made? Well, dinner. Last night I was craving a Thanksgiving-type meal, so I made mashed potatoes and green bean casserole. They went well with the barbecue chicken, if I do say so myself. The turkey was absent, but there’s something about those sides that we love so much that it doesn’t matter what the main item is.

At the time, it felt like I was also making a bit of a tradition, the Sunday night family dinner. I think a lot of people around here have Sunday night dinners together too. I can sort of tell by the way they grocery shop. Yes, I peek in other people’s shopping carts when they’re not looking. And I kind of like the way that things are quiet on Sundays. The streets are nearly empty and you can tell that people are relaxing or getting things done at home.

Is there something I want to make? Hmm. More money, ha ha. And yes, clearing some time for it definitely would help. But seriously, although that answer sounds crass, it is actually a goal for the upcoming year. I would like to be able to carve out more time to dedicate to professional endeavors. There, that sounds nicer.

So, this was an odd way to answer the question. Meanwhile, I’ve been slacking and didn’t even write on the previous couple of prompts. They are thought-provoking, though, so maybe I’ll go back and combine parts of them into a new entry.

My apologies for bringing the whole “home” thing up again. But this post is in response to the first of 31 daily writing prompts from #reverb10. It’s a fun idea! Check it out at http://www.reverb10.com.

Exactly one year ago, we packed up and left our home of more than nine years to drive the 600 miles back to the home where we grew up.

It’s taken me almost all of the past year to accept that we’re here for good. To stop finding excuses to complain, longing for the life that we drove away from on that miserable, cold, rainy night. I still miss a lot of what we left behind. But getting all weepy about it hasn’t made me feel any better in the long run. I figure that a whole year is enough time to reflect and let myself feel whatever emotions needed to be felt.

So here we are. I have to admit that things have gotten better.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to spend more time with family and friends. I feel more like a part of the local community, and I’m making some great contacts to help move me toward some of my professional goals.

So, if my one word for 2010 is home, an enigmatic concept that I still haven’t defined for myself, then what should be the word for 2011? I would love to have figured out what home means by then, but maybe it’s a copout to pick the same word to summarize a whole year. The word that keeps coming to mind is engaged. As in participating more in life rather than watching it happen. As in taking positive steps in advance, whenever possible, instead of reacting to situations.

That’s it! As I always say…we’ll see how it goes….