I'm back. We've finally started getting a grip on things around the homeplace after our eight-day holiday road trip (which was awesome, by the way).
Low key New Year's around here. Last night, hubby and I ate pot roast, watched the first episode of Weeds Season 5 on his laptop, and ate some ice cream sandwiches from Trader Joe's. I turned in around 10:00 p.m.
Today, we tried to find spots for all the Christmas loot, did some laundry, took down the holiday decorations, and attempted to accomplish a bunch more stuff that is too boring to write about. I think hubby also spent some time fantasizing about a future in which this day will be devoted to eating appetizers, drinking beer, and watching bowl games without pleas to "turn on Tom and Jerry please, Daddy." Maybe someday.
Even though we did not ring in 2010 with much fanfare, I am, as ever, excited about the prospects of a new year and determined to make it a good one. So, without further ado, I share some of my resolutions for 2010:
1. Declutter and organize the house. Both projects are ongoing, but since we are planning to put our house on the market in a couple of months, there's a new sense of urgency. I'm not sure where to begin, but I think my strategy will just be to go one "problem area" at a time. In the spirit of this resolution, my much-neglected second blog, Just Use It or Lose It, will be revived in the coming days. Stay tuned.
2. Prepare better meals for my family and make better food choices for myself. Sure, I started today with McDonald's breakfast, but I had a salad for dinner. Progress already. The specific goal is to prepare three "real meals" a week for the hubby (kids eat separately due to daddy's late arrival in the evening). If I could get the kids to eat some of those "real meals," even better. Maybe I can cut down the number of times I answer hubby with "There are Lean Pockets in the freezer" to two or three times a month. Other sub-goals include: plan ahead, waste less money at the grocery store, use the food staples I already have, get the boys to eat vegetables,* and stop choosing breakfast foods that pair well with Diet Coke.
3. Move more. Six months (ish) pregnant, I am not about to start an ambitious workout program, but I could make an effort to ride the recumbent bike, do some of my low impact workout videos, and turn on the Wii fit every now and again. Shedding the baby weight was much more difficult after Little Bit than it had been post-Bub (proven by the fact that I started this pregnancy with some of my baby weight from the previous) so I need to start doing what I can to make the postpartum months less depressing from a weight/appearance standpoint. Again, I'm not talking about any crazy workout regime, just about making a little extra effort to move.
4. Initiate more plans. I have friends. I like eating. I like seeing movies. I enjoy cooking classes. I would love to go to afternoon tea. I enjoy face-t0-face conversations with other adults. Once Sweet P arrives in April, my ability to get out will be compromised for the next several months. I'm feeling like I need to start taking advantage of my lactation-free state right now and get out a bit more. All it takes is a phone call or email and a reminder to hubby that I'm heading out once he gets home from work.
5. Enjoy my life. I think I do a pretty good job of enjoying right now. Yes, I'm busy like most moms and feel exhausted and sometimes am tempted to play the martyr. But, I refuse to give up the things I enjoy, especially reading novels, watching television, blogging, and checking facebook. My house and life would be cleaner and more orderly if I cut out (or took less time for) these pleasures, but who wants a bitter, cranky mommy and wife around, not to mention a mommy who has no interests or passions?
6. Be more grateful and more positive. I'm not Debby Downer now, but there's always room for improvement.
7. Remove the Valentine's Sticker that has been stuck to a large window in our home since February of 2007. It's time. Potential buyers of our home may not feel the love when they see it.
8. Do at least one load of laundry a day.
That's all (and plenty) for now. You'll notice that these resolutions are not all that different from last year's or the year before that one.** The fact that I keep striving to achieve some of the same goals does not discourage me at all. It sounds silly to say so, but I honestly am filled with hope as each new year begins. And, more than that, I truly believe that one of these days I'll get it all together. I really do. In the meantime, I do the best I can.
What about you? Any resolutions to share? I'd love to hear about them.
*One glimmer of hope on the children's eating front is Little Bit's new interest in eating soup. Before Christmas, he attacked some Green Salsa Chicken Chili I made and today at lunch, he enjoyed some ham and bean soup my mom had made.
**I will remind you that I did finish my dissertation and graduate, which was a huge relief (and accomplishment, NTB).
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9 comments:
Glad to hear your holiday trip went well. I can't imagine going away for eight days! The longest we've gone was five and it felt like an ETERNITY.
I'm not making resolutions, per se. Continuing the ongoing weight-loss/eating healthier challenge. Trying to live a little more. Take classes, get out with friends, etc. Really, I just want to feel as fulfilled with my life as possible. Gosh, when I write that it sounds kind of lofty, but there's no way to quantify fulfillment, so we'll consider any measure of happiness a win in that category.
Happy new year! I look forward to more NTB and with any luck another real life visit!
My New Year's Resolution is to do more Yoga. I'm trying to make this as public as possible, so that people ask me about my progress. My building has free yoga classes, and it's absurd I've never actually attended any.
By the way, I read #2 to the husband, who laughed out loud.
You are much more together than we are around here, and we weren't even gone quite as long as you. I can't bring myself to put the Christmas away yet -- decorations or the new toys. So we're just sort of wallowing in the mess. My hub. has the same new year's fantasies as yours, and actually tries to live them out, though we are far from a day when anyone can just kick back around here.
I'm probably not resolving much of anything, though if I did, they would be strikingly similar to yours. Mostly just trying to be more on top of my life in general so it doesn't pass me by quite as much.
Awwww... Sweet Pea in APRIL. The flower of the month. That is too cute. Did you plan it? You're pretty sharp. I'm thinking you planned it, didn't you?
;)
I am going to make a conscious effort this year to be more tolerant of my loved ones. I lose patience quickly, get frustrated that i've heard the same story "more than once", don't try to keep an open mind, and the list goes on. In the end, I spend all my energy being angry and accomplish nothing in building a better relationship.
Oh, and aside from this, I'm going to quit stealth mode and actually respond every now and then on Not To Brag!
I am your friend and desperately hope you call me so we can go out "when troy gets home."
I love resolutions myself, but usually don't keep them. However, I did keep last year's main resolution to vastly improve our recycling efforts in our home. Now, we actually recycle as much as we trash, NTB. This year I want to have more fun and laugh more often. Perhapa we could meet up more, because you crack me up. Also, my husband and I want to go on more dates.....change that, go on some dates. We just don't go out. I love that we do tons with the kids, but we need more time without them, too. As a part of both goals, I'm going to try to not feel guilty about doing either of them. I want my kids to have strong memories of my laughter, not my clean house.
By the way, I bought some Lean Cuisine pizzas today at Kroger for $1.78 and thought of you! Rita
6. Be more grateful and more positive. I'm not Debby Downer now, but there's always room for improvement.
I gotta work on that one....work, work, work:)
I have to admit that I have several resolutions... I hope to be more positive and happy this year. I want to laugh a lot and find the little things to be humorous. I would love to see my friends more without feeling overwhelmed with the implementation of the activity. These are just a few. I am also working to catch up on my family photos before #4 arrives. I wish I had an adorable nickname but or now the girls just say "THE BABY" Peace Out MEP... you make me smile BDavin
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