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Cheers
Give a Cheer
Give a Cheer
My Yahoo! group had a challenge to do a resolutions page. I had been meaning to do one, so this was a great way to get me motivated.
Journaling reads:
2007 was a big year of change for me. We moved to a new state, bought our first home, had a baby and
Mike was deployed for over a quarter of it. When I look back, I really don’t recognize nor do I really know this person I am now. Part of me also feels that I have sort of lost control of my own life. Mike is the one who works and his job dictates where we live. Fiona’s schedule and needs dictate how my day is run. And sometimes I just am so bogged down in the nitty gritty details, I start to feel a little put out and victimized. So my resolutions for 2008 are designed to help me regain some control and see the bigger picture.
When it comes to my family, I want to embrace some of the ideals of the 1950s wife and Martha Stewart, but modernize them and adapt them to my goals. I want to have a clean house, so if (and when) people stop in I am not making excuses for my mess. Also, if it is clean, I feel less guilty about doing things for myself. And the 1950s of it all is that I would like to have most of it done by the time Mike gets home from work. Why? Because then we all can relax and spend time doing fun things instead of cleaning up. This is very idealistic, but if I do all of my cleaning during the day, when Mike gets home we can have a nice homemade healthy dinner (hopefully at least 4 times a week), and all we have to do is the dinner dishes. We can then take a walk, or just play together with no stress of how much needs to be done.
After Fiona goes to bed I want to make sure that Mike and I have time to reconnect with each other a little, too. I know that I have a very bad habit of interrupting and finishing others sentences. That makes me a bad listener, and I want to stop that. I think that it makes others feel like I don’t care to listen to them and that couldn’t be further from
the truth. I don’t want to do it because I wouldn’t want Fiona to do it and feel that way if I do it to her. Having her and looking back on my own upbringing has made me realize that the best teachers are those who teach by example. I want to be the best example for her in all ways so that she can be the type of person I myself want to be and hope she will be – a confident, happy healthy, intelligent, caring, kind and spiritual individual.
A huge thing that I tend to do is to take things for granted. I think I do that to Mike a lot. And when he
leaves for deployments is when I realize how much I do and that I shouldn’t. He works very hard for our
family to keep us in a beautiful home (which we would never have had without his constant eye to the future and saving), good food on the table, and me home with our daughter and a room full of scrapbooking supplies. I often keep a tally of what I do and what he does, and it really isn’t fair. I need to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. If anything, these deployments remind me I am quite capable of taking out the trash even though I did do the dishes, or painting a room by myself, mowing the grass every now and then, and most notably these things do not need to be done instantaneously and the world will not come to an
end if they’re not done by the end of the night or weekend. I need to really practice loving Mike fully and unconditionally, it is a conscious choice to do so.
On a personal level, I want to make sure I make the time to scrapbook more often, and stay on top of the things I start and not procrastinate. I would love to see one my creations in a magazine, but I have to submit to do that so I am challenging myself to submit a minimum of 3 layouts this year. I also have a tendency to constantly shop for scrapbooking supplies, but then never seem to use them. I noticed in my family there is a predisposition to hoard things, and I am really doing that with the scrapbooking supplies. So no more! I am going to use up what I have (well, a lot of what I have) before I start buying more. And if I don’t have exactly what I need, I am going to get creative and in Tim Gunn’s wise words “Make it work!”
I want to lead a healthy life, exercise more, eat better and if those last 5 pounds come off then great! So I am challenging myself to also walk or do yoga 3 times a week. These are activities that I can do with Fiona and it gives us some great bonding time, and also is teaching by example. I also am not stressing about the actual number on the scale or on the tags of my clothes. I want to look nice and feel good and that doesn’t come in a number or a certain size.
And part of feeling good is also helping in my community. Being a part of our MOMS Club is great, but I would like to do more either on my own or doing it with the MOMS Club. This also makes me feel like more than “just” a mom. I have the promises of starting a little side business with the barrettes I make for Fiona. I would also like to see how far it can go, and therefore I need to push myself to make it go and stay on top of it. And finally I want to read more and learn more about all kinds of things.
I look at all of this and think wow that is a lot, but I know I do my best work under pressure. And I know if I really want it I can do it and it will force me to plan better, not procrastinate, and to enjoy what I do
because any little part of these resolutions I do keep is a victory.
Thanks for spreading positivity!
March 01, 2008
February 22, 2008
January 31, 2008
January 29, 2008
January 27, 2008