New Year's Resolutions 2012

2011 was an amazing year. It was the year of my child, the little bear cub who stole my heart and made everything else in life irrelevant. It was the year we lost the championship in my first season as a head lacrosse coach. It was the year my family became the most important thing in the world to me.

Last year I did pretty well on my 12 New Year's Resolutions. In the summer I kind of dropped the ball (I got a bit distracted with snapping 100,000 photos of my child on my phone and then boring people to pieces with them), but for the most part, the sentiment was there. This year I have 12 New Year's Resolutions again, one for every month. The rule I have for myself is that if I like the resolution, I can keep it, if I don't, I can drop it, but only after the month is over. It takes the pressure off nicely. So here goes.

1) Reduce. In January, I'm going to go through all the closets, attic, and basement of the house, and get rid of stuff we don't need or use. I will donate those items to Goodwill or consign them at a local shop in town.

2) Reuse. Notice a theme here? In February, I will not purchase anything new (except for food, because to do otherwise would be gross). All purchases will be gently used or off Craigslist. If I need to buy a gift or something, then I will either try to make it (ha) or buy local from a shop in town.

3) Create a memorable 1st birthday for my kid. No bouncy castles or inflatable jousting rings, and no one's going to be jumping out of any cakes, but I'd like to blow it out for the little guy.


4) Healthier Eating Decisions. This means no more cookies in the dining hall. At least for the month. Or Lent. Ugh, either will be really hard.

5) Learn Tagalog. In September, we were all given access to Rosetta Stone to learn a new language. We picked Tagalog, my parents' native tongue, but have yet to access it. I hope in May we find some time to do that before we make another trip home.

6) Write another children's video pilot. I need to get off my keister and just get this done.

7) Explore our state. I've given this state a ton of grief, but I need to do some exploring to really get to know it. Hiking trails, biking trails, and long drives north into small towns and villages are on July's agenda.

8) Date Nights. In August, I'd like to attempt a few Date Nights, elaborately planned, to make the hubs feel special. He's done a lot for me lately, and I think he ought to be celebrated.

9) Organize. This mainly pertains to 3 areas of the house: the office, the kitchen, and the sideboard in the dining room where all the unopened mail seems to reside.

10) Half Marathon. I know this was on last year's list, but my half marathon got snowed out this year, so I get to have it on my list again since we have free admission to the race in 2012.

11) Stay ahead of the mess. This actually is more referring to the laundry, and our tendency to get behind on laundry when school starts. The kitchen and dining room get pretty bad too, but the laundry will be the main focus of November.

12) Find a Happy Place. No, I don't mean Target. This means to find some inner peace with what's going on in life. Taking a meta-moment. Finding some zen amidst the chaos. So if the world does actually crumble around us like everyone's saying, at least I'll be with my family, and I'll be happy.

That's it. So long, 2011. I'm off to play Mommy Shorts' genius New Year's Eve Newborn Parent Drinking Game.