Resolve

I don't usually do new years resolutions. There are a lot of reasons for this, the least of which is not my inability to follow through with them. I do set goals; last year I planned to read 60 books, run in a 10K, and successfully get back to making our family's bread products. As of now I've finished 61 books, run a 10K (though not in a 10K), and am still buying all things yeasty. 1.5 for 3 isn't too bad, I guess.

In any case, I've never really felt the draw to set new years resolutions, but this year I'm feeling ambitious. How is that even possible? Our Christmas decorations are still up, barely half of the laundry is done, and the only reason we had dinner tonight is that we had enough cheese left from the holidays to conjure up a vegetarian dish on the fly, yet somehow I'm feeling ambitious? Yes. In November I joined some friends in challenging each other to run at least one mile every day between Thanksgiving and New Years. I created a chart and got jogging, and not only did I complete the challenge, I improved my time and my distance enough to get courageous, and announced to my fellow streakers (as in holiday running streak, not what you're thinking), that I'd be training for a half marathon this year. Goal number one.

So that got me thinking about the whole resolution thing, and I decided that there are plenty of areas in which I need good solid goals. I thrive on the whole list making thing. I'm one of those people who will add a chore to the list after I've done it just so I can cross it off. It's a trait that is rubbing off, and I often find random lists with item such as "eat lunch", "play with Legos", and "hug blanket" floating around the house. In fact, when Calvin starts dragging his feet on certain chores or projects, all we have to do is make a schedule for the day with cross-offable items. There is value in having well-defined and achievable goals, and being able to mark progress and accomplishment.

So for this year I actually have a number of goals, one of which is to run in that half marathon (13.1 miles), but I'll also be picking up the 365 photo-a-day challenge again, and the 60 books in a year challenge, and there's a 25 day home purging and organization challenge we need to try—numbers, numbers, numbers, because tallying accomplishments is almost as great as crossing items off a list.

And how about some homeschooling goals? I've actually done really well over the past few months, finding the delicate balance between too much scheduling and not enough, so my real goal is to keep on keeping on. But then there are some things that have gone neglected, like exercise, so I need to get us out and active every day. Calvin's goals are more lofty: he plans to learn all about ancient Greece and Rome, he wants to become "proficient in nutrition and cooking" (his words, not mine, although I'm sure they are an amalgamation of earlier quotes from me), and he plans to read the entire Redwall series.

And I think another goal of mine will be update here a little more often. Happy new year. Again.