Hello again blog stalkers. You thought I was dead didn't you? Nope. Just busy recuperating from the holidays. Everyone wanted to see Parker, so it was quite a busy break. The transition back to school these past weeks has also been a bit hectic. I'm co-teaching an 3 week intensive Jterm class (on top of teaching refresher sessions for my AP classes). Suellen has returned to work after almost seven months off, and Parker started her 'day care' with Aunt Lauren. We've been busy with all that.
I have, however, been thinking a lot about a number of things, which is I guess is appropriate for the start of a new year. In that spirit, I've come up with 13 things I want to accomplish this year. I'd call them resolutions, but I'm not resolving to do them. They are more goals for myself.
1. Lose weight. Cliche? Yes. Too bad. I've been overweight pretty much my entire life, so I'm not looking for miracles here. Just maintaining more healthy habits and distancing myself from the heart-attack-at-40 danger zone. Suellen's family started this weight loss challenge thing in mid-October and I've lost 15 pounds since then (which I think is good considering the major eating holidays were in there). I've also begun tracking my daily caloric intake with this nifty little program for my iPod. All in all, I'm hoping this goal is attainable.
2. Read. I'm pretty sure I own more books than some small town libraries...and I've probably read less than half of them. It's hard during the school year to find time to read anything other than what I'm teaching, but I'm hoping that since we are watching less mind numbing TV now that Parker is here, I'll find more time for something I actually love to do.
3. Make a financial plan. I think Suellen and I have always been good with money. We save a bit each month, don't carry a balance on any of our credit cards, and aren't really the type of people who make big splurges. That being said, conceiving Parker was a huge cost to us, and if a second baby (and therefore bigger house) are on the horizon, we need to start working harder to achieve those goals.
...which leads to (or more appropriately stems from)...
4. Figure out just what we would need (and could afford) in a second home. This is particularly important to me right now as I sit in our frigid study typing. Clearly a more efficient furnace is high on the list. Heat pumps were not designed to handle this latest cold freeze.
5. Collect all my thoughts about conceiving Parker, having Parker, and now raising Parker into one coherent piece of writing instead of just keeping them in bits and pieces here and there and in my head.
6. Attend at least four arts events in the city. I love going to plays - even tiny obscure ones where their are only like ten people in the audience, ask Suellen - readings, performances of most kids, but we rarely ever go. Granted it is harder now that we have a baby, but I think a goal of one every three months is attainable.
7. Find a church. Now, let it be said, that I am not wholeheartedly a big fan of organized religion, but I do consider myself to be a religious and spiritual person. And, more importantly, I want Parker to have some sort of environment in which she can learn about God. This is difficult for us given that there are few churches in central Indiana that are waiting to welcome the lesbian family (and some of the ones that are, are a bit scary), but I'm fairly confident that we can find the right place for us.
8. Write more things down. Notice I did not say poems. I've kind of accepted the fact that I will probably never find the time to do the writing I once thought I would, but I at least would like to do a better job keeping record of my reflections on things, particularly now that Parker is growing up.
which does lead nicely to
9. Blog more. Fifteen days into the new year, and I'm just getting to this one. Yeah. This one might not happen.
10. Take Suellen on a trip for our anniversary. We will have been together 10 years this September, and I want to do something nice for that.
11. Take a vacation with Parker. Nothing far and nothing fancy, but I want to see the world with her, so why not start now...well maybe not in the frozen tundra of right now, but at least this summer.
12. Start playing the trumpet again. Suellen and I were fairly involved with playing a bit around town right before Parker, and I had forgotten how much I loved it. I like to reopen that creative outlet.
13. Go back to New Hampshire for a bit. While I do enjoy the fact that snow outside my window will melt before April (in NH, there was literally snow on the ground from November to April), I miss the Granite State. Moving there was a coming of age moment for me. Suellen and I never had a wedding or ceremony or anything, so moving there was kind of like our big 'life will never be the same' commitment step. I know we didn't always enjoy being so far away from home, but the time there was very meaningful for the both of us.
Ok, now I'm going to click 'Publish Post', and that will mean that someone out there will read these, and then I have to do them. We'll see how that goes.
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3 comments:
Yes, I read, now you must do!
But they are good goals. I totally identify with the seeing with world with your child, there's nothing like introducing them to something new, like opening a door to a whole new world, reminding you why the whole world was there for us to begin with.
The trip to New Hampshire could play in nicely with either a trip with P or a trip with Suellen.
You're invited to come to our church any time you feel like it!
I very much would like to find a church where I feel good and encouraged about regularly attending - and also be able to convince Adam that attending would be good. The church where I went while growing up is not really where I feel most comfortable any more. We'll see if I can make in progress on this. Maybe we can have church check-in chats! :)
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