the Goals I ponder..

In a rush late one evening, I just HAD to write a list of goals that were swirling in my head for the upcoming year.  With how crazed we feel - out of control and putting out fires rather than proactively living our lives, I feel the urgent need to get on top of things again.

Before we decided to move, we were busy, but had time to sit and talk, go out as a family, send thank you notes, etc.

But since we embarked on the build, and the subsequent move to the "country", we have yet to find that new norm.  It did not help that we released the builder before every little thing was done on this house (to save money and reduce our stress), and we all got sick for a LONG time, my back went out (and is now good to go!) and boom, there were the holidays.  Whoever said, "Be in by the holidays"  was a masochist.  Not being here would have made the expectations lower.  But whose expectations?  Mine, of course. 

Yes, I put all the pressure on my self, then fail under the weight  - and so it goes, I fall short of perfection, and probably very close to the exceeded expectations of my family and friends.  Such a silly game I play with myself.

Back to the original topic - Goals for 2018.  I say goals because resolutions are a sure fire way to not make any of it happen and even goal is a little iffy.  This is more of a focus.  If I don't meet them all, then it is not as big of a deal as if I actually spent the time working in these areas.

So, in effort to bring a little silliness to it - I have 18 for '18.  In no categorization or particular order:

1.  Exercise for all.  Since the build, we just stopped.  Stopped moving, stopping caring about it, stopped.  I can get us back there though.

• As a family, walking is great, hiking even better, canoeing, etc.  We may even set up a calisthenics area here as well as a basketball goal.  Make exercise a family fun time.
• With homeschool, I need to give them a 2 credits - so I was thinking a couch to 3K thing, culminating in a 3K run.  Then maybe a self defense class, with yoga on the off days.

2.  Better Eating Habits.  It is not that we are eating out very much (though that could cut back more) and I am cooking ten fold more, it is that the kids and I are not eating breakfast or lunch.  I don't eat at all and the kids eat junk - like candy (holidays) and chips/crackers.  VERY unhealthy.

• We need to plan out all meals, not just dinner.  
• We need to all get breakfast and lunch together (me and the kids)  If they see me preparing a meal, they will be more likely to do the same or we can all eat the same thing.  I did this when they were young, we just got out of the habit when the got in school and never started back up when I homeschooled.

3.  Priority for Homeschool and Threaded Lines DAILY!  This is paramount.  I am so busy running errands for the house, doc appointments, here and there and freaking everywhere.

• Bunch errands and appointments so we go out less.  Leave most for the weekend.
• Homeschool is morning, TL is afternoon.

4.  Grading Homeschool every day.  No steps to this; it just needs to happen.  When I get behind, they suffer and I suffer!  One day takes me 15 minutes.  I just need to do it.

5. New Chore Chart that includes adults.  I feel the kids think they do all the work (snicker), because they have a chart and we do not.  Maybe I am off my rocker, HOWEVER, we have more "things" to take care of here.  So, writing it down for us as well, may motivate the majority.  We will see how it goes.

6. 15 minute clean ups.  In addition or along with the chores, I would like to do a morning and evening 15-minute clean up.  Literally, set a timer and straighten up, wipe the toilets and sinks, throw away trash, put away dishes, etc.  You can do a LOT in 15 minutes and that goes well, I will cut it down to 10 minutes.  I really need to show everyone in the family how to develop a habit of personal organization and understand how beneficial it is.  (we used to do this and it was fabulous!)

7.   Threaded Lines - 2 posts per week.  Ideally, it would be one completed customer order and one small thing I made - key fob, pouch, stuffy, etc.

8. This blog - add pictures to 2 blog posts per week.  I love to take pictures and I used to post a lot more pictures than I do.

9. Send one "I'm thinking of you" note per month.  It can be either mailed, emailed or messaged on Facebook.  I have lost touch with almost everyone and I need to make contact again.

10. Send Birthday greetings to all parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, and close friends.  Something I used to do, but that fell away.  It was not time consuming either - we keep a bunch of birthday cards, I write them all during the last week of the month and write the date to send in my planner.  I stamp them all at the same time and they just go out the date I wrote down.  There is on average 2-3 a month - so nothing major.

11.  Facebook - Birthday greetings.  It takes less than 1 minute to write Happy Birthday on Facebook and there are not even birthdays every day.  I know it does not mean a whole lot, but after going one year with getting no Happy Birthdays on Facebook, it really does mean something.  This is me, trying to rejoin society a little.

12.  Ah, the infamous lose weight.  Yep, I am going for 18 pounds this year.  Hopefully, with the diet changes and the exercise that will come more naturally.

13. Use planner daily.  During the build, I got out of the habit because things changed so much, but it is a lifeline to me!  I love lists and I tend to function better with an idea of what it supposed to happen.  Sure, I just take some days off (like today), but then I can see what is important and HAS to be done, and what can be put off one day.

14. Bring more "fun" to our family.  Oh boy, this year was so serious.  We all forgot to be fun.

• The kids love board games, I do not, but I can suck it up every now and then.  
• Start High/Low again at dinner.  We did this for years and some days are sad, but we were much closer for it.  We start with low and end on a high.  Sometimes, one person's high brought us all up.  
• Cook together - 2 fold benefit - they learn and we tend to have fun in the kitchen.  Probably this is a weekend thing.
• One family out per month - camping, movie, concert, bowling, henna, etc.

15.  Join a book club.  I need to meet people here in our location and I love reading and discussing books.  Once a month is not a stretch.  Plus, it will make me get out in public a bit - I have become a home body. 

16. Stick to a monthly budget.  We need to do this more than ever!  No more impulse buying anything!

17. Respond M-F to at least 2 blogs and 2 Facebook posts of friends.   I become a lurker if I am not careful.  I know it seems canned, but I will put thought into it.   It may be morning, it may be evening when everything else is done, but I will do it.

18.  Call my Dad monthly.  Since my grandmother died, my Dad has been trying to make a connection with me.  We don't talk much.  However, neither he or I can understand on the phone very well and have a problem with our speech (as Linda noticed on my last post).  What we write or say is not always the same as what we think and sometimes we cannot come up with the word at all.  My family is riddled with it.  Anyway, I may have to text, but I need to communicate with him more frequently.

That's it - it is really about the connection this year - we became so internal - all of us that we need to bring people back into our lives.