Revolve, resolve, evolve

Happy 2012 all! I hope you rang in the new year with some fun with friends and family. We did. I'll save all the details for another post sometime this week. Suffice to say, it was a good New Years. In fact, it was a good week from Christmas Eve to today, the last day of my wonderfully needed and enjoyed vacation.

Like most people, I thought about possible resolutions for the year. I've never been big on them, but I do always think about what I'd like to change or improve upon with the coming year.

I decided to break out a pretty little journal I had purchased over the summer to reflect on new and upcoming changes, the new me. I'm always a project, trying to evolve into the person I want to be. I don't really care what others expect of me, and that's probably because my own expectations have the bar raised much higher than anyone would place it. I expect big things from me because, well dammit, I have such potential.

I don't do a Top Ten or anything like that. I just wrote until I was finished. I ended up listing 14 things, but there are some with more than one "thing" to do. If one change leads to another, so much the better.

I won't write out the entire list (there's a second page as well), but here are some highlights:

1. Let the little things go - less stress equals a happier, healthier lady.
5. Spend less online and more time learning new things with Ellie. Have fun. Laugh.
6. Learn a new hobby. Crocheting or knitting. MAKE THIS HAPPEN THIS YEAR.
7. Write more. A lot more. Carry this book. Buy a really good pen.
9. Make a list of small home improvement projects for the year. Don't do all of them at once.
11. Go out with friends at least once a month.
12. Treat myself to something pretty every once in a while.
13. Give Ellie more responsibility and freedom to do things for herself. Stop micromanaging.
14. Be happy. Be creative. Be free.


I enjoyed making the list, and Ellie was really interested in the whole idea and decided to make a list of her own:

1. Decorating

2. Being nice to the cats

3. Work with Daddy

4. Be a gardener. Get gardening shoes.

5. Pet the cats nicely

6. Be really careful with the water for the cats (see the theme?)

7. Learn to read

8. Don't rip books. Be more careful turning the pages.

9. Set up Learning Lodge Navigator to download games for the MobiGo (we did this one this morning!)

10. Listen to Mommy and Daddy better (at least we made the list)

11. Be more careful with my teeth. Don't open water bottles with them. Be careful eating.

12. Play rolling ball (Wii bowling) without Daddy helping [set it up].

13. Exercise more. Do yoga with Mommy.

She's very proud of her list, and she was excited to start on it today. 

Later on yesterday, I started my home improvements list. Nothing ambitious, mostly fun stuff I never make time for. I need to make time. 

Ellie and I also played a few games of Candyland and her Smurf game, then we took turns coloring in her Peanuts coloring book with crayons and drawing on her huge paper pad with her new markers. It was fun and relaxing and I want to make it a habit. Everyone should have a coloring book and a box of crayons at their desk while at work. 15 minutes would be very therapeutic. I don't care how crazy it may make me look, I'm doing it.

Make time. Enjoy.