January, derived from Janus, the Roman god of the doorway, is traditionally a month of beginnings, the first month of the year, but also, my birthday month. January opens the door to the year, but also to my life.
Yes, that’s right, January is all about me, me, me. However, I’ll spare you a month of blog posts that are just about me, and I’ll just share my New Year’s Resolutions in this one article.
Personal Resolution
On January 31, I’ll be celebrating my 44th birthday. Whew! How did that happen? It’s just a hop and a skip to my 50th birthday.
When I was a young lass, in my mid-thirties, I vowed that when I reached the big four-O, I would be in the best shape of my life. I more or less kept that vow, through various exercise and diet programs, but I’ve made little effort to maintain that condition since.
Facing fifty, I’m just not that interested in deprivation. Nope, I just want to have fun. So, there you go, my personal resolution for 2009 is to raise the fun factor: playing outdoors, mindless TV, trashy books, decadent desserts, alone time with the husband, play dates with friends, travel… Life is too short to skimp on the good stuff!
Volunteer Resolution
Upping the fun factor, means making time for entertaining activities, and ultimately making choices about what I can and can’t do. That means saying NO, sometimes.
It seems that for each volunteer job that I shed, another pops up. Right now, I’m signed up as a Room Parent, Cub Scout helper, Girl Scout Troop Leader, and Girl Scout Service Unit Manager.
Doesn’t sound like all that much, but it adds up to more than I can handle well. I’d rather do one or two extraordinarily well, rather than too many poorly.
This year, I’m resolving to reduce my volunteer responsibilities to those that I most enjoy, and where I truly make a difference.
Home School Resolutions
Home School is fun, well, most of the time it’s fun.
Working with Alex is easy as he enjoys sitting at home reading, sometimes learning. I just have to push him to go out more.
Kayla, on the other hand, is a challenging student. It’s difficult to get her to focus, she’s a high-energy daydreamer. Fortunately, most of her education is covered at a private school. I just help her with the extracurricular learning, which changes with her interests.
For 2009, I’m resolved to lighten up on education, even more than before. Learning is fun, and I’m going to try to keep it that way in our home.
Writing Resolutions
Last year, I made a Resolve To Write using Barbara DeMarco-Barrett’s Pen On Fire: a busy woman’s guide to igniting the writer within. It worked.
Oh, yes. The writing fire has been ignited, but it’s just a tiny flame.
This year, I’m resolving to fan the flame working through the following books on writing:
- The Portable MFA in Creative Writing (The New York Writers Workshop)
- Write Tight: Say Exactly What You Mean with Precision and Power (William Brohaugh)
- Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation (Lynne Truss)
Blog Resolutions
Finally, my blogging resolution is to forget all the blogging rules, and – you guessed it – have fun.
I’ve been working through various programs aimed at improving blogs, and all the advice is fabulous. But, my goal isn’t to create a professional, lucrative blog.
I’m blogging because I enjoy writing, and I like sharing my experiences. Hopefully, I’m providing information so that other moms, educators, or troop leaders don’t have to reinvent the wheel when tackling similar projects.
So, for this year, I’m going to continue sharing my learning experiences, but only ’cause it’s fun. I’m going to keep on trying new things, maybe shake things up a bit.
Yeah, you know, girls just want to have fun, even when we’re pushing fifty.
Have a fabulously fun New Year!
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Sandra, I am just loving your new blog format! And I heartily agree on the FUN factor. More of that is definitely in order at my house this coming year. Less worry, more fun.
As for health, I am facing that big 50 this year. The forties have been great years, all up until 49 and suddenly I feel older, less capable, less physically fit. Dh and I began working out together mid-December and already I am seeing benefits (after the initial week of exhaustion!).
Keep up the great work here!
Sandra,
I just turned 48 at the end of December 2008.
I don’t feel 48, I feel younger than I did when I was 38, to be honest. Why? Because I made the same commitment to make life more fun if nothing else, and it worked.
Being the learning facilitator instead of the rigorously scheduled teacher also improved the stress level of homeschooling Nathan. It’s amazing what they learn if you let ‘em rip and learn naturally. I know I was shocked, but then I look at myself and I spend a lot of my time learning the things now that I never had time for in formal education. It’s fun because it’s what I want to learn.
Happy Birthday and keep up the fun!
Sherri
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