Resolution Time!

Here's a tip for next holiday season: It's probably a bad idea to eat leftover pierogies every day after Christmas through the New Year. Maybe this wouldn't be such a big deal if it wasn't also coupled with nut roll. And baklava. And buckeyes. And other delicious calories consumed the last two weeks, all of which I do not regret. Well, I regret it a little bit. Approximately ten pounds of it. 

I'm not too worried about it, because it's RESOLUTION TIME! Wooooooo!

The last couple of years, I jumped on board the resolution train. I love lists. I love goals. I love benchmarks. (I love lamp.) The ritual of checking in annually with life and its measures seems like kind of a good thing, like an annual physical. How's your blood pressure? What did you hope to do last year? What do you hope to do this year?

Top of my list right now is to detox. Brandon and I are planning on doing the Whole 30 again, and I am so excited. My favorite part of the Whole 30 is demonstrating to myself that I do indeed possess self-control, and I am capable of exercising it whenever. For real! No, Swells, you do not need to eat that piece of chocolate, because you have self-control. No, sweetheart, you do not need to drink that glass of wine, because you have self-control.

It will also feel good to fit in my jeans the right way.

Besides trimmin' up the ol' spare tire, it's also been something like two months since the time changed, so I guess I have to stop using that as an excuse not to exercise. Last night, I broke out the Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess book and started Round One again. Boy, am I out of shape or what. What a disappointment to be almost back to square one (I say "almost" because I still managed 20 regular push-ups, which is way more than I could do before *roar*). But this, too, is manageable; after all, I've done it before and I know the rewards. What's there to lose?

In 2013, my resolutions were far less quantifiable than 2012, but I did set the goal of blogging every other week, and I am pleased to say thanks to my daily advent blogging, I wrote an average of once a week. Outside of December, it was closer to three times a month. So, for 2014, I think I'll aim for once a week again. The MFA thesis is well on its way to looking like something more than a collection of typed pages, and I don't think it's an unreasonable goal to write more blatherings like this one in 2014.

Here's a few more things I hope to pull together in 2014:

• Read twelve books (one a month? totally manageable)
• Cut debt in half (We are SO BAD at this. People, you know that self-control thing I was talking about above and how fun it is to exercise it with food? Well, we're real lazy with this one. But if you don't set a goal, there's nothing to aim for, right? Here's to 2014 and debt reduction! *meow*)
• Finalize the MFA thesis. I kind of have to do this by next December. Yay! Something I'll be able to check off!
• Read through Book Two, Three, and Four of the Harry Potter series with Lydia

I know I said I was done with pierogies in the New Year, but there are a few leftovers from 2013 I hope to maintain in 2014:

• Maintain sanity
• Pray and give thanks daily
• Remember the promises given by God in the Bible and remind my family about them regularly
• Continue preparing healthy meals for my family
• Go out with my husband once every two weeks
• Play with my kids
• Expand the garden
• Go on vacation (Disney! Sea World! Yee!)

I think that's enough. And, if/when I fall short, there's always this:

Looks like 2014 is going to be a good year, folks.

2013: Resolutions - Walk Instead of Run

2012: My Thirtieth Year

2011: Harry and Henry

2010: Key West Bound and Lydia-isms

2009: Happy New Year

Boy, I've been at this thing for a while now. :)

2013 Resolutions: Walk Instead of Run

First of all, Mom's surgery was successful and she's beginning to recover.  I'm so grateful she's okay and appreciative of the prayers for her.  I had a hard time fighting back the "what if's" that come along with a parent getting sick or going for a major surgery.  It was such a relief to hear from the doctor last Wednesday that the surgery went perfect.  What a way to begin 2013.

Like most people around the country, I've been reflecting on last year and looking ahead at 2013.  I made a list of goals for 2012, and while I didn't meet all of them, I shot toward most of them, and it was exciting and satisfying to look back on what I set out to accomplish throughout the year.  I am a list maker.  I love lists.  I like to add stuff to my lists so that I can check the stuff off.

One of the things I did not do in 2012 is run a marathon.  At least not physically.  On this side of 2012, I feel like I ran a marathon.  A lot happened in our family in 2012, and right now I'm feeling particularly worn out by all of the activity, good and bad.

In 2013, I think my number one resolution is to walk instead of run.  I am tired of running all of the time.  There has to be a way to slow down.  I am so good at busy, so good at "entering a busy season," that stopping or just braking for a minute seems impossible.  Of course, I am already defeating myself in this area, since next Monday I will start classes toward my master's.  hahahahaha

I'd like to make a list of things not to accomplish in 2013.  Like, don't accomplish anything.  Be content.  Take care of yourself.  Breathe once in a while.  BUT, since that's anti-'merican, here's my list of things to do in 2013:

• Maintain sanity
• Pray and give thanks daily for this life
• Remember the promises given by God in the Bible and remind my family about them regularly
• Continue preparing healthy meals for my family
• Complete the assigned coursework for my MFA, turn in work I can be proud of, and write toward a book-length manuscript of essays
• Go out with my husband once every two weeks
• Play with my kids; do something special with Elvis and Lydia alone once a quarter
• Expand the garden
• Go on vacation, anywhere
• Continue to chisel away at debt
• Blog every other week

BW and I will celebrate ten years of marriage this year.  We are aiming to be out of debt by early 2014 so that we can quickly get back into debt by going to Italy.  ;)  We're both great spenders and lousy savers.  This is an area we'll need to really hone in on if we want to make it happen.  

I left off physical exercise although I do hope to still do some of that some of the time.  Typically exercise and writing take turns in my life - if I'm exercising I'm not writing and if I'm writing I'm not exercising.  

I have a feeling that the MFA will knock me down and bully me with its reading list and writing requirements.  I tend to be prolific but on my own time, not on a schedule, so we'll see how that goes.  No time.  No time.  No time.  Where's my live-in maid?  Where's my butler? 

I should add "keep up with the house" to this list, but come on. Something's gotta give here.  Gratefully, my husband recognizes my general suckage at household chores and granted permission to hire someone to do the deep cleaning for me once a month or so.  This is a huge relief because when Saturday comes, there are few things I feel worse about than cleaning all day instead of spending time with the kids after I've spent all week working.

I should also add "keep up with the laundry" to the list.  That's one thing you just can't neglect, especially with five people living in the house.  Brandon is a huge help in this area, too, unlike some husbands, who delegate all household chores to their spouses because that's "women's work."  Brandon is a champion chore-sharer.

As much as I hate baskets of laundry sitting around the house, laundry has about eight too many steps.  First you have to collect it from the multiple hampers and carry it down to the basement. Then you have to sort it.  Then you have to wash it.  Then you have to wash it again because it sat too long in the washer after you forgot to switch loads.  Then you have to dry it.  Then you have to turn the dryer on fluff cycle because everything sat too long and got all wrinkly.  Then you have to fold it.  Then you have to sort it into appropriate stacks for each family member. Then you have to move it to the appropriate bedroom and nag the children about putting their clothes away.  Then you have to throw your arms up into the air and huff and puff about how they haven't put their clothes away or they've jammed them in and messed them all up.  Then you have to pull everything out of the drawers and refold it and put it all back in the appropriate drawers.  And then, after all of that hard work, they pull them out, wear them, and put them back into the hamper.

Know what I could handle?  Wash. Dry. Fold.  That's it.  Someone else can deal with the rest.

What are you resolving to do, or not to do, in 2013?

My 30th Year: Read Ten Books

I've been thinking about my thirtieth year list and looking at the growing stack of books I'd like to read in 2012. Rather than get discouraged, I've decided to identify ten books I plan to read in 2012. When I finish one, I think I'll try my hand at reviewing it on here.

In some ways, ten books feels like a modest goal. I love to read, after all, and ten books in 365 days sounds like a breeze to me... until I think about my kids and job and husband and making dinner and sleep and exercise.  Then I chuckle and reshelve the books.

SO, to keep focused, here are the ten books I aspire to read this year, in no particular order:

Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard J. Foster.  This is one we're reading for small group-- working through a series of spiritual disciplines, one by one each week.  I like it for its practicality and application.  We're about four chapters into the book.  It might not be fair to count this as one of the ten, but eh, who's making the rules here anyway?

The Best Spiritual Writing 2012, edited by Philip Zaleski.  This is a carry-over from 2011 (also shouldn't be counted...) that I'm about half-way through.  There are many great poems and essays in this collection, all offering something to contemplate as I go about my day.

Bring Down the Little Birds: On Mothering, Art, Work, and Everything Else by Carmen Gimenez Smith.  Carmen is on the faculty at Ashland, and I have been wanting to read this little memoir for a year now.

A Double Life by Lisa Catherine Harper.  This book won the 2010 River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Book Prize, and again, I've been wanting to read it since it was selected.  It was also a 2012 National Book Critics Circle Best of the Small Presses Selection.

Townie by Andre Dubus III.  Andre Dubus is coming to Ashland this summer for our residency, and this is his most recent book.

Half the House by Richard Hoffman.  Hoffman was published in River Teeth recently, and he's also coming to Ashland, this spring. 

Mountains of Light: Seasons of Reflection in Yosemite by R. Mark Liebenow.  Liebenow was the 2011 River Teeth Book Prize winner, so there you go.

Beautiful and Pointless: A Guide to Modern Poetry  by David Orr.  This one was given to me by Joe Mackall and I just love the title.

Young of the Year by Sydney Lea.  This is a collection of poems by a poet I admire.

Space, In Chains by Laura Kasischke.  Another collection of poems.  She is coming this summer to Ashland too.

Coral Road Poems by Garrett Hongo.  Also coming to AU (coming to a theatre near you?) this summer.

Since the last three are collections of poems, and I'm cheating by including two books I had already started in 2011, here are two page-through-as-I-can books, and one book I'd like to re-read:

All the Fun's in How You Say a Thing: An Explanation of Meter and Versification by Timothy Steele.  This guy really excites me, even though I'm sure 99.99% of you are saying, "seriously? versification?" But I loved Tim's poetry at Key West and at West Chester, and while this is textbook-y, I am certain it will be the sort of thing that I can use in my writer's toolbox.  So there you have it.

The Best American Essays 2011, edited by Robert Atwan (series editor).  I mostly want to read this so I know what essays are being considered the "best" so I can aspire to that level of writing.  Also, Bob Atwan is going to be at AU in May for the River Teeth Nonfiction Conference.

Ah, and I just thought of another book I'd like to read this year (do you see how this is a problem for me???) - Bonnie Rough's Carrier.  I might slip it in place of Liebenow's book in the top ten and get to Liebenow if I finish the top ten.

Finally, the re-read.  I read The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis back in high school and would love to revisit it.

Alrighty.  You'll know if I'm making progress on this list if I actually report back on the books.  I'm excited to have a goal, even if it seems like a weak one.  Maybe I'll surprise myself and finish ten books by July.  I just laughed out loud, so don't hold your breath.

P.S. An obvious trend I'm sure you noticed: most of these books are work-related texts.  Fortunately for me, my job is literature centered, so reading for work doesn't involve instruction manuals or operating manuals.

My Thirtieth Year

As something of a kick-off to my 30th year and my mom's 50th, we ran a half-marathon back on December 3.  It was cold but dry and sunny, and we finished!  Now, I have ambitions to run a marathon with one of my good friends (who is also turning 30 this year) in May, but I'm not sure whether my knee can hold up - it hasn't felt right since the half-marathon.  Also, there's this thing about time commitment.  I enjoyed the structure and discipline required to train for the half-marathon.  Someone plotted out the miles I needed to run and which days I needed to run them, and I did it.

No one does this for me for writing.  Nobody sends me a schedule and says, SWells, sit down and give me 20 pages, and tomorrow, I want 20 more.  Plus, the time I've dedicated to running has filled any time or energy I had for writing.  I want to run this marathon (I think I do, anyway... I'm suffering short-term memory loss from the half-marathon).  But I also want to write, now that I've gotten a few essays done, toward a book-length manuscript.  I'd like to make year 30 the year I finish it, but that might be too ambitious.

There's a few other things besides writing and running I'd like to have happen in Year 30:

• take a family vacation
• go on a fancy date with my husband
• go line dancing at least once
• take Lydia and Elvis on two special one-on-one "dates" each
• cut our credit card debt in half, with a two-year goal of being credit card free by our 10th anniversary
• blog once a week
• read ten books
• run a marathon (maybe... at least another half-marathon)
• write six or more essays toward the manuscript
• incorporate Bible reading and prayer into daily life more
• write twelve new poems

My immediate goals for 2012 are to get well - this sinus infection needs to go away - and to survive the next week of Brandon being out of town.  He's had a lot of work lately, and I'm ready for him to be home and around more.

Thirty years old July 30.  This is a crazy life.  I wonder what challenges and opportunities God will give us in 2012.