New Year's Resolutions 2013

I was sitting on the couch watching some TV this evening when I fell asleep.  That's not too unusual.  I'm home by myself, I had a pretty full day of work, and I was tired.  I ended up sleeping for 2 and a half hours!  That's a bit unusual.  After my Sunday morning sleep-in, I didn't expect something like this.  I guess I should be thankful for the opportunity to sleep, but I really wanted to get out and do something.

After I awoke (and Faithful Pup Scout felt like she should sleep, too, right next to me here on the couch), I happened to glance over at the stereo cabinet and saw the document my little girl wrote up for us on New Year's Eve, with our stated resolutions for 2013.  Hmmmmm...I wonder how close we are to actually following through on them.

Melody listed hers first:

"1.  Keep house clean."  Given that much of her stuff is strewn across the living room, I'd say that one didn't last long.

"2.  Be on time for school."  She did good with that, as she has no late arrivals on her report card, but she still cut it a little close on some mornings.  That can be partially blamed on her friend and neighbor, a latch-key kid who walks with her to school each morning, and walks veeeeeeeeerrrrrrryyyyyyy slowly, and almost always forgets something, causing them to have to walk back to her house.

"3.  Do everything Daddy tells me to."  With few exceptions, my girl follows this rule.  And rule it is.  This really doesn't qualify as a resolution, as if she has some choice as to whether to do what I tell her.  I think we've got this one cleared up.

"4.  Be really nice to everyone."  Another easy one.  My girl is nice to everyone.  It's her best quality.

Three out of four ain't bad, eh?  If I could only get her to keep her stuff cleaned up and put away, she'd be four for four.

What about mine?

"1.  Go on at least 12 dates this year."  I haven't come close to this.  In fact, I think, officially, it's only one date.  Several of my work colleagues have tried to persuade me to join another dating service, but I'm so sick of that whole process.  I think they just like hearing my dating stories.  I pray about finding a partner all the time, but I'm either way too picky or God just doesn't feel it's time, and it's His timetable I need to follow.  But there's also a difference between dating and finding a partner.  Dating can be just having fun, spending time with someone else, with no expectations of there being anything more.  Whereas finding a partner is much more deep rooted and serious (though no less fun), and to marriage-minded adds a bit of importance to the dating process.  Maybe I need to re-evaluate.  I've never been one to date just to date and have fun.  Maybe that's what I should be doing.

"2.  Cook one new recipe each week."  This one I've come very close to sticking to.  I've gotten very good about experimenting with my cooking, and getting my daughter to try new things.  I'm not averaging one a week, but I am doing better than one per month.

"3.  Read 50 books this year."  I love to read, and my Kindle Fire makes it very easy to always have a few books in the queue.  I also love book stores, and used book stores in particular.  Out trip to Wonder Books in Frederick this past weekend was awesome, and we're overdue to make a trip to another favorite store, Daedalus Books in Columbia.  I'd say I'm pretty close on this one, though maybe a bit below average.  I'll have to kick it up a notch.  A trip to Daedalus tomorrow after work may be in order....

"4.  Write one new blog entry every week."  This one I've blown out of the water.  With a little discipline, I'm almost able to do a blog entry every day!  And it hasn't gotten old.  I'm having fun with it.  Thanks for reading!

"5.  30 minutes of exercise every day."  And this one....I haven't come close, and it's obvious to me I need to fix this.  I'm very out of shape, and I have no desire lately to do anything about it.  This is partially due to the depression I'm battling.  It has been so hard for me to stay motivated about doing things in the evening after work.  Work takes so much out of me.  Poor weather (hot, humid, rain, etc.) doesn't help, either.  I tend to get energized by Fall weather, so perhaps that will help, as we move into late September and early October.  This is where I need the most improvement.

I really don't do New Year's resolutions.  This year, I thought it would be fun since my daughter wanted to do come up with some.  But the difficult part, as most everyone knows, is keeping up with them.  We did better than I thought we would, but there's a lot of improvement to be found.  I can't wait to re-visit them when my daughter returns home.

Have a great evening, everyone!