i did not get a fish for christmas. (YET.) but we did have a lovely wonderful week with visiting family, yummy food, sparkly lights, and lots of love. and i did get two new books that i have been dying to read. books always make me happy. one can never go wrong with books.
i sewed a bunch of reusable produce bags for christmas gifts this year. stupidly, i did not take photos of them before i boxed them up and gave them as gifts. i hope everyone loves them as much as i do. i did regular muslin bags for dry produce and a mesh bag for small things like green beans, snap peas, or cherries. they were made out of a polyester athletic mesh so one can rinse the produce through the bag. i also made wet bags out of a silicone-impregnated ripstop nylon. that stuff was a bear to sew on. it was practically lighter than air (each bag ended up weighing just over half an ounce after the tie at the top was threaded in) and slippery as all get-out. ripstop is slippery anyways, but the silicone made it even more so. and i did not want to stick pins in it for fear of making holes. oy.
as 2009 comes to a close i have been reflecting a bit on the past twelve months. it has been a good year, and in some ways a not good one. i did not accomplish everything on my to-do list nor did i make a sizeable enough dent in it to be able to feel proud of what i did. namely, i have struggled with enjoying being a mother and that disappoints me. on the other hand, if i did not tick off even half of everything on my list, it is partly because i have been using my time to raise a happy, healthy, beautiful daughter whom i do adore.
in 2010 i will be making changes in my life. big ones, i hope. i need to be learning to not take on too much, to be content with what i have been given, to be kinder to those i love when i am not feeling kind. currently the etsy shop is closed, and it will remain closed for the time being until i can figure out how to manage the shop without allowing it to take over my spare time. until then, i am creating a new to-do list for 2010, one that will be printed out and posted where i can see it daily to remind myself of my goals for this year:
- create and maintain a household management schedule
- fill the planter box with dirt and plant a garden
- manage the etsy shop without allowing it to take over my life
- create and maintain a system for dealing with the paper/mail/crap that comes into the house and collects in the kitchen (yeah, this one didn't get done last year)
- sew buttonholes into the guest room comforter and ties for the duvet
- hang "artwork" in the guest room
- finish the quilt for the master bedroom
- start (and finish!) kerry's quilt
- take swim classes with hannah this summer
- replace the toilet seat in the upstairs bathroom
- find a good church and start going regularly again
- give myself regular pedicures
- finish out the door frame in the upstairs bathroom
- move the "decor store" to the unused cabinet above the fridge
- create and maintain a healthy, reasonable exercise routine (yeah, this one didn't get done last year either)
- get hannah baptized/christened/dedicated
- plan meals weekly and keep our grocery bill down
- take the pacific northwest road trip with my husband and daughter
- support, encourage, and love my husband
- enjoy being a mother
the one thing notably missing from my 2010 to-do list is one that i have not yet decided on. kerry wants me to run a half-marathon with her in march. i am not a runner and have not run since about high school when i was required to for pe class. i detest running, so training for this half-marathon would be a tremedous undertaking on my part. i want to do it, partly as a point of pride. i would like to be able to say i did it, and maybe i would come to enjoy it. stranger things have happened. on the other hand, i don't know if it is reasonable to commit to training for a half-marathon with an almost-8-month-old baby. i know others do, but on the other hand others are not necessarily starting from scratch in the running department along with everything else. thoughts?
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
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4 comments:
A really super helpful resouce I found for organization/household mgmt is Flylady(flylady.net). She has really great ideas to help make cleaning and organizing a rountine.
Also, commiting to a marathon could help you in the PPD battle. You might look into a gym that has a daycare that you can go to while Brian is at work. That way you're still getting a break but not cutting into your time with Brian/family time.
Also, would love to visit with your family if you stop in Portland! :)
I said the same thing about the PPD.
You only have to have about an hour a day (for the first month or so, after that, one long-run a week) to train, which I'm sure you could get a friend to watch Hannah for, or just be ready as soon as Brian is home so he can have a little special Daddy Daughter time a few days a week. You'll run 5 days a week, which means that two of those can be Brian's days off, and that's only three days a week that you need to find coverage or wait until Brian comes home. If I can do it in the very little time I have around work, you can do it. Courtney did her first 6 months after having a c-section, and a TRAIL run (harder), and in Oregon, where sometimes there was snow on the ground, or it was 20 degrees, and then ran mine six months later.
Don't be fooled, it will be work, and you will hate it, every minute I'm sure, but at the end it will feel soooo good.
and ps, apparently there is no Napa half, no matter how many people I invite to run it with me, it's only a whole. There are lots of other runs we could do tho, not to worry.
To entice you to the Pacific northwest... we will be here! I would love to host you and your family. Come visit!!! :) I'm sure Jessika would love to see you too!
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