I'm in a decent mood because (1) we survived Christmas, (2) we had a very fun New Year's Eve with the boys, (3) the plumbers FINALLY showed up on Friday morning and cleaned out our sewer, and (4) after buying a replacement part, Rocket Boy tested the dishwasher one more time and what do you know? it worked. I think it just needed some time to rest after being moved back and forth because of the new floor.
Rocket Boy is not happy about the dishwasher, but I am. We couldn't have used it this whole time because of the clogged pipes, and now he doesn't have to replace the part and deal with all that. It's too bad he had to spend $55 on a new solenoid and go to Longmont to get it, but he needed to go to Longmont anyway to see his brother, and $55 isn't much compared to what a new dishwasher would have cost. I feel as though it was money paid to propitiate the dishwasher gods.
Also, we're suspicious that the dishwasher isn't REALLY fixed. It's made a few odd noises. We're watching it carefully. But for now, all is good.
It's been a snowy week. We had just worked through the last dumping (6.9 inches) and then whoops, here comes another storm. They predicted 3-5 inches, but we ended up with 9.8. Not Buffalo snow, but it was heavy, wet snow, like a spring storm. I've spent hours working on the walks, even though our wonderful neighbor snowblowed them. The snowplows dumped a lot more snow on us, and then it melted and ice formed, and...
More snow was predicted for tonight into Monday, but now they're saying it's going to be an ice storm, my favorite. It's winter, I know I should just accept that snow and ice happen, but I have to admit I don't love it. Even though it's pretty.
We had a really nice New Year's Eve yesterday. Rocket Boy took the boys to the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum in Denver, while I stayed home and worked on laundry and snow/ice removal. After they got home, around 8 pm, we went out to eat at the Gondolier, an Italian restaurant that I didn't use to like that much, but it's become a favorite. It's expensive, but we decided it was OK for a special occasion. Then we went home and played Blokus, interspersed with episodes of Odd Squad, and finally we watched the ball drop in New York City and fireworks in various cities around the world. Everyone was in a good mood. It was nice.
Then today some friends of ours who are beekeepers stopped by to give us some honey and they stayed maybe half an hour to chat. I love the way Christmas kind of stretches out, with little visits and communications from people not just around the 25th, but for weeks before and after.
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I spent a lot of today setting up my calendars, so that means it's time for resolutions and plans and goals and all that. I've been thinking about these for a while already, which is why I'm writing them down earlier than usual.
First, a review of my "achievements" in 2022.
2022 Achievements
- I read 116 books, including all 12 books for the Classics Challenge and four Presidential biographies. I saw only 18 movies (the goal was 26), and watched very little TV.
- Medical/dental stuff: the kids and I all saw our doctors (I started seeing a new one, who I like a lot) and the dentist, got eye exams for all of us and new glasses for the two of them, got braces (sigh), got us all vaxxed and boosted, and survived a cardiac catheterization. We helped Rocket Boy through his surgery and recovery. I got my blood pressure under control, and lost exactly 1.4 pounds. Ha! I've been weighing myself with great interest this past week, curious to see whether I'd be up or down on January 1st. I've been eating Christmas cookies for lunch every day, so it could easily have gone the other way. Possibly if I can get back into exercising regularly I'll lose a little more.
- I saw both cats through medical emergencies and got them both back on track to good health (those multiple daily laxatives for Sillers and keeping Baby Kitty away from dry food).
- I didn't work but I stayed out of debt (somehow). Inflation prevented me from giving away as much money as I would have liked, but I did give away some.
- I helped the twins transition from middle to high school.
- We took a great vacation to Nebraska and a less great trip to St. Louis for Rocket Boy's surgery.
- We did two major home repairs: got the shower retiled and the kitchen floor replaced.
- We set up wills and a family trust, something I'd been meaning to do for, oh, 15 years.
- I started following the FlyLady and FINALLY got the housework under control.
- I wrote this blog faithfully and spent some time on my middle grade novel.
- I baked TWELVE batches of Christmas cookies and pledged never to do that again, because OMG, we have so many cookies.
2023 Goals
I have a few ideas for how to approach 2023.
First (of course) is reading. I don't know whether there will be another Classics Challenge -- it seems unlikely (though if there is one, I'll do that too). I could look for another online challenge, but I think I've decided on a way to challenge myself. I plan to read books off my own shelves. Shelf space is at such a premium in our house, I feel as though I can't have all these books sitting around that have never been read. So this year I am going to try to read at least five books each month from my own shelves -- or, if I can't get through them, donate them.
Second, I need to think about money. With inflation, we are no longer doing very well trying to live on Rocket Boy's salary alone. Obviously, it would make sense for me to go back to work, but I'm so uncomfortable with that idea that I'm not ready to do it yet. I'm also not ready to start collecting Social Security, because it would reduce my benefits so drastically if I start at age 62. I think one thing I can do this year is try to figure out how to waste less money, and then save whatever I don't spend, or put it toward things we really want to do, like vacations. My plan to read what I've already got is part of that plan. Taking better care of the house so that things are less likely to break/fall apart is also part of it. Spending less at the grocery store might be another part. I don't know what else I can do, but I plan to study the problem. And perhaps if I study it and study it and can't come up with a solution, I'll go back to work. (Next year.)
Third, rather than write down a whole lot of little goals that I then don't do (like get the piano tuned, which has been on my list of resolutions at least since 2014), I decided to create a master list of possible projects and then set a goal of doing one little project per month and one house-related project per quarter. I won't post the master list here, but it currently has about 65 things on it (including getting the piano tuned), so there are lots of things to choose from. I'm going to try to focus on things that don't cost money, naturally (sorry, piano).
OK, so here are some specifics.
Daily goals:
- Go
for a walk or get some other type of exercise, at least 15 minutes. I want to branch out and try some different kinds, not just walking, which is hard when it's icy out. Swimming, lifting weights, pilates, dancing around the living room -- these would all be good.
- Help/encourage the kids with their schoolwork. Try not to let things get away from us.
- Stick with the FlyLady. Focus on decluttering for 15 minutes a day.
- Make dinner or otherwise arrange for it to happen every night.
- Write every weekday (and blog on Sundays).
- Get at least 7-1/2 hours of sleep at night
Weekly goals:
- Bake some sort of snack/treat, possibly with a twin's help. The goal is to have this replace some of the junk food I waste money on at the grocery store.
- Watch a movie with one or both kids OR play a board game, OR do a special thing, per my monthly goal below.
- Pay
bills and put money into savings. Think about how to save more money.
- Work on the current projects (see Monthly and Quarterly goals below).
Monthly goals:
- Decide on a theme for the month, a way to get through it and enjoy it.
- Choose a small project from the master list and do it.
- Do one special thing with one or both kids (a museum, a movie in a theater, a hike, etc.).
- Make contact with a friend or family member: coffee, letter, or phone call are all fine.
- Read at least five unread books from our collection (and/or donate them).
- Read the book for the book group
- Read a book for the Classics Challenge (if there is one)
My Quarterly/Yearly goals:
- Read a presidential biography
- Work on a home improvement project
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Quarter 1: January through March
- My next President is #25, William McKinley, and I am planning to read: William McKinley and His America
by H. Wayne Morgan. The library doesn't have it, so I'll have to request it from Prospector. I'm thinking I'll read it in February.
- Home
improvement project: For the third year in a row, I plan to work on the desk room, specifically the files, with the ultimate goal of making a space for Teen B to have a desk away from Teen A. I also need to do our taxes, hopefully by the end of February.
- January's theme is snow and cold and bleak midwinter. Also, warming things: blankets and throws, soup, baking, candles, jigsaw puzzles, etc.
- My goal off my master list is to clean up my email, which as of yesterday had
10,212 messages in my inbox and is very unstable. I'm planning to do a letter a day -- today I sorted through messages from those whose names start with A (this included Amazon and Apple) and got rid of a lot. I'm down to 9946 messages in the inbox, sigh. Tomorrow, on to B.
- What can I do with a twin? Maybe a movie? Or, since Rocket Boy is here until Jan. 20th, maybe we can do something as a family.
- No physical socializing is required in January (though we did see our beekeeping friends in person today). What I think I'd like to do is get back to all the people who emailed me in response to our Xmas letter, or wrote a note in their letter that I'd like to respond to. Maybe I'll work on that this week.
- I'm going to read (or donate) five books that I've chosen from the piles next to my bed (see photo). I might actually read all of these (they're not all from Goodwill, some I paid real money for). I'll see.
- The next book group book is Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, because it's set in Costa Rica (sort of) and one member is going to Costa Rica at the end of the month. We meet on the 24th, so I've requested it from the library.
More thoughts... We did a huge terrible puzzle this week (see photo), but I decided not to start another one right away so that we would have space on the table to play board games from our large collection. Teen B, Rocket Boy, and I played Sorry on Friday night -- the first board game I'd played in a long time. And then of course Blokus last night.
They go back to school on Wednesday, and I'm not looking forward to it. Can you believe that? We've been having a good time together and I will miss them when they go back to school and start to retreat into their private lives again.
Well, it's for the best. They have their own lives and I have mine (and Rocket Boy has his). I'm glad I have all these plans and goals -- something to help me stay organized and motivated as we dive deep into the bleak midwinter of 2023.
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