Resolutions again!

Sunday we celebrated the baptism of Jesus and the end of the liturgical Christmas season, although somewhere I've read that Christmas lasts until Candlemas commemorating the Presentation in the Temple on February 2nd. I could look up a liturgical calendar but instead I am going to take advantage of the baby's nap to note some resolutions.  Better late than never!

I have just realized that this is my seventh year of making resolutions on this blog. That's a long time. Child number 6 was but a wee thing at the time I started doing this. Can that be right? As I look over my resolutions from years' past, I realize not that I have not changed so much in those years, but my children have accumulated many inches!

I'll stick with my pattern of making four resolutions, although I've got a couple that have nothing to do with last year's goals.

Resolution number 1 - find a good family picture to replace those sidebar photos from 2010.  We have about 2 group shots from the Christmas holidays, and those were taken with the timer set on the camera stationed at a very unflattering angle. The picture I sent with Christmas letters was from Yosemite two months ago.  And how did my parents stay a whole week without taking a photo of all nine of us together!  With one fledgling about to leave the nest, I am newly committed to getting a decent family photo taken.

Number 2: Update those quotes, too.  Pope Benedict, I love you, but I need a new inspirational quote for the next five years.

Now on to the four pillars resolutions: I'm writing these up quickly because I'm short on time. Perhaps I'll think of something new to add in a week.

Health/wellness: Do sit-ups and run a half marathon. Maybe start training for another marathon, if I can get on a schedule that allows me to get up early before baby.  She does not like the jogging stroller, much to my keen dismay.  I NEED her to like riding in her stroller. She's getting too heavy to carry, and as much as I like walking with friends in the mornings after drop-off, I miss running.  Also: drink more water, again. For a time I was doing better about drinking water, but it's been coffee by the gallon for me the past few weeks.  My husband is "detoxing" right now - no alcohol, no sugar, no white flour, no caffeine, lots of vegetables and juice.  I feel rebellious when he diets, and now I recognize the response my family used to have around me when I was the self appointed food police back in the 90's when sugar was ok but fat was off limits.

Academic/Intellectual: Continue organizing my lesson plans. When I look back at last year's resolutions, I am happy to see progress. I am also happy that I can walk into a classroom now and talk  and ask questions for a couple hours without really looking at my notes to see what it is I want to say.  Experience is beginning to pay off.  Read and write as much as possible. Share that reading with the teenagers. I'm suddenly aware of how much I need to talk with them before they leave me.

Continue reading aloud: this resolution from last year has also paid off. Much of my reading over 2014 was aloud to the younger kids. They enjoy the time on the couch, and so do I.  And my third grader really needs help with reading, so I resolve to continue this practice.  Best time of the day.

Spiritual: Continue Mass once a week, confession every month or two, rosary as often as possible at night. Look for God in others, in creation, in the Word. More time with Scripture would be a good practice to add to stir my listless soul.

Community: Again, continue to serve in small ways. I've been the email person for Many Meals the past several months. Since the baby was born we don't serve meals very often, but I help alleviate a little tiny bit of work for the coordinator.  We have not formed as many connections here as we have at other duty stations, perhaps because this is such a well organized place to begin with, but I like to think I have helped carry a bit of the burden for some of the people who run things, just by helping out occasionally and thanking them.  Our awesome youth leader is getting ready to move to Steubenville, and I will grieve her. I haven't helped out with the program very much, but I go walking with her sometimes and try to convey how much I appreciate what she has done.  Such an active youth program I've never seen before at any other parish.  She'll be missed. And I hope the church will find someone equally charismatic to inspire and lead the teens.

And now it is time to start researching new schools and neighborhoods. Bleh.  I have considered the possibility of staying here to let my junior and seventh grader finish out the last years of high school/elementary, but my husband is strongly opposed to the idea.  Although his next duty station is only about four hours away, he does not like the idea of separating the family. I completely understand his concerns, especially since we are at the age when many of our peers' marriages are crumbling, but I also see that our children need some continuity, and I do, too. We have a lot of research and praying to do as we look into the options for our family.