Friday, December 31, 2010

Goodbye, 2010 - Hello, 2011!

Happy New Year!



This has been a year marked by many things, including a horrible lack of blogging. Will 2011 be better? It's always hard to say, but I like to start each year fresh with possibility. Blogging felt a little bit dry in 2010 because it started to feel like I was living the same year over and over. Another trip to New York to visit Bill's grandparents. Another trip to Montana. Another kid birthday party. Another TNNA. Another OFFF. But when I think back on this year, there were a lot of firsts.

Here's what happened in 2010:
* Sydney turned 7 and Owen turned 5 (weren't they newborns just yesterday?)
* Bill & I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary with a weekend in Vegas
* Our first niece was born, and Bill's grandfather passed away at age 99
* We took family vacations to Los Angeles, New York, Montana, Seattle and road tripped around SW Oregon (I got to see Crater Lake for the first time)



* I finally met my goal of completing a marathon, walking the Portland Marathon in 7 hours and 35 minutes.
* I went on to walk a half marathon in December in 3 hours and 12 minutes, which was a delightful time improvement.
* I got my CSK off the ground and have managed to get one pattern released per month (now to get working on the REST of the book patterns...!).
* Owen started kindergarten, and phone calls from the principal started almost immediately.
* I cut my hair off! And after a few months, decided to let it grow back (this is still a work in progress).
* I bought a spinning wheel, but I'm terrified of it so it's still in its shipping box.
* Sydney took over my office and now has her own fabulous bedroom (as does Owen, who no longer has to share with his sister). My office moved to the basement, which is currently about 20 degrees so I'm working from the dining room table instead.
* I traveled to London to teach at Knit Nation, which was one of the highlights of the summer. European knitters are great fun!

All in all, not a bad year!

I love to make New Year's resolutions. They usually don't get kept, but it's great fun to look over the list at the end of the year. I'm sort of an obsessive personality, in that I get really into things and they take over my life for a few months. Then, I'm on to something else. The resolutions always reflect what I was enamored with on New Year's Day, and often these things are a distant memory by the time the next New Year's comes around (like my resolution from last year to do yoga every day - that didn't work out quite as expected...).

For 2011, my resolutions are:
* Continue to lose weight. I've dropped about 20 lbs since mid-summer and have about 20 more to go to be back to where I was before I got pregnant with Sydney. I figure that my babies are 5 & 7, so it's time to lose that baby weight once and for all!
* Continue to work on my marathon training. I've signed up for the Portland marathon again, and hope to get my time under 7 hours this year. My ultimate goal is to break 6 hours so I can walk/run Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN, one of these summers.
* Get the book out. The CSK has given me a great start, and the CSK members are expecting a book at the end. Time to get knitting!
* Start the next CSK. Once the book is finished, I'd love to do another CSK - perhaps something to do with lace this time, since I'm going to need a break from socks...
* Yell at the kids less and hug them more.
* Take myself a lot less seriously, particularly when it comes to work and parenting. I lead a pretty charmed life - there's no need to be so crabby about it!
* Make more of an effort to connect with others. It's so easy to get wrapped up in family, family, kids, kids and forget about anyone outside of our little bubble. I will focus on not getting overwhelmed at the thought of leaving the house for an hour to have coffee with a friend, or spending 1/2 an hour reading tweets and/or Facebook posts. I've got the time, if I'm really honest with myself.
* Ignore politics as much as possible, for the sake of my blood pressure.
* Give people the benefit of a doubt.
* Make a conscious effort to have fun! I have an amazing ability to resist fun in favor of inertia, especially when the kids are involved. I'm sure nobody on their death bed wishes they'd spent more time on the sofa (or surfing the internet).

Think I can stick to 'em? It's nothing overly difficult - remembering to do things I'm not in the habit of will be the hardest part.

Welcome to 2011, everyone! Here's to approaching the new year with a fresh attitude and renewed hope.