2012: Year of Goals

In 2005, I was doing a study abroad in London when London was trying to win the Olympic bid for 2012.  So I spent 4.5 months surrounded by 2012s.  (Even when visiting Paris, which was also trying to win the bid, I was inundated with 2012s... even on the Eiffel Tower.)  In London, 2012 was sewn into the seats on the Underground, and painted on the sides of the Underground trains, tunnels, and city buses everywhere.  So, for the past 7 years, I've felt like 2012 is my year.  This is it!  This is the year I can accomplish anything!  

I started out with my pledge to clean the house.  While it is only partway into February, so I can't declare this resolution nearly complete, I've been doing really well.  I have a chore chart for myself that I take care of while the girls are playing in Celia's room right after they've woken up.  I spray down my bathroom sink and counter every morning when I'm done in there.  Tom has three chores a week as well that he has done excellent at completing.  And we both help straighten up the living room and clean the kitchen every night.  A few things have derailed me briefly.  It turns out having company stay means I break my cleaning routine along with all our other routines (sorry Sue!).  But we're back on track and going strong. (Don't read this and then come look at my house... we may have different definitions of "clean.")  Anyway, this has been fabulous.  Celia helps around the house a lot more.  We have several "clean up" times built in to our schedules before moving on to other activities, so things stay put away a lot better than they once did.  (Sabrina is still a dumper of all things... but we'll work on that.)  Maintaining this cleaning skill has helped me organize my days so much better as well.  I am much more able to compartmentalize my days into housework that needs doing, my quality time with my kids, and my job.  Because of this, the girls and I have had some solid quality time, I don't worry so much about what needs doing around the house, and I get way more work done in a day for my job.  I feel great.  

For February, I added the goal to try to be a more proactive, chill mom.  I'm a generally chill, roll-with-it, spontaneous person, so it surprised me that in my mothering style, I've gotten a bit uptight and get easily stressed out with the screaming, hair-pulling, dumped-out-sugar-in-the-kitchen moments.  So this month, I've decided that I'm just going to let it be.  I'm going to be a chill mom.  I can do this.  To really test myself, I've also decided to add some projects and baking with the children into the mix.  If you'll recall my previous attempt at cooking with kids, you'll know this was a big thing for me to tackle.  So, we've been doing a lot of cooking to get both myself and the girls used to it.  Just this past two weeks, we've made homemade cheez-its (delicious, but I didn't roll them out flat enough, and we didn't have a tiny cookie cutter, so the consistency was more like thin biscuits, but the flavor is perfect), buttermilk biscuits twice (a little too white-floury for my wheat flour desires, but the homemade cultured buttermilk I made really made these puff up... and the pancakes with the homemade buttermilk were super fluffy! And we made the biscuits into hearts and stars and gingerbread men), and today we made six-week bran muffins (Substituted half of the canola with coconut oil.  Loved the whole-wheatness of this recipe, but it has too much sugar... though it is very sweet and delicious).

The event usually turns out with Sabrina eating flour by the handfuls, and two cups of flour ending up becoming a sandbox-type thing on the counter, and another two cups on the floor.  But I'm learning to roll with it.  Slowly, but surely.  And the girls really have a good time.  

We also made a Winter Sun Catcher this week (it's still freezing in the pie pan... we'll hang it up tomorrow). So February is going well.  Learning to roll with it.  

I also started the year with goals to go on a monthly date and a monthly trip to the temple.  Since both failed in January, I decided to not run too fast and take things a month at a time.  We already have a date lined up for Tom's birthday next weekend (thanks Emily!), and March's goal is to start going to Ward temple nights.  Stay tuned.  I'm holding myself publicly accountable here.  Because 2012 is MY year and I'm going to finish it being an awesome, active, chill mother that has it all together.  (Ok. Maybe not ALL together...)