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NYR 2013

Happy New Year everyone! We celebrated the end of 2012 and the start of a new year in our typical fashion: we stuffed our faces with yummy food and fell asleep long before the ball dropped. I find it interesting that our new year falls at one of the coldest, bleakest times seasonally. How can we feel motivated to change our ways, to find hope for a better time, when it is dark and freezing out? After this lazy holiday week, I seem to have little motivation these days to do much more than take a shower and change out of my jammies. This is however, the first day of the new year and as always, I'm going to lay out my resolutions for the next 12 months. I'd like to start by looking back at what I resolved to do over the last 12 months and evaluate my success. Here's that list:

1. drink more water

Evaluation: Yes, going strong with drinking quite a bit of h2o!

2. cook more real food for myself and my family

Evaluation: Sadly, no. But, Andy has been cooking a lot and he's great at it! Good for him!

3. stress less about driving in the snow

Evaluation: This one was easy! It didn't snow for most of 2012. We've had over a foot and a half this week and thanks to my new-to-me AWD vehicle, I hope I'll drive with confidence in 2013.

4. do more yoga

Evaluation: Didn't even take one class and I'm stiff as a board. Must try for this again.

5. run in a road race of significant distance

Evaluation: Woot! Woot! A big fat YES for this one! I ran my first half-marathon and, after that, I kept on running. I've also found a great group of ladies to run with each weekend and that has helped me keep up my mileage. I'm not setting a specific goal for 2013 but plan to keep running as long as my body will allow me.

6. wear more sunblock

Evaluation: Not bad. We enjoyed an amazingly, sun-filled summer, complete with sun block. No sunburns for anyone.

7. spend less time on facebook

Evaluation: That's funny.

8. get published

Evaluation: That's even funnier.

9. get my scrapbooking up-to-date

Evaluation: This list is making me laugh, uncomfortably.

10. lay on a beach in a bikini

Evaluation: Ok, back to a yes, finally. Should I have done this? Probably not, but it was fun to check off the list anyway.

Being the arse that I am, in June, I decided to create an addendum to these resolutions! If it isn't hard enough to set goals and meet them, or realize 12 months later you didn't meet them, I had to add more! Here they are:

1. Ride a bicycle

Evaluation: Nope. I really want to do this, though! I'd like to add here that I did kayak quite a bit this year, yeah!

2. Read a book a month.

Evaluation: Yes! Thanks to my Kindle, I have been reading all year. I regret that the list includes 75% of the 50 Shades Series though. Oh my.

3. Decrease my floppy cat belly.

Evaluation: It's still there, and always will be, but thanks to 1/2 marathon training, I'm back to my wedding day weight!

4. Keep running. (See above)

5. Develop a British accent

Evaluation: I have got, got, got to get on this in 2013. It is so, so important.

7.Don't sweat the small stuff.

Evaluation: This leads me to 2013. As you can see, many of my resolutions, of the original and addendum lists, are ongoing. Even for those I accomplished, the work continues. I have to keep running, keep drinking water, keep wearing sunblock. For me, once I've added a goal to this list it never goes away. It seems that my resolutions are ever-increasing and that is very daunting. So, rather than list any specific goals today (which I have, and will track in my head), I'm going to announce one goal to the world, or you, my single reader.

2013 NYR: (drum roll, please...

Be kinder to myself. Accept who I am, where I am right now, what I look like, sound like, what I say, how clean my house is, how I parent, my professional performance, and my ability to be a friend and spouse.

This may be the hardest resolution I've ever set for myself. Remind me, if I don't accomplish it, that I'll still be ok.

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