Happy New Year!

When most people do New Year's in New York, they get this:

Remember, this is twelve blocks from the dropping ball.

Thanks to Linda and my parents, when we do New Year's in New York, we get this:

Oh, yes. My family knows how to have a party.

Of course, by the time the ball actually drops, we're more like this:

2012

It's very unlike me. I haven't posted in days, and I hardly know how to approach the subject.

You see, instead of leaping into the New Year, I kind of stumbled into it. Now that we are home, I am finding myself tired, with so much laundry to do. So many things to put away. The house is still bedecked for Christmas, and all of these decorations need to be put away. Every surface is littered with stuff, a collection of wrappers, directions, ornaments, wires, and small toys. We have more chocolate than some of the smaller states, but alas I am no longer running due to my heel, and this morning my bathroom scale said "Up 6 Pounds!" Which is alarming because I didn't think I had eaten very much in the past couple of days.

And I still haven't done my New Year's Resolutions, something I like to do as a way of setting goals for myself.

But more than that I'm feeling... well, I'm feeling very BAD. I mean, I feel mean. I'm snapping and complaining. Steve hates this blog because he says all I do is complain, and that my life sounds so drab and miserable and horrible and whaa whaa whaa. I think that #1 - he's missing the point #2 - he's taking things I say too personally except that #3 - it still hasn't gotten him to pick up his socks, has it?

In any case, I hate to think that this blog is all about complaining. It isn't supposed to be. Perhaps one of my resolutions is to make more of an effort towards a positive outlook?

This week I'll post a few pictures from our Trip to New York. I'm not telling you all about it, because a few things are better left never mentioned ever again. I'll be posting about the things too good to forget.

No Doctor

This photo, one I took New Year's Eve, captures the beautiful table we ate at. It doesn't show the food, but it hints at the asparagus fettuccine, the carmelized pears in prosciutto, lobster ravioli... I have to stop because thinking about it is driving me nuts. Anyway, this photo hints at that, at at the wonderful company kept.

And it has nothing at all to do with what I wanted to post about today.

We did not see a doctor. I took temperatures this morning, and since everyone was normal and no one complained of sore throats or headaches or tummy troubles, I sent everyone to school. Then I volunteered at the school myself, picked up the younger two, made them lunch, registered Nate for kindergarten, put Andy down for a nap, rushed off to buy groceries, quickly cleaned out the fridge, gave the boys a snack, wrapped a birthday present, folded a load of laundry, took Andrew to an evening birthday party at a bounce house, drove him home, did the dishes, gave the boys a bath, read them stories, put them to bed, folded another load of laundry, and then inflated a super wonderful purple yoga ball.

Just another day in the life of Fleen. Back to normal.

Tomorrow I'm going to work out and make it to the party store, the book store, take the boys to gymnastics class, Nick to karate - oh! I have to sew on his patch! - and clean out the litter box. And start taking down these Christmas decorations. And call Lillian because I will need her help in a big way when Steve's job enters travel mode.

Resolved: Not much, really...

Well, today is the last day of 2010.

Time flies, really. I can't believe I've been writing this blog for as long as I have, for one thing. Or that my children have grown so much - browse back to one of my earlier posts (not the first few, I didn't have pictures.)

I still remember New Year's 1999, Y2K, and feeling that the future was Here! And now I'm realizing that I know adults born after I graduated High School.

As an adult I started making New Year's Resolutions. Not a huge list I had no hope of living up to, but five small, easy-to-reach goals that would get me closer to becoming the person I want to be. Over the years I have included things like "Work out more often," "Get the kids to play outside more," and "Eat Less Meat." I haven't accomplished everything on my list, but I make an honest effort.

I don't think New Year's should be the only time to make resolutions. But it is a pretty good marker. You can't forget this time of year, and you can look back and see how far you have come, if at all.

It's also a time to look forward. A time to be optimistic. And resolutions really can say a lot about who we are. What do YOU want? What do you want to DO this year? Who do you want to become? Will you spend less money? Make more money? Eat less food? Swim more laps? Wear better clothes? Eat out more? Feed the hungry?

This year I will make more playdates for my kids.

This year I will become more flexible, both physically and mentally.

This year I will smile more and yell less.

This year I will take care of many of the things that need doing around the house. Like fixing holes in the walls and removing peeling wallpaper. And I will do it as ecologically minded as my budget allows.

Happy New Year, Everyone! May it bring great things to us all.

More Resolve

Now that we're more thn a week into the New Year, I thought I would finally do a post about Resolutions.

I actually make New Year's Resolutions. And no just ones about loosing weight. Like most of my lists, I keep this one short, to four or five different items, so that can maintain the illusion that all can be accomplished.

The thing is, within each individual resolution lies a number of smaller resolutions, the steps to the larger goal. For example, my BIG resolution might be "Get In Shape." The smaller resolutions would be "loose 20 lbs," "Fit into old jeans," "Run 5k again without stopping," and "Stop eating a box of pop tarts a day."

I'm not crazy enough to list all of my resolutions here, let alone the multiple sub-resolutions because, quite frankly and with all due respect, it is none of your business. I WILL say, however, that I'm having a hard time actually starting any of them. I know Andrew is a "Good" baby and only wakes up a couple of times a night. Two or three. As opposed to Nick, who would wake six to eight times a night until his first birthday. But I am still exhausted. And honestly I can't accomplish even half of what I want in this state.

The Resolution Revolution

A few years ago I started making real new year's resolutions. But I couldn't keep them. I was bad at reolutions. then, three years ago, I started making resolutions in a diffewrent way. Here are my Rules To Resolutions:

1 - Keep Them Realistic. It could be cool to find the cure for cancer or to lose 100 pounds. But it's not going to happen. In the past I have included things like "give birth to this baby." I mean, I was pretty sure it was going to happen.

2 - Make A Plan. Yes, I want to lose ten pounds and save money. But I'm not just going to say "LOSE TEN POUNDS" and "SAVE MONEY." Instead, I say make a workout plan and stick to it, eat healthier foods like the stuff I saw in that cookbook, and start a savings account.

3 - Limit my resolutions. I only let myself have five. If I wanted to, I could have twenty, and do a mediocre job on each. But instead I have five, and choose to do a mediocre job on just five. Kidding. But seriously, five is enough for me. I'm busy.

4 - Take note of the things I am already doing. I am already working out. I don't need to include that. And aren't I a wonderful person for working out! Yes. Yes I am. So get to feel good about that while I add "less TV" and "more outside time" to my list. After all, I don't want to fall behind on things I'm already good at just to add something new to my resume of life.

And that's all the preachiness you'll get from me today. I'm already embarassed at myself. Perhaps one of my resolutions should have been "be less preachy." But it's not. I didn't have room between "eat more chocolate" and "play with my kids more."

How 2007 Begins

They say to look your best you should stand next to someone who is less attractive than you are. I mean, everything is relative, right? If you hit your head with a hammer it feels good when you stop. Or so they tell me.

The night BEFORE last Nicholas got some sort of Stomach bug. At first he woke up a couple of times crying and saying he was scared, and then h started coughing, which turned into vomiting... a 102.6 fever and three loads of laundry. (sheets, towels, Nick's pyjamas. My pyjamas.) The poor boy threw up until nothing was left in his system, but didn't feel up to eating lunch. Finally, after nap, he started coming round and acting himself.

I can remember New Years Eves... not too long ago, either, where I went out and had fun. I went to an Alice In Wonderland party. I ended up hiccupping on a T platform with a balloon tied to my coat. I saw the ball drop in Colorado. I saw the crowd gather in Times Square - or actually many, many blocks from Times Square, but the people in the street didn't seem to notice. I was watching from a window.

Last night Steve and I watched TV. We saw the end of "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" which I just don't like. We say some Three Stooges. We saw some Family Guy. I even saw some Liza - a YOUNG Liza, dancing around it what looked like a sequined T-shirt and nothing else. And we saw maybe half of The Magnificent Seven before I decided it was late and I had to go to bed. It was 10:30. TEN THIRTY! I was so tired. I felt so old.

Of course, Nick was awake when I did my nightly peek-in. So we used the potty and said good night to Steve (actually, we woke him up and he decided to go to bed, too.) But then Nick just wouldn't settle. He would let me crawl into bed and start to drift... he really was trying... and then the "Mommy! Mommy!" thing would start. Every few hours this went on. So I actually DID see the New Year in.

It was better than I had expected, though, because even though I felt a bit old and fuddy duddy and yes, even a bit left out because I knew people I know were out there shouting WHOOHOO! I wasn't sick. I wasn't throwing up and taking care of feverish, buggy, puking children. So I was happy and content. Mostly.