Tuesday, January 1, 2013

It's a brand new day....by Jessica

You know what I'm excellent at?

Starting new projects.  I'm even better at thinking up great ideas, and then not following through with completion.

Sigh.  Enough with the self deprecation.  

I didn't do very good on my list for the year.


1. Lose those pesky 15 pounds. (I lost 9 and then I gained them back, I'm kinda mad at myself for that right now)
2. Use reusable totes when grocery shopping (Pretty good!)
3. Take the kids to SF on the ferry and:
4. Go to the Fortune Cookie Factory.
5. Go on the cable cars.
6. Eat dim sum.
7. Walk across the bridge.
8. Train for a 5k, 10k, half-marathon. (I think working up to running 5 miles can be considered TRAINING for a 10k.  Do we all agree?)
9. Complete a 5k, 10k, half-marathon.
10. Take a creative writing class.
11. For a short time (1 week? 1 month?) eat only foods grown locally. (I'm sure I did this during much of my Foggy River farm veggie box time)
12. Cut back online time wasting (texting, FB, blogs, etc.) to a designated specific time frame
13. Stick to grocery / household budget (did pretttty good)
14. Plant vegetable(s) each season.  (I'm a lousy gardener)
15. Replace carpet on stairs / upstairs (why??  why haven't we done this yet???)
16. Focus on positive thoughts & encouraging words (I tried but could anyone ever think they were good enough to warrant a strikethrough?)
17. Host a book club! (I still want to do this really bad)
18. Volunteer in Anya’s classroom twice a month 
19. Learn how to bake a pie (I didn't)                       
20. Go to the sample sale in SF!
21. Host a family dinner more frequently (I don't know how much more time we all can possibly spend with each other)
22. Take a dance, tennis or swim class (ha!  didn't even think once about this ALL year)
23. See the Giant Sequoia’s (Zack’s wish) (Sorry Zack)
24. Clean out, level and put walk path near vegetable garden on side yard.
25. Keep my purse clean and free of gum wrappers (way better)
26.Ever see the "Eating on $1 A Day" Project? Gonna do it for a day. (this is just stupid)
27. Break out of my clothing comfort zone (this one is too)
28. Get family pictures taken.
29. Take Anya horseback riding.
30.Resolve kitchen countertop situation.

I wish, in place of some of the ones I didn't finish, I would have had on the list: 

 - Take the kids to the Exploratorium!  We did, and MAN we had a great time.  The tactile dome is amazing and we laughed and bonded in that pitch black maze.  It's really amazing. Not for the claustrophobic.  

- Go to Alaska and climb an ice wall, repel down a cliff and explore an ice cave.  Now that was an adventure!

-  Ian, Anya and I worked together as a team to conquer a big project.  Recycling.  I learned that I really have to be more patient when I'm doing things that are not enjoyable because the kiddos are always watching my behavior (bring a snack Jessica, always bring a snack).  Anya learned that even though it's not her project, it's better to help than just to stand around and sometimes you get rewarded with some $.  Ian learned to take responsibility of a job, do it well, get paid....and then pay the people around you who have helped you. 

- Volunteer to do farm work at Foggy River.  I tell ya - there is nothing like spending a few hours planting some vegetables, weeding, picking veggies, wandering over to the tomatoes or corn for a little snack, seeing the vegetables from the plants you planted weeks later being distributed in the veggie boxes - very rewarding.   One of my best memories of this year was when Anya and I worked together picking beets, then washing them and bundling up for the next days distribution.  She is such a good hard worker.  

- Canning.  I'm enjoying the canned tomatoes, sauce & peppers from this summer and it's definitely something I'm going to make into a habit.  Zack just asked me yesterday "did you know that there is BPA in the plastic lining of canned goods?"  And I said (like a self righteous little canning hippy) "yep!  that's why you should only eat food that's been canned in glass jars!"  And then I got to thinking that the plastic on the jars that seal are probably plastic and probably are loaded with BPA.  Ha!  

Thanks all loyal readers for sticking with us through this slim year of posting.  

I feel my creativity has taken a severe nose dive and when that happens i sink into a deep dark hole that I find difficult to scrape my way up out of, so 2013's project for me will definitely need to focus more on creativity, less on deprivation or deadlines.  

I can't wait to read about how everyone else did on their lists for 2012!  Email us!!!

4 comments:

Mirjam de Rijk said...

Following you with the progress of the list was fun and even inspirational.
Julie's run made me train to run 5K and ever since I have come to enjoy running/jogging. While Julie invited me to bootcamp, I totally had fun working out with the both of you. Too bad the 5:30 in the afternoon ended up not working on a consistent bases for me.
You are encouraging and kind, did you know that? So you can scratch of at least half of no 16... ;)
And scratch no 27 too, don't see a reason either, you always look good, no reason to change that.
Oh and as to no 1- maybe you gained the pounds in muscles?

Jessica said...

Mirjam, you are so sweet, your comment made me feel all sappy (almost cry if I'm being very honest). I was just lamenting to my mom about the 5:30 bootcamp being discontinued and how sad I am, I really was addicted to bootcamp and now I've got to figure out how I'm going to consistently work out. Ugh. Maybe some muscle weight... I'll take that. Thanks again Mirjam. Love Jessica

Anonymous said...

i didnt get them all done my
self
bobby

Jessica said...

ummm you did a ton! don't beat yourself up...most importantly I think you conquered (sp?) the most important ones! Like taking the kids on adventures, farming and exercising, and you also spent less time on Social media/computer stuff andddd you also stuck to your grocery budget!
I think you did awesome!
on top of it you blogged about what you accomplished...that's a long way from what i've done this year!