Resolutions schmolutions

As we approach the last month of the year, I figured it was time to stop. Smell the flowers. And do some analyzing: how has 2012 been so far? If it has been good, you still have four weeks to make it better.And if it wasn't, you have four weeks to start turning things around.

This has been my first year blogging. And in this sense, blogging has really helped me. You see, I am one of those people who tend to forget New Year's resolutions by mid January. Kid you not. But when you blog, it's all here. I could claim I forgot it, but all I have to do is search. No excuses.

I came up with my list at the end of February. That's when I finally sat down and took it seriously enough to make a list of things I wanted to change. To improve. 

I checked it in May because I tend to get all excited with new stuff and then simply forget it after a while. It was a good thing I did, because I was totally slacking in some of them.

I checked it again in July. It was officially the middle of the year, and it sounded like the right thing to do. Yay, meticulous, organized me.

And then? I never thought about it again. Not once. Oh well...

So today I am taking some time to ponder on it a last time. You see, I am moving on. I've had wonderful and scary things coming up in my mind about what I need to work on for 2013. Or as of today. Why wait for a January 1st anyway?

I won't go through my 2012 list with you guys. That would be boring for you and maybe too much information from me. But I leave you with the thought- how have you been doing with your resolutions this year?

12 things in 2012 review

Can you believe it? Half of the year is GONE. Seriously, gone. Sometimes I feel we all live in a Click-like movie, watching it all run by too fast. Soon I will turn 31, my nephew will be one, and at the end of the year it's Disney time! (Ok, for that alone I would be ok with my year whizzing by).

One thing I was never good at was keeping tab on my New Year's resolutions and self-made promises. Come April I was sure to drop it. Not this year, no sir! That's why my 12 things in 2012 was left up as a page and every so often I like to look through it. I am actually quite excited about it!

1-Deepen my relationship with Christ- YES! Although this is one of those 'never will be checked out of my list thing', I can honestly say I have been working hard, and HE has been working hard on me. We found a Godly church, have gotten involved, and I've learning to pass on love instead of judgment (which is HUGE for me!).

2-Lose weight- When I wrote these 12 things for the first time I was nearly ten pounds heavier. I still have a loong way to go, but I am taking baby steps to change my relationship with food.

3-Paint and do some at least five DYI projects around my house- Let's see, I made a knob hook project, a mural, some new shoes, my wall of inspiration, and have gone back to cross-stitching. If I learned my numbers right, that is five right there. Of course, I came up with an obvious low number in order to achieve it and feel good about myself. But now I can focus on working on five MORE!

4-Improve my cooking- Have been definitely slacking on this one. Yes, I've made a Summer Succotash, a Country Salad a Pumpkin and Bean Soup, soup, Tahine Brocoli and Soy Sauce Pasta and Barley Casserole. I’ve also learned to make pancakes, although they are easy peasy. Overall, this is still an area I lack, but I am trying to do it joyfully, which means going slowly.

5-Learn to sew- Not yet. I would love to get a sewing machine for my birthday, and I dream of patchwork and crochet goodness, but I am still on my cross-stitching 101. Someday….

6-Get my Education specialist degree (almost there!)- DONE! I turned my internship paperwork, now I just have to wait on my diploma. I heard it takes a couple of months to push the paperwork through, but I am officially no longer a student!

7-Submit my writing for a blog as a guest blogger- I certainly did. I wrote to (In)Courage once, which was never published, and that is ok. I also wrote a guest post for Yes Teacher Crafts which will be published this summer- I’ll let you know when! AND, I wrote a post for a Brazilian wine blog talking about veggie options in restaurants, which can be found here for all you Portuguese-speaking folks. Yay!

8-Cut off animal products- Hum…I still love me some ice-cream, eat eggs on almost a daily basis and can’t live without butter or cheese. I have, however, extended my veggie way of life onto purchases, avoiding leather and suede, and supporting green brands. Does that count?

9-Set a workout routine- and stick to it!- This one I was afraid of. I wrote it down because I knew I had to get it done, but I had no desire to tackle it. Until I went into a Curves gym one day and fell in love with the premise. It’s simple. It’s fast. It’s a bunch of women gossiping for 30 minutes while moving around. And although it’s not the best exercise to become a size 2, it’s a good start for me.

10-Take more pictures (of pretty much everything)- I still procrastinate on this one. My camera is not the best, and I tend to forget it in my drawer. Maybe when I take a week of work I’ll permanently strap it to my wrist to make up for the six months I didn’t focus on this.

11-Volunteer somewhere- Not only did I volunteer at a doggie rescue NGO, I took a doggie home! Next step is to get involved in church with the kids ministry, so I’ll be bringing this up with my pastor soon!

12-Learn to manage save money- My husband and I are definitely getting better at this. More importantly, we are learning to trust God in providing for us!

Seven out of ten, not bad at all!

I also pledged for Earth Day to buy more local produce. Yeah, totally forgot about this, as my South African fruit punch can attest (oops!). I promise to keep it in mind when shopping for fruits and vegetables next week! Baby steps!

How about you? Where are you in your 2012 resolutions?

Learning to ask for help

In January I started a new job, at a new school. It was kind of exciting because I really liked the methodology, the curriculum and the age group, and kind of intimidating because I would have a new job description, students younger than I ever worked with, and staff to handle. All in all, I figured it would be a busy year with a steep learning curve for me.

Things started out a bit wobbly, and I ended up being the only employee for almost a month. As we got children enrolled, we started hiring staff, one at a time. We now have a teacher, two assistants and a secretary, all whose jobs were being done by me a couple of months ago.

As I see our growth and understand the growing pains that comes with it, I kept thinking this was the time to be selfless and go above and beyond. Come to think of it, that’s how I’ve always been.

Until I realized my selfless-ness on the job meant selfishness at home, in my marriage and with my family. I seldom had time for them, and when I did, chances was I was too tired or unfocused. I cannot tell you how many dinners I had with my husband in which the topic of conversation was my job.

So I breathed in, found some courage, and asked for help. I figured my boss would say there was no way she could help me, I knew what I had gotten into, and secretly think I am useless, and how long does she still need to put up with me.

Boy, was I wrong. She was nothing but helpful. She helped figure out a way to have a whole half of my working day in the office, to get stuff done. We talked about staffing needs and she got the ball rolling on that. And I saw that my need to prove myself as a ‘do-it-all’ was unfounded.

I only wish I had figured it out sooner. I had the perception that working in a school was like that, and that is why teachers have more vacation than anyone, to recover. Now I realize I made myself work to the ground so many times because I was too afraid to ask help from my assistant, or too proud to tell my boss I was drowning.