Goodbye 2007... Hello 2008!

As with so many other folks, I too have been reflecting on the past year. For some reason I have this nagging in my brain saying I didn't accomplish Jack Shit last year. Maybe it's the stay-at-home mom thing, I think it's hard for me to quantify my accomplishments the way people in the working world can. I didn't get any promotions and I certainly didn't get a raise, there are no documented reports on whether my performance was satisfactory or not. I have to look into my heart, my home, my marriage and my childrens' eyes in order to gauge my progress. So what DID I accomplish this year?

1. I managed to bring two children another year closer to adulthood (with only one visit to the ER!)
2. I successfully completed my son's first "official" semester of homeschooling!
3. I watched my daughter learn to crawl, speak, walk, and start feeding herself (this is the good stuff!)
4. I encouraged creativity and imaginative play with my son and have watched him blossom with his new found talents!
5. With my hubby, I managed to lay over 1000 sq. ft. of flooring, remodel a half-bath and utility room, re-upholstered 6 kitchen chairs, and began landscaping the front of the house.
6. I had several garage sales which helped clear out some of the clutter in order to get a healthy start on organizing my crazy life!
7. I took thousands of photos of my kids and kept blogs to document their amazing little lives!
8. I continued with this blog as a way to express myself, whether good or bad, it was a creative way for me to document things, brag about things and bitch about things. It has given me an outlet and I love that!

So those are some of the main things I'm proud of in 2007, but what about 2008? Well, I'm not one for resolutions, as I see them as a way to set myself up for failure. I'm not saying I don't have goals for the new year, but I don't consider them resolutions, as my life is a work in progress and a year's time may not necessarily be the time frame that I'm able to make things happen. So I set my goals and work as diligently as possible to achieve them, but I try not to beat myself up about the ones that don't get completed (my dining room chairs and baseboards, for instance!) That being said, here are some of my goals for 2008...

1. Spend less time on housework and stupid shit and spend more time enjoying my children! They are only little once and I've been given the amazing opportunity to stay at home with them. I need to take full advantage of this, for their sake and mine!
2. Continue with homeschooling my son!
3. Be a little bit selfish and make a serious effort to take some time for myself, exploring my painting and photography, going out to a few movies, and reading more books!
4. Continue landscaping, finish painting and installing baseboards in the downstairs, begin re-surfacing kitchen countertops and install new backsplashes, buy and install cabinets in garage in order to organize and free up space in the garage for me (and the kids) to do artwork.
5. Try to take ONE trip with just my husband (to anywhere!)
6. Continue to nurture a great relationship with the hubby, after all in Aug. 2008 we'll celebrate 14 years of marriage!
7. Last (and most definitely least) take advantage of the fact that I dropped my baby weight and am thinner now than I was in high school. So now it's time to start exercising some to beef that up. After all, I have my 20 year high school reunion this year (UGH!) and it would just be so much nicer to go back to face all the bitches that treated me like a second class citizen with a hot bod! I know, kind of superficial, but hey, I'm allowed to be shallow on occasion!

Although I am hoping for a great 2008, I certainly can't complain about 2007. I mean it's true that money was tight, gas prices were too damn high, and the hubby had to travel more than I would have liked, but in all honesty, we had healthy children, a roof over our heads, food on the table and functional vehicles, so really, I'm pretty thankful for 2007! I just want to strive to be a good human and to teach my children to be good humans in 2008. After all, it's love that makes the world go round, right? Happy New Year to all my friends and family, may the new year bring health and happiness to each and every one of you!