This are my New Year’s Resolutions for 2008.  I’m going to keep the list around where I can see it, and see if reading it regularly helps me follow through on some of these resolutions. We’ll see…

1. Keep a more accurate accounting of my accomplishments. I get frustrated and sometimes depressed because I don’t think I’m accomplishing enough or making enough of a positive impact on the world. Well, if really analyze the things I’m doing, they’re not chump change, even though they are common, slow-moving, and often undramatic. For example, the school garden that I help run is a great thing in and of itself, and a pretty good-size step toward making positive changes in the Ashland schools. And parenting, and feeding my family healthy, often locally- or home-grown food is pedestrian, yes, but important too. I just need to remind myself that small acts are part of larger, interconnected systems.

2. Practice patience with Evan. Evan’s my oldest kid, strong-willed and bright, 8 going on 18 some days, 8 going on 4 some days, constantly talking just about everyday, and always in need of love and encouragement. Sometimes I forget this last part, that my job is to love him. This makes me impatient when he’s not living up to his potential every single minute of the day. This impatience allows me to pick and pick at all that he does wrong, and feeds the amnesia related to his myriad positive traits. When I deliberately practice patience with Evan, I remember that I’m just a mother and he’s just a kid and that it’s good.

3. Walk around the 10 acres. It seems odd that I moved to an undeveloped patch of ground excited to get back to nature, but I end up spending entire days indoors with Jack (the baby, well a toddler now). Sometimes these days are punctuated with shopping trips, but these are just forays from the garage to asphalted areas. Not exactly getting back to nature. In 2008, I’m going to take advantage of living here–I always feel more peaceful when I putter around the property.

4. Limit e-mail checks to twice a day. Pretty obvious time sucker, that e-mail.

5. Exercise 5-10 minutes each day. Even 5 minutes will be an improvement over 2007, geez.

6. Make to-do lists regularly. I really do accomplish more when I do this.

7. Invite new people over for dinner. I wasn’t always shy about inviting people over for dinner, but I have been since we moved to mid-Missouri. Maybe it’s because it’s harder to meet people living outside of town, still without a church community, and everybody (K and I included) busy with jobs/parenting. Either way, I want to invite a few new people over this year. Being around people energizes me, so I’ve just got to quit being shy.

8. Call old friends. There are so many people that I love that live in other towns and other states, and I have flat-rate long-distance. Why do I need a list to remember to do this?

9. Write, write, and write grant proposals! The more school garden grants we apply for, the more “no”s we can get out of the way, and the closer we can get to a “yes!”.

10. Start a blog. I already kind of like this, should be interesting.