Sunday, January 01, 2012

New Year Resolutions (5 of them)

Did you think I was dead? My sincerest apologies for the two month leave of absence. I'm not sure that anybody really even cares, but I do. I feel like I missed two whole months of documenting my life. My occasional Facebook Status update will have to suffice to fill in the gap. Anyways, I would like to call my leave of absence a bloggatical. You know, like when a professor leaves to go do something for a semester or two, they take a sabbatical? Well, yeah, that's what I did, except I'm not a professor. So I'm not really sorry, because the break was nice, but I should have warned you so you didn't think I died November 2. My daughter, Emily, finally got upset with me. and is strongly encouraging me to blog. I think she misses her weekly 15 minutes of fame.

Instead of trying to catch up with telling you everything that's been going on over the past two months, I'm starting fresh at the beginning of this year, and I'll throw in a thing or two from the past two months as they come to mind or relate to the topic.

So what are my New Year Resolutions? I don't like to get overly ambitious so that I don't feel like a failure by January 7th, so I'm going to keep it simple. I actually haven't put a whole lot of thought into it as of yet, so I am brainstorming as I type:

1. Increase my gratitude. I simply want to be more grateful for things, people, and experiences (including trials). And not only to feel the gratitude, but to express it as well. I don't think it's something I'm bad at, but I want to be better. I want to write down the things I am grateful for either on my blog, a thank you note, or in my journal.

2. Be faithful at keeping a written journal. My husband gave me a journal for Christmas and on the cover it says, "Love Your Life". I do love my life, and I want my descendants to know that I love it too. In case the Internet blows up, at least I will have a hard copy to prove it. I want to write at least a few lines a day and if the day was really exciting, I might actually write a whole page.

3. Be a Better Blogger. I'm not going to try to set a specific goal for how many posts per week. I just want to be consistent. I think I already used up my vacation leave the past two months.

4. Gain 35 pounds. I'm getting a little tired of stocking up on food because we are running out of space in our closets and under our beds, so I thought a little extra storage on the body might be helpful. Also, I think it's fun to gain weight.

5. Have a baby by the first week in July. I hope I didn't just jinx this whole having a baby thing. But I'm out of the closet now (my doctors words, not mine) because I just said it. Yes, I hope to be an octamom this summer. So this resolution possibly explains my bloggatical. There are moments in life when you need to set your priorities. In November and December my priority was to lay on the couch and watch Hallmark movies while I snacked away the nausea and paranoia. Hopefully I will be able to lose the 35 pounds by December and be done with that goal.

Yes, I've been super paranoid for the past 9 weeks. "Super" is actually an understatement. My blighted ovum in June permanently scarred me in regards to getting excited about pregnancy. But there was a heartbeat at 6.5 weeks this time around which was much more exciting than an seeing an empty gestational sac. There was still a heartbeat at 9.5 weeks. And there was yet, still a heartbeat at 12.5 weeks. I made my husband come with me to my last appointment this past Tuesday because I was so sure I wasn't pregnant anymore and I didn't want to be alone when the doctor couldn't find the heartbeat. So my husband stood my side as the doctor put the doppler on my abdomen. I heard something beating. I thought it was my own heart beating. Then my husband asked, "Is that the baby's heartbeat?" I piped in, "No, that's mine." Then the doctor looked at me confused and said, "No. Your heart is not beating 160 beats per minute. That is the baby's heart beat." He had to prove it to me and show me that mine was beating at 90 bpm because I didn't believe him. Like I said, I've been super paranoid and pessimistic this whole time. I need to get over it.

Ok, so there you have it. My New Year resolutions. Hopefully I will be consistent. You guys are my cheerlearders.

I need to post a picture. Don't I?

My physical journal. 
I don't usually post pictures of myself on my blog, but I was having a relatively good hair and complexion day on Christmas Eve. Pictures of kids coming soon. They are much cuter....

And if you feel inclined to comment, let me know what kind of posts you like to read. I need some direction on what to write about. I have all sorts of topics running through my head throughout the day, which I think overwhelms me at times, and my indecisiveness prevents me from writing anything at all. I can post about homeschooling, my attempts at organization, my cooking (I'll warn you that this could be boring), my messy house (lots of content for this one), my kids (that one is a give-in), my self-diagnosed ADD, my Hallmark movies, my stack of unread books on my nightstand, or I could simply just post about George because he is the the cutest kid in the family right now. (Don't worry, I haven't offended any of my other kids by writing that, because we voted on it, and it is unanimous.) I'm just curious what ya'll want to know about.  

Christmas Eve

6 comments:

  1. Yay! I'm so glad you're blogging again. Otherwise I don't know how you guys are doing or what the kids are up to.

    I'd be interested in hearing more about organization, homeschooling, and even your cooking -- and, of course, the kids. What things are you using for teaching materials and curriculum?

    GREAT news about #8!! I'd been wondering how you were doing. Hooray!

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  2. Hello, hello, hello, I loved your card and I have you in my thoughts everyday.

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  3. Congrats on #8. Let me know if I can help. :) We would love to have a play date. ;)

    I would love to hear about your organization skills and your meal planning. :)

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  4. Glad you're back. I still live vicariously through you. : ) Love hearing about everything!

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  5. Congratulations Melinda -- Children are wonderful and you have a beautiful family. Just be sure to take good care of yourself.

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  6. Yay!! Your alive AND your pregnant! Congrats on Number 8 : ) I wish I had that kind of awesome excuse for not blogging lately. And I think you should blog about anything that's important to you. That picture of your kids is dang cute, can't beat an 18 or so month old at cuteness, that's for sure!!

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