Resolutions

I love making New Year's Resolutions. They're so much easier than keeping them.  I can get wildly ambitious and not feel bad when I fail because nearly everybody does.   However, this year, I'm looking at things and thinking, I need to do better.  I want to do better.  I want to be healthier, which means not just waiting until January 1st, but starting now.  I want to become a better writer.  It means Ugh...editing.   I want to get more organized.  I bought a planner. It needs some love...and a pen.

They don't sound crazy.  Perhaps that's why I look at them and think, they lack sizzle.  More to the point, they lack focus. They're generic.   Resolutions fail because they don't come with an action plan, they're more of a wish list of the archetype we aren't.  In my case, a desire for a me who is more healthy, more polished, more organized, less slap dash, organic and cluttered. 

So...the plan. 

For the gym...I'm going to go. To go, I will have to rework my afternoon.  If they go to aftercare, it's expensive, so I need to pick them up at 2:45, and go to pick up Paul so no one is wedded to the afternoon bus at 4:20.  It means Paul, Anna and I can go to the gym at 4:30 until 5:30.  It also means, anyone who is doing an afternoon activity will get picked up after wards. 

It will also mean assigning two different children to make dinner Monday through Thursday to ensure we are eating healthy and with some variety and before eight in the evening.   Monday will be Bonn's and Regina's night.  Tuesday will be Will's and Rita's.   Wednesday will be John and Faith, and Thursday, Anna, Paul and me.  I've made the parameter that dinner must include a protein, and either two vegetables and a starch or a fruit may be substituted for the protein if one wishes to go vegetarian. I reserve veto power in the event someone goes on a weird eating jag I know will be rejected by everyone.

For the organization...one of the biggest killers of my time is laundry.  We've needed a system for years. We've tried systems for years.  They fail because people stop using them.   They fail because we get into efficiency via bulk, rather than efficiency via consistency.  So tomorrow, I go to Bed Bath and Beyond and everybody gets their own laundry bag.  I will be tagging said bags with names and laundry day.  I will also post it in the main room. If you miss...you're on your own. 

For editing.  I printed up my draft.  I put it in a binder.  I'm now going to open up the binder and begin making notes on post-its.  I will do it until I get through all the pages.  I will then go through it again with a second color post-it.  I will make the edits.   I am telling myself to do the first five pages today.  I can already tell, I don't want to do it, which means I must.   I have a second book which needs some love.  I will be working on that too.  Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. I think I hate editing more than exercise...maybe not. 

Good luck to all of you with your resolutions.  Happy 2019! 

8 Stammers equals No postings and a Bad blog.

I keep trying to write funny pieces, or thoughtful ones, and get 1/3 of the way through, before realizing, this is stale or this is not quite what I was trying to say.  Ergo there are lots of drafts in my blog roster with incomplete stats.   So I told myself, if you're going to stay a writer, you can't do that anymore. You have to write each day, even if it's a poem.  Even if it's a writing prompt.  I got a book of writing prompts so I will be able to stay on this track.

Every writer hits walls, when they don't want to bleed more, or they think, they've found everything they might imagine.  There are tricks to the trade, reading, writing prompts, setting a timer, jumping genres, doing a list, doing a rant, and they all work, but what works most efficiently, is sitting in the chair and writing.  

Like I am now.

Work and Mothering and having some life outside of the computer has cut back on the musing/writing time I had up until work showed up, and the adjustments to time and schedules have come slowly if at all.  However I woke up agitated, knowing I haven't given writing any time, and as such, my brain feels as if it is going to explode with words, and at the same time, has no focus whatsoever over them.  

I wanted to do a post for Saint Valentine's day on how to show love to your teens.  I didn't get to it, and I didn't get to sending them flowers either.  Goes off to take care of that little detail...

I wanted to do a post on teaching about showing love to younger children...I didn't get to that either.
Goes off to welcome kids with snack, greet the bus...

I wanted to, I wanted to, I wanted to.... The road to blog hell is full of unpublished drafts, lacking focus, courage, wit and finishing.  

I'm finishing this damn post before I discover fifteen more I wanted to ideas I didn't excute.  
Happy February 13th.  Show your family you love them by loving them.   I'm getting ready to help with a science project and make cookies.  

• See you tomorow when I hope to have some insights on procrastination.