I have been dealing with sick kids for several days and the last 48 hours has been spent getting puked on and cleaning up puke and holding a kid so he can sleep at night…it’s been the side of parenting you don’t see in movies. It’s been horrible, and great, because it’s part of life and it won’t last forever. That said, I have had exactly one hour a day the last few days to do my #writeonhour and I’ve not had time for anything else. I am grateful for that hour, grateful to my amazing husband for taking over during that hour, despite the fact that he doesn’t have the boobs that do the comforting. Excuses aside, here’s where I’m at with my NYR’s:
Continue Practicing Gratitude
I started a gratitude jar on January 1 and I’ve been slowly filling it with little slips of life that bring me joy. The jar helps me refocus at the end of the day and I find that knowing the jar will be there I’m more present throughout the day as I listen for things to go in it, and as I experience things I want to put in it. I’ve also ordered more Thank You cards because I’ve had some people to thank since December but no time/cards to do the thanking. They just arrived today, and as soon as I’m not worried about getting covered in yak, I’ll be filling some out and sending them. I would say that puts me squarely in the black on this one.
Continue Spending Time With Family and Friends
Family gets an A+ on this one. I’ve had two family meet-ups in January. Friends are a little behind this month as I was only able to have my once a month meet-up with my very best girlfriend and none of my weekly dinners with friends. Once these kids stop getting sick I hope to reinstate the dinners. So I would say that while I’m not keeping up as much as I’d like, I am still keeping up and I say we’re in the black on this one, too.
Continue My Self-Care Regime
I am getting my 3 times a week sauna time, and I had my monthly massage in January. I’ve also gone on several bike rides with the family, and I’ve been doing a lot of walking and working on a project that includes carrying around heavy things and bending and stretching and stuff, so while I’m not actually doing the exercise I had in mind, I am still exercising. My non-inflammatory eating was put on temporary hiatus while we tried to see if what I was eating was causing the still breast fed kid to have gas issues. Turns out the only thing that seems to be a major no-no besides dairy and eggs, which we already knew about, is soy. So now I’m back to my non-inflammatory eating with no harm done. I’m thinking I’m in the black on this one, too.
Spend More Time Outside
We’ve been doing the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge and it’s making a huge change in how we all view our days. Even on horribly windy days we’re trying to be outside for at least half an hour. Even on the coldest days we’re trying to be outside for at least half an hour. I’m not sure how we’re stacking up to others doing the challenge, but for us it’s been a game changer. We’re solidly in the black on this one, too.

Write for One Hour Every Day
Done! Super black.
Submit at Least One Piece for Publication
Each Month
Ouch. Okay, so this one is a huge fail. I started a spreadsheet and began researching where and how to submit to, and apparently you can’t just submit to anywhere at anytime (learning moment!), there are open calls for submissions at certain points in the year and if you miss them, you miss them. Also, they only accept a certain number of submissions each year. So. Now that I know this I’m trying to compile some stuff to send so that I can get in on each submission time as it comes up. My lack of time this month has meant that I did not get anything submitted this month even though I technically could have. Red. Totally in the red here.
Read at Least One Book a Month
Thanks to the sauna and having started some books in December that I didn’t finish until January, this happened this month. I actually finished five books, two of which I didn’t start until January. So super black on this one, surprisingly.
Take a Stained Glass Making Class
Hasn’t happened yet. I need the youngest child to be off the boob during the day so I can take a class. I don’t imagine breathing glass dust would be good for him, assuming I could find a class that would even let me bring him. So this NYR is probably not going to be completed until later in the year.
Summary
I’m maintaining on all but two of my NYRs and that feels pretty great, especially because one of them I can’t do anything about until later in the year and the other one I am still making strides on. Five out of seven = winning, in my humble opinion.
How are you doing on your New Years Resolutions? Are you meeting your goals? If you’re having trouble, take a read of my post on Achievement and let me know if it helps you!