Reconnect With Self

Whoosh! Christmas and New Year are gone.

Just me, now, chillin' with the fam for one more day before everything starts again on Tuesday. Part of me is clawing to return to my comfortable routine. The other part is stuck in a loop...looking for a new routine...looking for another project to fill the holiday planning void...

• I researched what it would take to train for a marathon.

• I contacted the Student Sustainable Farm project about volunteering in the greenhouses this winter/spring.

• I took on an extra shift at the local Family History Center.

• I finally worked through a family history trouble spot that's been bugging me for years. It opened up a whole new family to explore and research, but they have the unfortunate circumstance of a very, very common surname (Johnson) and I'm finding it difficult to make much headway in the snippets of screen time I can steal throughout the day. It's going to take some serious study to parse out this bit of my clan.

• I briefly considered researching/purchasing airfare for our family reunion in California next summer.

None of those projects are driving me right now. Especially the marathon thing. That's completely out of the question.

Maybe I could think about some resolutions for the year. Or I could let you know about the goals/projects I'm already spending my energy on.

I spend a lot of time planning, shopping for, preparing, and cleaning up after food.
I spend a lot of time planning, acquiring, preparing, and cleaning up stuff.
I think about my personal health and fitness every day.
I weigh myself and record basic dietary info (food groups and # of servings) for myself every day.
I exercise 3 hours a week, with 2 specific cardiovascular fitness targets in mind.
I spend a little time 6 days a week sitting with Robert while he practices the piano.
I devise tests to measure whether Matthew is color blind.
I think about each of my kid's needs in this moment.
I try to serve in my church, whatever I have been asked to do. Diligently. Genuinely.
I practice speaking Spanish 10 minutes every day.
Sometimes I blog :)

Another topic/project on the horizon this year:

Alice has been asking more questions about growing up and all the physical/emotional changes that come with it. Especially the very earliest changes. She seems much more aware of it at this age than I ever was. There's a lot I never thought about as a kid. Anyway, I've got some more reading to do. A friend recommended a book published by the American Girl Doll folks (yeah, I rolled my eyes, too, but it's actually pretty good!) that we've been reading together. That's helped a lot. We are in the "tweens" with both feet now. Last night at our dinner party, she was the oldest kid and didn't have a friend, so she wanted to be counted with the adults. I said "sure" and completely forgot about it. When Alice reached for an adult plate, I hastily reminded her that kids were supposed to take the small plates. She firmly replied, without attitude, but with complete confidence, "I'm not a kid."

Oh, right.

9 years old.

This is my official public request for thoughts/suggestions on this whole raising a daughter through puberty thing. Holy Cow!