I can’t believe that 2017 is (more than) halfway over.  It’s certainly been an eventful year in the world – overwhelming, actually.  When I travel out of town, people invariably ask me, “What’s it like in D.C. right now?”  I usually reply that it’s exhausting.  Honestly, we’ve become so on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop, that I think most of the city is just burnt out.  On a more personal note, I’m feeling burnt out, as well, from the daily grind of parenting and lawyering, day in and day out.  I’ve been coping with the first half of 2017 the way I cope with everything else in life – by diving into comfort reads wherever possible, and hitting the trails on weekends.  What I have not been doing is focusing much attention on the goals I set at the beginning of the year.

Get with the program.  At the beginning of the year, I told you all my intention to get and stay super-organized.  I do think that the more I have a handle on the routines of daily living, the easier daily living will be.  The problem is that getting a handle on those routines initially requires a process of trial and error, and I think I’m still in that process.  We made a financial decision that will have the ancillary effect of making my mornings a bit easier (while saving us money – yay!) and some other unexpected but welcomed shakeups are already providing some relief.  But I have a lot more work to do on this, if only I could find the time and energy to do that work.

Make room for me.  I’m sorry to report that I’m pretty much failing at this one.  Other than evenings with a book (when I don’t have to work) and the occasional sneak-off-for-a-workout-during-nap, I’m still so overwhelmed with my responsibilities as a parent and an attorney that I don’t know which end is up most of the time.  My main complaint is not having enough time to work out.  I am not good at “putting Mom first” even though I know that I can take better care of my family (and my clients, for that matter) when I take care of me.  The things that don’t take much time – like drinking lots of water – I am baller at.  The other stuff is still falling by the wayside.

Get my confidence back.  Another one that – tied to the above – is not going super-great.  I do a decent job of eating healthfully (most of the time) but workouts just seem impossible to schedule.  I know all of the conventional wisdom – you have to exercise for you; put it on the schedule and treat it like any other important meeting – blah blah.  It’s just not as easy as those platitudes make it sound.

Trust in abundance.  I think I am actually doing a decent job of this!  I’ve been consistently donating things all year long – whether to Goodwill, or by passing baby hand-me-downs along to friends – and every time I open up a little more space in my home, it feels even better.  I’m also making an effort to use up the stuff that I have rather than “saving” it until it goes bad.  We’re drinking our nice California wine instead of continuing to store it in boxes and never even look at the bottles.  I’m working on cooking through the pantry and fridge more consistently (this is a process).  And I’m weirdly most proud of the fact that I’ve gathered up all of my bath and body products in one spot in the bathroom – right down to hotel toiletries that I’ve snagged on trips – and am diligently using them up before I buy anything new for myself.  There might be a more metaphysical component to this goal that I’ll think about in the second half of the year, but for now I’m pretty much focused on minimizing clutter and saving my pennies.

Revive the 12 Months’ Hiking Project.  This goal was my gift to myself – an easy goal to achieve, because I love hiking and I love exploring new trails.  June was actually a bit of a challenge; it was such a busy month that I squeaked in just under the wire.  But we never let a month go by without hiking at least once, and our kids are growing up on the trails.  I’m even more excited that this is a project I’ll be able to keep going for quite some time, since the DC/MD/VA area is rich with hiking opportunities.

Things To Do This Year

• Use my dSLR camera more (like, lots more).  And along the same lines, improve my photography skills – particularly outdoor photography.  This hasn’t happened – still relying on my iPhone for almost all of my pictures.  I’m determined to dust off the dSLR before our big summer vacation, though.

• Plant another container garden with Peanut – and try not to kill it this time.  In progress – and things are actually growing!  This surprises me daily.  We’re definitely learning some good lessons this year, but we’ve eaten six little red tomatoes and four green beans, which already makes this the biggest success we’ve ever had.
• Hang a birdfeeder and start learning to identify our neighborhood birds.  (Do we have neighborhood birds?)  In progress!  Bird feeder is up and the birds have finally discovered it after a few weeks of ignoring it.  I haven’t gotten any good pictures yet, but I hope that soon we will start identifying the birds as they come to the feeder.
• Get back to the yoga studio, and take up barre3.
• Run a longer distance race (I’m already registered!).  I was planning to run the GW Parkway Classic in April, but I ended up not running.  I just wasn’t properly trained for it.  Something this fall might be possible, but I think it’s more likely that I will just be a 5K and 10K runner until Nugget is a little bigger.

 

• Spend more time in Barsetshire (both Trollope’s version and Thirkell’s version).  Check and check!  I’ve read several more Thirkells, and finally made time for Barchester Towers, all of which I have thoroughly enjoyed.  I wish Barsetshire was real…
• Bag another ADK peak.  (I’m thinking Giant of the Valley, but haven’t made up my mind…)  Stay tuned…
• Clean out our basement until we aren’t storing anything except holiday decorations and furniture.  I was hoping this would be a winter project, but it took so long to get the living areas of the house habitable (and they have an annoying habit of not staying that way…) that it hasn’t happened yet.  Soon, I hope.  I can’t wait to get some stuff out of the basement and have more space to move around in there.  It would be so nice to have a pleasant path to the laundry machines and even – dare I hope – a little workout corner.

• Read diversely again – at least 33% underrepresented voices.  I am trying, although I’ve fallen off the wagon a little bit (with all of the stress lately – personal and political – I’m craving mid-century British middlebrow more than anything else, and that’s not a particularly diverse area of fiction).  I’ve read some really wonderful books by authors of color this year, and hope to add plenty more before the year is done.
• Incorporate memory-keeping into new areas of my home.  Working on this.  I love being surrounded by stuff that means something to me (the flip side of minimizing – the stuff you keep has real emotional value) and over the course of the year I’ve added a handmade pillow with Outer Banks landmarks, as well as a little candle screen in the shape of Mount Vernon – both places that have great personal meaning for me.  What I have not done is print and swap out family photos, so that’s next on the agenda.
• Travel.  Someplace amazing.  Maybe a few someplaces.  I’m just returned from back-to-back weekend getaways (first to Virginia Beach, and then to upstate New York and the Adirondacks for an extended Fourth of July visit).  Both trips were wonderful and refreshing!  Now we’re on to a stretch of quite a few weeks and weekends spent at home, which is fine by me, before our big trip later in the summer.

One Little Word

Just a few little words about my word for the year, gather.  At the beginning of the year, I didn’t know what it was going to mean, but it seemed fitting for a full year spent back in the place where so many of our friends live.  And it’s been wonderful so far.  In the spirit of gathering together with family and friends we love, we have:

• Had a zoo playdate with my dear friend Carly and her family.
• Hosted a raucous party for Nugget’s second birthday.  (There were seven kids there, including Nugget and Peanut, and it was chaotic and delightful.)
• Met up with a new school friend of Peanut’s for many playdates, including excursions to parks and paint-your-own studios, and a Moana-viewing brunch party in my living room.
• Sent Peanut off to multiple birthday parties and a “just because” movie night at a friend’s house.  She has her own social life now!  Hold me.
• Been lucky enough to get another visit from Zan and Paul – who are moving back to D.C. this fall!
• Visited Rebecca and Eric for a weekend on Virginia Beach, just a few weekends ago.  The next time we see them will be for THEIR WEDDING!

We have even more gathering in our future.  There are friends here that we haven’t even had time to see yet, since moving back almost a year ago now, and I hope to correct those omissions as soon as possible – although summer is busy for everyone, so I may have to wait a bit longer.  We also have planned trips on which we will see my parents (multiple times), dear Albany friends, and my brother and sister-in-law.

Actively seeking out people and opportunities to socialize is not something that comes naturally to me.  I am a homebody and an introvert, and my first impulse is usually to decline invitations.  But the fact is – after I’ve actually done the socializing, I’m always glad that I did.  I never come home thinking, “I wish I hadn’t agreed to meet so-and-so for lunch,” or “I should have never agreed to that playdate.”  We moved back to D.C. because we missed being surrounded by so many people we loved, and I definitely don’t think we have squandered that opportunity.

Did you set goals or intentions for 2017?  How’s it going?