Celebrations

Part of what I want to accomplish in the coming year is the making of memories. I already have on my list (though I have slacked in its execution) to take a family field trip once a month -- nothing fancy, just a family outing that doesn't involve going to the grocery store. It could be a trip to the park, or a drive-in movie, or a museum visit. Just something we do together, for fun.

I want more of that. More adventures. More family time.

Santa brought games to my minions, and I want us to have a family game night. I also want us to eat meals around our new (to us) dining table.

These years are short, and I don't want to miss them. I want to stop and notice my family, appreciate our time together as it passes -- not just in retrospect.

I also want to make a bigger deal out of holidays. Christmas gets a lot of attention, but what about the others? They make bibs and clothes and crap for baby's first everything, but then we seem to lose interest. (And apparently "baby's first" stops around 6 months; I can't find any of that cute stuff to fit Kai anymore. He's still in his first year of life! Not one New Year's onesie for him?) Gretchen Rubin says she does little things to commemorate holidays -- special placemats and such for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, etc. I think that is a great idea. I want to buy or make seasonal/holiday wreaths for the front door, maybe get placemats, or perhaps t-shirts. We could make cookies (or green milk on St. Pat's!), have a special dinner...something to acknowledge the day, the passing of time.

Sure, I want to do the big things -- family vacations, amusement park visits, that kind of stuff. But the everyday celebrations are equally important, I think.

Which is why I bought my girl a party dress for NYE, though we aren't going out. We will drink ginger ale out of champagne flutes and wear party hats and count down the clock.

Happy New Year's Eve! See ya next year.

What I want (the 2016 edition)

I want to get back in shape. In some ways, I am already in shape -- at the very least, I can lift and carry way more than I ever could. And thanks to the pounds I lost to the stomach flu, I can see that yes, there are still abs in there under the loose skin. But there are refinements to be made, certainly. Also, much of what I need to accomplish is maintenance; if I do not exercise regularly, my old injuries flare up. So I need to make time for yoga, for planks, for walks. If I can get my allergies under control, I may even give running another shot.

I want to get my allergies under control. Resume immunotherapy, keep the house cleaner, buy a dehumidifier. I am tired of my itchy eyes and runny nose, tired of feeling bad so much of the time.

I want to feel better. I want to get enough sleep and eat better food and meditate. I don't like the cranky person I have become of late. I want to be a better me.

Because I want to do more. So much of my daily activity is...mundane. Not the kind of stuff I'm going to lay on my deathbed and think, "My gosh, I am so glad I kept my kitchen floor so clean all those years!" I want to write more. Practice graphic design more -- I've been doing some design for my day job and finding I have really, really missed it. I've also been designing jewelry in my head; I'd like to make at least some of it. 

There are other things on my 2016 list. Things like scaling back my debt. But while it is a high priority and I am especially motivated, it's not an interesting goal. Not to me, anyway. It's about hard work and discipline and curbing thoughtless spending. So don't expect blog entries on it, because while it needs to get done, it doesn't exactly melt my butter.

Now, the things I can do once my debt is under control...that is a different story. But those are off on the horizon. I'm trying to rein myself in on the long-term focus. I don't want to get so caught up in 5 years from now that I miss today.

Focus

It's that time again. I don't necessarily make resolutions anymore -- instead, I determine my focus for the coming year. This year, I think a lot of that focus is going to self-care.

Went to the doctor yesterday. My ear started hurting Christmas night, and by Sunday my throat was so sore I could barely swallow. I don't have an infection (thankfully...finding an antibiotic I can take while breastfeeding is not fun), but I do have fluid buildup and drainage. Rain = mold = allergy overdrive. And it's pretty soggy out there these days.

My eyes are also driving me crazy. They are bloodshot and burn pretty much all of the time now, even though I use allergy eye drops several times a day, and I wake with them matted shut most mornings. I was starting to worry that my contacts may be damaging my eyes, but the eye doctor said my eyes look fine. Just allergies.

"Just." Ha. I like that. I "just" can't open my eyes when I wake up in the middle of the night.

I really need to get back on the shots. It just got to be too much for a while there, financially speaking. And also in terms of scheduling. It was so much easier when we lived in Memphis, and even then it was kind of a pain. But I need to get my allergies under control again. I don't have time to be sick. (Don't have the patience for it anymore, either.)

I have the tendency to put myself last. When R has to get up and go to work in the morning, bedtime is a strict affair. On my work nights, it's more a suggestion. Granted, his job is far more dangerous than mine, so it is extremely important that he be well rested. But my health is no less important.

So on my list of goals for this coming year, I must include taking care of myself. Allergy shots and adequate rest and nutritious food and time for yoga and meditation. And walks; I need to start walking more.

As I proved these past two months, things fall apart when I put myself last. And then nothing gets done.

Update: Cleaning products

This post is an update of my Clean all the things post.

First off, I must admit that I have gone to the bleach side. As I've mentioned before, the fumes from most commercial cleaning products set off my allergies. (I do keep Lysol wipes on hand for poop and pee accidents, because we are going to have those for a while.) After this bout of misery, however, I am willing to spare a little shelf space for some Chlorox spray. Even if it means R has to clean the bathrooms, I think it best that we not leave such things to chance. At least until the kids are past the stomach bug years.

Still, that does not mean that I have given up on my homemade cleaners. I have simply added to my arsenal. I have, however, tweaked a few things in the intervening months, hence the update.

Personal Care
Hand soap
My recipe is the same, but I'm experimenting with making smaller batches; the amount my bottles make starts to smell rancid before we use it up. So I gave the store-bought stuff another try -- no go. I have to water it down so much (the perfumes are so strong!) that I wonder how effective it is, and even then it dries my hands out. Especially after a hand-washing fest like the Great Stomach Plague inspired. Once I perfect my ratios, I will post an updated recipe.

Body wash
I have altered this recipe a bit.

In a small bowl (I use a 4-cup liquid measuring cup, to make it easier to pour into my pump bottle), combine:
3/4 cup filtered water
1 tablespoon glycerin
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
3/4 cup castile soap

Stir. Then stir some more. Stir until your arm gets tingly. This stuff takes a bit to come together. If the last lumps of xanthan gum just refuse to incorporate, you can pour the mixture into your pump bottle, put the lid on, and shake vigorously. But don't worry if you have a few small lumps left over; they will dissolve on their own, with no help from you.

The xanthan gum thickens the mixture nicely, and the extra castile soap helps it be more effective at removing some sunscreens (just not the high SPF ones -- anything over, say SPF 40). Just a little xanthan gum is all you need; do not, as I did the first time out, toss in a rounded tablespoon and think you're going to get that stuff mixed in. Not happening.

The soap is still quite drying, though, so it doesn't work so well for me in the winter months. I'm researching more moisturizing recipes, and in the meantime rejoicing that I finally found a store-bought soap that doesn't kill my sinuses or break me out. (Dove Winter Care, if you're interested. Which says it will be available for a limited time only. Just my luck.)

Household Cleaners
Toilet cleaner
I am sad to concede defeat on the toilet cleaner. If I had time to clean my toilets once a week or more, this stuff would rock. As it stands, though, I am lucky to get to it every other week, and that's just too infrequently for a cleaner this mild. I did find, however, that Lysol makes a nonbleach-based cleaner (using hydrogen peroxide) that doesn't make me wheeze. I can also use Chlorox Green Works. (Though as I mentioned before, for the time being it's gonna be all bleach, all the time. At least until everyone stays well for a month.)

Dishwasher soap
Still using this stuff. I have discovered in the interim that my dishwasher sucks. So the lack of sparkliness is not necessarily the fault of my dishwasher soap. However, I have started doubling up on it, and using 4 T instead of 2 T per load. Still cheaper than store-bought.

Laundry soap
The laundry soap is still working well for us. In fact, I recently broke down and bought some "free and clear" laundry detergent, figuring that my previous reaction to it was probably pregnancy-related and I should give it another shot. Turns out Kai is allergic to it, too. (We find this out after I washed most of his clothes in it, naturally.) So it's back to the homemade stuff.

With winter here, our lack of fabric softener is once again becoming an issue. After doing some research, I tried the simplest solution ever: I line dry the items especially prone to static. (I installed a tension rod above the doorway in my laundry room for this purpose, since I can't very well dry stuff outside. It's extremely handy, and is also tucked away out of sight when not in use.) Some of my most staticky sweaters are still a little shock-inducing after line drying, but nowhere near as much as they'd be if I dried them in the dryer. Plus, line-drying is a sure-fire method to keep soft fleece items as silky as the day you bought them. (See, there are nuggets of wisdom on Pinterest!)

My quest for the perfect homemade household cleaners continues; as I improve my recipes, I will post updates here.

About dropping the ball

Shutterfly just delivered my 2016 photo calendars.

Yes, that is the cover.

SHEESH. Didn't forget anything big, did I?

But I fixed it.

Photo paper and tape = cover.

I think I need to take a short break from blogging. See you after the holiday weekend. If you celebrate it, I hope you have a merry Christmas! And if you don't celebrate it, I hope you have a pleasant weekend nonetheless.

Be the water

So this past week has had me thinking a lot about the coming year. I'm finding that I need to make some changes in order to "be the water," so to speak. Some of it sounds very Serenity Prayer, but there's a lot of wisdom in those lines.

I need to accept that certain people are going to treat me a certain way. Always have, always will. It may not be fair, but there is no changing it. Nor I cannot cut them out of my life, so I need to adapt how I react to the treatment instead of stewing over it and then getting all bent out of shape over little things. Some days it feels like everyone is against me. This is not so. (At the very least, Baby Kai always has my back.)

I need to accept that my family's priorities are not necessarily my priorities, and do what I can to compromise rather than becoming Crazy Germaphobe Harpy Mommy. This may mean I do more work than they do. But it really is a priority to me to keep the kitchen clean, for instance, so I will just need to make time for it.

(They do need to pick up after themselves a little better, though. I found a string cheese wrapper under the bed, for Pete's sake. And an empty soda bottle behind the recliner. Like I said...compromise.)

I need to accept that my personality is a large part of what makes me so stressed out, and work with that energy rather than against it. I spent so many years wallowing in apathy that it's nice to have so many interests now. But if I let my frustration at my lack of free time rule me, I will go bonkers before the kids start school. I must resist the feeling that I am running out of time. My time is finite, yes, but odds are I have many good years left in me.

I need to take more responsibility for my own calm. Because I'm on the merry-go-round now, and it won't stop for a couple of decades at least. What's going to happen when the kids start school? Driving? Dating? College? How will I handle moving? Getting a new job? I cannot control the stresses that enter my life, but I can control how I handle them. I need to make yoga and meditation a higher priority in the coming year.

I was doing really well spinning my plates, but then I came apart emotionally when they fell due to circumstances beyond my control. I tend to assume that if I want something bad enough, I can just make it so. Sheer grit and determination, while useful, do not guarantee a win. Sometimes my bullheadedness works for me, sometimes not. I need to work on dealing with disappointment when my best efforts fail, and give myself credit for doing all I can regardless of the outcome.

So that's all nice and vague, huh? Thus far, my 2016 credo consists of "All life is precious" and "Be the water." I basically want to be Morgan from TWD, sans all those zombies and personal tragedies. It's a nice goal, but I have no idea how to translate that into a resolution list of any sort. I still have a little time for that, I guess.

Shoulda coulda woulda

After spending much of last week trying to pull off several last-minute Christmas tasks, I finally stopped and asked myself why I was making myself nuts. Would the people I was killing myself to please even care if what I was doing did not get done? The answer, I think, is no. Would the absence be noticed? Again, likely not. And if it were noticed, it would at least be understood. So...why? Why am I doing this?

Because I felt I should.

Not that I need to, or even want to, but because I am afraid of what people might think if I don't.

Much of the pressure I put upon myself is self-inflicted. I have always held myself to crazy high standards, and I have not improved with age. I'm getting worse, actually.

So...I'm dropping the ball this year. As an experiment. To see if the world keeps turning -- and, when it does, if I can live with that.