Day: January 3, 2020

Happy new year!  Time for all the “new year, new me” posts, resolutions, etc.  Not for me.  Not this year.

It’s not that I don’t have any goals this year, or that I don’t have the ambition to make any changes in 2020.  I just want to go about it in a way that celebrates where I am now, a way that saves my sanity and doesn’t put any more pressure on me than I already have.

Yesterday I got caught up searching fitness challenges, virtual challenges for running, then I thought, why?  I want to ease back into running at my own pace (no pun intended).  I want to run because I feel like it, not because I have yet another tracker to keep up with, something else to cross off a to-do list, another obligation or responsibility.  I want to keep it fun, something I do because I want to.

I celebrated the new year with my husband and all four kiddos.  It was a chilly evening, which I love, but the kids adamantly don’t.  Our outdoor revelry ended early, and we retreated inside to a nice, warm house (and blankets for the cold-intolerant, but I won’t point any good-natured mocking fingers).

I loved having an entire day off on New Year’s Day!  I could have cuddled in bed all day with my husband, and we almost did, getting up much later than we usually do.  Someone suggested playing some board games later that day.  I am not a big fan of board games, but I joined in, and I’m glad I did.  It was a lot of fun.

Sitting around the dining room table, we got silly, told absurd jokes, amused ourselves, picked on each other, and laughed so loud I thought the neighbors would surely end up knocking on our door.  The kids are funniest when they are not trying, when they just blurt out whatever pops into their heads, and my husband turns into the loudest, most rambunctious child of them all when they are all together.  His eyes light up with trouble-making, and then they all compete to see who is funnier, louder, getting the most attention, etc.  It’s hilarious.

I ended up having to take an Aleve because I laughed so hard I got a headache, but I came right back to the table and joined back in.  With the oldest child working, and the next oldest getting ready to graduate, I know our days like that, all together, just having a good time, are numbered.  I like moments like that: no drama, nothing forced, nothing but fun, letting go, and truly enjoying being with each other.  The whole world stayed outside where it belonged for a little while, and it was just us.

I will eventually post about my goals for this upcoming year.  But for now, I am just enjoying my family.  (Sorry, neighbors!  I swear we will try to keep it down.)