2017 New Year, New Me.

I’ve been thinking about this for a few weeks now. Every time I look around my house it’s a mess, my kids are on electronics- let’s face it, so am I, and I think that maybe we'll start tomorrow. Clothes go unfolded, fall out of the basket, get trampled on and rewashed (not by me, but my insanely awesome husband, who gives out a four letter word because he *just* washed it). Every New Year, this is it, we’re getting organized, changing the way things are handled around the house. But it. Is. Hard. We work opposite schedules, kids have Scouts, and usually some sort of practice, and it’s going to get harder as Little GD starts activities. I’m tired and unmotivated by the time I’m home from work, eat dinner, kiss GD good bye as he goes to start his *day,* get the kids off to bed and now that it’s 9’oclock turn on netflix. Next thing I know it’s 12:30am, I’ve done nothing but watch four episodes of whatever I’m bingeing and if I go to bed now, I can get 6 hours of sleep, but let's face it I'll snooze my alarm and frantically wake up at 7:35 when I have to rush to get the kids to school by 8:05. Frozen waffles, wet hair, cold coffee and we’re out the door. Same routine every day. It has to change, for the sake of my family, for my own sanity. Can I change it? Can I undo years of habits of being for the lack of a better word, “lazy”? I bought a planner and stressed to the fam that we are doing things differently.

I mapped out all of the main events in the planner, family birthdays, school mini days, and even created a condensed version for the kids which includes a monthly calendar and then a weekly breakdown WITH a weekly chore chart to follow. The girls are getting older, they can for sure take on more responsibilities at home, they can be retrained. Right?

In my planner I provided a space for monthly to do lists, things like call my grandma, monthly chores, seasonally activities, etc. Then each week there's a weekly to do list, text my brother, plan for next week, allowance for the kids, and so on. I wrote out some goals which the first is to get my house in order take a room a week and just go through EVERYTHING- let go of stuff that have been in a pile in the corner of the room for the last 6 months, donate jackets that are too small, find a home for everything. If it doesn't have a home it doesn't belong.

I want to read more. I say it every year. My problem with reading is that it takes over my life, more than any netflix binge. I sit and read for hours, I stay up for hours late into the night reading just one more chapter. I want to read more, but it needs to be in moderation. I've already finished my first book of 2017. Started the year off with a cold, which allowed me to sit most of the day and read. :)

Of course there's getting back to the gym and meal prepping. Financial planning. Just being an all around better me. If I write it down, I can hold myself accountable. I'm putting it out there that I have goals and I want to see them through. Now to get off the couch, put the computer down and go do them. New Year, New Me.