Monthly Musings: Goals For The New Year

I'm jumping in with one last blog post for 2022. I wanted to join in on the Monthly Musings link up with Holly at Pink Lady and Patty at Good, Better, Best. I was hoping to have this post ready for Thursday morning but our Wednesday travel day went all to heck and well, here I am, posting this in the last few hours of 2022.

1) Do you make resolutions/goals for the New Year?

I always say I'm not going to, but I always have some in my head! Does that count?

2) Do you have diet/exercise goals?

I only have two:

A) Get my butt on the rowing machine Dave bought back in May. I haven't used it yet and I want to!

B) My principal brought me a Coke Zero a few weeks ago and I thought it was okay. I think I didn't love it because I'm too used to the sugar in regular Coke. So I want to drink Coke Zero for a week or two and see if I actually like it. Drinking less sugar would be good for me.

3) Do you have personal/professional goals for 2023?

My personal goal is to use my electric toothbrush (which my parents gave me for last Christmas) more consistently and my professional goal is to try and get hired permanently as a Head Secretary. (I don't have a lot of control over that one but I'll do my best!) Also, I want to remember how happy and thankful I am to be working at a Head Secretary and try to be less grumpy on the crazy, busy days. <-- I think they call this having an "attitude of gratitude" or something like that :)

4) Do you use a planner? Paper? Electronic? Combo?

I do buy a paper planner every year but then I'm very bad at using it. But I can't imagine not having one as I do use it sometimes... Considering how frugal I usually am, it surprises me that I continue to waste spend money on planners.

I am usually pretty on top of updating our family calendar, which hangs in our hallway, and the kids really count on it, so maybe that counts...

5) Do you have a word or phrase for 2023?

I don't have a specific one but I do want to try and enjoy and savour all the moments of 2023. I'm still so thankful for all the "regular" activities after all the closures and shutdowns of 2020, 2021, and early 2022, and I just want to soak up the regular things.

6) Ring in the New Year or asleep by 10pm?

Normally, I go for "asleep by 10pm" but, because of all our flight cancellations and delays, we actually celebrated Christmas Day this morning and we're going to celebrate Christmas Eve tonight. We're going to be enjoying appetizers, drinks, and Jólabókaflóð, the Icelandic tradition of getting new books and reading until all hours. So I'll likely be up late tonight! 

7) Favourite things to do on New Year's Day?

We sometimes have mimosas and a good brunch. Otherwise, usually relaxing, which is what I think tomorrow will hold. We'll probably spend a lot of time reading!

8) Any travel plans for 2023?

We already know we're doing a road trip for March Break. It will hold some baseball, some time with our best friends, and visiting some blog friends! I'm pretty excited about it!!! Otherwise, we don't have anything else planned. Yet.

According to Rachel, we're going to Saskatchewan this summer and heading to Hawaii for next Christmas so we'll see how that pans out for her! Hahaha!!!

9) Things/events you are most looking forward to in 2023?

2022 was a big year for us what with Dave turning 40, me turning 50, and our big trip to Europe this past summer. So I think 2023 will be a quieter year although Rachel will graduate Grade 6 and Sam will graduate Grade 8 so those are some pretty significant milestones.

10) Will you be watching any bowl games on New Year's or around New Year's?

That isn't really a Canadian thing. Sam wants to watch a Hallmark movie so maybe we'll do that.

I'm realizing that our New Year's plans are pretty quiet, and that is usually the case. We don't tend to go super big for New Year's. And I'm realizing that, as we're headed into 2023, I'm looking forward to a quieter year of just soaking up the quiet, regular moments. We'll see if that's what 2023 actually holds for us.

What's Up Wednesday: December 2022

Even though in recent years the hosts haven't posted a December What's Up Wednesday, I still like to write them. And although I may not want to specifically remember these past few days for all time, it is good to document what has been happening in our lives. So welcome to the "We're living in suspended animation due to a cancelled flight" version of What's Up Wednesday.

And I will do a shout out to Shay at Mix and Match Mama and Sheaffer at Sheaffer Told Me Too for the questions, even if there isn't a link up.

image from here

What we're eating this week... Well, for the past few days we've been eating very randomly. We had cleaned out our fridge on Christmas Eve, expecting to be on a flight the next day. However, it got cancelled and instead of flying to Saskatchewan, we drove back home. However, we're really hoping our flight later today takes off, and it wasn't worth grocery shopping for two days, so we've been making do. Thanks to some very generous friends who have invited us for meals/dropped some food off for us. But yeah, it's a bit odd around here.

Celebrating an unexpected Christmas Dinner with our friend, Elinor.

What I'm reminiscing about... I'm reminiscing about last Christmas in Saskatchewan and hoping we'll get to make new Christmas memories this year.

What I'm loving... I am loving that we have been able to go skating since we've been unexpectedly at home and our kids are making HUGE strides. Hopefully we'll be able to spend lots of time on skating rinks this winter.

What we've been up to... Trying to make the best out of a really weird, and sometimes sad, situation. We've done lots of puzzles, gone skating, visited Wonders of Winter, and Dave took the kids bowling.

lots of time for puzzles

Wonders of Winter

So much snow!

Before that we were up to watching Rachel dance in the symphony and trying to get Sam to work on Thank You cards from his Bar Mitzvah! Hahaha! We also celebrated Channukah and lit the candles on the menorahs every night except for one (even if the eighth night was a bit belated).

Rachel, as a marionette, for the symphony. She rocked her dance!

 

What I'm dreading...  Right now I'm dreading that something will happen to the flight we have booked for today and we still won't be in Saskatchewan tonight. I'm also dreading that we will get to Saskatchewan but our luggage won't. Travelling is such a privilege but also something where I have to give up all control and that is hard for me.

What I'm working on... Trying to maintain a good attitude, despite our travel disruptions. We've been trying to find fun things to do during this unexpected time at home. And I'm trying to focus on the fact that we have power in our house, we're able to be "stranded" at home (as opposed to in a Wal-Mart, at the airport, or somewhere else not at all convenient), everyone is healthy (a number of friends have been dealing with illness this holiday season), etc.

What I'm excited about... I'm really excited about the fact that we might be in Saskatchewan tonight!!! Please, please, please, let everything work out. If we make it, we'll celebrate Christmas with my parents tomorrow and see some aunts, uncles, and cousins on Friday. It'll be really great, if we can get there...

 

What I'm watching/reading... I've been watching all the flight information at our airport. Thankfully, today there appear to be fewer cancellations and delays, but, understandably, it was a bit of a mess for awhile.

As for reading, I am loving Debbie MacComber's Cedar Cove series and am on book 10. It's still slightly fluffy reading but I've progressed beyond the In Death series! I'm also working on The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn and it's really good. Hopefully I'll finish it today.

 

What I'm listening to... Somehow we ended up down a YouTube rabbit hole on one of the nights of Channukah and we ended up listening to Twisted Sister's Christmas album. (That is one of the weirdest sentences I think I've ever written on the blog!) You have to listen to their version of "O Come All Ye Faithful." If you know their hit, "We're Not Gonna Take It" you will never listen to either song the same way again.

What I'm wearing... Pajamas. Honestly, that's mostly what we've been wearing these past few days. And fuzzy socks which our friend gave us as Christmas presents. They're really fun! I don't have a picture of all of us wearing ours, but I will get one!

What I'm doing this weekend... Well, we're either going to be relaxing in Saskatchewan or we'll be making the best of it at home. I really hope it's the first thing, but (likely after some tears), I'll really try to make the best of it if we're home.

  

What I'm looking forward to next month... January tulips and a fun weekend, winter, getaway we have planned. We were supposed to do this getaway last year for Dave's 40th birthday and we had to cancel because of my lung detachment so here's hoping it can happen this year.

What else is new... I think I've covered it all.

Thanks for reading about what's been up with us lately. Tune in on Instagram later today or tomorrow to see where we end up. Fingers crossed, and prayers being said, that my next post will be coming to you from Saskatchewan!!!

I hope you've all had a good week celebrating Channukah or Christmas or being able to relax with family and friends. And if you had travel plans impacted by the weather we experienced across all of North America, I hope you were safe and felt as much love as we did.

#AMonthOfFaves: Moments Of 2022

I love #AMonthOfFaves hosted by Kimberly and Tanya Patrice at GirlXOXO. I don't know that I'll write something for every prompt but I wanted to recap 2022 and I love this way of doing it. So read on to hear about the amazing (and not so amazing) moments of 2022.

January

 My lung detached and I ended up on bed rest for a week, Dave turned 40 on one of the snowiest days of the year, and my mom and dad (aka Oma and Opa) arrived from a few provinces away to be our neighbours for a couple of months.

 

February

 

We enjoyed many evenings with Oma and Opa, including watching the Olympics. 

 

March

 

We left the country for the first time in two years with a road trip to New York, we said good bye to Oma and Opa, and Sam became a teenager!!!

 

April

 

We went to the first of many in-person Blue Jays games!

 

May

 

I turned 50 and three out of four of us got Covid. 

June

Mom and Dad came back to celebrate at a belated 50th birthday party for me, I got to meet some blog friends, and the Summer of Solar Lights began!!!

 

July

 

Dave and I enjoyed our morning coffee outside together all summer, the kids went off to various camps, and our family headed off on a European vacation. 

 

August

 

Our European vacation continued with a cruise, and I headed back to work surviving some of the most stressful weeks of my entire working life.

September

We did a last minute road trip to Pittsburgh to see the Blue Jays play and Sam and Rachel went to Jr Youth together at church which gives Dave and I more kid-free time together!

October

We went to a Blue Jays playoff game and Oma and Opa came back because, in one of the most memorable moments of the year, Sam became a Bar Mitzvah!!!

 

November

 

 November was full of dance for Rachel, high school visits for Sam, and lots of being cozy!

So these are some of the most memorable moments of 2022. All in all, it's been a really great year!