The short list:
1 - Make more phone calls. Talk to people! Stay connected!
2 - Make a commitment to learning a language.
3 - Survive four years at my current position
4 - Get Shane started in a Youth Group
5 - Get Shane involved in stuff!
6 - Stay healthy
7 - Survive foaling with Carrie
8 - Write?
The details:
1 - Make more phone calls - It takes work to keep in touch with people. I used to be better at this. I'd call Grandma, MomMom, or other people while driving home from work. Then my commute got too short to call anyone when we moved to Cville. My current commute has poor reception, so I rarely even call home from the road. And then when I get home, I don't typically call people for "no reason." All that leads to not calling anymore. I was thinking I should try and make at least a couple calls a week to random people.
2 - I've learned some odds and ends over the year, but if I want to progress a commitment seems necessary. Should I sign up for an iTalki partner? Should it be Spanish? I can speak some in that already. Or should it be Japanese? I could converse with Shane. I can somewhat read katakana and hiragana, because of helping him (not that I know the vocabulary of what I'm reading!).
3 - Four years at a high school makes you seem like a permanent structure to the freshmen who started at the same time as you. Next year is my 4th year.
4 - I'm looking forward to Shane being in 6th grade! No, I'm not looking forward to Middle School (those are rough times!). I am looking forward to him being old enough for "Student Life" at our church. Shane is all about the social, so a Christian social group seems like a fantastic opportunity! The church that we go to VBS at each year has a fantastic youth program, as well, but they don't start until 7th grade. When Shane's old enough I plan to take him to both and see which one sticks. BONUS: This will be the last summer Shane can do VBS. I've enjoyed going to that with him.
5 - Shane will be trying out volleyball in 2022! I was trying to think of a winter activity to meet more kids and stay busy. He's seen an anime with volleyball in it, so he has some prior knowledge. I plan on signing him up for soccer in Spring, but it'll be a drive. The local league only operates in the Fall (which I plan on signing him up for again, too!).
6 - I was healthier for a while. I exercised! And then I got injured. So I stopped and I haven't started back up again.....yet. I want to. Then there's the need to keep up with the dental check-ups, get my foot pain looked at, and the dreaded physical for men at 40 years old (where my doctor and I will really get to know each other...).
7 - Eowyn is due this summer. Carrie's going to be obsessed, but hopefully not over-stressed. I imagine I'll be helping a lot with the baby and supporting her. Hopefully, I'll be taking pictures and documenting the joys of it all, too.
8 - I haven't totally given up on the idea of writing. I failed to write a book, but at least I kept up with the blog! I hope my posts will be a legacy for Shane to look at one day much like I looked at the scrapbooks my parents made.
Reflection from last year:
The short list:
1 - Survive virtual school and have a job for next school year.
2 - Plug in more with the local faith community.
3 - Write a book.
4 - Keep learning.
5 - Have a sleepover with a LOCAL Shane friend.
6 - Install a pull-up bar somewhere and actually exercise again.
7 - Keep Carrie sane.
The details:
1. Done! This year has been rough, but the halfway point is less than a month away.
2. Meh. Shane and I have stared going to church in person again on the regular. There are no small groups in Scottsville, though. I'd still like to find one of those that involves the whole family.
3. Didn't happen. I wrote a chapter....in January. I finally sat down to do a second chapter in August, but it never got read. I've learned that I need to be alone and in the quiet to write fiction. I can write blogs and emails around noise, because they're all rooted in the real world. Trying to make up a new one takes more concentration and every time someone or something distracts me it breaks the spell.
4. I feel okay about this one. I can read (slowly) Japanese written in hiragana and katakana. I know more about Japanese due to Shane's studies, but I haven't made a concentrated effort to learn the language. I've just kept track of what I need to help Shane and keep him accountable. I've been reading the New Testament in Spanish. My speaking ability hasn't improved, but I read better than I used to.
5. Failed. No local sleepovers for Shane :(
6. I did pull-ups! I got up to 18 reps as a max. However, I got hurt around Labor day and haven't used it since. I got to feel in shape for the start of school, at least.
7. Mostly. She's still sane, but her energy level is way down. Most of the time she falls asleep early on the couch. Some days Carrie shows project level energy. Most of the time she does not. She does morning chores (mostly) and then I do night chores. On the weekend I catch up with anything she let slip and I didn't immediately tackle at night.
Carrie and Shane had goals, too.
Shane's was a fail. He didn't learn how to type. It would've been good for him, but I do think there's a limit to how much kids should be forced to do in a day.
Carrie is sort of healthier? I guess that's a pass. She had a dental emergency (crown) and has been back several times. It's all mostly fixed now. She had knee surgery, but after a recent follow-up the doctor gave her another cortisone shot. I feel like we made the right moves, but Carrie's knee is at where it's at. At least I can say it's a victory she got (and recovered from) her vaccine shots and booster.
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