Happy New Year Everyone!
This New Years has felt a little bitter sweet, it is always such a nice feeling to start fresh and to reset, and this time we not only get to start a fresh year but a brand new decade… the possibilities are endless… but at the very same time there are some pretty terrifying things happening in Australia, we have been traveling around New Zealand for the last couple of weeks and all the news from home seems to be it’s hot and it’s on fire and right now that seem to be impossible to stop and so it feels hard to celebrate when others are sheltering on the beach and don’t know what they will have to return to as they start 2020. It’s hard to imagine what they must be going through. As we flew home last night the plane flew through some smoke from the fires and the cabin began to smell of smoke, it was a pretty sobering reminder of what we were returning to. Dave, Isaac and I are lucky to live in an area that is pretty safe from these types of fires, but my heart feels heavy and powerless to help those who aren’t. So I guess my hope is that the fires will cease and that there will be some Happy New Years even if they are a little delayed. That there would be good soaking rain and that our land would start to heal… that would be a Happy New Year.
To be totally honest it feels a little selfish to sit here and write this blog about all the things that I am going to/hoping to do this year when there is so much going on, but the reality is there is always things like this going on… I am only feeling it more because it is in my backyard… and I will be mad at myself if I don’t do it… and despite all that is going on, 2020 feels hopeful… I feel good about what’s to come, I am optimistic about the future, 2019 was full of adjusting to a new stage in life, new jobs, new routines and new expectations… this year there should be less of that, which hopefully leaves more space for well used time, growth and learning… and because I am still a sucker for a list here are our 2020 lists… Emma’s List no. 12 and Isaac’s List no. 3…
You probably know the drill by now… but just in case… you can get up to speed on all the previous lists here: 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 & 2019), and just like all the previous lists there is much of the same in 2020’s offerings. Some tasks to help me work on myself, physically, spiritually and mentally, some things just because they are fun, some challenges, and some good old family time. Isaac’s list is much the same… although his is more fun and developmental milestones so that I remember to document them. I feel like I am finally starting to find some balance in documenting and just enjoying and also making space to write about other things as they happen, but hopefully I will continue to improve with that this year too… although really (and again probably selfishly) this is just here for me, but if you like it great. And if you see anything on the lists below we can do together let me know.
Alright, enough rambling… here are the lists:
My List
- Make a family plan
- Find a better work life balance
- Get my steps average up to 10000 per day.
- Have a child free night
- Find another way to reduce my impact on the planet
- Do two fun runs
- Read 9 books
- Go to a Finders Keepers Market
- Find and try 3 new parks
- Go camping
- Get my VIT locked down
- Go to bed earlier Sunday – Thursday
- Blog 15 times at least
- At least 6 date days
- Volunteer at Parkrun
- Call / Update our grandparents regularly
- Walk Dex regularly
- Bake some meringues
- Take a picture everyday
- Meet 3 new babies
- Fish and chips on the beach at the beginning and at the end of the year
- Go through and sort Isaac’s clothes
- Get a massage
- Sort out Kinder for Isaac
- Exercise as least twice a week
- Go on a family bike ride
- Take some family photos
- Swim at the beach
- Meet the newest member of our family
- Be a Parkrun tourist
- Winter beach getaway
- Play a board or card game
- Make a banoffee pie
- Do a puzzle
- Make photo book
- Do some colouring
- Cross 2 things of the list every month
- Use Isaac’s highlight book and my gratitude diary
- See some fireworks
- Read to Isaac everyday
- Drink at least 1 glass of plain water everyday
- Play some badminton
- Brunch date alone
- Brunch date with Dave
- Brunch date with Isaac
- Floss more often
- Get a housework timing guide… print it out and stick to it
- Use the hiking backpack at least 3 times
- No games on my phone for 3months
- No Facebook or Instagram after 10:30pm on weeknights
- Make some cookies with Isaac
- Go to at least one of Dave’s school concerts
- Do the 10min clean most days
- Remember the bags
- Complete that 30 day exercise challenge
- Swim some laps
- Have a perfect month with my activity rings
- Do a weekly plan
- Get some better coffee tables
- Entertain more guests
- Finish the scrapbooks
- Keep scanning in photos
- Reduce the amount of take-out meals we have
- Go to a carols by candlelight in the park
- Have a no spend day once a month
- Earn at least 6 of the monthly activity challenge awards on my watch
- Do my devotions at least 3 times a week
- Have dinner with our siblings
- Make a dip
- Make a pav
- Make some ice cream
- Use some herbs from our garden
- Go some place I’ve never been to in Victoria
- Go to the NGV
- Use my sewing machine
- FaceTime our NZ family
- Use my bees wax wraps
- Buy an item of clothing I wouldn’t usually buy and wear it
- Do Parkrun with 5 different people
- Paint a picture
- Listen to a new artist
- Picnic in the park
- Stand barefoot on grass and sand
- Keep the house tidy
- Meat free meal at least once a week
- Keep my car free of rubbish
- Do an exercise class
- Do a trail walk/hike
- Make banana bread from scratch
- Have a meal with the parentals… all of them… separately
- Toast some marshmallows
- Edit and finalise Isaac’s logs and maybe publish them
- Try one of those shampoo bars
- See a new Disney Movie
- Keep my phone time under control
- Spend more time outside
- Keep an indoor plant alive
- Use my standing desk more often
- Keep my phone clean of excess apps that just waste my time.
- Break the next barrier
Isaac’s List
- Go 10 pin bowling
- Swim at the beach
- Visit all 3 Zoos
- Check out the traffic park in Bayswater
- Go to the movies
- Ride my balance bike
- Pat a new animal
- Ride my scooter
- See some fireworks
- Swim in Pa’s pool
- Go on a train
- Draw a picture
- Jump… with both feet leaving the ground
- Try a new instrument
- Dress myself… almost all by myself
- Learn to use the toilet
- Do a puzzle all by myself
- Go on an adventure with Dad
- Go on an adventure with Mum
- Try one of those cool parks that have water play
- Kick a footy
- Learn to take a photo
- Swap to a big bed
- BBQ with Dad
- Say goodbye to my ‘num nums’ (dummies)
And there they are… two brand new lists of goodness… here we come 2020
The Most Curious George 