Resolutions of 2008

My original top resolution was to wean Mia in order to help our chances of getting knocked up in 2008. But what I thought would be a major drama has been, well, less traumatic than I envisioned. Mia has not been that much of a diva in her demands for bu bu nai nai or mama nai nai. If she asks she understands the words, a little bit or yi dian dian. It helps that she is healthy for once and Ken was around to distract her. And with the help of Claritin and peppermint tea, I'm not feeling that uncomfortable. But I am sad, I feel like this is truly the end of an era. I am done nursing my first child. I want her to stay my baby forever as I have written about countless times in the past, but I really need to let her move on. Confirmation has come during meal times that weaning was the right thing to do though I often vacillated about it. My girl has been eating pretty well the last few days. Still not into the cow's milk (which was made for cows you know, but that's okay, I gotta get over it), but she has been eating more cheese and yogurt than she has in the past. The girl has not touched cheddar, which I love, in about 6 months, but she has recently been eating it. So now that my top resolution is pretty much taking care of itself, I was left with no goals for 2008.

I struggled with forming some meaningful resolutions. I would like to come up with resolutions that have lasting effects upon my life from this year forward. Is that possible? At first my list included mundane items including read more, watch less TV, diminish my yarn stash, worry less, organize the closets in the house (all dumping grounds for junk), put away Mia's old clothes and toys, organize photos (20 months of Mia photos sit in stacks), and other lame tasks. Not terribly deep, but I kept lingering on them and saw a theme emerge.

I figure all the "resolutions" that I initially penned on paper were probably a result of my subconscious or being married to Ken for nearly eight years. The man throws away stuff as if his life depends on it. There is still the dispute of where a lovely dress and red bathing suit of mine went after one of his cleaning frenzies early in our marriage. Ken's idea of cleaning is really about filling up a large trash bag, not about getting out the gloves and Pine Sol. But he has managed to accept that he cannot throw away my stuff and it has managed to keep the peace except on a few occasions when he was falsely accused of throwing away something I just had to find at that moment. So you see, he really is a patient man because he's married to a pack rat who misplaces things and falsely accuses him of crimes he did not commit, except for that one incident when he thought the items in a bag were trash, when in actuality the bag contained a dress and bathing suit that needed to be washed. Bygones. I should not bear grudges, but that's another resolution for another year. Maybe 2009.

So I will offer a global resolution of living simply in 2008. But what are the practical applications, I was after all an external evaluator at one time. What does living simply really mean? What are the actionable items? How will living simply be measured? Can it be measured? There's living simply on a very practical level, then there's living simply as a way of life. How does one score a way of life?

Well, I've already cleaned out my closet. Satisfactory. Parted with age old articles of clothing that I could not even part with six months ago while packing to leave Seattle. Exemplary for giving up the sentimental? I do believe Americans have way too much stuff, myself included. There are people who live with the clothes on their backs, children who have never had their own clothes, only hand-me downs, and how many rolls of Christmas wrap do I really need? I was at Target today--yes, I just wrote about living simply, yet I was shopping--and I saw that Christmas items are now 90% off. I can't resist such a bargain, but you see, I turned a new leaf and remembered the six unopened rolls of wrap that I bought the previous week. Nevermind that those were only 50% off and these are 90% off, I had plenty at home, so I steered the cart away from the Christmas section. Exemplary for just saying no?

You see, I had already given myself a talk before entering Target with Mia. I said, to myself we are only there to get tools to better organize our family room and Mia's garments that could clothe an orphanage in China. So we bought a four drawer plastic rolling cart for Mia's toys (we have an art drawer, a puzzle drawer, a music related drawer, and a miscellaneous drawer), but the 70 quart plastic tubs (also on sale this week, because Target knows how to appeal to the likes of us who love a new year to kick our butts into getting organized or making the motion of getting organized, seriously, i wonder how many plastic tubs and organization tools will be collecting dust and housing clutter in the months to come) would not fit into the shopping cart along with the drawer thing and Mia. At first, I planned on going back to get the tubs later this week, but now I'm rethinking that. Do I really need to store two 70 quart containers (yes, 140 quarts of consumerism) of Mia's toys and clothes? Dare I part with them? But they are so cute, many items were gifts, I love to picture Mia when she was wearing them or playing with them, what if I have another girl?

I realize that it's not possible to measure if one has truly lived simply in this lifetime. It's something that goes beyond a superficial action and is between you and God. So in trying to live simply in 2008, I hope to be more than superficial. This resolution won't be as easy as weaning Mia.

Of course, I can't help but to have some other minor resolutions that are well, quantifiable.

1. Read at least one book a month. Easy given that I am in a book club, but sometimes I go without having finished the book.
2. Make Mia at least one knitted item by June 2008, eyeing a pattern for a ballerina sweater since she is starting a pre-ballet class.
3. Try to read at least one book of the Bible each month. I'm not ambitious enough to commit to the whole Bible.
4. Waste less food, a subset of living simply I suppose. Eat what we have in the fridge and try not to throw away produce.
5. Go for a family hike at least once a month.
6. Walk to the farmer's market on Saturdays instead of driving, if weather permits.
7. Learn more Mandarin as I've probably taught Mia everything I know already.
8. Write at least one blog entry a week.

I think I'll end it there for now.