Personal Bucket List 2014...Three Months into the Year!

I'm not a New Year's resolution maker.  Mostly because, in years long past, when I did make them, I always failed at them (quickly!) and then felt terrible about myself.  So I gave up making resolutions years ago.

But now, three full months into 2014, I find myself thinking about a few things I'm working on - a bucket list of sorts, I guess.  These are things that, while they might involve the kids, are more about things that I would like to get done this year.

My list isn't very long, but here are a few highlights that made the cut:

* I'd like to do another driving trip with the kids this year.  I regret not doing a road trip with the kids in 2013, especially after our resounding success of a trip out to Alberta in 2012.  But money factors had to be considered this year.  But I'm determined to try again this year.  I have a lot of mixed feelings about where to plan for this year:  Another trip west; a trip to Ontario to visit family and (old and new) friends; down to the U.S. to tour the badlands, Colorado Springs and maybe Wisconsin Dells; etc etc.  There are so many options!

* New York City.  I have a dear friend who will be moving to NYC for about fifteen months, beginning in fall of this year, and we are both counting on my spending a few days with her there.  I've only been to NYC once, about 3-4 years ago, and I loved it.  It was the kind of place that I wish I could live in for just a year before returning home to Canada.  I'm hoping that this is the year I can return, even if for just a few days.

* I'd like to dabble again in a bit of weight loss effort.  I say that in a very vague, non-committed kind of way because I have tried and failed, tried and failed, and pressed the repeat button on that cycle throughout my adult life.  So I'm not going to try what I've tried before.  I am simply making a few better choices than I was a few months ago and want to continue in this pattern.  I already tend to eat pretty healthily, but I eat too much, and I rarely exercise...hence my weight is old and lingering because it's not moving anywhere!  My hope is that with just a little bit of weight loss, my acute achilles tendon issues (from a fall I took about 4-5 years ago) might be just a wee bit less pronounced which might, maybe, enable me to begin a bit of exercise.  I don't actually care about poundage lost, but I do care that I am feeling heavier and more slug-like than I'd like to feel.  So I'll give it a wee shot and see what I can do.

* I'd like to start learning French.  This likely sounds like it's coming out of left field, but it's something that's been of interest to me for quite a while.  More than a decade ago, when I was traveling from Toronto to Montreal monthly for work, and occasionally staying in Montreal for a few weeks at a time, my employer began to pay for me to be tutored in French.  However, when I transferred to Vancouver several months later the tutoring got pushed to the sidelines and I never resumed it.  My short-lived tutor said I had an excellent ear for language and I've privately always believed that as well. Also, a terrific book that I was reading recently (Project-Based Homeschooling) reminded me that my kids need to see me learning continuously and taking on projects of interest to me.  Until Seth and Lizzie arrived, I was always immersed in something academic or a hobby for pure enjoyment, but I just haven't had the time since their arrival to indulge in something that's not parenting related (note: I deliberately never talk to them about, or let them see me working on, Neufeld parenting courses).  So I'm thinking that this might be my year to take something up that's been an interest for a while.  Besides, this might be good experience for the trip to France that I'd love to take with the kids some day!

* I need to get more comfortable again with a bit more routine in our family life.  Since we began unschooling last fall, our schedule has become extremely loose, to the point where I feel a little out of sorts.  It's tough (especially for the kids) to re-introduce more structure and routine, but something is urging me to move a little bit more in this direction.

* I'd like to get through a whole bunch of to-do items on my four-page household organization checklist during 2014.  I've already accomplished four or five of these tasks, and have a goal of completing one significant item on the list every month for the rest of the year.

 * In November, I completed Gordon Neufeld's Level I Intensive course - a six-month course that I engaged in with ten other women and a fantastic facilitator.  The same facilitator is offering the level II intensive this year and I've been immersed in it now for the past several weeks, in an effort to deepen my learning about developmental theory and brain development, etc.

Anyway, those are a few of my ongoing thoughts, goals, and action plans for this year.  Let's see how much of it I accomplish!