Happy New Year... Take Two

If you saw the post I published last night, you did not imagine it. It has been taken down and replaced with this one. Blogging is a funny thing: Part journal, part megaphone. I wrote that post in a very stream-of-consciousness way, to remind myself of certain changes I want to make this year and why, and to hold myself accountable for them (all journal) but when I read it back this morning and thought about how it would read to an audience (all megaphone), it came off as obnoxious and preachy, which was totally not my intent. So anyway, here's the new and hopefully more balanced version. :-)

***

We declared February 1st to be the start of the new year in our house. When the *actual* new year rolled around, our family was too deep in RSV Hell to notice. And seeing as I actually wanted to implement some resolutions this year (for the first time in many, many years), being completely underwater as January 1st came (and went) was kind of a bummer. No sooner did we get everyone healthy than we went on a week-long vacation to Las Vegas (a story for another post). So, we pushed it back a month, but I'm here now and ready to jump in!

I. Ditch the last of the baby weight: I gained about 75 pounds during my pregnancy with the twins and lost all but the last 20 with minimal effort, but now it is time to step up my game. I'm starting by making healthier food choices and finding making time to work out, but will step up my game as needed until the pounds start coming off. I'm ready to get out of my "fat clothes" and, oh yes, let's not forget the motivating factor of the lace bridesmaid dress I need to wear in my brother's wedding this fall. :-)

II. Battle my smartphone addiction: This one has been a long time coming, but I finally had the time and the motivation to sit down and lay out some ways I can reduce my use. (For each of these points, I'm using the term "smartphone" to refer to all of the extras - internet, facebook, apps, etc. Basically everything except phone calls and texting.)

1. No smartphone use in the car except to play music or get directions.
2. No smartphone use while a potential conversation partner is in the room, except to quickly look up needed information.
3. Minimal smartphone use while home alone with the babies. Primarily only when nursing or in need of quick information.
4. Smartphone goes on the kitchen table when everyone gets home for the evening and doesn't move from there until I go to our bedroom to nurse the babies to sleep.
5. There are standing exceptions for camera use and for "checking in" on Facebook. That second one is a little silly, I know, but I really like having that record of fun things we do and places we go, so I'm allowing it, but I'll have to be disciplined not to let it open the door for "just 5 minutes" of catching up on my newsfeed when there are other things I should be doing instead, like enjoying the fun place I thought worthy of checking into. :-)

I have no idea how this will actually work and I'm not opposed to revising these guidelines, but you gotta start somewhere, right?

III. Complete a weekly photo project featuring pictures of anything BUT kids and babies. As much as I adore being a SAHM, I'm very aware of how much more narrowly-focused my world has become over the past 6 months. I came up with a list of weekly prompts and I'm really looking forward to seeing how this shifts the way I look at the world around me. If anyone is interested in more details or wants to play along, let me know and I'm happy to share my list!

IV. Blog more. Comment more. Make the time.

And now, let the games begin!