2013 resolutions

I know, how cliché. But I have never blogged my resolutions before and generally don’t do any, so indulge me this once. And wish me luck. Sort of a long list, now that I look at it. I’m going to have to print this puppy out.

Eco and volunteer work

• Work on the new school vegetable garden.
• Write one more grant.
• Organize triathlon fundraiser.
• Do fruit and vegetable tasting at school (kiwi and cauliflower).
• Help with local eco book club and seed swap.
• Grow one new vegetable at home.

Hobbies

• Finish jewelry projects.
• Read 45 books. Reread all of Harry Potter. Read at least two books in German.

Travel

• Prioritize travel plans. (N and I did a brain dump on all the places we’d like to go in the next 10 years. Since we can’t possibly do them all, we really need to figure out which ones are the most important. Possibilities include: the Smithsonian, Outer Banks, Memphis, Quebec City, Mackinac Island, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Badlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, England, France, New Zealand and Australia, Japan, Aruba, Costa Rice, Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Fiji/Tahiti. Not to mention the places the girls want to go to again: Hawaii, New York, Cape Cod, Michigan, Germany)
• See Kate! (Total cheat resolution. We already have plans to meet up -- so exciting!)
• Go to Europe.

Me Me Me

• Take care of myself. Skin care, flossing, physical exam.
• Pamper myself. Buy me nice things. Buy some new clothing.
• Do sprint triathlon in 1:49 or less. (My time in 2011.)

Household

• Get the kids to help around the house more.
• Clean up my desk.
• Declutter my closet.

Busy busy busy

So, exciting things are underway at our grade school. Our neighbors are landscape architects, and they made up a fantastic, ambitious and wonderful plan to change our school property from a dull wasteland that regularly turns marshy to a vibrant eco-system, with a vegetable garden, butterfly garden, two play areas, a peewee soccer field with a running path around it, native plants in the village-owned floodplain, a better engineered baseball diamond that doesn't flood, an outdoor classroom, etcetera etcetera!

Even better? We got our first grant, which will be used for the veggie garden. Everything else will come in later stages, but let’s face it. This is the best part. And it’s coming this spring! While my kids are still there! So I've been writing grants and making fundraising plans with a bunch of other parents, and it’s all been very exciting. One grant is pretty much my baby, and if we win that one, I’m adding grant writing as a skill on LinkedIn. I’ve always thought that sounded like fun. Whee!

So that thing I did, with the fruit and vegetable tasting during school lunches? That’s being heavily touted in these grants as something we are doing to fight obesity and promote wellness in the community. I’m happy that all worked out so well! Plus it's listed on the back of the school phone book as something the PTA offers to the students. Which is too bad, really, as I was sort of tired of doing it. Now I'm thinking kiwis and cauliflower for next time. Need to set up some dates.

So, because I don’t know how to do things in small doses, I said I’d put together one of the fundraisers. I thought I’d do something that fits in with my role as the PTA Wellness chair, so I said, how about  we participate in local races and raise money for the playground? Get some parents exercising, maybe do a little community building in that direction. I’m hoping for 20 people, at several hundred raised per person. The current plan is to offer training runs and bike rides this spring to get interested people ready for a 5K run and/or sprint triathlon.

NOTE: I've set up a new email account for this blog. If you've emailed me in the last few months, um, I didn't get it. I got locked out of that account. So embarrassing to admit. 

Community

Hi! This is a quick post to prove I'm still alive. It's been crazy busy around here, so just a little graphic I found. (from here)