I don't quite know what to do about my New Year's Resolutions this year. Long-time Verbatim readers know that I started out with 10 resolutions way back when, and every year I annotate that list to show which resolutions I kept and which I need to work on again. As a glance at last year's list will show, I'm not so good at keeping resolutions. And, though I'm too dismayed with myself to go into much detail, let's just say that I did manage to offload all my old computer stuff via Freecycle (Resolution #5), but I have little else to be terribly proud of otherwise.
So, where does that leave me? Well, short of resolving not to set any specific goals (Hey, there's a resolution I can keep!), I think I will follow the advice I read somewhere recently. Rather than outlining resolutions that need to be kept the following year, I will end my year with a look at my achievements from the past year.
As for the family, we've done quite well on the Family Dinner Initiative. We eat dinner together more often then not, and the kids have been persuaded to try new foods—and have even liked some of them! And I never feel guilty when Andy and I don't eat with the kids, or don't eat the same thing they're eating. That's just how it goes sometimes.
From the professional files, 2008 was the year that I finally, finally broke into cookbook editing, after all too many years of frustration that no one would give me a chance. I love this work just as much as I knew I would—there has been no post-honeymoon letdown at all. Perhaps now that I've worked on a few books, I will scout around a bit for a new client or two, since I can at last say, "Experience? Of course I have experience!" (Oh, and I still continue to enjoy my regular work on college textbooks, too.)
I also started working as a part-time bookkeeper for Andy. It's been a roller-coaster ride of learning on the job, and there's still plenty I don't know (for instance, today I am of course thinking about closing the books for the year—huh?), but I've learned an awful lot about bookkeeping and about the family business. I also never hardly ever get lost driving to and from Charlestown anymore.
Beyond that, I will also remember 2008 as the year that I joined those who said, "Yes, we can!"—and we did.
This was a great idea. Now I feel pretty good about myself instead of getting all worked up about setting and attaining—or failing to attain—somewhat arbitrarily determined goals.
With results like that, who needs resolutions?
Reads like a pretty terrific year.
I'm a big fan of intentions over resolutions, and of anything that de-guiltifies the whole process, so rock on. It sounds great!
I'm counting meeting you (and as a result encountering all sorts of great things to read) as one of the neat bits of my year.
Posted by: Havi Brooks (and duck) | December 31, 2008 at 11:39 AM