2013 is over. 2014 has begun. How was your year?
December is always a hard month for me. I love Christmas, but I set my expectations of myself far too high and end up stressing myself out. I have two major projects that were to be Christmas gifts for my kiddos that never got finished. The one is almost done, but the final coats of glaze (not really varnish... it doesn't act quite the same) are taking forever to dry (it DOES say slow drying finish... I just didn't realize it needed 24 hours or more. It is STILL tacky). The other... my pieces are cut to size, but it isn't assembled, and needs paint/varnish/finishes. Ah well. The kids will get gifts later into the year just for no reason, haha.
Does anyone else get the post Christmas blues? I find Christmas comes so quickly, and passes without me having even realized it was here. And then... done. Over. No more for another 364 days. And my decorations are still up, even though half the lights have burned out on the tree, and the floor needs attention from the sweets that ended up there and weren't dutifully cleaned up in an instant. And why mop when I still haven't taken down all the decorations that take up space on the floor? I suppose I should do that tomorrow... it IS on my to-do list.
But it is fun. The kids have a great time, and we have been working on learning about how it isn't about recieving presents. In fact, leading up to Christmas, the kids did chores to earn a little pocket change they could spend on gifts for each other. Dollarama to the rescue. And they were so proud to give those gifts that they bought themselves!
Our littlest member of the family now has her footprint immortalized in clay as ornaments, just like her older siblings had for their first Christmas. I just finished (today... a bit late, but they'll be there for next year) my 2012 and 2013 family photo ornaments. I made them this time. I bought frame ornaments from 2008-2011, but couldn't find them last year or this year. Ah well. I like these ones. Reusing old packaging is fun (especially when you add sparkles... everything is more fun with sparkles. And mod podge).
Lately I've been feeling rather lazy. I know I'm still doing things. Looking at my scrapbooks, blogs, and my husband's facebook page, I'm doing lots of things, however I feel like I'm not getting anything done. I know part of the problem is my high expectations of myself. Another part is the facebook games I'm addicted to (darn that Candy Crush Saga...). I've stopped 'caring' about many of the things I cared so much about only a year or so ago. A clean house, up to date finances and bookwork, home cooked meals from scratch... I just don't want to do any of it. I still do it, of course, but not as diligently. Our house has dirty floors. The dishes pile up until I can't bear to look at them anymore. The meal planning hasn't been done for 6 weeks after having written it out diligently each week for well over 2 years (I finally wrote up a meal plan this week, and we haven't stuck to it at all, haha). My husband has been making more meals than I care to admit. And exercise... what is that, again? My counters are piled high with unfinished projects, all of which I really want to work on but can't seem to get myself in gear to do. Maybe if I make a list of the unfinished projects somewhere and not start on new ones until they are finished? Or perhaps I need some kind of reward system.
Rewards. What on earth would I give myself as a reward?
What would you do as a reward?
Anyway, this year I want to finish things. I want to finally finish many of those projects I started. I want to spend more time each day with the kids (and less on Candy Crush). I want to go to bed earlier than midnight. I want to feel something... something besides 'everything is useless'. Because lately, I look at stuff and it is all just useless stuff. I look at activities and they are all useless. I look at what I do with my life, and it just seems pointless. I need to find the point again. I need to reconnect with God again. Only He can give my life the meaning that I desire. Not my kids. Not my spouse. Not my endless lists of tasks and projects. God.
Still... those other things are nice to have, too. ;)
