Happy New Year!

Every year I make resolutions just like the rest of the world. I usually keep a few and break a few but at least I put out the effort. I also try to focus on one specific area in my life. Two years ago it was our marriage. There were no issues to speak of but we were closing in on double digits (10 years last October!) and I wanted to make sure there were better years ahead. I read a lot of relationship books and as a result we're in a fantastic place right now (Note: We aren't perfect. We can still push each other into a screaming hissy but in the end we know who loves us.)

Last year it was all about me. I wanted to be stronger, faster, better. I started running with a specific goal in mind and kept at it for a whole host of reasons that are hard to explain to non-runners. One that everybody seems to understand though is the fact that my skinny jeans fit. Every time. And it makes me more disciplined in a lot of other areas, too.

This year I'm focused on being a better mommy. Not that this isn't an on-going, never-ending part of my life every.single.day but choosing it to be the focus is different. I recently read an article by author Debbie Macomber where she talks about choosing one word to focus on throughout the year. This year my word is "peace". I want peace to reign supreme in our home. This may be close to Mission: Impossible...but I choose to accept it. I'm reading a book (Parenting with Grace: The Catholic Parents' Guide to Raising Almost Perfect Kids) and I have started making a plan and now I'm going to make the time to implement it and move forward. I love my kids. I just need to make sure they know it (even though I SAY it constantly - their "love languages" are all different).

I'll continue to run with a goal of running at least the same 3 races I ran last year and adding a 10K into the mix. I wanted to run a half marathon this year. I briefly considered doing a destination race like maybe part of the Rock'n'Roll series but after reading about how badly the Vegas race was handled I decided to stick close to home. Running the City of Bridges would kinda be full circle for me anyhow. And then I got Mr. MOTH's work schedule and he has to be out of town then. {SIGH}. I may choose a different (but still close) one or maybe not. I would love to do the Princess Half in Disney World but we're going to be there at the wrong time this time around. I'll figure something out...

Resolutions

New Year's is supposed to be a time for resolutions. In the past, I've made my share and this year is no different. Except, this year I'll be more than shocked if I can keep them. Usually, there's at least a glimmer of hope but this year is starting out with my mood somewhere in the vicinity of the toilet. I'm not sure why. And I don't like it one bit.

Just like everyone else on the planet, one of my resolutions revolves around "getting in shape". However, this year I'm going for broke. I AM GOING TO RUN A 5K. What? Stop laughing!! That's the ONLY resolution that I know for sure is going to be - barring serious injury or illness, of course (**knocks on wood furiously**). I started running sometime in November and then the holidays happened. I should note a couple of things here: 1) I don't run unless something big AND scary is chasing me. Big? Fine, I'll walk a bit faster. Scary? Maybe a light jog. But only big AND scary makes me run, which means I have no idea what got into my shorts to make me even want to try. Probably it's the fact that I'm going to turn 4-0...eventually. and 2) I don't exercise during the holidays. I take a week off at Thanksgiving and some time off at Christmas. This year, my Christmas break revolved around some inflamed cartilage under my breastbone that hurt like a son-of-a-gun when I moved my right arm. Ever try to run without moving your right arm? Exactly.

My big "goal" is Halloween. The boys' school just started their Great Pumpkin Race this past year and it was a huge (fund-raising) success. Oldest Boy's best bud's mom (didja get that?) helps to coordinate it. And she's also an Ironman Triathlete - which means I might feel (vastly) inferior in the athletics department, but I'm also going to tap her as a resource for my new resolution. I have a lot of questions but mainly I want to know if I can train exclusively on a treadmill for this type of run. Anybody know?

Mr. MOTH even got on board when he bought me a sports doo-hickey (yes, that's the technical term) for my iPhone so that I can listen to tunes while I run. OK, this may have been inspired by the fact that I knocked my iPhone off of the treadmill more than once while running and it was hanging precariously by my ears, but I'm going with "encouraging" instead. However, the doo-hickey he bought was for an iPhone 3 and we have a "4" so I have to wait until the back-ordered version gets here sometime in February. (Anybody have a "3" that would use this? Because he can't return it...). Yesterday, I used his iTouch for my run...

Which brings me to my only other resolution that I hope to keep: Learn something new every day and blog about it. What did I learn yesterday? Turn off the "shake to shuffle" feature before running while listening to an iPod. I would just start to sing along (in my head, of course) and the song would change. And again. And again. I had 45 minutes of music loaded and I think I went through the whole line-up in 25! Lesson learned.