Out with the old and in with the new!

I just can't believe how quickly the year 2009 flew by! I'm hoping to slow the progression of 2010, the best that I can!

We had a great Christmas in Iowa with family. The kids just LOVE being there and playing non-stop with their cousins. It's unfortunate for Emma that she doesn't have any female cousins her age, but she makes do.

It wasn't until just yesterday, that I noticed how "calm" I was feeling. I was thinking about why I had that feeling, and decided that I must have had quite a bit of anxiety leading up to the holidays. I'm not quite sure why I get myself so anxious, but I'm going to try and put an end to most of that craziness, if I can. I cause alot of the stress myself, by taking on too many things. I think I would be less busy if I had a full-time job, if that makes any sense.

The kids' activities are picking back up now that the holidays are over. I don't think that all of those things going on are what cause alot of my anxiety though. However, we have, or are in the process of, having a few more things added to our list. Gage will have an extra night of Taekwondo starting next week for 3 evenings/week. The kids decided they really enjoyed going to LOGOS, the church's youth group, which is on Wednesday evenings, and Emma is going to play basketball with a team of girls from her class at the YMCA starting next week.

I think most of my anxiety is brought on by the need that I feel to do things for others. I enjoy doing those things, but when you are a person that can't say "no", it gets a little overwhelming at times. I'm not sure how I can stop doing all of those things, because I haven't suddenly gotten good at saying "no" overnight. It's going to take some time, I'm sure. I just want to be able to stop and recognize when the anxiety level starts to rise and then figure out how to slow things down a little so I'm not stressing out. (Good luck with that Stacy!)

I'm not one that is big into making New Year's Resolutions. I figured out several years ago that I typically fail at carrying out the resolution for more than a couple of weeks, to a month. Last year I decided to make the resolution to be more organized. I worked hard at it initially, but then slacked off and got overwhelmed. I wanted to make the same resolution this year, to get organized. I think I am just going to try and get organized without making it a resolution. I think if I can log onto A&E.com to watch past episodes of Hoarders on a regular basis, that will be enough to keep me going right there. I love that show! Instead, my resolution for 2010 is to take more time for myself to do one of the things I enjoy most........................scrapbook. I have been getting together with a friend, on the Fridays that I don't work in the lunchroom, and scrapbooked a few hours in the morning. Although I don't always get as much done as I would like, I am making some progress. Every page counts.