Bring Back 2018

My New Year starts tomorrow. Not because I’m procrastinating (OK, maybe a little...), but because tomorrow it’s back to school routines, work travel for weeks on end for the hubs and a new twist to my daily 20-minute work commute with one major road closing for the next ten months. Yay, 2019. 😫😭

​Seriously. What was wrong with last year? 2018 was a pretty amazing year in my opinion. Do we really need a new year... again?!?

​I vote we bring back 2018.

I’ve always been pretty excited to start a new year. I get my new planner and set way too many lofty and crazy goals to meet. I enjoy fresh starts and new pages.

But this year has not matched the same always been. I’m stuck.

I started off 2019 with a hangover and a cold that turned into a sinus infection. My first day of 2019 was spent woozy and sneezing... and cleaning up an epic mess from a NYE party we had for about 100 adults and kids. (By the way, my sister-in-law cleaned up half my house and deserves major angel wings!)

650 balloons on New Year's Eve 2018 about to drop over my living room full of excited kids!

My husband and kids were all out of work and school - sleeping in, enjoying lazy days - while I rushed off to work. Even work was crazy-busy (not that I should complain) and different than the normal easy transition back in from the holidays.

TAKE ME BACK TO 2018!!!

Is anyone else with me? Does the thought of a new year seem daunting and not even a bit appealing? Do you wish you could go back to 2018? Am I the only one?!?

I spent some time this morning trying to organize my thoughts and set some goals. I filled up a piece of paper with about 40 goals and all of them seem stupid. I have managed to set two goals for 2019 - both stolen from others, I might add.

1. If a task will take less than one minute to do, go ahead and do it right then. I got this one from the "For the Love" podcast by Jen Hatmaker. Her guest, Gretchen Rubin, of the Happiness Project stated it was the smallest change she ever made with the biggest impact. Check. I will steal that same idea.
   
2. Spend a few hours on Sunday meal prepping for the week. If you know me well... or at all, really... you'll know my weakness is in the kitchen. So this is both a no-brainer and a shocker for me to adopt. Again, a stolen idea from my super-organized-great-cook-and-all-around-fabulous-human friend, Leah.

Other than those two goals, I'm all crickets.

I always listen to self-help podcasts (it use to be true crime podcast binging - I made that switch in 2018... I told you it was a banner year!), so I've had a wealth of ideas flooded into my brain over the past couple of months. Instead of helping me set goals though, it's just made me know a few things I'm NOT doing for 2019...

1. I'm not becoming a minimalist mom. I like having four sets of dinner ware and two different blenders. And while it would be nice to be able to actually walk in my walk-in closet, I'm just not ready to give away my pants from three children ago or my pile of throw pillows I only put out for company (because I cling to the hope that one day my kids and dogs won't destroy them and they can stay out permanently).
   
2. I'm not going to read more books. Everyone seems to be set on this one goal this year. I'll focus on getting through the books I have to read with a Kindergartner and 2nd grader in the house.
3. I'm not taking a social media vacation. I like social media. It makes me feel good to see what my family, friends and kinda-friends and acquaintances and complete strangers are up to. And I like letting them know what I'm up to as well.
4. I'm not vowing to lose weight. This is only because if I don't aim to lose weight this year, maybe it will happen. Every other year the opposite has happened so why not go with those odds. :)
   

Does a "not" list count for New Year's resolutions? If so, 2019 - I've got you! But to be honest, it doesn't feel like that. I feel lost without some goals.

So what are your big lofty New Year action plans? What are you going to accomplish for the greater good? Or for pure selfish reasons? I'm sure there are some other good goals out there I can steal to make me feel prepared for 2019.