New Year's Resolutions

Christmas has ended and we have all been hearing about the resolutions; resolutions to save more money, turn off the TV, get organized, lose weight. Since both of my children recently became school age and we are stationed in a place for too short a time for me to justify the expense and time spent studying and taking the bar in our current jurisdiction, I spent last year's resolutions on taking time for myself. I focused on doing things I've always wanted to do, but haven't had the time for: learning to play guitar and learning to sew. While these are both crafts that require years of study and practice, I feel confident enough to say that I have hit a level of competence to say that I, in fact, can do these activities. [Notice my purposeful omission of any mention of skill level. ;)] With the guitar I have found a new outlet for my passion for music and it's a heck of a lot lighter than carrying a piano around. :)

Facing a similar year, I was at a loss. I'm happy enough with my weight and have a healthy lifestyle, but I'm not kidding myself that, at 37 years old, I will ever fit my curves into designer size 4 ever again--certainly not with these Italian genes. We're doing quite a bit of traveling this year, so that would be a convenient one to make, but kind of a cop out don't you think? Until yesterday, I had relegated myself to no resolutions this year and to stick to just trying to keep my head above water in my oh so glamorous life as a mother and wife. Basically, I resolved to have no resolve in 2012.

Until yesterday...

Yesterday, I was chatting with a parent of one of my daughter's classmates. He said he had heard I was a lawyer. [The going reaction is usually one of surprise given that my uniform these days is jeans, boots, and a sweater.] I said I was. We talked and I mentioned that I had done a little political writing. I almost fell over when he handed me his card and asked me to e-mail him a sample. I went home and looked through past posts [that I had removed from this site and saved] and selected one to send. In doing so, I realized how much I missed having an outlet for my voice and given the political season, I realized my 2012 resolution.

So here is to 2012 and finding resolve.