Well, as we welcome in 2012 and say goodbye to 2011, it seems the thing to do is make resolutions... right? Ok, humor me... *Why?!??* I don't know about you, but *I* have *never* kept a New Year resolution for more than a few months at best... so why resolve something that we know is probably unrealistic? This year, I resolve to not resolve anything. Oh wait, that's a contradiction isn't it?
OK, so instead of RESOLVING to do or not to do, I am going to set achievable goals... goals that mean something to me, rather than what everyone seems to resolve every year and never actually accomplishes, or they accomplish and then go right back to their old ways... So yeah, I could stand to lose 10 or 20 pounds - but you know what? While I am striving to be more and more healthy (and yes, I've even cut the sugar in my tea and coffee in less than half *and* I've learned to actually like it that way!), I am not going to set a weight loss goal. Wouldn't I like to be thinner? Of course - that would be a given... but let's be realistic - I have given birth to EIGHT children, the youngest birth included my first ever C-Section (no, I can't blame the surgery - my stomach muscles were far from rough, tough, and tone... I have NEVER had a 6-pack, and seriously folks, I never (ever, ever, ever) will! I lack the drive, the desire, the TIME, or the discipline. Besides, my husband doesn't like skinny - he calls skinny women "swizzel sticks" and the brief time that I was truly (really, really) skinny (and oh so sick, which was how I got there in the first place!) he did not really care for my appearance. Now, I am exceedingly blessed with a husband who adores me - who loves me and appreciates my appearance (though I gotta tell ya, I've seen me first thing in the morning, and I just don't see what he likes so much about it... tousled hair, sleepy eyes, those wrinkles of aging seem so much more pronounced (ack!) Nah, I do NOT understand it, but I'm glad he feels that way even if I wonder about his sanity some days! He loves me - skinny or fat - but preferably at a comfortable HEALTHY weight just over skinny - you might call it "pleasingly plump" (though truly, I'm not so sure those words are as complimentary as they were once considered.
You might wish that my second goal, or non-resolution, would be to stop rabbit trailing so buggering much! Sorry, I know me, and that is just not realistic... it may seem that I am scatter brained, but really, I'm just super-multi-tasking. No, really.
So, first, I set the goal to be healthier in diet, though we tend to be pretty healthy already... but I could make some improvements in that area... the second goal is to take time to do more purposeful exercise.
There, I made the requisite selfish determinations.
Now, what REALLY matters? What non-resolution goals can I set that aren't all about me? Isn't that going to make a bigger difference in... well... everything around me? The world does not revolve around me, my family doesn't revolve around me, and I shouldn't revolve around me either. So, what are some truly worthy goals to set that are feasible and practical and helpful to the world around me?
Hmmm...
Well, as a large family, our ecological footprint should in theory be pretty big, right? Well, I took a class on Environmental Biology earlier this year before I **finally** finished my college degree and graduated (yeah!!!!!) and I really learned some good, practical information. We already use the energy saver light bulbs and have mostly energy star approved appliances (and honestly, those that aren't won't be replaced until they die, because we simply can not afford to go out and buy new ones... but when the necessity kicks in, we do buy energy star. Well, we could use less water... water that gets otherwise wasted... we could use less gas - that's not difficult... we're a ways away from town as it is, so I try to consolidate our trips as much as possible - if we have something scheduled, I try to plan errands around that scheduled event so we're not in town just for random stuff. The savings in gas money is a great incentive - but so is the savings in non-necessary spending!! Another saver is in electricity - yes, I already mentioned the energy saver stuff, but out here, with the big open sky, we are in a great place for solar energy. We put a small solar-powered light in the barn, and that's been helpful, but we hope to put larger solar panels on the chicken shed and the garage to power the minimal electricity that we use there (actually, with our sometimes sub-zero temps, the chicken shed uses a lot more power when we turn on a heat lamp to keep those little egg layers unfrozen and productive - and keeping our own chickens helps reduce our footprint, too!!).
We can buy less and recycle more. Out here, there is only one place that accepts plastic recycling - WalMart. Well, we have not shopped in a WalMart or Sam's Club in over 8 years - I look forward to making that 10 and 18 and 50... not going back there. For a variety of reasons, most of them political and moral. However, we do take our plastic recyclables there to drop off. I do need to do better about recycling cardboard and paper - we do this for the most part, but I can do better, so that's a goal for this year. Our eco-footprint, obtained from a neat online tool says that our family footprint is currently 2.5, and that to sustain our current lifestyle, we would need to own 10 acres. Convenient, that's just how much we have! Still, I look forward to reducing our footprint yet more with upcoming goals!
This past year, after settling in to our home and new life here, we added chickens, horses, and pigs to our "spread" - a friend calls it a mini-farm, and I love that title, but I'm just not sure we have *arrived* there... yet... This year we have 9 chickens - we bought 10, all were supposed to be girls... alas, one got trampled as a chick by the other chicks, and Duchess (one of the chicks) turned out to be a Duke instead... so we have 8 layers and one rooster. I've heard again and again how annoying roosters can be, so you can call me crazy if you like, but I happen to like the sound of our rooster's incessant crowing. Granted, it helps that the chicken shed is enclosed, and unless we have the shed door open, the sound is minimized. The chicks have a window that lets in natural light, and they seem happy - I've been told to prepare for them to stop laying, or seriously slow down in their laying, but we get an average of 7 eggs a day from our 8 layers, so it hasn't happened yet... we'll see when it does. IN the meanwhile, we have plans to enlarge our brood to double size - maybe up to 20 layers in all, we'll see - by summer. There is enough need for "farm fresh" eggs that I can sell what we don't need or use, which will also pay for the feed for all of the chickens - we already have the space and laying boxes, so now we just need the chicks!
We also raised two pigs this year, which made a delicious addition to our freezer and supper table. However, a few of my husband's co-workers and a couple of my friends asked if we would have any pigs to sell at butchering time. We didn't this year, but we will (Lord willing!) this coming year and in years to come. The pigs started out as 4-H projects for two of the girls, who quickly lost interest, and so the pigs became my project. It will remain my project, and as a means to help supplement our family income (primarily in paying for the expense of raising our own meat animals). I am also hoping to raise a couple of cows. Now realistically, I'm not sure if we'll be able to afford that this year or not - hopefully we can, but if we can't, then the profit from this coming year's pigs will finance the following year's cows. We buy the pigs as 50 pound wiggly weiners from one of the Hutterite colonies nearby, and I spoke with their dairy barn guy who said they sell the male dairy calves as either bottle fed or newly weaned calves. Obviously bottle fed are a LOT cheaper, because they haven't put as much work into them, so that's what we hope to buy - the bottle fed.
So, raising our own meat and egg-laying chickens (with enough extra to sell) not only makes for healthier living for our family, it reduces our family eco-footprint, and it helps with our income/ budget!
Now, outside of those things, it is my goal to involve my children (and obviously myself) in more community service. ACTIVE service. For years we have coordinated food drives, clothing drives, Christmas drives, donation drives for various causes... local pregnancy centers, pro-life organizations, inter-denominational groups that help encourage and support former addicts, church organizations that work to meet specific needs (like the church we attended just before leaving Texas, where our church became home to dozens of families displaced by Hurricane Katrina). However, with the exception of the church that became a shelter, most of these things have stopped at being drives to collect and distribute to their intended destinations. We need to purpose to VOLUNTEER OUR TIME as well. Most places limit volunteer helpers to a minimum age, which excludes most of my family - however, nursing homes are full of wonderful people who need loving attention, too, and our elderly in America are often unappeciated as the gems that they truly are. Other areas that accept "mini helpers" (tots and such) are also in need of people to give of their time and attention, not just *things* and money - so we purpose this year to find at least one of these places to dedicate some time, at regular intervals, to go and BE THERE and encourage and help as needed... I haven't figured out specifically and exactly what just yet, but there are a few possibilities that I'm exploring. The safety of our children is a huge factor in making this decision, and is the primary tricky spot to picking one or two. However, that doesn't take away from the need or our ability to reach out in this way.
There will probably be more... but this is where I am on non-resolution goals so far this year... and, my family is waiting for me, so I need to stop rabbit trailing and chattering anyway.
Have a happy New Year, and I'd love to hear what your goals for the coming year include! Inspire and challenge me to do more, to try new ideas, whatever - I'd love to hear what you are doing to make our world a better place in the new year!
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