December 2018 Goals: Bring on the Holidays

December 2018

No matter how hard I tried to fight it, we are right in the middle of holiday season. In recent years, my anxiety and stress levels don’t allow me to fully enjoy this time of year, so I can’t say I was really looking forward to it. However, this year and this season have been OK. Not entirely great, but not exactly terrible either. So, I’m ready to face December 2018.

November was filled with family time, school obligations, and appointments. Overall, it was filled with a lot of fun, a little bit of stress, and a pretty good feeling of accomplishment. While my goals aren’t all checked off, as with last month, the additional “stuff” really paid off.

So, before we get to December 2018 Goals, take a look back at November.

November 2018 Goals

Personal Goals

• Organize my closet. Try to purge. Organized, but need more purging.
• When I feel stressed, take a breath. Or a break. I’m counting this as a yes because I am way more conscious of doing it now.
• Enjoy the journey and the destination. Work in Progress. Also, read this.

Health Goals

• Get more sleep. That’s it. Just more. Nope. So Tired. All. The. Time.
• Keep drinking water. Yes! Except, I have stopped drinking lots at night because of problem above.
• STOP eating after 8pm. Ugh. No. Also, resulting in crazy dreams in the time I am actually sleeping.
• Keep going to the gym. It’s my therapy. Yes!

Family Goals

• Make it to all of our activities (Scouts/Engineering for Mr. B, Book club, MKE mom’s club event, twins’ club events for me) I missed Book Club because I messed up and forgot to add it to our shared calendar, however, I DID read the book! So, I’m calling it a win.
• Enjoy Thanksgiving Yes! It was really nice this year. Our families spread things out, so we didn’t have to run from place to place on one day. We had actual Thanksgiving at my Inlaws, and celebrated on Saturday with my family.

• Have a good check-up with Little P’s specialist Yes! Things are where they should be, but we still have to follow-up with a neurologist about his possible tethered cord.
• Renew our Health Insurance YES!!!! A huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. At least until we have to pick new doctors in January.
• Get ready for Family Vacation (coming in December) Reservations made, theme park tickets booked, packing started, stress level = going up by the day

Professional Goals

• • Write more – I only published 3 new posts last month. I did, however, write a few posts for MKE Moms Blog, which you can read HERE, HERE, and HERE. So, I’ll give myself half a point.
  • Read more Yes! I read Wicked River* (Book Club: Super scary good) and the new Liane Moriarty book Nine Strangers* (Couldn’t put it down). Plus, I started The Garden of Small Beginnings* by Abbi Waxman, and it will be done soon.

*All Amazon Affiliate Links. There is no additional cost to you to click-through the highlighted text, and if you make a purchase, I may make a small commission.

Addition to the Goals

Remember how I said the additional stuff paid off, well, here’s what it included.

We re-did the twins’ room, which was a huge (but thrifty!) project. My husband painted the orange wall beige, and we got the boys bunk beds from IKEA. There was a little swearing and a lot of sweating, but we put that baby together by bedtime. Plus, the top bunk is low, so no one is afraid. Although, the twins were concerned with how they would talk at night, not being face-to-face anymore.

Spoiler alert: They’ve figured it out.

I also found these bean bag chairs on Amazon (thanks to my one of my best twin mom friends!) They come un-stuffed, so you can then fill with stuffed animals. I’m not sure why it took me so long to purchase these. Here are the ones we got for each boy. (Amazon Affiliate links. Simply click-through the picture.) Can you guess who got which one? Hint: The twins got their favorite colors, and Mr. B got the biggest one.

No more stuffed animals taking over the house!

Also, the boys had a great music concert at school (all three actually sang this year!) and parent/teacher conferences too. The twins are doing great in Kindergarten this year, and I think we made a good decision in having them repeat. It’s such a different experience from last year.

Then, we saw a tree lighting, set up our Christmas tree forest, made a gingerbread house, lost and found a beloved stuffy. Plus, I’ve almost finished my Christmas shopping! I feel like we’re ahead of the curve for December 2018 and the holidays.

So, here we go for goals…

December 2018 Goals

Personal Goals

• Donate and/or sell more clothing out of my closet.
• Scale back on spending. I’m not going to say it’s a “no spend” month because, well, it’s me. However, I’m going to be more conscious because we’re spending on Christmas presents and our family vacation.
• Spread Awareness for TTTS Awareness Month. I’ve already recorded a video for the TTTS Foundation, and I also want to write a blog post.

Health Goals

• Figure out this sleep thing. I haven’t been staying up late, but I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep.
• Stop eating after 8pm. I’m going  to keep this one here until it sticks.
• Keep it up at the Gym.

Family Goals

• Have a fun, safe family vacation. 
• Have a fun, stress-free Christmas.
• Keep busy and keep fighting to a minimum during School break. The argueing, whining, and fighting has been out of control lately. We have to figure it out before someone gets sent to military school.

Professional Goals

• Keep writing.
• Stretch every day. We have started working on our dance for our Spring show, and I have a leg hold that I want to improve.

That’s it.

I’m not going to lie. Our upcoming family vacation has me stressed out. I’m worried about:

• Flying
• Our hotel (clean, safe, etc)
• Everyone getting along
• Everyone having fun

If there’s something that might go wrong, I’ve already thought about it and have convinced myself it will happen. It’s mostly my anxiety at work, but also traveling with children. They are just so darn unpredictable. I wish I was more laid back, but that’s just not me.

So, please say a little prayer, send some good vibes, or something to help me relax!

What are you doing this December? Do family vacations stress you out?