11 resolutions for 2011

My mom used to recite the “be’s” to me before I left the house in jr. high and high school. Be-have. Be nice. Be kind. And be especially nice to (insert the name of a girl I didn’t particularly like). For 2011, I came up with 11 “be’s” (some call them resolutions) .
In no particular order…

1) Be more like Faith, and Howie.
Every time Faith glimpses herself in the mirror, a huge smile spreads across her face.If only we all greeted our reflections like babies. Instead of seeing the blemishes, wrinkles or other negatives, I plan to look in the mirror and smile, cause gosh darnit, people like me
As for Howie, Rob or I could leave the house for one minute and when we return, the reunion resembles that of long-lost lovers, at least on his end. I don’t plan to lick Rob’s face when he gets home, but I certainly can show more enthusiasm for the guy I married by getting up and giving him a hug when he walks in the door.

2) Be less like a sailor.
Little ears are listening now. All I need is for her first word to be sonofabitch. Cursing doesn’t make me sound intelligent so I will try to find more appropriate verbs, nouns, adverbs etc. that don’t contain the syllables !%##^&$^&*)^!

3) Be healthier. 
Vague, I know. My plan is to write down the foods I consume so that I will be less likely to a) enter a brownie eating contest at work and b) eat more green stuff. My goal is not to lose weight. Currently, I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight and before you call me a word that rhymes with witch you should know that 1) I have “pumped” enough to power all the houses on our block and therefore burned a $hi#ton (resolutions don’t start until tomorrow) of calories and 2) though the number on the scale is the same, my mid-section now resembles Santa’s bowl full of jelly. 

4) Be a better wife.
This just in…marriage is hard. It’s harder when you have a baby, even if she sleeps through the night. Rob and I have gotten into a habit of tit for tat. An “if you do this, I’ll do that” philosophy if you will. I would like to let go of the notion that just because I give one day means I should receive the next. I want to get better at giving without expecting anything in return.

5) Be a dam runner. No, that is not a typo.

6) Be aware of my appearance .
Right now, doing my hair consists of scrunching it with mousse for 15 seconds. While time might be too tight to dry and straighten my hair and put on more than minimal makeup every day, I know that if I look good, I’ll feel good.

7) Be a more frequent blogger. A new mom asked me the other day how I found the time to blog. I told her I have plenty of time (on my lunch hour, after Faith goes night night) but it was more a matter of motivation. Usually I use the excuse of too tired or too busy, but the truth is I could write more often. It’s kind of like putting on your shoes being the hardest part about going to the gym. Once I click “create new post,” it’s easy. It’s a matter of logging on and one click of the mouse.

8) Be a girlie girl.
The opportunities to get together with girlfriends are there, but I have this crazy mother’s guilt any time I leave Faith. While I know it’s good for me to get away, my heart refuses to believe it. My hope for 2011 is to have a change of heart.

9) Be in the moment more. Maybe it’s the Facebook freak in me, but I’m always thinking in status updates and tweets. When Faith does something cute (which is often 🙂 the first thing I do is yell for Rob to get the camera. While I like documenting her every move, I don’t want to remember her childhood from behind the lens of a camera. The next time she smiles or giggles, I’m going to pause and sear the sound in my brain by just soaking it up like a sponge.

10) Be-lieve in the power of prayer. Instead of just reciting a few names of pregnant ladies and babies with health problems in my head during the prayers of the faithful when the lector asks us for our own special intentions at church (whew), I want to thank God more often for my food, my family and all that is good.

11) Be me. And love me for it. I know I can be impatient, stubborn, lazy, rude and (insert other less than pleasant adjectives here). While I will work on #s 1-10 to be a better person, I want to love myself for who I am and forgive myself for not being perfect. All I can do is BE the best me that I can BE!

-Nicole