Kidlette Bailey

2007 was a long year. A. VERY. LONG. YEAR. Let’s see if I can get this right in no particular order … Expanded my Second Life business Purple Stripe Productions. Worked at crayon for a short bit. Had a baby boy. Sent my first born on the bus to 1st Grade. Fell in love with Twitter. Attended Podcamp NYC and Podcamp Philly. Organized Podcamp Second Life. Hit New Media Expo (and gave a talk!) for the second year. Saw my brother & grandmother live another year. It may not seem like much typed out, but it wore me out! Last New Years Eve I didn’t set any goals for myself except to keep my family healthy and just survive. 2006 was really REALLY hard and I was basically in survival mode for 2007. Guess I survived.

Baby JackThis year we are celebrating with our neighbors at their house to enjoy their company, friendship, and hugmungous movie theatre in the basement. Ever since having our first kid, we really haven’t done much for New Years. Not that we did the whole big party scene before that, but options seem limited since the kids came.

I wonder what’s in store for this year? Now that my feet are planted a bit more firmly on Earth, I can actually look forward to 2008.

  • I’d like to be a great mom and teach my kids to be compassionate, well-rounded, and be proud of who they are. A tall order for the baby, but Kidlette is 6+ years old and so far it’s worked with her.
  • I’d like to enjoy every little baby moment with Jack, because he’s our last and it goes by so fast. Kissing baby toes is high on my list.
  • I’d like to spend more time in activities with my daughter and our local community. She’s a Girl Scout Brownie this year and it’s a good place to start. It’s important to me that she learn to give to others and learn about the world around her. Having “only child syndrome” for 6 years has left her a little self-centered, and I think some community work will do her – and me – good.
  • I’d like to spend more time with my husband. Sounds strange, but I’ve realized the only time in our busy schedules we get to chat is on the random car trip together to the grocery store. I miss him, and would love to do this ‘date night’ thing I hear so much about. A tall order with an infant, but I think we can swing it once a month.
  • I’d like to get hopping with work again, and not just for the adult interaction, I miss contributing outside a family setting. The last few months of 2007 were hard for working because of giving birth (duh!) but I’m hoping to kick off 2008 with a solid work schedule.
  • I’d like to get serious about getting in shape and eating better, not just for me, but to set a better example for our kids. Since I’m done having babies, a size 6 is in my future again! Family dinners on the weekends would be great too.
  • I’d like to get my podcasts going again, especially SCRAPcast. And that means finishing the craft room I started January 2007 (right before I got pregnant and couldn’t finish). Video shows are in my future, but I just need to find a local crafting partner to band together with.
  • CLEAN AND PURGE MY HOME. I spent a lot of my pregnancy watching home improvement shows on TV, and I would like nothing more than to donate a huge pile of STUFF every week in 2008 on Freecycle. Only after it’s clean will I start to think about decorating (be on the lookout for that on next years goals).
  • Practice more localvore behavior. Although we live in NJ, which many assume is the toxic waste dump of the country, we actually live in the center of a ton of U-Pick and commercial farms. Right down the street is a farmer co-op I need to look into. Going to local restaurants rather than chains is a priority also.

Big list, hua? Yeah, I didn’t realize how much I wanted to accomplish, but I think it’s obtainable. Well, all but maybe the size 6 thing. I’d settle for an 8 at this point.

[tags]new years, scrapcast, girl scouts, crayonville, second life, purple stripe productions, podcamp, mom, parenting[/tags]