A Fresh Year

I have been reading lots of posts with recaps on the previous year and what people wish to achieve in 2018.

I too have been reflecting on last year and thinking about the year ahead.  Here is the post where I was looking forward to 2017 and I nominated a word for the year "Reconnect".  How did I go? I planned to review this every month.  Unfortunately, that seemed to peter out, as did my blogging in general.  Life does that sometimes. Let's have a look now...

READ MORE BOOKS - Fail.  I read a few, but not many.  We did cull the majority of our books to the Lifeline Book Fair.  We have since bought a few more, but we intend to just keep what fits on our bookshelves. Hopefully, I will read more this year.

EXPLORE - Yes, but not as much as we had wished.  We had a few days out around here, attempted to travel around Australia, only to have it aborted.  We did have a nice trip up the east coast.  We then had a nice week or so down into South Australia before Mum got sick and that was aborted too.  Our trip down the south coast of NSW in November was lovely.

CREATE - In 2017 I achieved very little in the sewing room.  I did, however, finish my drunkard's path quilt right at the end of the year.  At least that was something.  Of course I participated in the SSCS organised by Chookyblue.

ORGANISE - Fail.  I procrastinate too much on this, and then when Mum moved into residential aged care we ended up with most of her possessions here as well.  I just don't know where to start.

NURTURE - So so.  It did seem to be home improvement central around here at times and we have spend quite a bit of time in the garden.  Cooking and baking?  Not so much.  

NEW EXPERIENCES - Yes!  There were a few. 

Firstly, getting a new pushbike was a very unexpected thing.  I'm not using it as much as I should, but it does get ridden.  At least I'm not wobbly on it now. 

The second surprising and major new experience was me transitioning to working only three days a week.  This is fantastic.  Have I made good use of my time?  Mmmm, not really.  Do I feel better for it?  Definitely.  It still doesn't seem real.  I think as I get used to it I will be more productive. 

Finally, I've started to experience the aged care system.  Not an experience we were expecting, but once it was organised, it is all good.

ENJOY FRIENDS - Yes.  We have spent time with local friends and we really enjoyed catching up with friends and relatives on our trip north.

CARAVANNING - Yes.  We only expected to use it for weekends away at this stage, so our trips to South Australia and down the South Coast were bonuses.  They were only because of our aborted motorcycle trip around Oz, but were very enjoyable just the same.  We have decided we like this caravanning.

TAKE TIME - This was always a bit vague.  Now that I am only working three days a week, I can take time to spend with Mum without feeling guilty.  Mick is also trying to work less on Thursdays and Fridays, so we can spend time doing things, or not doing much at all.

So, what about 2018?

Last year I commented that I thought things may settle down in 2017.  Maybe that will happen in 2018?  We'll see.

I've been thinking of a word again.  I tossed around a few ideas, which all would have been relevant, but in the end this is what I have come up with.

FOCUS

Most of what I wanted last year remains the same.  However, to achieve my goals I need to focus......

Focus on what is most important to us.

Focus on spending quality time together.

Focus on making our home a pleasure to be in.

Focus on finishing a sewing project before starting another and reducing the number of UFOs I have.

Focus on organising one thing at a time.  Work on a small step and finish it.  Once organised, focus on maintaining it.

Focus on completing a "To Do" list, not just writing it.

Just generally not getting distracted and not procrastinating.

And finally, try not to bite off more than I can chew, as that will certainly lead to lack of focus.

We'll see in twelve months how I go.