Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Resolutions

Yeah, I know, I am a little late. We are still in our last week of holiday limbo, where we have several faculty meetings and so on, but not all classes have started. One of my classes has very low numbers and has a good chance of being canceled, which leaves a lot of stuff up in the air, too. I might lose it altogether, or I might be offered a different class. I have mixed feelings about it--not about the money, which I definitely want ;)--but for several reasons, it will be a challenge. For one, it is for 6 hours every Saturday, which means either my cups runneth over or the hassle of bringing Elena to class or pumping. Additionally, we have changed textbooks again (I will not comment freely on this, lest it jeopardize my career) and while I consider this textbook to be a vast improvement over the previous one, it means that students who used the previous textbook have substantial gaps in knowledge, and integrating all the new material will be difficult. Anyway, I claim this as my excuse for resolution tardiness.

Honestly, though, I tend to be ambivelent about resolutions to begin with. I certainly need to change in some areas, to become more organized, etc. In the past, though, I've displayed a tendency to be overly ambitious or overly regimented. Then, when I fail to live up to my own expectations, I get frustrated and discouraged and eventually give up. Also, the book-report principle comes into play. Things that are normally pleasant become tedious when they are obligatory. I have yet to find the balance I seek.

So what are the things I want to work on?

*More time focusing on God's presence

*More schoolwork with Ariana

*Speaking Spanish more consistently with the kids. We were really good about this for awhile, but have slipped into more English recently.

*Less screen time for the kids

There are certainly other areas with room for improvement (house cleaning comes to mind), but these are the things that are my highest priority right now (it is doubtful that mopping the floors will ever become one of my highest priorities).

Ah! I just thought of a resolution that has an excellent chance of success. I hereby resolve to eat chocolate every day. One that I should begin immediately...

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