Resolutions - 2026

Ten resolutions for myself, five for the kids. 2025 edition.

10) Pick back up one small thing and keep it afloat.

9) Work out four times a week when able.

8) Read 12 books.

7) Get my shit together (December 2026 Darlena, YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS. LOCK IT UP)

6) Drink 8 glasses of water a day.

5) Stop biting my nails (I started back up when Trump got elected. Not on purpose. Just happened)

4) Impress my new bosses and do well at this new job.

3) Save $20,000

2) Fix three things about the house (maybe doors, columns, windowsill?)

1) Learn Spanish

Kids:

5) Get them into college (Santa Fe is fine).

4) Make sure they are either in extra curriculars or working.

3) Continue to get them dental care (this is very hard for us for some reason)

2) Get them to keep their rooms a little cleaner and/or do their laundry more frequently

1) Keep an open line of communication and honesty to the best of my ability.

Resolution check-in 2025

Every year, I give myself a bunch of resolutions, then never look at them again, and I check back at the end of the year to see if I just magically did any of them. Here's this year's:

10) Continue to do one small thing a day to make the world better, to resist, to provide a little kindness, to help where I can. 

I will give myself this one, even though I fell way off these past couple of months due to personal upheaval. I did many many small things, and will continue to. 1

9) Work out four times a week when able.

Yes. 1

8) Read 12 books.

No, again! I can never get to 12! This year, I read 10 books. AGAIN 0

7) Push up challenge (1 added on each day).

HAHAHA, I think I got to like 32 pushups and stopped this nonsense. 0

6) Drink 8 glasses of water a day.

No. 0

5) Get and keep the house clean.

I did this. I deep cleaned it throughout most of the first six months of the year, and then I hired house cleaning help to help me keep it that way. Which is cheating, but still. It doesn't say IIIII have to do it. 1

4) Fix three things about the house.

Hmm, I think the only thing I fixed about the house this year was the garage door, and that's because it broke. 0

3) Maintain a number of healthy friendships beyond work and family. Re-ignite at least three friendships I have let slide.

Half point. I'm trying to keep up with a few people. Re-ignite is a strong word. .5

2) Continue to work on the deep-seated issues that prevent me from being a firm, steady rock, authoritative but kind, that my family needs.

I did this. But some other stuff came up so 1

1) Take some time every day to be centered. Stretching, meditation, rest with no outside stimulus, Chill Zone at gym, whatever.

No. 0

TOTAL: 4.5/10

Kids:

5) Firm boundaries and consequences for 75 percent of negative interactions, at least.

Half point. I actually stepped back and let life hand them the firm boundaries and consequences, but that worked in its way. .5

4) Enforce new chore schedule, ready them for adult responsibilities.

No. 0

3) Work out how licenses and cars are going to go, and stick to it.

Yes. 1

2) Get the girls dual enrolled, and SAT tested. Help them with college stuff.

Yes, but there are hiccups. 1

1) Keep an open line of communication and honesty to the best of my ability.

Yeah, I tried hard. 1

TOTAL: 3.5/5

DITL - 2025

It's time for my annual DITL. Every year (save a couple in the middle there), I photograph an entire day of my life. I've been doing it since 2011. So, the girls were 3 when this started, and now they are 16. And we have a record, year by year of what an average day looks like through the ages. Here is 2025.

Wake up is 6:15 a.m.

Breakfast of champions for the girls.

Then I take my old person meds and check my blood pressure, lol.

The girls and I get ready for work and school.

I get to work and start on my to-do list.

Jon comes in and we talk about work and movies (probably).

Eating breakfast out of a tupperware container at my desk, like a winner.

My first duties are to sign us up for a fundraiser for Grace Marketplace, a homeless shelter in town, and to prepare a 'big check' for our Scholar Athlete of the Year--a $5,000 scholarship to the school of their choice. I also checked and answered emails and all that jazz.

Time to put up an NBC SNL promo, and check in on a commercial for the Chamber of Commerce.

Whenever we use tickets to an event or trade of any sort, I have to mark it down for our budgets.

This is what it looks like to put actual footage on the actual air. The first one is a commercial that runs on orders. They must run a certain amount of times on certain days and all of that is marked. The second is a PSA which will run overnight and is inserted manually into the logs given the cart number I assign it.

Then I have an off-site meeting with a new client.

After that I pick up the girls from school and drop them home before heading to the Scholar Athlete presentation.

But first I pick up a quick, unhealthy lunch and eat it in the high school parking lot where the presentation is taking place.

Congratulations, Scholar Athlete!

The rainy workday is over.

I run home, change for Body Combat, learn a couple new routines for the class, and drive to the Y to get it done.

Natalina goes to a different gym when I get back, and afterward, we stop at Walgreens to pick up some Valentine's Day gifts.

Done!

Once home again, I make dinner.

We all eat!

Then I complain to Google about the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico and mark it in my One Small Thing log.

I take the dog for his nighttime walk.

Check the blood pressure again, and it's garbage, so I do some silly breathing exercises again and it comes down, which is also garbage.

Time for bed, about 11 p.m.

But first I do a little reading. Good night!

Resolutions - 2025

Ten resolutions for myself, five for the kids. 2025 edition.

10) Continue to do one small thing a day to make the world better, to resist, to provide a little kindness, to help where I can.

9) Work out four times a week when able.

8) Read 12 books.

7) Push up challenge (1 added on each day).

6) Drink 8 glasses of water a day.

5) Get and keep the house clean.

4) Fix three things about the house.

3) Maintain a number of healthy friendships beyond work and family. Re-ignite at least three friendships I have let slide.

2) Continue to work on the deep-seated issues that prevent me from being a firm, steady rock, authoritative but kind, that my family needs.

1) Take some time every day to be centered. Stretching, meditation, rest with no outside stimulus, Chill Zone at gym, whatever.

Kids:

5) Firm boundaries and consequences for 75 percent of negative interactions, at least.

4) Enforce new chore schedule, ready them for adult responsibilities.

3) Work out how licenses and cars are going to go, and stick to it.

2) Get the girls dual enrolled, and SAT tested. Help them with college stuff.

1) Keep an open line of communication and honesty to the best of my ability.

Resolution Check-In, 2024

Every year, I make 10 resolutions for the upcoming year, and then never look at them again. Then I check in to see if I've naturally done any of the things I wrote down. I have an acquaintance who is into vision boarding. Think of this as the opposite of that.

Here's what I thought I could pull off last year:

Resolution time for the new year. 10 for me, 5 for the kids. Let's do it.

10. Read 12 books.

I read 10. Not bad, but not the goal. 0

9. Fix three things about the house.

I fixed two things. I redid the bathroom and put screens up on all the windows. 0

8. Make more money at one job.

I'm only making a little more that they gave me through annual raises. Still dropping money. I can't move jobs until the girls are in college though. For sure. 0

7. Figure my shit out.

Doing way way way better with this. In a much better spot. Still doing the work. Counting this. 1

6. Go out with a friend twice a month.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Okay, sure. 0

5. Get the house clean.

Half. I deep cleaned half the house. Yes, it took all year. 0

4. Gym 4 times a week.

I mostly did this. I'm counting it. 1

3. Give every interaction the honesty and brevity it deserves.

I forgot about this one! I worked hard on it and came a really long way. Giving it to me. 1

2. Better outer self care: hydration, skin care, nails, hair. Look put-together.

I mean, I guess. I cut off my hair that was annoying me. I think I look put together. Actual care, not so much, but good enough. 1

1. Do one thing that makes me happy every day. 

LOL OKAY. 0

TOTAL: 4/10

Kids:

5. Help each one further their interest: acting for Dulce, working out for Natalina.

I absolutely did this. Natalina has a gym membership and does pilates and rock climbing. Dulce has been in two plays and a musical, two student films which made it into festivals, and she made the state competition for this year. She's also set up on Backstage and works on sending in sides. 1

4. Save $10,000 more for them each.

Didn't make this, this year. I'm making less than I was, and everything costs more. Just coasted on what they had. I did finish paying off their college, though. (Those 529 plans or whatever). 0

3. Help them navigate life and be as happy as possible for the long term.

I'm giving myself this one. We had a VERY HARD year. But I worked and worked to keep them and their future selves safe and happy as possible. 1

2. Guide them through their learner's permits.

Done. Dulce is set to get her license in January, if she passes the test. Nat needs more practice driving, but she doesn't test until May, so we have time. 1

1. Increase their responsibilities. Help them be more ready for independence.

I'm going to go half on this. I did NOT increase their responsibilities at home. But Nat has a job, Dulce gets odd jobs when she has time, Nat is completing a lot of community service for school, both are looking to duel enroll next year. And starting January, we are going to increase responsibilities (and monetary compensation) and see how that goes. .5

TOTAL: 3.5/5