I'm always sad that the holidays are over! It's getting more and more exciting now that I have 2 little ones who are full of excitement and BELIEVE in Santa. It's such a cozy time to be at home with them for two weeks - no school, lots of family around, some new toys to play with and lots of tasty food. It's also a special time for giving and teaching children about not only receiving but sharing the cheer with others.
Now, it's January, and the only thing that gets me out of the post-holiday blues is to start cleaning and organizing and setting goals for the NEW year. I don't set resolutions per se, but I decide to start fresh and make goals for the year.
**This year, since we have a new house, I've decided to set extra time aside each month to keep it organized and not collect junk or clutter. I don't want closets that don't open or are overflowing with crap.
**We will donate unused toys, or have garage sales or even sell stuff on Craigslist.
**And the same goes for my fridge and pantry. I want to keep it clean so I can see everything that's in there. This will hopefully save us some money as well and waste less food.
**I want to get better at eating everything, even if that means making a random dinner or green drink once a week to use up the stuff that's lingering. Or even a soup {photo below is of a really yummy miso style soup I made using all the veggies in my fridge}.
**In addition, I want to make sure I make my kids a smoothie once a day. Packed with fruit and greens and all sorts of other nutritious stuff. I do this quite often as it is but I want to make it a more regular event. Just so I don't stress about their veggie intake and the rest of the day can be less strict.
**Hopefully I will also find my green thumb this year. I want to be using all the fruit and greens from my yard to make these drinks and healthy meals. So far we have limes, meyer lemons, tangerines, plums, apples, avocados and figs. But hopefully by Summer we'll have herbs, kale and other greens. If I succeed. {I often forget about my trees and all the fruits - so they fall off the trees die, I KNOW, HORRIBLE!} I am the type of person that can't even keep an air plant alive.
So far this year...I've spent everyday sick as a dog and that's NOT VERY MOTIVATING!
Part of me likes being sick because it forces me to stay home and take care of myself, drink tea, go to bed early and cleanse. But, my kids are also sick this time. It's been 2 years since they've been sick and so it's about time. But man, these colds are kicking our butts! It's hard to keep everybody eating well when you are so tired, your nose is running, kids are coughing and head is pounding(!!!).
It's not like it used to be though - I'd get a box of Kleenex, hop in bed all day and watch movies. NOPE. Not anymore. I have non-stop responsibilities to take care of at home and kids to feed.
Being sick this week has really made me feel exceptional thankful for our good health and I realized in a new way how fortunate we truly are to to be sick so little of the time. And how we are usually full of energy, healthy slowing skin and feeling so GREAT. Looking back now...at all those times when I had yelled at my boys for being too roudy or got annoyed at their crazy energy - I'm feeling bad. I SHOULD HAVE BEEN REJOICING. They are healthy and happy and full of life; no non-stop runny noses or constant coughing or restless sleep or diarrhea or throwing up or constipation.
Sometimes that's what being sick is - a good wakeup call to enjoy life and be thankful in a new way!
In the end, it was sort of fun to be sick together. We got to watch shows and cuddle up with tea. It's kind of been WONDERFUL!
BUT, being sick is definitely difficult when all you want to do is clean the house, get organized, eat better and get started on your new years goals.
So, let's get on with this cold and move onto some great recipes and getting healthy! Please forgive me for my absence.
We have a few wonderful interviews coming up to get all of us motivated to start the year off healthy {lots of irony here}!
Leave a Reply