Hello from 2016. The kids are back in school and I am sitting here in disbelief that another year has come and gone. While I blogged less in the last year, I accomplished many things with my family, advocacy, and living life. As the boys have gotten older, I am more conflicted with what I should and should not share. I have a list of posts that are waiting to be written based on our traveling and programs that we went to during the last chunk of months. In addition to this, I have a notebook with drafts of posts written. Yes, I went old school. While waiting outside for the kids each afternoon, I grabbed a pencil and paper. There’s something calming about witnessing words race onto a sheet of paper.

Many people are selecting a word for 2016. Over winter break I kept thinking about this. There is so much happening this year. NHL will be a Bar Mitzvah. My first born will therefore officially be a teen. Talk about a major kick in the gut. In addition to this, a rather big birthday is at the end of the year for me. Lots to do and eventually plan for all of that.

In addition to this, the fight continues in the world of educational advocacy. The level of disgust within NYS from parents and teachers is high. I continue to get more and more angry for my children and at the attack on my profession. None of us are giving up and we all know that simply changing the name of a policy is not fixing the problems created by the reform movement. GRRRRRR!

So, what word should I select for 2016?

I believe focus will be my word. I need to keep my mind on one thing at a time so I don’t get overwhelmed and forget the goal at the end.

Yes, in 2016, I will focus on:

• ME! It’s time to be selfish and work on making me happy and healthy. I will make time for this because, if I don’t, it will not only hurt me, but also my family.
• making a Bar Mitzvah that will make NHL happy. He’s working so hard I want him to smile and not worry about a thing.
• going with the flow. I can’t control everything and I have to remember that. I’ve done better with that in some avenues like the kids and school, but need to work on other aspects.
• traveling to more locations for day trips  or long weekends with the kids and TechyDad. We only have so many more years to make as many memories as possible. There are many museums and places within driving distance that we should explore.
• an editorial calendar. Freelance work and life pushed some of my own writing to the side last year. I enjoy coming here to write and document things. It’s therapeutic and helps, so I must make it something I do at least a few times each week.
• getting to TypeACon in October. It’s my favorite conference in a magical place. It’s also very close to my birthday, so it will be part of my present.
• purging things we don’t need. It’s funny how belongings grow and multiply. It’s time to get the entire family involved and let others have things we no longer need, but they may enjoy.
• moving outside of my comfort zone in crochet. I want to try reading more patterns and this includes the Star Wars set that I received for Chanukah.
• reading more throughout the year. I often cluster read. While I enjoy books, I debate if I should read, watch a show, or work on a project. Audio books will on my phone when I drive and I have my Kindle app so there’s never an excuse to read for at least thirty minutes a day.

There are more items that I want to focus on, but this is a good start. Once again, I am going to take things one day at a time and just keep swimming. What are the items you plan to focus on in 2016?