My New Years’ Resolution List

In looking for a topic to write on this snowy second day of 2017, I keep coming back to a laundry list of things I’d like to accomplish in the new year.

Take more vacations.

I’m not talking about weeklong excursions, as I still have a few children left at home who can’t fend for themselves, but more long weekend getaways where one of the older kids can pop home & be in charge.

I actually had a couple planned for this last year, but time was a big enemy. Plus a new roof and HVAC system took a bite out of funds. I’d like to get back to Washington DC for a visit, and possibly Boston to do some genealogical research.

Ultimately, getting away for a couple of days is a nice chance for my wife and I to spend some non-kidcentric time together as a couple. In another ten years, we will be facing an empty nest. Hitting that point and going “what do we do with ourselves now?” is not a good thing.  I like to think we got married because we liked spending time together.  Reminding ourselves of that along the way is a good thing.

Build more.

Along the lines of activities where I’m spending more time with my wife, I also find myself with a laundry list of projects that I’d like to build in the yard or garage.

A couple of summers ago when I built my deck out of SDSU bleacher remnants, the older of my sons found himself getting quite into it, even if it consisted largely of driving deck screws along a chalk line. He was quite proud to declare that “we” built the deck in the summer as he returned to school that fall.

Much like spending more time with my wife, it’s a good opportunity to do more with my sons; teaching them the kind of things I learned from my mom in doing furniture restoration. That you can do many things yourself. Getting your hands dirty and knowing how to build and fix things is a valuable skill that will serve you well later in life, and there’s a sense of pride in a job well done.

Write more for myself.

I’ve got the first chapter of at least two books pecked out on my computer, with at least a couple more in my head. I probably don’t devote anything more than an occasional passing glance at them on a quarterly basis.  Somehow, I don’t think that Stephen King or George R. R. Martin got started that way.

I’ve been writing to tell the story of South Dakota Politics going on 12 years now. While far, far from perfect, I hope I can peck out my thoughts on a keyboard at this point. The challenge is to go from a short form reporting of current events and stories to a longer form narrative that can hopefully entertain as well as remain marginally cohesive.

I learned a long time ago writing SDWC that you improve by getting out there and doing. It took me a long time to get SDWC to be where it is today.  The challenge is not getting out there and failing, but getting out there at all. Practice and perseverance are what lead most people to success.

Make time.

I know someone reminded me in the past in a clichéd manner that you never “find time.”   The actual quote from Charles Buxton (An 1800’s era British brewer and author) is “You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.”

Making time to do all these things I’d like to do is probably the greatest challenge I face. Because the time I have available to devote to those things I’d like to do is so finite, especially when weighed against the things I do to enable things I’d like to do such as vacations, home construction, writing, etc. Not to mention the other things I do as in blogging, eating, living in a home, making sure my kids wear clothes and don’t have to wear animal pelts from things they’ve trapped, and all that societal nonsense.

I have my 8-5 insurance job, plus real estate, plus blogging, plus doing an occasional bail bond. And there’s print work during the political seasons.

Making time for all that I’d like to do is probably my greatest challenge. And arguably my most important resolution.