A year later...

I love symmetry, especially when it comes to time. So of course I love that a year and a day ago I posted a list of resolutions for 2012, which, I am pleased to report, I mostly fulfilled:

1. No new books. Read the ones I got. Stuck to this one like seaweed to rice. Bought only one (used) book the entire year,  Ian Sansom's The Truth About Babies. It's one of those books organized into tons of chapters that can be savored over months. Still reading it   :)

2. Let go of stuff. Rid the clutter. First of all,  it's hilarious to me that I actually made this a resolution--me, who decides I no longer like a shirt and immediately flings it out to the giving tree, whose idea of a great Saturday afternoon is organizing the mud room. So yeah, this was an easy one. Now if only I could get M to clean out his side of the closet...

3. Dance more. Yep, definitely did, if being in a constant state of bounce/jiggle/trot with an infant in arms can be considered dancing. Ditto the ridiculous feats of foot stomping and arm wagging and hip swiveling that M and I perform in an attempt to keep Mallory entertained while we cook dinner.

4.Publish 10 new pieces in 10 new places. Oy. Almost. Not 10, but 6, with a 7th coming out soon. Disappointing, I must admit, but I also became the food writer for the Bohemian and just got an inspiring personal rejection from the editor of Pank, so my heart continues to soar. This coming year? 10 for sure!

5. Relax. This I'm most proud of. I relaxed alright. I lounged around on the living room floor while Mallory made a sport of biting my nose. I stayed in my jammies until 2:00 on random Wednesdays and ignored the heap of laundry and crawled into bed at noon on Sunday (just today, in fact) to savor a midday nap. Yes, I still burn with restless energy, I never say no to a writing assignment, and I still use a half-soiled napkin to wipe down the entire kitchen floor (yep, just today) in the midst of cooking breakfast. But yes, thanks mostly to Mallory, who demands so much of me so much of the time, I have finally embraced the lovely and amazing art of doing nothing sometimes.