Oklahoma City family fun is here throughout the year, whatever else it holds.
As each year draws to a close, lists of the year's best headlines and most momentous events start to fill my news feed.
I scroll through the photos on my phone throughout this past year and see all that we've done: celebrated our baby's first birthday, made a house our home, rode a Ferris wheel, adopted and lost a kitten, rode a horse, went roller skating. Most of our adventures have been recapped here and I see my children grow year-to-year in the photos.
There's never enough time to see and do all that we want to see and do, in between the homework and the housework. Everyone has to eat dinner every single night, there are lunches to pack and both of those are made possible by trips to the grocery store. So many trips.
The plan I have for the week between Christmas and New Year's is to sit down with my brand new Day Designer and make a plan for the new year. I wasn't familiar with Day Designer until MetroFamily's article came out about it in December and I was really happy when our publisher gifted me one this year.
The basic planner concept is there but with a broader purpose than just the day-to-day. Defining bigger goals and making those possible throughout the year is part of what I like about it.
Taking that time to really define what I want out of 2017 just seems smarter than going at it with a half-hearted resolution I know won't really go anywhere past February.
I want to try some new things this year and the opportunity to do that is pretty much endless with MetroFamily's calendar of community events. I have worked at MetroFamily for almost four years and I haven't seen all of Oklahoma City yet. I also want to exercise more, find a church that makes sense for our family and just live more happily.
I'd like to be more in more photos where I'm not looking at my phone. Be in more photos period. Less phone overall because if I'm not looking it, I might actually be looking at my children and have something more to remember than lunchtime email.
There's also a section in the Day Designer for a word that defines your year. I've already thought about it and my chosen word is "enough."
We have enough, thank God.
It is enough to do all I can for my job and my children and my life commitments. There is enough time, somehow, even when I think there isn't. When I can't find the time or do anymore, then that's enough. I am enough.
Next year isn't promised. We never do know how much time we have anyway.
Enough means contentment and contentment is as close as many of us ever get to happiness.
May the holidays bring you that same peace this year, whether at Christmas or in the new year.
You've done enough for this year. Enjoy!