Setting a Million New Year’s Resolutions

There is something about the time off at the holidays that is a precursor to setting a million resolutions for the coming new year. Probably all the time to think, which doesn’t seem to come easily during busy harvest season or any of the other seasons before or after harvest season. Not to say these resolutions aren’t well thought out; they have been peculating for months and now it is time to pull the trigger. So without further ado, the list…

But wait. A little review of 2021, as this was the lead up to what resolutions I set for 2022. Halfway through last year, I realized that I needed to focus on relationships. I felt like I had been so busy with my plan for self sufficiency, that I was missing big things like reading at bed time, camping, and just fun. Even though I do think of everything I was doing as fun, but it was fun for me and not always for my kids. So this is when I got off insta and decided to be more present. Not always an easy thing to do, but it felt good. Fast forward six months ish, and those feelings are still on my mind. I am back on insta for now, but I can tell I am craving that refocus so I can really be with my kids and partner intentionally. So how does that look for my resolutions…

Have fun

This might sound crazy to some, but being present and having fun isn’t always easy when you have a list a mile long of things you have to do. But I have a plan. Similar to Jordan Page’s block scheduling, this plan is about mapping out my day so certain parts are reserved for cleaning the kitchen and prepping dinner, other parts are for work for our company, and the rest is for being with my kids and partner and being more fun.
For example, if I prep dinner in the morning, then when I pick up my son from school, we can go outside and play or build forts inside. Or maybe we can drive straight to the ski trails or bike trails. But this doesn’t come without effort as I will need to make sure I am thinking ahead and making sure I have dinner ready. Dinner is always the biggest thing, eh? So funny. It also helps to have a few ideas for after school activities lined up. Some of our faves are listed above, but we also like making squirrel houses and outdoor obstacle courses or going to the river and making canals in the sand.

Date nightsssss

Why is it so hard for me to just sit down and watch a show with my partner? After the kids are in bed, I am running a marathon to do all the things I couldn’t do while they were awake. And again, that is enjoyable for me. But when this is what I always do, and I don’t make time for a card game with Cam, it means that we can go weeks without time for just us. It also means we don’t have conversations that aren’t about tasks or kids. I mean, we didn’t always have kids. We know how to have conversations.
And date night for us can simply mean sitting down together to watch a show after the kids go to her. Sometimes this is watching a cabin building video on YouTube or a cheesy action movie. And having a tea. It sounds weird that this is something that is so hard for us to do, but with my obsession to constantly do stuff and Cam sometimes falling asleep at 8:30pm after a day of hard work, means it very rarely happens. So there it is. Friday night dates. I bet this will be the hardest one to make happen. Fingers crossed.

Yoga Every Day

After kids and cows and animals and gardens, I haven’t made time to exercise consistently for a long time, say about seven years. I did try doing Sweat workouts in 2020, but it was too busy to do it consistently. So I am trying again and my goal is to do a minimum of ten minutes of yoga per day. Knowing how my days usually go, I know I can fit in ten minutes. And I also know that ten minutes can make a difference in how I feel, so it is worth while. I think a nice and easy goal like that is achievable and will keep my back from going out.

Hiking/Dog Walks

Rodge, our live stock guard dog, needs serious exercise to keep him from jumping on us like a wild man and I need exercise to ensure I don’t freeze up before I turn forty. And honestly, this is my life. Waiting to exercise after the kids are in school is ridiculous. Life is now. And if I exercise with Alby, whether he cries or not, he will learn that exercise is something everyone does and has to do. Plus it also means he will get outside every day and get fresh air and vitamin D. So it is happening. I had started this in the fall, so it is another thing I can keep doing that doesn’t seem impossible.

Cut out Refined Sugars

My obsession with the microbiome this year has been strong. Well, it started last year when I had my appendix out and I had to take antibiotics for a while because it had ruptured. And I wanted to rebuild my gut flora. So I started listening to podcasts and watching YouTube videos on the subject, and that lead me down the road of learning about how basically humans onlysurvive because of our microbiome and it essentially runs so many of our body’s functions. Did you know that you have a whole ecosystem of bacteria, virus, and fungus that live in and on your body? Even your face has beneficial bacteria on it that is different from your armpits that is different from your gut. You have more genes from your microbiome than your own human genes. And certain bacteria in your body can actually activate parts or your genes or even swap them?! It’s so crazy. And essentially if your microbiome is healthy, it works in harmony with your body and if it isn’t healthy, than things fall apart. So there is that. And if you want to keep your microbiome healthy, you need to give it what it wants, fiber. Fiber! Fiber from all the colours of the rainbow. And like 90% of your plate should be veggies, nuts, and seeds.
But guess what can hurt your microbiome? Yep, you know where I am going, sugar! Sugar! Evil sugar. Sugar feeds the bad bacteria, that can eat the good bacteria. And if you don’t feed your microbiome properly, you will get sick. Maybe not right away, but eventually, you will. Most non-communicate diseases come from problems with your microbiome. And I don’t want any diseases. So I am cutting out the sugar. But I am not cutting out maple syrup or honey. I will be reasonable about it, but I am really done with it.
And this part will probably sound nuts to most, but if you cut out sugar and too many carbs, you can actually heal cavities. How and why? I don’t know. Probably has to do with your mouth microbiome, but it is true. Since cutting back on heavy carbs and sugar a few months ago, my oldest sons cavities are actually getting smaller. Seriously!! Have you seen this too? Tell me so I don’t feel crazy. His appointment for the pediatric dentist isn’t for a few more months so I am doing all I can to keep his cavities from getting worse. And I think this is working. Or at least that is how the one cavity that looks like a black hole looks.

So long story short, no more refined sugars. And the trick to success is to have lots of healthy snack premade and ready to go. Think peanut butter balls and yogurt with chia seeds, etc etc.

I will share links on this in a more detailed post and on YouTube and insta later. I am obsessed.

But How?

How will I do this? Most of these resolutions were started in the fall so I will just get back on track after eating all the sweets and sitting around for three weeks while on vacation. And I may or may not forget that I even had resolutions come June, or probably even March, but I don’t think I will forget that I don’t want to eat sugar and I do want to exercise every day. The difference is that now my youngest is almost two and I feel like I can do them.
A big theme in my life these days is to live the life I want to live. No more waiting and dreaming. I want this now. And I am doing it. So maybe we eat eggs and toast for dinner one day or leftovers another because I was going for a hike in the morning instead of prepping dinner, but it is worth it. And we don’t have to eat a meal from scratch seven days a week either.

How a Homesteader Vacations

I thought I might never want to travel again, thinking that our homestead was the only place I needed to be. But I forgot that I am human, and my family is also human, and visiting family and getting away is actually kind of magical and needed. So we went away last August and we have left the “farm” (if I can call it that) again for Christmas. We are currently in Winnipeg, the most Canadian of Canadian cities, in my opinion, visiting family.
In order to have a successful vacation, you need to line up a house sitter/farm sitter with whom you have confidence to man the first while you are gone. For us, we wanted someone to stay at our home while we are gone to keep our old dogs company and make sure our youngest dog doesn’t decide to expand his territory while we are gone. We found someone using Facebook, who loves animals and we are confident our furry and feathered beasts are in good hands. We butchered the calf in November, so he is taking care of three dogs, three cats, thirty chickens, three ducks, and two geese, and a partridge in a pear tree. Or maybe not the last one.
Sine arriving in Winnipeg, the pandemic has ramped up slightly, and caused some complications for the family with one positive test splitting the group in two as half the family has to isolate. But we are working on making the best of it and keeping the children entertained.
When we come to Winnipeg it is a really special time to relax, play, drink tea, and eat to our hearts content. Thoughts of feeding my microbiome are on hold as I am not sure my appetite for homemade cookies helps.

Thoughts on relaxing

It’s amazing how at home, I am planning out each day, trying to maximize my time, and accomplishing as much as possible. I wake up and start my day in a run (figuratively) and feel like I just don’t have enough time to get it all done. And then vacation happens you when you finally get away you realize you can sit and drink tea and just relax. Wanna go for a walk, okay, let’s go. Wanna play cards, great, what shall we play? It’s a different pace that I think is health and rejuvenating. When we are home, even on our games nights, I am thinking about what project I will tackle after we are done and the kids are in bed. My mind doesn’t stop when we are home, and here, I can’t even think about how I am so busy at home. It’s weird.

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This place

Where we are staying, has it’s own kind of magic. Pictures on the wall from when everyone was little with real 80s haircuts, an OG nintendo with duck hunt ready to go, Christmas stockings from that hang on the same hook they did thirty or more years ago, and so much more. Our kids jump from the carpeted stairs, just like their dad did when he was little. And the grownups crowd around the bar for happy hour. Alby, not quite two, puts mitts on his feet and rolls around on the couch like he is in the best place on earth, but I think it is more about being with great people he is surrounded by.

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Perks of Winnipeg

Probably my personal favourite part of Winnipeg is that my BFF lives here. Sometimes we cross country ski, sometimes we go for pho, and sometimes we make birdhouses. This week we got to do just that, as well as drink copious amounts of tea and nut milk and it filled my cup, literally and figuratively. We had been under quarantine for almost a month as covid swept through our household, and I didn’t realize how much a missed socializing and adult company. Nothing against my cute kids, but they aren’t one to want to discuss feeding your microbiome as in depth as we did. Granted, Wilf can discuss the subject matter for a bit.

I crave crafting, and this was right up my alley. My BFF’s is so peaceful and beautiful. I have to ask him about every plant and book and record. Some of those plants are older than my kids. He really knows how to tend for those little greenlings and I like to learn from him. Like check out his cactus’. Did I spell that correctly?! Lol.

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Christmas Itself

People always write about their Christmas traditions, and although Cam and I don’t have any that are deeply ingrained, we really enjoy the traditions his family has, which include Ukrainian Christmas Eve dinner, which is twelve vegetarian (or pescatarian as we had fish) dishes. Everyone (all vaccinated, kay) got together for dinner that Baba prepared. Everything was from scratch and just the best food you could eat. Cam’s grandma is the pro cooks of pro cooks and makes each dish from scratch. Alby just loved the perogies and was a perfect gentle at the table, even using the silverware to eat his sauerkraut perogie.
We zoomed the family that was isolating, in for dinner, and they had theirs delivered from the kitchen, so we could all enjoy the same dinner “together” ish.

The turkey is in the freezer and once they are out of quarantine, we will have our Christmas beast then.

Alby thought seeing his cousins on zoom was pretty neat. You can’t underestimate how wonderful it is to be surrounded by family, even if it is virtually. It’s like love on love on love and the kids drink it up.

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What to do

It’s cold here. I mean, it is Winnipeg. So when we aren’t feasting on perogies and dainties, we try to get the kids out of the house. I love that expression that there is no bad weather, only bad gear, but the practicality of it in -20 to -28 isn’t the same thing. My goal since Wilf’s birth has been to get outside every day, rain or shine, but have you ever felt a Northern prairie wind blow right between where your toque meets your face or the gap around the bottom of your snow pants? Yep. Wind. It makes me a bad parent because I just can’t do it. So we have tried to go skating and to the park. And most days we come running back after ten minutes fearing that Alby’s cheeks will be frost bitten. Wilf is such a good sport, he doesn’t mind missing outdoor time for the sake of his little brothers epidermis. Lol.

So this means that some days Wilf gets to stay in his pajamas all day. All day! That has never happened. Ever. And he loves it. “Mom, I have been in my pajamas all day!” And he is just content. Playing with his uncles, watching too much TV, and having his own relaxing vacation time. I always want to be the one in YouTube videos who is hiking and exploring and maximizing life, but maybe there is a version of this that is about doing less “out there” and more with family and friends. I don’t think Wilf is complaining.

Homesteaders do Holiday
We are mid holiday as I type this. Hoping our family who is isolating can come and play soon so all the cousins can jump from those same stairs and the adults can sit at the bar for happy hour reunited once again.
Do I have any major lessons learned from this holiday that will make this blog post valuable to anyone out there? Yeah, maybe. Not hugely eye opening, except to say that holidays are great. Even for those with farms who take great joy in their chores and their animals. And having a good reset is worth it. And this is only Winnipeg and it has filled our cups.

I look forward to making a bit of time for crafting and working some down time in to the calendar next year.

Christmas holidays are also a great time to reset for the new year. No sugar for one year? It might happen as I obsess over feeding my microbiome once more! Cheers to you and your family! I hope you get a break too, even if it is an at home one.