Finding Balance

So, I noticed that my last blog post was July 31, 2016.  That's right, 2016....  So I guess my overzealous New Year's resolutions listed in this post will make up for the years of slacking.
So, first a quick recap of where my life is now, from 2 1/2 years ago. My daughter is now a Senior in high school, and I feel like I have visitation rights when she graces us with her appearance.  She is in her own world, and I'm letting it be.  My son is a Sophmore, and while his typical addiction to gaming and his phone drives me crazy, he is otherwise doing great!  We are still pretty close, and he takes good care of me, but I know that it can change in an instant.  I was super close with Brooke when she was a Sophmore too, so I'm waiting for him to follow her path:(
Not much has changed in my career.  I'm still in fourth, still teaching ELA and social studies.  I put so much work into creating things that I can coast now, but I realize that's making me somewhat unhappy.  I need newness and change, so that's part of my decision to get back to blogging and creating.
Running seemed to flourish since I last blogged.  I closed out 2016 still not meeting my goal of 1000 miles in a year, but I managed over 1300 in 2017, and almost 1800 in 2018. My first marathon was in 2013, then another in 2015.  I ran two marathons in 2017, and then somehow ended up running 6 in 2018.  Maybe I got a bit carried away, but it's easy to do when you've found great friends to travel distances to have these experiences with.

Boston

Glass City (Toledo)

Aspen

Chicago

Palmetto Bluff (Hilton Head)

New York

The last month of running (and currently) was not good because of a chronic back condition that I'm finally going to see a specialist about next week.  So my first goal is related to that.  
Here they are: 2019 NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS!

1. Stretching - I am going to stretch EVERY DAY.  I tend to get away from this when my body is feeling good.  Duh!  Stretching is preventative.  So every morning after I run, or in the evening on days I don't run.
2. Blogging monthly - Getting back to reading blogs for inspiration is part of this goal.
3. TpT monthly - Some of my favorite projects to do year after year are ones I put a lot of extra time into for posting on TpT.  The extra money is nice, and helped fund many of my running trips, but I realize that I need some new projects to work on.
4. Reducing dependency on plastic - My daughter and I are planning to find many ways to reduce plastic in our lives.  She has been pushing this for a while, and a recent 60 Minutes episode on our plastic problems helped get me on board.  To make this goal measurable (Smart goals, right?) I intend to find 12 significant changes to my everyday routine.  So basically one per month, but they can occur as they happen.  More on this to come.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far.  I'd greatly appreciate any short comment to help encourage me to keep up with this.  I feel better already to be back.  Blogging for me is kind of like a journal, but if others read it, it is nice:)  Happy New Year, and I look forward to reconnecting with many bloggers from 2016, and some new ones too!