Another New Beginning!

We are about to enter one of my favorite times of the year! New Year's Day is certainly the beginning of another calendar year and is definitely a time I reevaluate, but the beginning of another school year has just as much if not more value in a new beginning for me as well.

I have always loved going back to school! It represents so many new changes and opportunities.

It's typically around the end of summer when at least where I live it's too hot to be outside anyways! My birthday has always fallen in sync with another school year so I'm one whole year further along in school as well as one year older.

It's the beginning of new classes, new teachers, new friends, back to sports, and routine. And even if you are returning to your sport or friends you've been with for quite sometime... you come back with that much more skill, knowledge and experience to bring into yet another season!

It's an opportunity to start over! To make better grades, set new goals, join a new club, attempt a goal yet in another way. It's like magic!

Fortunately, because I love it so much, I've had the opportunity to experience it quite a bit longer than just my grade school years. Even as a teacher I loved it! I couldn't help but get all caught up in the excitement each year. A new set of students who each brought special gifts, talents, and challenges for me. I never followed the same lesson plans year to year. I always wrote new ones because I wanted them to be geared toward my new students, and their needs and passions. So it was a time for more exploration as well!

Of course, right as you begin to get settled in... Fall comes along and the season changes as well. Fall in Georgia is truly one of the most perfect times here. It's cool in the mornings and warm during the day, but pleasantly so and then at night you can finally break out a sweater. Everything changes into beautiful colors and things begin to settle down just as you begin to settle in to your new beginning!

And of course this all means back to school clothes as well, which was by far my most favorite part of returning to school! In the 10th grade I vowed to never wear the same exact outfit twice throughout the entire school year. That took a lot of work!! :)

Now... as I experience the back to school year from the perspective of a mother instead of an actual student or teacher participant... I still find it none the less exciting. Although I don't get to go to the mall with my mother and spend the entire day purchasing new outfits and shoes and accessories to be sure everything comes together just right without the worry of money because... well that's what parents worry about! :), I still get excited for them as I watch them set out on a new journey, and it's fun for me as well!

Life moving from 2 babies... to 2 toddlers.... and now towards 2 kids... means a lot of changes for me! It's great from the fact that I have more time to myself, or I can sometimes sit in my room and be on the computer without having to physically watch them at all times. But it is sad in that they are growing up so quickly and as they do, they become more independent and less dependent on me.

So I still use this time as a moment for reflection. What were my goals and dreams in January and how close have I come to achieving those? What do I still need to do in the following 5 months to try to get closer to where I'd hoped to be? The timing really works out perfectly. It is like a mid-year review! And for me... I could almost use them weekly! :)

In Alb. we discussed the difference between Goals and Targets. Targets are specific and can be calculated, whereas goals are more intrinsic such as emotions and feelings. One goal I definitely need to continue to work towards is patience. I want to be fast, efficient, and perfect NOW! But I'm realizing that those things come through a series of work as I get older. And not just speaking triathlon, but in all terms of life!

So I'll continue to reevaluate and tweak my path as I move forward into yet another year! Wishing the best to each and everyone of you in the remaining part of your 2008!
K