New Year’s resolutions review

Now that we’re almost a month into 2014, it’s time to see how those New Year’s resolutions are really going.

January 24, 2014; 7:00 AM • by Hayley DeRoche

When it comes to New Year’s Resolutions, I’m a bit of a waffler. Some years I’ll make one. Some years I’ll make three. Some years I’ll scoff and make zero. This year, I went ahead and decided to make an effort to tweak some old habits…and maybe even try some attitude changes on for size. But now that the new year is really here and I have to live in it (rather than just think about it as some amorphous blob of future-ness), how am I doing?

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1. Eat dinner at the kitchen table

My husband and I own a really nice kitchen table–a “we bought a new house and have a dining room” World Market gift to ourselves from a few years ago. It’s huge and totally impractical, but I love it. The problem is, we don’t actually eat on it. Instead, night after night, we find ourselves eating at the dog-chewed coffee table in front of the TV; this happens so often that I’ve almost developed a Pavlovian response to the theme music of How I Met Your Mother. The other night we ate at the table like proper civilized people and remarked how nice it was–and yet right now, after an exhausting weekend of moving into a new house, all I want is to gorge myself on tacos in front of the tube.

Grade: F+1 (For now. But I have a whole year to improve! And having a baby will totally make us limit our screen time, right?2)

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2. Stop checking Facebook on my phone all the time

I don’t actually post to Facebook very often; I’m all about the Twitters. However, I found that, when bored, I’d just open Facebook on my phone and skim mindlessly. I like keeping up with people, but I don’t like feeling as though I cannot possibly wait in a line without needing a toy. I’ve remedied this by keeping my phone uncharged more often when I’m not at work or traveling. I also did the simplest thing possible: I moved the Facebook icon from the home screen of my phone; now I have to swipe to another screen to find it. By removing the “oh, it’s right there” impulse, I’ve cut down on my mindless clicking while in long grocery lines. Of course, I always have a Twitter tab open on my computer, but one thing at a time, right?

Grade: A

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3. Stop comparing everything to Richmond

Since moving from Richmond to Roanoke a little more than a year ago, it’s been tough to adjust to a different sort of city–one that has an older age demographic and a corresponding lack of things I consider bare necessities.3 Theodore Roosevelt wisely said “Comparison is the thief of joy.” You’d think that infertility and watching everyone4 but me have babies would have taught me that, but nope! It turns out it’s really hard for me to not compare everything to the RVA Gold Standard. For example, I fuss about why the atmosphere at such-and-such coffee place can’t be more like Lamplighter. Or how come there’s no huge children’s museum like in Richmond?5 Or how come the baseball games aren’t as fun as the Squirrels games?6 Why is there only one Target?7 Where’s a good, little non-chain Italian place that’s as good as Joe’s Inn, or–heaven bless me–Mamma Zu? It’s made me the biggest party pooper ever because nothing is as good as it was in Richmond, and nothing will ever presumably measure up.

The truth is, I know that it’s a bit unfair to compare a big, artsy, college city that has all my friends and lots of people more like me to a place that’s a more of a retirement city in a more rural area of the South. They are two different things. There are plenty of good things about Roanoke,8 and I’m determined to start being more optimistic. This is aided greatly by our move to a more walkable neighborhood in an area that’s the small hipper village area–like a mini-mini-mini-Fan or slightly larger Byrd Park.9

Aaaaand I did it again.

Let me give that another go: this neighborhood is a walkable neighborhood that’s really cute and has a little theater and a small co-op and coffeeshop within walking distance.

Grade: C

(I’m trying and failing a lot, but I hope to make it at least a B+ by the end of the year. I hear I’m grading on a curve…)

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What does your New Year’s Resolution GPA look like so far?

Photo by: SherryH80

  1. The + is for at least eating at the table once. The + is my participation trophy, OK? ↩
  2. Prediction: we just gorge on the tacos in front of the screen after the baby goes to sleep. (You know, if it sleeps.) ↩
  3. Limitless Saturday brunch options being a big one. If I want brunch here, I’m going to have to fight the after-church crowds on Sunday or not have brunch (with a handful of hard-sought exceptions, which I salute). ↩
  4. IN THE WORLD. ↩
  5. Not that I’m going to children’s museums sans kids, but still–I like to think ahead. And CMOR was pretty rad. (Roanoke does have Center in the Square, which boasts a butterfly habitat and aquarium, so there’s that, I should note!) ↩
  6. Answer: probably has more to do with going with my friends versus not, but the games are also way smaller here because it’s a smaller area. ↩
  7. I know, the suffering. ↩
  8. They have a bike greenway that spans miles! They have a really great library renovation going on! They’re close to tons of great Appalachian Trail hikes! There’s Breadcraft where I can get verrrry tasty cardamom pastries! ↩
  9. My old ‘hood. ↩
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Hayley DeRoche

Hayley DeRoche is a librarian with a penchant for cardigans and corduroys. Luckily, her professional life revolves more around technology & information than fashion.

January 24, 2014 7:00 AM 0

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