You may be thinking “Q1 is almost half over”, to which I respond “at least it’s not completely over!”. I was actually planning this post since the new year, when everyone was posting Tweets of their 2018 accomplishments and what they aspired to do this year. Some of my plan to avoid the hype was to wait a few weeks into the new year (a few weeks then turned into a few months), and then to set quarterly goals instead of yearly goals. And to put down things that I actually needed to improve, not just stuff that would help my career or hobbies.

Here were some of the goals I wrote down on January 1st:

  • Do a bunch of the things that I’ve been putting off. Like catching lunch with people and having our neighbors over for dinner, those sorts of things
  • Go on 3 dates with Suzi (because we went on 2 “dates” in the last 6 months, neither of which had a lot of planning or premeditation)
  • Weekly family meetings (so that I could perhaps be a better leader/influence in the house)
  • Finish Ephesians with Suzi (because this stalled)
  • “Something tangible related to cooking”
  • “Something tangible related to quality conversations”
  • Coordinate afternoon tea for Suzi and some of our friends

This is a bit different from resolutions in the past, which were more about progressing in my career or physical fitness or learning something new for fun. It’s more about areas where I’ve noticeably dropped the ball, things I should be doing that I’m not.

Parenting is hard. Suzi’s been crushing it more than I have. I can’t express enough how impressed I am with her composure. I thought I was composed. Suzi takes it to another level.

Nora finally started giving me high fives. Currently, she quacks like a duck. [So I actually wrote this back in February, she no longer does this.]

I almost stopped running, feeling like “what’s the point? I’ll never get into marathon shape off of 2 runs a week”. But it’s important for me to keep running, if only for the physical exertion and to keep me believing that there’s a race to be run, and time and life are linear.

We’ve been traveling more. We spent a week in Northern California, and we’ll spend a weekend in Milwaukee next week, and I just booked nearly 3 weeks in Tulsa (with a quick trip in the middle to Ohio for a wedding).

We’re still going to Reunion church in Beacon Hill. We’re slowly getting more involved. Honestly, there have been many points where I felt disillusioned and rhetorically ask “what’s the point?” We could go to a Chinese church and things would be a lot easier and simpler. I periodically feel socially inept going to this multi-ethnic church. But we’re slowly making progress and forming relationships and embracing the call to engage with people from all races and statuses and walks of life. There’s not a lot of Asians or a lot of people in tech. So if discomfort is any gauge of growth, I’ve at least felt increasingly uncomfortable over the last 6 months. And I haven’t given up on church, which is, some weeks, a success.

I cooked a few times. I made mac and cheese with avocado and bacon one night, because I was just thinking “what would I want to eat?” I had a failed attempt at roasted pork belly. And I made a pasta dish with brussel sprouts and butternut squash a few times.

I threw Suzi a day of surprises for her birthday, which included one of my other goals - afternoon tea with our friends. And we’re going to go to a glassblowing class in February, and hopefully we’ll splurge at Salty’s breakfast buffet in March.

I’ll check back in at some point. These goals aren’t really that big, hairy, or audacious, but they’re intended to help me get back on track and do things that will benefit my family. I might not make any huge strides in career or hobbies, but it seems like my endeavors need to be refocused elsewhere for the time being, and hopefully I’m okay with that and can see the indispensable privilege and responsibility of what I’ve been given.