Trip to Los Angeles 2018

David and I got back last night from a long weekend in L.A.  He had to go out there for work and asked if I wanted to join him.  We have been trying to make a California trip come together for years.  Before kids, we'd turned California work trips into vacations in San Francisco, San Diego, and L.A.  But even though he's had to go well over a dozen times in the last decade, it never coincided well with either my schedule, his schedule, or the kids' schedules.  This time, however, the stars finally aligned and we got to have a few magical days in La La Land.  

We'd originally toyed with the idea of me flying into San Diego and him driving down there to meet me.  As we looked at the two cities independently, though, we realized that at least for this time of year, L.A. actually had more points of interest for us.  

So, with a little over a week to pull it all together, I got in touch with grandparents and lined them up to keep the kids.  I updated the grandparent manual with schedules and instructions, began researching restaurants and things to do, stocked the pantry, and muddled through the million other things that have to happen for a mom to get a few days off.

Confession:  I get a "little" OCD and morbid when I take trips.  As I texted a girlfriend, here is what normal moms are like as they prepare to go out of town without the kids:  "I need to plan/make meals, go to the store, clean house, and pack."  

And then there is me preparing to go out of town without the kids...All of the above, PLUS: "In case I die, we better pick out valentines for their class and I need to make sure they have green shirts for St. Patrick's Day.  What's their underwear situation...Do they need more?  Bigger sizes?!  Luke is due for a haircut in another week so I should just go ahead and do that.  Do I have enough paper products for the apocalypse?  Better make sure their sock drawer is tidy.  I should also schedule their eye appointments because no one will think of that for months.  Speaking of eyes, where are Audrey's spare glasses?"  

I know, I know.  It's ridiculous.  But it's not as bad as it used to be since I know the kids can speak up for themselves and help now.  Besides, it helps me to relax and enjoy the trip if I know I've planned and prepped well.

So anyway, David booked a flight to head out on Wednesday and I was going to join him Thursday after getting the kids through another night, Audrey's gymnastics class, and off to another day of school.

Then came the stupid bad weather. 

David and I were up at 4am on Wednesday trying to figure out how, or even if, to get him to the airport in the snowy and icy conditions.  We debated about moving his flight and speculated about traffic and roads for three hours before his dad picked him up with his four-wheel-drive SUV and carefully got him down there in one piece.  A 2.5 hour flight delay later, his plane finally took off.  I moved my flight to later the next day to give the roads a chance to clear and began helping the kids with their "Digital Learning Day" (they do schoolwork assignments online to avoid having to make up missed snow days.)  Since Audrey was battling a cold and the windchill was about 12 degrees, we didn't go outside and play in what little snow there was.  We did bake brownies and play Sleeping Queens, though, so they were satisfied.  

The next morning was frantic to say the least.  School was cancelled again due to the amount of snow and ice that hadn’t melted the day before, so that meant another Digital Learning Day.  I didn’t want to saddle the grandparents with trying to navigate the websites and assignments, so I was trying to rush the kids through their work while also getting the house ready and finish last minute packing.

I finally sat down with the kids about fifteen minutes before David’s parents were due to arrive.  I made them some hot chocolate and we played “Name that Tune” (a game we do where I play a clip of a song on my phone and then pause it while they fill in the next few words.)  David's parents got there and I walked them through last minute instructions before heading out.  After a gate change and a 45 minute flight delay, I settled back into my seat as the plane took off and thought "Ahhh...finally!"  It had taken a LOT of work to get to that point!

David picked me up at the airport without any problem and we drove over to Santa Monica.  We ate dinner at Blue Plate Taco, which was delicious.  Afterward we walked down to the famous Santa Monica Pier.  We passed a magician putting on a street show and David was just about to move on when I pulled him back and talked him in to sticking around.  He likes magic tricks and shows and there was no way I was going to let him miss this!  It turned out to be well worth it, as he became an assistance in the guy's best trick.  I won't go into details, but it involved revealing a marked $20 bill hidden inside a real orange.  It was incredibly impressive!

We moved on and walked along there for awhile before heading to the Third Street Promenade shopping area for a stroll and some dessert.  After we were sure we'd seen it all, we made our way back to the car and drove to the hotel.    

The next morning we packed up and checked out of that hotel before heading to breakfast at a place called Jacks and Joe (as in flapjacks and coffee...so creative!)  It was tasty and we stuffed ourselves full.  

There was time to spare before the California Science Center opened, so we walked over to the University Southern California campus to see what we could see.  We stumbled into the huge historic library and poked around there, ultimately ending up in the periodicals room because why not.  I settled into a comfy couch and read about California history while David picked up a magazine about rocket science.  After about twenty minutes of feeling like very scholarly young college students, we snuck back out and walked towards the Science Center.

Our main reason for going was to see the Space Shuttle Endeavour, so we started there.  We toured the exhibit and learned how astronauts do all sorts of things aboard...use the restroom, eat, sleep, etc.  It is really fascinating how the simplest of tasks here on earth take months, even years, of planning and perfecting to be able to do aboard a space shuttle. 

After watching a short video about them moving the shuttle into the museum (they didn't disassemble it first...it landed at the airport and then they carted it right down the streets, removing power lines and trees in its path!) we trekked downstairs and into the enormous hanger where it's housed.  I have to admit, I didn't really have a ton of interest in any of this at first and was more along for the ride for David's sake.  But once I walked into the pavilion and came face to nose with the sheer size and glory of such an amazing piece of science that has been into outer space?  Well, it just warmed my little ol' American heart in a way I didn't expect. 

We wandered around the Science Center a bit more and saw exhibits on air and space.  Just about the time my eyes started glazing over, we swung by the gift shop to pick up some dry astronaut ice cream for the kids and then walked back to the car to head to our Warner Brothers Studio tour.

We were scheduled to begin at 1pm, but got there early and stopped for a snack and some hopeful celebrity sightings at the onsite cafe.  Sadly, there were none.  At least no obvious ones.  We checked in and were ushered into a little theater to watch an intro film before heading outside to load up.  It was foggy and chilly, but thankfully the rain held off.  

We hopped on and off the tour cart, seeing outdoor backdrops (fake New York street that was all the B-roll footage for Friends and hundreds of movies), prop departments, and costume houses.  By far my most favorite stop was their Midwest street, which was the setting of Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls.  We didn't get a chance to get out and walk around there because they were filming something at the time, but it was still really cool to see from the trolly.  

We also got to go inside the Big Bang Theory sound stage.  We weren't allowed to take pictures since it's still a "working set" (I guess they fear a photograph revealing a secret plot line?)  Afterward we went to the Batmobile museum and DC Universe Exhibit.  Our guide pointed out dozens of other backdrops we recognized and explained some of the behind-the-scenes tricks of the trade before taking us to the Stage 48: Script to Screen Exhibit for our self-guided portion of the tour.  We learned about pre-production (casting and wardrobe), production (acting and directing, complete with a moment on the famous Friends Central Perk set!), and post-production (green screening and motion capture.)  It was definitely eye-opening to realize just how much work and how many people it takes to create a twenty-two minute show or a two hour movie.  

We waited in the windy, chilly line outside for the trolly to take us back to our parking lot.  We were definitely beginning to wonder where our sunny southern California weather was!  Because of the clouds and fog, we decided that it would not be a great night for the observatory as we'd originally planned.  Instead we drove back to Venice Beach, checked into our new hotel there, and walked to downtown Venice.  We hurried to the pier just in time to catch a gorgeous sunset sinking into the water...something you don't get to see on the East Coast.  We bundled up against the wind and walked to C&O Trattoria for dinner.  Even with the heat lamp right next to the table, it was still cold.  We warmed ourselves by eating countless garlic rolls and talking through all of the adventures of the day.  Huddled together, we power-walked back to the hotel and turned in for the night. 

The next morning I woke up at 5am (which was 8am eastern, so that's crazy impressive sleeping in for me) and after checking in with the kids, we went out for a walk/jog along the beach and the Venice canals.  It was very windy and chilly (detecting a theme?!) and David hasn't been running in awhile so we didn't push it too hard.  We stopped in at Noah's Bagels on the way back to our hotel and had the best cinnamon sugar bagel I've ever tasted in my life.  It was somehow light instead of dense, but not really pastry-like either.  However they made it, it was magic, I tell ya.  Delicious magic.

Sadly, it ended all too soon as we walked back to our hotel and got ready for the day.  We began our sightseeing at the La Brea Tar Pits.  It was cool to see some of the fossils they'd found and learn about the animals that had been there thousands of years before.  We walked through the museum, around some of the fenced-in pits and outdoor areas, then back inside to prepare for a walk through Project 23, their current excavation exhibit.  We watched through windows of the fossil lab as paleontologists sifted through the tiniest piles of microscopic sediment to find things like lizard scales and mouse toenails.  I can say with great confidence that I would last approximately five minutes at that job before tossing my tray in the air and walking out.  There is not a single ounce of me that has the patience, or frankly, the care, to do a job like that.  

It was cold and I was starting to not feel the greatest (Audrey's cold plus airplane germs were finally catching up to me), but we pressed on from there by foot to a local farmer's market for lunch.  We ate our way through the place, stopping for pizza, then an empanada, then a doughnut for me and ice cream for David.  There was an outdoor shopping mall nearby that we scoured for a minute, but we were just too cold to enjoy it for long.  We walked the mile back to our car and enjoyed heat while figuring out what to do next.  

The observatory was on the agenda, but we wanted to see it at sunset and then dark, which was still a ways off.  David decided to lead us through a tour of the Hollywood hills for a little while, so I looked up star maps and shouted out when we'd pass the supposed house of someone famous.  Because of all the gates and walls, you can't actually see much of the houses themselves, but we saw the driveway and mailboxes of Eddie Murphy, Warren Beatty, Tom Arnold, Jack Nicholson, and Gene Simmons.  Allegedly.

After pulling over at a couple of overlooks, we winded down the steep hills to Griffith Park and discovered that the parking lot near the observatory was already full.  We had to park near the Greek Theater, about a mile away, and waited for the shuttle to take us up to the top.  It was incredibly windy and cold, so we'd view the scenery for a little while, then head inside to see the exhibits and warm up.  We timed it to go back out for the sunset of course and it really was spectacular.  We ducked back in and squeezed through the crowds to try and view more of the models and exhibits.  Once it had gotten sufficiently dark, we went back out to ooh and ahh over the amazing city lights.  It was absolutely gorgeous seeing it all lit up.  The telescopes weren't scheduled to open until 7pm, and with the crowd the size that it was, we knew we'd be lucky if we could even get in to view them at all, so we opted to take the shuttle back down.  We stood outside in the freezing wind for twenty minutes before the bus picked us up.  I told David that the half marathon I'd done in eight degree windchill was more comfortable than that wait in line.  We could have attempted to hike the mile down, but the trails were not well marked and it was a mountain.  At night.  No thanks.  

Finally making it back to the lot, David asked if I wanted to jog to our parking space.  I took about five running steps and stopped abruptly, declaring a simple "no" that sent him into a hysterical laughing fit that we could hardly recover from.  The cold plus the ten miles we'd already walked that day (literally) had proved quite enough.  We made it to our spot, climbed in, and started the hour drive back to Venice Beach.  We elected to eat at a well-rated restaurant directly across the street from our hotel.  The waitress asked the person in front of us if they wanted a patio table and I guess my scoff was loud enough that by the time we approached to give her our name, she didn't even bother asking about the patio.  We waited thirty minutes for an indoor table, had a delicious seafood dinner at 8pm local time, promptly walked back across the street, and went to sleep under a huge pile of covers. 

I woke up right before my alarm at 5am and we got ready and packed up.  We drove by Noah's bagels for another delicious cinnamon sugar delight before heading to the airport.  By the way, if you are curious whether L.A. traffic is as bad as everyone says it is, the answer is a big fat yes.  I've often wondered if it's truly worse than Atlanta's notorious gridlocks and the fact is, it absolutely is.  Everywhere we went took at least an hour regardless of what time of day or direction.  We'd often look at Waze's quote of something like twenty minutes to go five miles and think "no way, that can't be right!"  Indeed it wasn't...it often took longer.  However, 6:15am on a Sunday morning proved to be the one exception and we finally got somewhere in less than sixty minutes.

We returned the rental car, checked our bags, and waited for a shuttle to take us to our terminal.  After finding a keychain to serve as our souvenir Christmas ornament (sometimes we can't find an actual ornament or don't like the options, so we've made do with all kinds of other things), we called the kids and told them we were on the way.  The plane was the biggest one I'd ever been on and full of coughing, sneezing people...ourselves included at this point.  The flight was a little bumpy, but relatively uneventful and I passed the time watching "Big Bang Theory" and "Friends" episodes on the in-seat screen in front of me.  I tried to spot Warner Brothers studio backlots in some of the footage and did catch a few scenes.  

The plane landed on time and we gathered our stuff, picked up our bags, and hurried to our off-site parking shuttle bus.  I called my mom to tell her to go ahead and feed the kids dinner, since it looked like we'd be getting in a little past their eating time.  When we pulled into the driveway and walked in, we yelled hello and immediately went upstairs and changed clothes and washed up before we'd even let the kids hug us.  I know it seems a little heartless, but we were both sick and carrying who knows what kind of other things on us.  Sufficiently clean, we squeezed and kissed them hello, said goodbye to my mom, and threw ourselves into bath time, packing lunches, laundry, and bedtime routine.  No easing back into normal life around here, that's for sure!

So there you have it.  An incredibly detailed account of our few days on the west coast.  In summary, it was cold and windy, but we got to see new sights together, try new things, get out of our comfort zones, and have an adventure as a couple.  Well worth the weather, the traffic, and the work it takes to get there and endure the weather and the traffic.  Every time.  

A few pictures from our trip:

David assisting in a magic show on the Santa Monica Pier

Space Shuttle Endeavour at the California Science Museum

Hennesy Street exterior set at the Warner Brothers Studio

Miss Patty's dance studio from Gilmore Girls at Warner Brothers Studio

President's desk at the prop house at Warner Brothers...used in West Wing

Central Perk set from Friends

Sunset on Venice Beach

Venice Canals

Vertebra fossil recently found at the La Brea Tar Pits

Sunset view from Griffith Park Observatory

Griffith Park Observatory

Nighttime view of L.A. skyline from the Griffith Park Observatory

Word of the Year for 2018

In addition to my Nos of 2018 and my New Year's Resolutions for 2018, I decided to participate in the "WOTY" craze again and choose a word of the year.  

My word last year was "Faithful" and it really did help me to call it to mind when I felt like I'd dropped the ball or was lacking in motivation.  It also reminded me of how faithful God is even when I don't see His hand in a situation.

So my word of the year for 2018 is....(are you making the drumroll sound?)

Enough.  

Yup.  Enough.  

There are so many reasons behind this choice.  For one, it reminds me not to face my days with a sense of scarcity.  I often roll out of bed already worried about how I'm going to get it all done.  This word reminds me that I have enough time, energy, and talent to accomplish the most important things I have been called to do.  Not the superfluous, but certainly those that are the highest priority.  Another reason for this choice is to remind me to be careful in my choices of adding more to my life.  Do I need more stuff in my house or commitments on my calendar?  In most every situation, the answer is "you have enough."

But the biggest meaning behind it is that I am enough in God's eyes.    

Back when I was doing the Timber Trek, a well-meaning person that I barely knew turned to me and asked incredulously, "This is amazing.  Why aren't you doing more?!"  She meant it as a high compliment...that I was so organized and managed things so well that I could and should be setting my sights higher than a neighborhood charity race.  But her words hurt my heart so badly.  Here I was working my fingers to the bone to pull together a race while also serving nonstop at the kids' school and parenting solo since David was in the midst of a busy travel season.  And yet, in her eyes (which, again, she had no clue of any other detail of my life), I could do more...bigger, better things.

What she didn't know is that I have an innate disease to achieve.  I am constantly making and ticking off to-do lists, setting goals and working towards them.  This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can go too far.  I have never, ever understood people who say they are "bored" and my default is always to do, rarely to rest.  When that equates to taking on too much and constant striving, it's unhealthy.  It's unfair to me and to my family.  So this year, I'm going to remember that I do enough.  That I am enough.  Of course I'm going to continue to set goals and work hard and hopefully accomplish some very worthy things.  But I will remember that even if I never lifted another finger, I would be enough.  To my God, to my family, and to my close friends who love me well.  

I came across this sign online and an immediate lump formed in my throat.  I bought it and it is hanging in my laundry room for me to see at the end of each night:

I want so desperately to one day hear God speak the words, "This is my beloved (daughter), in whom I am well pleased" just as He did to His son Jesus.  

But do you know the most interesting part to me about that verse?  God spoke those words to Jesus before his ministry even began.  Before Jesus had performed His first miracle or healed anyone, He said He was pleased with Him.  He was enough because He was His son. 

We say the same to Audrey and Luke a lot.  We explain that there are many things that we like about them, but that we love them for the sole reason that they are our children.  Period.  They don't have to earn it at all.  They can never do anything to make us love them more and they can never do anything to make us love them less.  Simply by existing, they are enough.  

So this year I hope to rest in that Truth for myself a little more. 

I have enough (time, energy, talent, stuff, commitments), I do enough (when I do the right things well), and I am enough (to God and those who love me.)  

What's your WOTY for 2018?  

New Year's Resolutions for 2018

Welp, the kids are back in school today and I am super sad about it.  Don't get me wrong, there were moments that they drove me crazy over the break.  I completely forgot how Luke's constant "whys" and "what does that mean" can wear on a person.  They'd get along fine for an hour and then fight like a cat and dog for the rest of the afternoon.  BUT, on the whole, I would much rather them be home with me than not.  So in an effort to distract myself from the quiet, I'm focusing on my resolutions and goal setting today.  If you missed it, I already wrote my list of Nos for 2018, so now it's time to focus more on the positive side of things.  

I used Lara Casey's PowerSheets again this year and have been doing the prep work off and on for the past few weeks.  Admittedly not as thoroughly as I did last year, which may be why there was some trepidation and white-out involved this go-round.  I muddled through it and eventually came up with my list of "Big Picture" Goals for the year.  Most are the same, a couple are new, and there are two less total than last year:

1.  Spiritual Growth
2.  Marriage Growth
3.  Deepen connection with Audrey and Luke individually 
4.  Continue to care for myself physically 
5.  Love and serve others well individually and as a family 
6.  Cultivate a well-managed, welcoming, and cozy home

As I explained in last year's post about my 2017 resolutions, if I left that list just as it is, I'd be destined for failure.  Those are way too lofty, broad, and scary. But I didn't leave them like that.  I took the time to dive into the personal details of why and how, which I'll spare you from for both of our sakes'.  I broke them down into monthly, weekly, and daily goals for January and will do that each month throughout the year (not necessarily each time segment for each goal, but all six are represented in at least one place per month.)  I'm hoping that by the end of 2018, I'll have some clear and concrete progress in each of those six areas.  

So there you have it!  Remember that even if you don't have a set of the PowerSheets, you can visit Lara Casey's blog and download a free goal-setting guide for yourself.  Whether you use that tool or another (or none at all!), I encourage you to define at least one goal with tangible starting steps for yourself this year.  

Now let's get to work!

Nos of 2018

As I wrote in an earlier post, this past year was a very busy one, especially August through November.  Notice I didn't list December because it actually wasn't too chaotic.  (And don't think that didn't make me stop and reflect:  If I'm pulling off all the chaos that Christmas entails on top of two class parties and THAT feels like a break, I may need to reevaluate.)  

But here's my struggle:  For one thing, I'm locked into certain commitments until the end of the school year.  For another, I don't think I want to quit any of my "jobs" and might just be crazy enough to re-up for the next school year.

Whether or not I will sign on for everything again remains to be seen.  (And whether or not David will be on board with that is also unknown...poor guy.)  What I do know is that some things HAVE to change to make room for what's already on my plate.  I've been giving it a lot of thought for the past couple of weeks and came up with a list of "nos" for the year ahead along with coordinating "whys" and "yeses".  Somehow that feels much more empowering and in control than thinking of all the yeses I'm already committed to.  

So, behold: My list of "Nos" for 2018.  Feel free to hold me accountable!

1)  NO:  Triathlons   

WHY:  Training for triathlons is difficult because, well, you're training for a triathlon.  But it's also very hard because you're trying to schedule and balance three different sports.  What's the weather? What's my schedule on this day?  What is traffic going to be like for biking?  Is it light enough or warm enough to bike at that hour?  Is the neighborhood pool warm enough or do I have to drive to the indoor one at the gym?  Can I handle a long swim and have time for a run after?  What gear needs washing, drying, replacing?  And then to try to fit in some weight training with all of that?!  No way.  And we're talking about very short tri distances...I cannot imagine those that do much, much more than I do!  The past two years I've spent the first part of the year working my butt off and the early summers laser-focused on the races.  I'm not doing it this year.  

YES:  Running and weight lifting...my first loves.  If I want to go for a bike ride or a swim, it'll be because I want to, but not because I'm training.

2)  NO:  Hosting major events/parties

WHY:  The past few years, in addition to the kids' birthday parties, we have had several big parties/celebrations at our house with a lot of guests.  They have been AWESOME and a ton of fun, but they have also been a ton of work.  Especially because I use them as a motivator/deadline to tackle big home improvement projects, which creates extra stress and expense.  

YES:  We will continue to host our kids' birthdays if they end up here and our couples' small group.  We are also up for all the casual pizza party gatherings or laid-back cookouts we can handle.  But no mega bashes this year.  

3)  NO:  Consignment sale overkill

WHY:  Since 2012, I have participated in at least two consignment sales per year every year.  This involves hours upon hours of gathering, sorting, hanging, pricing, and tagging the kids' old clothes/toys/gear and then lugging it 45 minutes over to Lawrenceville, spending an hour putting it out on their sales floor, and driving 45 minutes back.  The past few sales have not been very profitable, mainly because I have less stuff to sell than I used to.  Their stuff also gets worn out since they wear/use it a lot longer these days.  I want to continue selling because it is a little income and allows me to shop the special seller's preview sale, where I get 75% of both kids' wardrobes, but I cannot invest so much time anymore.  

YES:  I am allowing myself 2-3 hours to deal with preparing consignment stuff and what doesn't get done goes to a resale store or gets donated.  I'm not spending days upon days dealing with Ziploc bags and zip-ties and researching prices only to make an extra $3.    

4)  NO:  Homemade Christmas gifts for teachers...ALL the teachers.  Their regular teachers and their specials teachers and their admins and their school counselors and their small group leaders etc. etc. etc.

WHY:  Y'all.  Do I even have to explain this one?  

YES:  I don't know yet.  But not that.

5)  NO:  "JIT" responses to events (inventory term meaning "Just in Time")

WHY:  I can't tell you how many times this year I was cramming tissue paper in a gift bag at the kitchen table as we loaded the van for a birthday party and yelling out to David, "Did you get Audrey's cupcake?!"  I realize this is how many people live all weekend every weekend and sometimes it cannot be helped, but for us, "JIT" prep and execution has to go back to being more the exception than the rule.  

YES:  Get ahead and stay ahead of events and holidays.  And if that means turning down an invitation all together in favor of less busy and more family time, that's going to get a yes sometimes too.  

6)  NO:  Maximer decision-making

WHY:  I am what Gretchen Rubin calls a "Maximizer": 

"Maximizers want to make the optimal decision. So even if they see a bicycle or a photographer that would seem to meet their requirements, they can’t make a decision until after they’ve examined every option, so they know they’re making the best possible choice.  (Conversely), satisficers are those who make a decision or take action once their criteria are met. That doesn’t mean they’ll settle for mediocrity; their criteria can be very high; but as soon as they find the car, the hotel, or the pasta sauce that has the qualities they want, they’re satisfied." 

She goes on to explain that the research shows Maximizers are often less happy with their choices even after all that work because they spent so much time and feel continued anxiety about whether it was the right choice.  

A recent example would be when I made multiple trips to multiple stores in search of the perfect tile for our laundry room and mudroom.  Of course that was for something expensive that would be around for a very long time, but sometimes I do this for things like door mats or kids' birthday party decorations.  No more.  I am definitely better than I used to be in this area, but there is still room for improvement

YES:  Limit my choices along with the amount of time I allow myself to decide.  

7)  NO:  Major home improvement projects for the first six months  (The only one I put that time limit on because it's my list and I can do that.)

WHY:  We have spent thousands of hours and thousands of dollars over the last five years working on this house and we need a break.  We will probably get the fence painted and do some planting in the spring, but beyond that, it's time for some time off from major work.  I've created a rule:  it has to cost under a certain amount and take one day or less to do from start to finish (including researching and making all purchases for it), or it's off limits.  So, for example, replacing a few photographs or hanging a new picture is a yes, painting an entire room is a no.  

YES:  Decluttering (hoping to go room-by-room, drawer-by-drawer again), simplifying, managing, and just plain enjoying the home we've created together. 

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So there you have it.  My list of "Nos" for 2018.  I'll be posting my PowerSheets goals and Word of the Year sometime in the next few days, but I loved starting off with these!  It feels very liberating!  What would you put on your list of "Nos" for the year?