Próspero Año Nuevo

I don't know about the rest of you, but we have had one heck of a crazy, busy, lovely, beautiful, fun and inspiring holiday season. We were able to spend time with all of our favorite people (even though we had to travel in the car a total of 32 hours over the span of 10 days - made possible by the car dvd player). There were family parties, ski lessons, karaoke, nativity reenactments, a Jazz game, food, freezing cold temperatures, family sledding, late night debates about hunting, health insurance and politics, more family parties, more food (but this time with "points" charts attached to remind everyone that the new year was just around the corner), pregnant lady double dutch, a talent show, then warmer weather (bye bye too-small puffa coat), Disneyland, fun with old friends, and the Rose Parade. With all this going on (and all the pregnant lady naps I had to take to keep up with all the activities) there was little time for blogging (not to mention that I never really had access to the internet during the whole trip - which was hard at first but really nice in the end).

But now here I sit, with bags still left to unpack in the bedroom, Christmas decorations to box up and lights to take down off the house. Dh is back at work, bills are due, and people are asking me what my New Year resolutions are. The holidays are officially over people. Boo.

Now about those resolutions. It was Kage, the queen of goal-setting, that asked me about them the other night as we sat at my kitchen table and pretended we did not actually live on opposite coasts.
Her: So, what are your New Year's resolutions.
Me: I don't have any. I don't set goals.
Her: Yes you do.
Me: Okay, maybe I do, but I don't write them down and I never check back in on them during the year.

So I don't really think I can call what I do goal setting. But it's not like I don't accomplish anything. Goal setting just inherently sounds so rigid, and corporate to me. I like my life to feel more fluid and organic (or some good excuse like that). I mean, come on, I ran the numbers for my new business last night in cerulean Crayola crayon. Would the Franklin Covey Corp. approve? Maybe "goal setting" just needs a different publicist or stylist or something.

But despite my aversion to goal setting, there is actually one thing I would really like to accomplish this next year. I want to learn Spanish. There. I said it. I think I just set a goal.

I have often wished I went a little farther than the "Como estas" I learned from one semester of high school spanish class I so could converse a little better with my extended family. But, my little Spanish wish has grown bigger now that we have chosen to send Princess to our local public elementary school which is over 70% Hispanic. The language barrier between the teachers and many of the parents is a huge hurdle the school works hard to overcome. The language barrier between us parents is also painfully apparent. Because I believe a strong and united parent group can work wonders at a struggling school, I really want to learn Spanish.

Anyone have any great ideas of how I might go about doing this? Dh thinks enrolling in a class would be the most effective way to learn, but I just don't see it happening, especially with a new baby waiting in the wings. I keep seeing those tv ads for Rosetta Stone. Anyone had any experience with that method?

P.S. I wrote the title of this post in Spanish thanks to freetranslation.com. I have no idea if it actually means Happy New Year.