The good word for the year

2010
My cousin selects a word to focus on for the year, last year was ENJOY.  This year, PEACE.  I started thinking...What could be my word for the coming year?  This past year has been a good one.  Baby Girl is really no longer a baby.  She is sleeping fairly well, which means that I am also sleeping better when I remember to get to bed at a reasonable hour.  Her spunky personality is blossoming as she learns to talk and express herself.  Buddy boy is such a good kid.  He is learning and growing so fast.  Dad is having a good time pursuing his goals.  After making it through the sleep deprived blur I have had a good time reading, sewing, cooking, paper cutting, teaching and playing.  It has been a good year, there have been challenges, but it has been good overall.  A word for last year?  EMERGE or INDULGE come to mind as I spent much of my free time this past year getting back in to the things that I set aside after the Baby Girl was born.

What's next? 

Looking ahead, Baby Girl will be at home with me all year again.  She misses the cut off date for starting pre-school by 2 days.  She is a busy little person.  Buddy boy will finish pre-school this spring and start kindergarten in the fall.  That will be a big change that will affect the whole family.  Dad will finish up his CPA early this year which will open up new opportunities.  (We joke about our letter collection BA, MBA, CPA, BS, RD, MS, PhD etc.  It just keeps growing.)  For me the coming year looks a lot like last year, cook, clean, care for kids, repeat.  I still keep my Good Life Goals in mind in the things that I do.  (See side bar)  More specifically I need to work on being more organized, you know, a place for everything and everything in it's place, at least some of the time.  I also need to be sure that I stay engaged with the kids, keep them busy and happy, and continue to teach them.  They are getting big enough to understand a lot.  They pick up on everything.  I need to make sure that my voice is loud and clear as I teach them so that there is no mistaking what I expect of them and what I believe.  I also want to pursue my hobbies and get back in to exercising more regularly.  It keeps me sane to have something to think about outside of the domestic sphere. 

So, what is my word?  How about ENGAGE. 
Definition:
–verb (used with object)
1. to occupy the attention or efforts of (a person or persons): He engaged her in conversation.
2. to secure for aid, employment, use, etc.; hire: to engage a worker; to engage a room.
3. to attract and hold fast: The novel engaged her attention and interest.
4. to attract or please: His good nature engages everyone.
5. to bind, as by pledge, promise, contract, or oath; make liable: He engaged himself to repay his debt within a month.
6. to betroth (usually used in the passive): They were engaged last week.
7. to bring (troops) into conflict; enter into conflict with: Our army engaged the enemy.
8. Mechanics. to cause (gears or the like) to become interlocked; interlock with.
9. to attach or secure.
10. Obsolete. to entangle or involve.


These apply to varying degrees, although I hope that my year does not involve any armed conflict other than play sword fighting with Buddy Boy and the Rock Monsters or perhaps the boxes that remain stacked in the office.  This is better:

"Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward."  D&C 58:27-28

That's it.  ENGAGE!

What's your good word for the year?