Resolutions

I will be posting sporadically for the rest of this year.  My kids are home, we've got stuff going with family and friends, and I still need to get the last of the baking done.  Keeping that thought in mind, I wanted to take one last look at my resolutions for 2014.  All in all, I am pleased with the job I have done keeping my promises to myself.  I'll set another round of goals in 2015.  Keeping track of my goals publicly has done a fantastic job of keeping me honest over this past year!  I am wondering what great things I'll be able to tackle next year!

1) 365 Grateful.
2013 was a very stressful year for our family.  I finished graduate school, middle child graduated from college, and DH was in an accident that totaled our car. I had an abnormal mammogram screening, and there were the consultations that surrounded that mammogram.  We still have not replaced that car yet.  That is on the MUST DO list for next year!  At the end of last year, I found myself stressed out about the things that had happened, and the what might have happeneds.  I made a vow to myself to focus on the good, and the positive, and work to find that happy place - even in the midst of tribulations.  It was worth every minute.  While this year has been no less stressful than last, I have found myself searching for the positives in some pretty heinous situations in order to keep myself sane.  Negative: Mother has a colon rupture not once, but twice?  Postive: She's still here.
Negative: It took me a year to find a job after I finished grad. school, and that was only a part time job, with no benefits.  Positive:  It's a job in my field, and I'm gaining some pretty concrete skills.

2) Lose 10 pounds
I lost the original 10, and lost 12 more, for a total of 22 pounds.  For right now, I am attempting to keep those 22 pounds OFF for the holidays.  That is some serious progress!  I can't wait for the results of my blood work to come back after my check up next month!

3) Run/Walk
This was a massive fail.  I am walking, but not a lot.  Running never happened.  I will not cut this goal out next year, but I will find a way to make this goal attainable!

4) Get out of Debt
Working on it.  I even set up a fancy new spreadsheet over this past month that has helped me tremendously.  I now know where my money suckers are coming from! 

5) Finish Cleaning Out the Basement.  BWah-Ha-Ha.  I should just bring a dumpster in and dump it all.  I sent a van load full of stuff to the White Elephant sale at the church, another to Goodwill, and still another to the dump.  I also burned out the motor on my shredder.  I'm going to have to get a new shredder so I can keep going!

6) Finish Oldest Child's Quilt.  The top is finished.  I added a border to it in order to make it long enough to fit him - all 6 feet some inches of him.  I pieced out the back, and purchased the batting to go inside.  I am going to have to find a big space of floor somewhere to pin it all together soon.  I still don't think I'm going to finish this before Christmas. It would take a miracle.  Update: this quilt is currently folded away, in a bag in my closet.  I'll get back to it after the holidays.  I still need to add batting to it, and I need to pin it.  For that, I need a lot of space.  Like a church floor.  I won't have that kind of space available until after New Years.

7)  Spend More Time With my Family
With 2 kids in college, and a Senior in high school, finding time to do this is a priority.

8) Finish that Book I Keep Saying I'm Going to Write.
Done!  I began working on this in 2008, when I was still working in the public library!  Building Blocks for School Success has been released on my Lulu author site.  You can find it here:  http://tinyurl.com/l76245p.  Wow... it was a thought I had one afternoon while working the public information desk in the children's section.  Who would have thought it would take this long to research it?  The first time I finished it, Common Core was introduced, and I needed to go back and revise way more than I care to acknowledge.

9) Finish The Hallway Bathroom.  Okay, this is a post for another day.  I've found the money suckers.  I'm beginning to save money.  It makes me wonder what's going to break next?  Update:  it's been a month since I wrote this post.  Nothing has broken yet.  I'm beginning to get very concerned.

10) Get Back into my Music.  Have done.  I sing Alto, but NO SOLOS!  (Ha... I sing solo no one can hear me! hahaha!   Alto joke...)  Our church has been advertising for a flute choir. I haven't touched my flute since I was in high school.  I've been debating whether or not to even try and join.  They've set the lower age limit at 10.  I wonder what the number of years without practice will be set to?

How have you done with your resolutions over the course of 2014?   Are you ready to join me in setting and KEEPING some resolutions in 2015?