I love the beginning of a new year. A time full of promise - when we all look forward to what is yet to come, and make plans for what grand and wonderful things we shall accomplish. As I reflect back on what I did last year, I realize that I had some grand accomplishments that I should be proud of. One of my kids graduated from college with honors and went on to graduate school. I know I didn't do the work involved in earning the degree, but I do believe that the way in which he was raised, as well as the work ethic we instilled in him, helped him to achieve his goals. Husband and I celebrated 25 years of marriage this year - no small feat in a culture that emphasizes quick fixes and easy outs if things get difficult. The past 25 years haven't all been rosy, but we've worked together to make them meaningful, and we've worked through our issues and problems TOGETHER. There are a few unforgiveable offenses in a marriage that call for immediate dissolution - spousal abuse being the biggest one - but fortunately, husband and I don't have those issues.
Do you set resolutions every year? I do, and then I promptly forget them. I began keeping track of my resolutions in 2014, and I was impressed with the job I did in actually remembering all of my resolutions and keeping them! By publishing them publicly and coming back to them monthly, I am better able to keep track of what grand, fantastic ideals I had for myself, and to gently nudge myself back on track.
How did I do last year? Pretty well, I think. I have one item on the hit parade that's been on there for 2 years now. I refuse to cave in and take it off of the list. This one is staying on until it gets done!
After much thought, I have set my resolutions for 2016. I tried to make them realistic, but I wanted to make sure I listed things that would broaden my horizons.
1) Remodel the Hall Bathroom
Third year is the charm, right?
2) Improve my Health
For 2 years now, my goal has been to lose weight. Over the last two years, I have lost weight. But I need to lose more weight. Instead of focusing on the number on the scale, I am going to focus on some larger goals that are a bigger indication of overall health.
a) Lose inches off of my waist.
These inches around my waist contain visceral fat - fat that is hanging around my internal organs and is impacting my overall health. Bad fat, bad, bad, bad. Go away fat! Unfortunately, the only way to get rid of that fat is to eat right and exercise. Hard truth there. This year, my goal is to lose 3 inches off of my waist before the end of the year.
b) Get my blood pressure down into the normal-normal range.
It is currently in a "high-normal" range. I want to get it down to the point where I do not get a lecture from the doctor about it every time I walk into the office.
c) Go down at least one clothing size.
I am currently shopping in the plus section. By the end of this year, I want to be able to buy clothing from the "normal" section. What size is that? I'm currently a 2X. Given 12 months, I think this is a realistic goal. In the meantime, I'm setting that expectation low - at one size, before the end of the year. The dream is to be wearing something in the "regular" (read: NOT the plus size) section of the store for Christmas 2016.
3) Re-Start my Vegetable Garden
I used to have a decent garden in my back yard. And then, I was invaded by Appalachian Mounding Ants. Nasty little buggers, with a nasty little bite. I ended up abandoning that side of the yard a few years back. I will relocate the garden this year, and actually plant things!
4) Learn to Pressure Can
I water bath can on a regular basis. As I get older, I am finding that commercially processed foods agree less and less with me. It would be very, very nice to have food that I have canned myself in a jar on a shelf so I can pull it out and make dinner when I need it.
5) Daughter's Quilt
You'd think I'd just sit down and finish them instead of having to think about it and write it, wouldn't you? Hers is going to be a cat quilt. I'd really like to finish this before she graduates from college.... I didn't do so well with the oldest kid. I got it to him in time for a graduation.... College graduation...
6) Clean Out and Organize the Carport
The carport has become a catch all for everything. I want to add steps - with a handrail to get in and out through the kitchen door next year. It's difficult for my Mom to get in and out of our house, and I know it will eventually be difficult for us to get in and out. This year, I need to clean out and organize the mess. Snow shovels, rakes, the recycling bins, and other miscellaneous junk congregates here and never gets put away. Since this is obviously the best place for these items, it's time to organize them so we can find them easily and not trip over them.
7) Exercise Consistently
I have the more part down. My goal for this year is going to be consistency. Making certain that I continue to get at least 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week. I need to be consistent, and I need to make certain that there's enough variety that I don't get tired of doing anything.
8) Clean Out 23 Things Each Week
My husband hates to throw things away. We bought my in-laws house, which was full of stuff that she couldn't throw away. If you remember last year, I participated in the 40 bags in 40 days challenge- wherein I got rid of 40 trash bags worth of stuff during Lent. I did do it, but it turned out to be overwhelming because of the vast quantity of crap I have to sort through. So this year, I'm going to focus on 23 things a week. Hopefully, smaller doses will be more manageable.
Throw it out, donate it, sell it, organize it and put it away so I can find it again - whatever I choose to do, I need to take care of 23 things each week. Why 23? Years ago, I took a library training class entitled 23 Things. The class was run out of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library. We were to learn 23 Things about Web 2.0 Technologies. Since that time, I've always stuck with the number 23 when I need to do something. It's an odd enough number that I remember it.
Here's a humbling number - 23 Things, every week for 52 weeks? That's 1,196 things I plan on taking care of this year. You laugh, but I'm pretty sure I have well over 2,000 pieces of junk that can leave our house forever.
9)Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge
I found this challenge last year on a wonderful little blog entitled Frugal, Debt Free Life. In short, aside from bills and the gas that is required to get to and from work, you spend no extra money during the month. No Starbucks runs. No fast food. NADA. I am curious to see how this pans out for us!
10) Visit One Place on my Bucket List
I have a long list of places I want to visit. So many of them are here in the United States. I need to visit one of them this year. (But which one?) I'd like to do this one with the entire family. How do you work this out when you've got kids with jobs and professional commitments? This is going to be a challenge!
11) Get at least half of the CEU's I need to keep my teaching certificate.
Like most professions, teachers have to have a certain number of CEU's every few years in order to keep teaching. I am a certified teacher in Maryland. Public Librarians are required to take CEU's to retain their job, too. Since I am not teaching nor currently working in a public library, finding CEU's is more difficult. They're not offered as part of staff development. This year, I will find a total of at least 3 CEU's. I really want to keep those certifications. I worked hard to earn them, I don't plan on throwing them away. I have until 2019 to earn my CEU's, but I'd like to have the work done before the end of 2018.
12) Scrapbooking
It's funny. I've been very diligent about keeping scrapbooks. When the kids were little, I finished our scrapbooks every year. I completed albums for each of their school levels, scouts, and graduation albums. But somewhere along the way, I lost track of finishing up our own family albums.
I have several years of scrapbooks that are not completed. I have the pictures- either digital or paper, but they are not in albums. I need to complete those gap years. I'm not sure how many years are missing. It could be as many as 10, but I think it's 5. Either way, I need to get them organized and finished before I forget the events and names of the people involved! EGADS! I sincerely hope I don't have 10 years worth of albums to catch up on!
13) Walk or Bike a portion of at least 6 Rail Trails
I love the Rails to Trails movement. Old railroad tracks have been converted into walking/biking trails all over the country due to the diligence of volunteers and community organizations dedicated to bettering the life of the people they work with. There are many rail trails in Maryland and Virginia. I don't think I can tackle the entire length of a trail, but I do think I can handle going out, spending a few hours on a trail, eating lunch, and then heading back home.
14) Pay off the big debt and one smaller one-
The bills that are still hanging over our collective heads from husband's accident 3 years ago.
I really did think that we were going to get the big one paid off in 2015, but we missed that goal. This years' goal is to not only pay off that debt, but another one of the smaller debts as well.
I have other goals I'd like to meet this year, but I don't think they're going to happen, so I'm not going to write them down. I'll just call them secret plans for now. I have 2 of them. Let's see if I can accomplish either one!
15) The Recipes Tab
I've been working on and off on the recipe tab on the side bar for a year now, and it is a disaster. I post many of my own favorite recipes on here so that I can come back to them later. I am going to sit down and fix the recipe tab so that it matches the image I have in my head of what it should look like - mostly so that I can come back and find my recipes when I want them!
What are your resolutions for this year?
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