2011 Reboot

Ah...the new year. A time when we can Ctrl + Alt + Del and try and reboot ourselves for the future. As much as I scoff about resolutions, (they are just so resolute!) I like to look forward to what this year can bring. Everybody gets so entrenched and mentally flailing during the holidays that the new year is like a deep breath of fresh air.

First, we must dust off the 2010 goals and see where we landed. Last year, I had fewer new year goals, thank goodness!

1.  Be more social - Far from being a social butterfly, I did often resist my hermit-like nature. I feel like I grew closer to my friends. They really surprised me on Christmas Eve - a dark and stormy night. I hear a furious pounding on the door. Alarmed, I was thankful that my son-in-law the Marine was in my home at the time. I opened the door. At my feet were two boxes of Christmas goodies but no person/live body to go with them only the retreating stares of headlights in the rain. I called after the car "Who are you?". The car stopped, paused for a moment, then a hand ascended from the partially open door in full "bird" formation before hurrying off into the night. A big grin grew on my face. I never would have guessed that getting the bird and being called a "hoar" would be such terms of endearment...but...there you are. My friends are amazing.

2.  Finish half marathon and continue running. Well, I DID finish the half marathon and got back out in starts and spurts occaisionally. I could make lots of excuses, but my inner drill sergeant won't let me.

3. Get through my daughter's wedding - done. over. finito. hasta la vista baby!

4. Simplify and de-stuffify my house/life - Over the course of the year, I did move out my daughter and took 3 TRUCKLOADS full of stuff to the Goodwill. The garage sale just wasn't happening. Too much trouble for too little money and now others can benefit from my castoffs. I can now park in my own garage!!!!

Next post will be about my goals for the new year. I'm still thinking about them. Right now, I just want to be more awesome.

2010: The Year We Make Contact

We all like fresh starts, so it's time for my 2010 list of resolutions improvements! Resolutions are usually too much to bite off, so I choose to set small reasonable/reachable goals for myself. 


1 - Be more social - I have a natural introvert nature. Always have. I mean, I play well with others just as long as the group isn't too large, but many times I let my hermit tendencies take over. I don't want to be a social butterfly, because that would be impossible for me. That would be like asking the Pope to do standup comedy. ("A Rabbi, a Deacon and myself walk into a bar...") God made us all with unique qualities for a reason. We can't all be the life of the party, but I do need to make more people connections. I made some really great knitting friends over the internet who are now some of my BFF's in real life (IRL) also. (blows kisses to those who read this blog) To echo sentiments from some of my friends, "you need to get out more", which will help following the aftermath of #3 below.

2 - Finish half marathon and continue running - Sunday, January 17!!! I could have trained more, but I think I did pretty well for myself for where I am right now. I intend to continue running and will likely sign up for another half marathon after this one is over to continue the cattle prod to the buttocks motivation. 

3 - Get through my daughter's wedding alive (or at least without threatening to mame someone) while she obsesses over invitations, decorations and accessories. I'm not a frou-frou wedding planner-type person. When I got married (long ago) I just told my bridesmaids to wear a nice pastel dress and they carried a single flower down the aisle. Although she is far from a diva bridezilla, the number of tiny, miniscule decisions that she's asking of me is enough to make my head spin at times. The other day, I told her she had 2 more wedding related questions/requests to request of me for the rest of the day and to choose wisely. 

4 - Simplify and de-stuffify my house/life - I've already started this one thanks to Hurricane Ike. My garage is already full of crap to get rid of, but I want to go through my house and cull the things I don't need. The catch-phrase lately is "simplify" and I could use a little of that.


I also intend to continue working on last year's improvements. It's all about baby steps...set small reasonable goals for yourself one day at a time...one tiny step at a time. Right Bob?

Out with the old...

I like that the new year is a time to reflect on the past year, condense it down to a manageable pieces, pick out the things you didn't like and try to make the new year better. Like jellybeans. I can do without the black ones in my life thankyouverymuch.

I'm not much of a "resolution" person. It's hard for me to say "I'm going to lose 20 pounds" or "my house will be clean every day" or "I'm going to teach pigs to fly". That just sets me up for failure and disappointment. Instead, I try to work on things. Even if I make them only a little better, it's still better right??? Let's take last year's list for example:

1 - blog more. - Done! More doesn't mean every day. It just means more.
2 - not have too many UFO's going at once. For the most part, I tried to have no more than 5 things going at once. Something easy, something portable, something challenging, something practical and a wild card.
3 - spin more. Again, "more" is a relative word. Compared to last year (before I got my spinning wheel) I did spin more...just not very much.
4 - Get this house decluttered after hurricane ike - Done! (with pics)
5 - Get back into running. I refocused my blog to include running...hence Marshmarathon was born. I then became inspired and kept up my motivation and continued to progress albeit quite slowly and often took a two steps forward one step back approach. Signing up for the Aramco Half Marathon was a good motivator like a cattle prod to the buttocks! Injuries be damned!
6 - Worry less and enjoy the little things in life - I lost my job in February when our company's contract lost the renewal and got another job which is less hours per week, easier but a little less money. So worth it!
7 - Go on a trip with my daughter. Uh...will have to settle for Schlitterbahn and shelling out the bucks for a wedding.
8 - Lose weight and eat healthier. Again, it's all relative. I think I lost a grand total of 10 pounds but hey...I didn't gain!
9 - Knit a little every day. Nope. Just didn't do this one.

10 - Knit more from my stash. I did do this one!

I still don't know what my New Year's list will be this year. Still workin on it!!!