I’m not usually one to make New Year resolutions. I just hate the idea of trying to choose to only make life changing decisions on one day of the year. This year though I have decided to set some goals. Not resolutions, but specific and trackable goals. More specifically things that I have some control over.
On to my list:
GOALS FOR 2009!
Hopefully I’ll take more than one class, but one would be enough for me to start. I’m not sure yet what kind of class I am going to take, but I’ve considered photography, wood working, writing, or something else creative. The catalog comes out in a few days, so I’ll get to decide then.
I’ve been intending to walk the 3-Day for about five years now. I got as far as raising half the money necessary to participate in the walk. Unfortunately, at that point, my fundraising hit a wall and I wasn’t able to walk. This year I am determined to do it.
I have no credit cards, but I have student loan debt and, because of my own stupidity last year, I owe the IRS a small amount. I’m going to work my ass off at getting atleast one of those debts cleared up in the next year.
If there were one thing in my life that I could change, it is that I would have learned to make lefse from my grandmother before she got sick. It breaks my heart that I didn’t. My uncle fell into a crazy period a few years back where he got pissed at the entire family and took anything he thought was of any valuable, financially or emotionally, from the house. He took grandma’s lefse griddle, potato ricer, rolling pin….the entire lefse set up. So, I’m going to need to purchase an entire new set, but it will be worth it. And I’m going to learn to do it with a photo of my grandma at my side the entire time.
This one shouldn’t be all that hard. I do this anyway. But there are times when I let myself slack off for a week or two. This year, I want to really make an effort at it. I’m also going to keep track of the titles. Don’t expect anything profound. I generally just read whatever is available to me at that moment, so it could be anything from Clay Aiken’s autobiography to the latest piece of chick lit.
I’ve been knitting for three years now. And I still SUCK. I’m getting better, but definitely not at the level of someone who has been knitting this long. I’m going to start working through atleast one challenging project a month. You can follow along at the link above, or you can always check me out on Ravelry.
I’ve recently rediscovered my love of cooking and baking. And with the delivery of my KitchenAid mixer for Christmas, I have a great excuse to do some baking!
There are already plans in the work for a cruise in December of next year. I’ll actually have to get a passport! The only time I have ever been out of this country was to go over the border into Mexico near Brownsville, Texas. We were on a mission with my great-uncle to get his same day dentures made for less then $300. We were successful, but I definitely don’t want that to be my only opporutnity to leave the country.
I stole this idea from someone else. But it was such a great idea, and I’m constantly trying to figure out “something to do”. Now I have a list.
- Live frugally and simply, Recycle/Reduce/Reuse, coupons, budget
This one is rather self-explanatory. I’ve been overwhelmed by material stuff in the last few years and I want to really focus on simplifying.
- Renew my commitment to my physical and mental health.
Also self-explanatory. I’m not going to make any specific goals on this one yet, but they’re coming.
- Collect and collate my recipe collection
I have too many recipes spread all over the place. Between websites, print outs, cook books, and random recipe cards, I most likley have nearly 100 different dishes floating around.
I think my plan is going to be to try and give a brief monthy blog update on my progress, since holding myself accountable requires constant reflection. So, you’ll be hearing more about my goals in a few weeks. Until then:
HAPPY NEW YEAR! May your 2009 bring everything you need into your world!
Posted by Amelia on Oct 6, 2008 in
Growing Up,
Healthy Girl,
Hobbies I wrote constantly. Emotion wrought poetry, memoir-esque short stories, and simple journal entries overflowed from notebooks and binders on my bookshelves. I wrote thousands of words daily on my LiveJournal. And then suddenly, it stopped.
I know that I can attribute some of the slow down to aging. The intensity of life has worn off some and now things seem more settled and less exciting to write about. And I can attribute some of the slow down to a series of betrayals that made revealing my private life too scary to face on a daily basis.
I have considered taking a writing class, hoping that the expectations of the class will force me to sit down and let words take me over again, but scheduling and finances always seem to get in the way.
But there is still a part of me that screams out for words. Every shopping trip includes a trip to the stationary aisle to pine over bound blank books with fresh pages that are craving a felt tipped pen.
I finished it. I boiled the hell out of that damn thing for over three hours. And got it to felt up about 50% of the amount it would have felted in a standard washing machine. Blah. Here is some photo documentation of the process.
I have been sick for four days now. Four absolutely miserable, head pounding, fever breaking, snot filled days. I had to call in sick to work on Friday, because I was running a fever and didn’t want to risk getting any of the kids sick. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to find a sub or I would have been absolutely screwed. When i got back to work on Monday, I figured out just why it is that I am ill. My favorite little cuddlebug walked into the classroom yesterday with a gigantic blob of green snot running down her upper lip and proceeded to cough all over the snack table. I love my job.
So the decision was made immediately in my mind that I was going to break my “hand sanitizer is the devil” boycott of all products which claim to kill 99.9% of germs on contact. I’m going to start bathing in the shit. I’m going to eat, sleep, and breathe Pur*ell. It may be the Devil and you can call me a Satan Worshipper now.
I had seen our occupational therapist wearing this really handy little lanyard with a rubber capsule on the bottom made to hold a bottle of the liquid gold that will save my poor red nose from going through this throughout the year. Perfect! But after searching both Target, Walmart, and Office Depot, I was still completely empty handed. And then it hit me!
I have a gigantic storage tub full of 50% wool 50% mohair yarn courtesy of Matilda444 that is just perfect and ripe for a project. I created a pattern pretty easily by modifying an I-Pod Nano cozy to be slightly more narrow and shorter, knitted it up in less than an hour, and prepared to toss it in the…
Foiled. I no longer live in a house with easy access to a washer dryer and control over the water temperature of said washer. I tossed the cozy in the washer with a load of jeans last night and when I pulled it out there was no change at all. I have a feeling the water is set incredibly cool, even for the hot setting. I figured a couple more runs through might do the trick, but after two further cycles this morning, still nothing.
Grrr.
I had read somewhere about felting wool by boiling and cooling and aggitating. Similar to, ya know, the “traditional” methods used to make those stupid felt, tri-point hats from the revolutionary war. I donned my dirndle skirt and a muffin cap, and popped a pot on the stove.
For the last hour, I have been boiling and shocking and aggitating and wringing and turning my fingers into prunes. And really? Doesn’t look like it’s doing a whole lot. I mean, it looks slightly felted. Ever so slightly. But it looks nothing like the lovely, thick and lush felt bags that I made last year. I’m going to keep attempting to boil the hell out of it, hoping that maybe it just needs a bit longer. But I may start saving my felting projects for the nights that we go to the laundromat.
Today was crazy cleaning at the apartment. I scrubbed the kitchen floor, finished up the dishes, put away a shit load of laundry, vacuumed. The only thing left to do is dust the living room, which I plan on doing as soon as I find the damn duster. I must say that cleaning really helps me get my mind focused on things in my life, but today it just wasn’t working.
I’ve been really trying to figure out alot of different things in the last week or so. Nothing life or death, but things that I’d like to work through. So today I was thinking through my monthly budget and trying to figure out what the hell I’m going to do financially. I definitely have to figure it out, but it’s not going to come overnight. I’m trying to find some sort of software or a website or something that will help me develop and stick to a budget. Any suggestions?
I celebrated my one month of being a non-smoker on Sunday. I’m already noticing the benefits. My stamina is improving. My sense of smell is improving. My lung capacity is improving. I’ve stopped sounding like Janis Joplin after a fifth of whiskey and two packs of cigarettes every morning, so my voice is definitely improving. Which leads me to the next dilemma….
For the past few years, I have looked at the website for the Twin Cities Women’s Choir every season. I’ve thought about joining and even had it on my calendar a few years. I have recently met Swirlspice and her lovely girl M_tm. They are both members of the choir and I think having them there would make it less intimidating for me. It would really fulfill a few long time goals of mine. It would give me the opportunity to get some damn music back in my life, which really fell to the way side 12 years ago when I got pregnant and dropped out of the UTA music department. It would also give me a chance to meet some women and start finding the possibility of friends. And I’d have a hobby outside of the house, which is always a good thing.
The dilemma comes in with the dates. The choir rehearses on Wednesday nights. Unfortunately, as of right now, I am scheduled to begin an eight week support group on the exact same nights. The support group was my initial plan to start transitioning myself from being so isolated into trying to find some friendships. Truly the choir provides the same thing. The only difference is that I would have to find other outlets for “support”. I think I have made the decision, but who knows if I’ll chicken out at the last minute.
