Preparing for the New Year

In addition to party prep for New Year's Eve we've started laying the groundwork for resolutions, goals and lifestyle changes.  I've started attending Zumba classes for fitness and have blocked time in my work calendar to get away for exercise in 2011.  We are making financial plans as a couple and agreeing to modify our spending habits. We are also starting to talk about how we will be dealing with food in 2011.

"Dealing with food" makes it sound kind of ominous but we really have to plan, both now and continuing into the year in order to fit healthy food into our lifestyle.  Neither one of us particularly enjoys cooking, and after a long day at work we are perfectly happy eating pizza or chips and salsa.  Not the best choices when trying to get healthy and feed a body what it needs.  In addition to nutrition, fiscal responsibility gets added to the mix - we can save literally hundreds of dollars by not eating in the cafeteria at work.  When we both get breakfast and lunch at work we easily spend $25 per day as a couple.  That means either cooking enough at dinner to make lunch the next day, or being prepared to pack lunches with other groceries.  Bleh - it's a lot to think about and plan for.  The good news is we now have family buy-in and I won't have to force people to help me make lists or do the cooking.

2010 - Year of the Slacker

Holy Cow - no posts since April.  April is the time where my work life became insanely busy and everything else was pushed aside.  I have since been able to strike a balance. 

Here's a quick summary of my year:

• May - still very busy at work - very little crafting done
• June - crafting picked up but no organization in the craft room. A friend introduced me to a monthly beading event that got me hooked.
• July and August - Kid visit, college tours, vacation prep.
• September - VACATION - we had a great trip to England and that got the crochet and knit juices flowing again.
• October - work picks up and holiday planning begins
• November - I become another year older
• December - Holidays hit hard, and work is crazy and project closeout begins.

Raw food all but disappeared off the table.  We ate fresh fruit and veggies but fell back into old habits.

The craft room is worse than ever.

2011 will be the "Year of Change". 
 
Paul and I are starting to think seriously of retirement.  This requires fiscal responsibility.  Oh yeah, and we have to help with college for our youngest - THAT will require fiscal responsibility as well. 

I need to find more balance in my life.  That will require better time management, better stress management and exercise. 

I don't know that I will make traditional resolutions this year but I think I'll take a more holistic approach to life in general.  More scheduling, less procrastination, more nutrition, less laziness about food prep and consumption, more exercise, less TV.  My changes will be more gradual and I'll be more forgiving of myself.