I have always found the idea of New Years Resolutions kind of stupid and I generally refuse to participate. But this year I have decided to go about it a little bit differently. Instead of some huge, unattainable resolution that I'm sure to fail at and then feel bad about myself within a couple of months, I am going to do 12 smaller resolutions. One for each month. When the month is over, so is the resolution. Some of them I can hopefully keep going, but no guilt. They are each only mandatory for a month at a time! So here is my plan:
January
No more eating out. This will be good for my bank account and my waistline. All my meals will be bought at the store and made at home. The month of December has done me in. All the craziness has caused us to not plan our meals ahead and just grab whatever was convenient. Or you make plans to meet friends over food and drinks. It just gets to be too much. So no eating out for a month. That should be an excellent jump start to get things back on track!
February
I'm bringing back the handwritten, fold it, put it in an envelope with a stamp and mail it letter! Technology is great and I love email as much as the next person, but there is something so special about getting a handwritten, unexpected letter in the mail! SO watch your mailboxes in February! I'm going to send out one letter each of the 29 days. And an added bonus, maybe I will help keep someones job at the post office!
March
I'm going to work really hard at not saying swear words. I have a horrible mouth. I know when to keep it in check most of the time, but I slip a lot around Lyla and that just isn't good. So this month I'm going to stop cussing.
April
Enjoy my birthday. I turn 29 this year which means that 30 is only a year away. I am totally aware that age is just a number, but I don't do well with getting older. And my 20s have been some very important years of my life, it will be hard to tell them goodbye. But I'm going to keep reminding myself that getting older is a part of life and its better than the alternative. So the best thing I can do is embrace it and not worry about it.
May
Spring cleaning. I want to sort through things in the attic and basement and either throw them away or get them sold before summer. I want to sort through all of Lyla's toys and get rid of the things she has outgrown or doesn't play with before her birthday where she will just get even more stuff! It will be my mission for May to get the house in order.
June
Spend more time in our backyard. I was so excited when we moved in to the house about our backyard. I had all these visions of spending afternoons back there in Lyla's blow up pool and evenings listening to the radio, drinking a beer. This past summer got kind of crazy and we did spend some time back there but not nearly as much time as I wish we had. So since June is the first month of summer I am going to spend as much time back there as I possibly can!
July
Leave Lyla for a weekend. Without us. I have left her for overnights a couple times, but she was always with Gary. Gary's work has a big picnic at Seven Springs in July that I want to go to just the two of us. So I am going to have to suck it up and convince myself that Lyla can survive without me for a weekend! This one is going to be hard...
August
I'm going to try to visit at least one of our far away relatives. We have a lot of them and it would be nice to go see them, even if its just for an overnight! August is a good time to try since its summer and we won't hit bad roads and daycare is closed for a week so we usually take our vacation at the same time.
September
I'm going to work on flossing. I generally only floss when there is something stuck in my teeth, not part of a daily routine. I know someday it will be important for Lyla to floss everyday so if I start now I can set a good example.
October
I'm staying home. It costs us a lot of money traveling to see friends and family and there is always a lot of traveling in November and December. I like the idea of refusing to go anywhere during the month of October. It also lets me stay home and start to get ready for the holiday season. If anyone wants to see us, you better plan on coming here because I'm not leaving.
November
I'm going to do the thankful posts again like I did this past November. I really enjoyed that challenge (most days). Its good for the soul to try to find something to be thankful for each day instead of just complaining about things we cannot change. I'm sure I might repeat some that I already used this year, but its good to remember them nonetheless.
December
Get my credit card paid off. I put this for December because I'm going to work hard on it all year and hopefully by the end of December it will be a reality. And I will have to also not go and charge more on it when I'm Christmas shopping!
