January Resolution Evaluatiion

The first thing I realized as I attempted to keep track of progress is that my resolutions are repetitive and hard to pin down... so I will re-group them.  

In sorting through and thinking about them, they all need to be re-prioritzed too - so I have put them in a different order here (leaving the numbers so they can be easily identified)  I will re-write them during February.

February pledges:

      Continue health/fitness eating and moving projects
      Develop/begin a regular core/arm strength routine

      Continue progress with reducing spending / saving

      Re-commit to daily house maintenance habits and decluttering projects

      Finish hat/scarf to niece/nephew project (5 girls / 4 boys)

      Get baby gifts planned and started

      Continue with birthday card project - add 2 sympathy cards

      Open photo container and start looking at/sorting hard copy photos

     

Resolutions 2011

HEALTH/FITNESS

1.      Weight, weight, weight!  Maintain loss and lose a little more.  Tighten and tone…. Develop a daily regimen to stay fit for life!  Learn to eat like a thin healthy person.

I'm still on the journey!  I'm doing better about not eating after dinner... not good, mind you, but better!  The toughest thing for me right now is creating the new life habits... trying to get this down to little habits I can remember without obsessing...  that AND relaxing about weight until I cna get the eating under control.

I am still working with my naturopath to get the cholesterol levels under control.  I DEFINITELY feel better than I did when I first started working with her.  I need to go back to my MD to get my levels checked but haven't had the nerve.  I need to schedule that in THIS month!

Habit #1:  composition of eating opportunities

.....  5 - 6 times to eat..... a few hours apart...   meals consist of protein PLUS fruit or veggie..  3 times daily, add grain carb

Habit #2: eliminate wheat, barley, oat, corn .... and all cow products (beef and milk)

Habit #3: eat a large mixed veggie salad with 1/2 - 3/4c beans in it daily

Habit #4:  eat CLEAN... eliminate chemicals

**The last 3 resolutions fall under fitness and have few updates:

10.            Walk Breast Cancer 3Day again (July)

11.            Train for and do several races this year.  So far I am preparing for:   8TUFFMILES in St John, USVI (successful saving in 2010); The Flying Pirate Half Marathon in OBX; The Flying Pig Half in Cincinnati 

       Update is that my training is on target.... I am using the treadmill to follow a training schedule. Developing a quick and consistent core / arm strength routine is on my agenda.

            12.  Continue dancing!
                     

       Okay - still enrolled :-)  Ballet, clogging, Christian lyrical, Irish soft shoe and Irish hard shoe lessons... and I am still joining the martial arts class for workouts 

LIFE BETTERMENT

9.                 Continue debt reduction journey. 

        Good progress in January.   My focus this year is on reducing consumer spending and actual saving.  Two savings tools that I decided to use are:  tithe match (whatever I donate, I will put an equal amount into my money market), and 'save the savings' (any money I save with coupons or sales I am putting into my regular savings account) 

  Reducing Spending:   Coupons / sales - I started plotting and planning our menus and grocery trips better rather than stopping in stores whenever...  Also one week in January, we ONLY bought what we ran out of.  I have been working on ALLOWING us to run out of things rather than always being one step ahead.  It's a good habit but not necessary for EVERYthing :-)  For that one week, we probably saved $200 in discretionary spending :-)

     I also worked really hard at NOT buying books and other things from the internet.  I'm not sure what I've saved exactly - but I have definitely saved money AND not added to the clutter

7.                Organize, unclutter, streamline, purge! 

   Marginal progress...  I have been slowly going through containers - really only one per week so it's not much.  Mostly I have sorted yarn and planned ways to use it up.  It's scary how much I have but keep needing to purchase for projects!  I am working on it though.   Don is using a specific type of container in the garage for his storage so I am working on emptying those first.

  I am doing better at NOT bringing stuff INTO the house than getting stuff to LEAVE... but any progress is progress, right?

     I started out the month well using the book I read about uncluttering your life in a week - which is delusional at best.  That said - it is a great system for starting the process.  I did go through my closet and purge quite a few items - some from my life and some from my immediate space (summer shoes & clothing)... I have done a good bit of work in my office - determining needs and - while it may not be visible to everyone - I HAVE kept the desk clutter down to a dull roar this month :-)   I also worked on the files and shredded a lot of documents.

     Doland's ideas plus my old buddy, Flylady, are helping me a lot.  I will re-commit in February to 2 basic Flylady  habits (shiny sink and swish & swipe) and get back to the work I was doing in uncluttering.  I think for purposes of my sanity and this blog, that I will keep better track of what I actually do.  I find it difficult to remember since life continually clutters back until good habits are established!

PERSONAL PROJECTS

2. Send birthday cards to friends and family / also be prepared with sympathy and congratulations cards

       A worthy goal – will try again this year!

     So far, so good!  I sent out all the annual greeting cards in January - it was a super pic of the whole gang and I sent it to everyone I could think of who would enjoy it :-)

     I've stayed on top of the birthday list so far.... and am prepared for February.

   I have not done well with the sympathy cards at all.  For many reasons - none good.   I have some to get together and get out.  

3. Read a minimum of a book a week for the year 

January - I completed reading 6 books :-)

 Queste by Angie Sage
  Unclutter Your Life in a Week  by Erin Doland
  Private Life by Jane Smiley
 My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira
 Six Weeks to Sleeveless and Sexy  by JJ Virgin
 Triss  by Brian Jacques

4. Crochet for charity – and use my crocheted items as gifts when possible
    

I believe that I may have been too ambitious with my goals of items for charity crochet but time will tell.  I feel that I did make my individual goals for January but may not be able to keep this pace.

Operation Christmas Child – 5 lovies per week - equates to 20 lovies in January - done!

Hats 4 the Homeless – 4 hats / month - I haven't counted them... most of the hats I've made have scarves with them... I will gather numbers better in February

Library hat / scarf sets – 2 sets / month.. done!

Prayer shawls – 1 shawl / month - nope... I one half finished on the hooks.  I am not sure if I will be able to keep this goal!

Personal projects: 

small gifts for each niece / nephew starting with youngest (hats. Scarves, wrist warmers, whatever)

completed hat for Penny, hat/scarves for Tricia, Ayden & Braegan

 started hat/scarf sets for Savannah girls

have yarn and plans for hat/scarf sets for Idaho, CA & AR families

            Handmade baby gifts for good friends

             have 2 to do so far this year.... am planning an afghan for one and a cake of small items for the other         

Crocheted afghan for relatives / good friends who have momentous occasions 

            have a wedding afghan started for Alison

            need to plan / start an afghan for Dave Emig, Raf Gomez & upcoming Chris

            Pay it forward project – 

  not much progress so far except for planning :-)

 1 - pink ribbon afghan   

2 - kitchen set PLUS

    3 - prayer shawl, wrist warmers

  3 - prayer shawl, afghan 

4

5

6

5. Get back to quilting my own projects and mending the quilts my MIL made for us.
     Some small progress listed below.  It doesn't seem like much but it really is.  I have chosen one day in the week to do some quilt work - Saturday - am doing SOMEthing, however small, each week.  At some point here - I will begin to accomplish more

   1.  found and re-started work on the quilt I am making from my class (2008)  I haven't done much - but I have started and have a plan!

  2.  Pulled out the sewing machine and materials from the last projects I was working on

  3.  Pulled out the leader cloths to prepare for adding to quilt frame.  I am figuring out how to fix them!

  4.  I have mended one quilt and gotten another one ready top work on.        

6. Spiritual reading – I am considering reading the Bible through again. 

     I haven't fully developed this one.  The Bible stymied me badly last year.  I do read my fair share of thought-provoking self-improvement books.  I did register for a spiritual class to take this Lenten season which I hope will help me 

   I also downloaded the books of the Bible where I stopped last year.  I am still trying to decide if I will start again from there or do something else...  but I feel the need for some consistent uplifting in my life!

8.                Photo project – 

  Again, marginal progress... well... maybe not :-) 

I have collected, organized and ordered books of 2 of my 3 Day events

I have sorted through many of the digital files with an eye to eventually ordering a book per year

I think I said marginal because my original plan really deals with hard copy photos from the period of time between when I stopped putting them in albums and when I got a digital camera.  I am close to getting all the digital photos in albums back to 2003... so I prob have albums up to Kevin's birth in 1995..... and from 2003 to 2008.....  I want to deal with the hard copies from 1995 - 2003.  Some were damaged in Hurricane Isabel... but ALL are in a container - all unsorted... so it's a big project that I need to take in bites.

I will pledge to open the container in February and do SOMETHING :-)