Resolutions

I'm a little late with these this year, but that's because I needed time to think about them. Some years I just scribble down a long list and never look at it again until the year is over. (I keep all my lists, going back to 1984, on a clipboard that always manages to surface around December 31st.) So many things are on the list year after year: lose weight, manage my finances better, write a novel, read 100 books. But in 2009 I did finally write a novel. And last year I not only wrote another novel, I read 100 books. So I'm starting to think I might want to take these resolutions a little more seriously.

This year I have 15 resolutions on the list. I think that's too many. I'll never keep 15 resolutions. But the thing is, I don't know right now which 1 or 2 I will keep. If I narrow the list down to 4 or 5 items, I might miss the one whose year it finally is. So 15 it is.

Here they are, grouped into 4 categories:

Health and beauty
1. Stick with WW. "Lose weight" has been on my list since I was 10 and will be on my list until the day I die. No worries, things could be worse. Thank goodness WW exists.
2. Exercise. The sad thing about this is that for years and years I didn't have to put it on my list -- it was a fun and constant part of my life. But now I live in Ridgecrest. So my resolution is to walk several times a week, perhaps resume lifting weights, and take advantage of whatever opportunities to exercise arise.
3. In bed by 11 PM each night. By far the hardest resolution for me. Definitely worth pursuing, however.
4. Develop or regain my personal style. How I might go about doing this is unclear, but I want to remind myself that it's an issue, and my sassy new haircut does not obviate the problem.

Self-actualization (the smallest group this year, or perhaps the most focused, because I think I know what I want).
5. Write or edit (my own writing) every day. At least 15 minutes. Also, I'm planning to set a specific writing goal each month, like "write a poem for X writing contest."
6. Find a part-time editing job. I think it's time, or it will be at some point during the year. Remember, if I find a job on December 31st it still counts. Need to think about this one.
7. Read! Anything I want! I was going to set a more serious specific goal, but clearly I need some time off. My first book of the year was a young adult novel called The Dollhouse Murders, that should tell you something.

Family life
8. Work with Rocket Boy to figure out where we want to live. This is important. It means don't wait until he gets a job offer and then whine about having to move somewhere I don't like.
9. Figure out a solution for our problematic Colorado properties. We're working on it. Two seem OK, the other two not OK. If we're going to be land barons, we need to be good land barons.
10. Baby books, photo albums, photo storage & organization. I don't especially want to work on this, but the guilt associated with not doing it is really dragging me down. I decided I could work on it for 1 hour per week, tentatively scheduled for Thursday afternoons. Today was my first attempt and I managed to glue a photo of each boy's first salon haircut into their respective baby books. QUITE an achievement, and a significant subsequent reduction in guilt. Just think, if someone asks to see their baby books, I can display that page!
11. Potty training! Oh yeah...

Personal relationships
12. Maintain friendships. The Christmas card orgy always reminds me about this. I have so many wonderful friends and I don't want to lose them. So the current plan is to write an email, birthday card, etc., to at least one friend every Tuesday. Sounds pathetic, but it would be an improvement over last year's record. And NO, I am NOT going to join stupid Facebook, NOT NOT NOT. There are other ways to stay friends with people.
13. Date night once a month. Rocket Boy and I have such a hard time with this. But we had maybe half a dozen nights out without the twins last year and they were really good for us. Once a month sounds doable.
14. Try to fulfill my volunteer commitments. (One of which is currently driving me batty.) I said I'd do it, I'll try to do it.
15. Enjoy the twins. Maybe I need to make this more specific -- or maybe not. Last year I put down that I should do music and art projects with them. Oh yeah -- or not. I think it's more important to live in the moment with them, rather than plan activities. Though the moment can be quite horrible at times. Maybe enjoying them means working more on discipline. I'm not sure. But today while looking for things for their baby books I came across the photos my sister took during their first week of life. I can't remember them being so tiny! And then I found some photos of them during our move here. They were so precious! So the bottom line is that I want to find ways to enjoy them, even though sometimes it seems impossible.

Anyway, that's the list. We'll see.

I hate January but I love January. Everything's so new, especially my resolutions. Even the one about Weight Watchers. And now it's nearly 11, I must go to bed!