Thursday, January 3, 2008

A New Year

Where to start? I don't do new years' resolutions. I don't do them, because by doing them, I am setting myself up for failure. And I don't like to fail.

So, I am going to set some goals for the year. Maybe by putting them here, I will take them more seriously.
In no particular order, here they are....

1. Read more. And to make sure I am reading, I am logging everything on goodreads.com. The link to my account is.......well I'm sure there is one, but I can't figure out how to find it. Anyways, I just spent about 1/2 hour adding books to my to-read list. I should stay busy for awhile. I actually read 4 books since Christmas. Off to a good start.

2. Pay down debt. This one sucks. But, when I looked at what kind of money I would have if I didn't have credit card debt, I was shocked. I basically be able to buy whatever I wanted. But, instead, I'm sending all that money to those damn credit card companies, and I really have nothing to show for it. So, I will be going out less, eating out less, and working harder. I have to just keep reminding myself what it will be like when I can keep my money.

3. Do more family oriented stuff. This kinda goes against my #2 goal, but I'm sure we can find some cheap stuff to do. I know an art museum here that is free, we have a ton of family games at home, I've set our TiVo to record some family movies, and I've started reading some of my daughters books (so we can discuss them), and we volunteer with the local humane society so I plan on us giving more time to them.
I'm open for ideas on this one as well.

4. Try not to get pissy with DH on all the traveling he is going to be doing. Right now he is in Minnesota and later this month he will be in China for 2 weeks. There are many more trips on the table.
I have to remind myself that these trips are part of this awesome global position he has that looks awesome on his resume. So, when we are ready to move, he will be able to get the job he wants.

5. Meet more people. This one is both hard and easy for me. Easy because I belong to an awesome group on meetup.com. The more people join, the more I meet. Hard because I really am a shy person (until i really get to know you) and it is difficult for me to open up to people. I really pushed myself last year, and have a great new group of friends. Then I realized once I had those, I stopped putting myself out there for the new people. So, this year I will get to know them.

6. Stop watching so much TV. Really. This has made both DH and I lazy. I didn't realize how lazy until this writers strike. We didn't know what to do with ourselves when there was nothing on. Now my kids' know how to play Rummy, and we'll start on Hearts next month. This also goes with spending more time with family. Even though we are all in the same house, we are really not together when we are all stuck to the TV screen.
Now, DH isn't going to be as joyful for this as I am, so I have a plan. We will TiVo some good family shows, and the shows that he thinks he can't live without. And we will only watch what is TiVo'd (is that a word?)
What does he think he can't live without? Lost, 24, Chuck, The Riches, ER, Life, The Office, Heroes, and Desperate Housewives. Ok, so some of those might be mine, but he does watch them all!!

7. Volunteer more. I am a volunteer at our local humane society, but I have not been spending much time there. I need to work out a schedule to help out at least once a month. I blame it on the long drive, but really, what kind of excuse is that to abandon all those poor doggies and kitties?
I also have a dog who used to be a therapy dog, but I stopped taking him places. My goal is to get him re certified and then find a place where I have to commit to a regular schedule.

8. Start going to church. I have no idea why I haven't done this. I have a church very close to our house, but I have never gone. I'm not sure if my kids know who Jesus is. Ok, so they might know who he is, but they really need to know more. And I would like to know more about my faith. I didn't really take it seriously when I was younger, so it's time to do that now.

That's it for now. I will start blogging every time I accomplish one of these. So, I should have a post at least once a week. I guess that adds another goal, to post more.

2 comments:

Amanda @ Click. The Good News said...

Those are great goals- especially 7 & 8. It's tough to find a church, but sit down with your husband and make a list of what's important and what churches you want to visit. Make a commitment to attend a few weeks to get a real feel for church. Look for a place that's got a strong kids program that will keep your kids interested and where they will want to hang out with their friends. Good luck!

a real librarian said...

These look like great goals!!! But you forgot - BLOG more!! lol =)

Happy New Year, darling!!!