New Year's Resolutions

I'm not really a New Year's resolution kind of person. Seems too cliched for me. But, I thought I'd take a stab at a list this year. Call them "life goals" or "positive changes" if you will. Some are yarn-y, some are not, but all have been rolling around in my little brain for the past few months, so I thought I would commit them to writing, in no particular order (other than the order I thought about them!). Feel free to tune out now if this is too much navel-gazing for your tastes.

1) Devote more energy to my career/job/future job prospects.
I have a job that I really like, at a fabulous and unique institution. I work for two individuals that I greatly respect, with a pool of talented and intelligent colleagues. I've been given excellent opportunities to learn and grow and (from what I have been told by colleagues), I have excelled. So what's the problem? I'm putting in, on a good day, 75% effort. On a less motivated day, I spend some serious quality time with Bloglines. I need to -- and want to -- step it up a notch. I want new challenges and greater responsibility ... a higher salary wouldn't hurt, either. The problem is, I need to motivate myself to do this, and step out of my comfort zone. I know I can do it. I know I want to do it. Now, I just need to do it!

2) Clean more often, and do a better job of it. Be more organized.
I am a bit of a slob. Not a dirty, smelly, unkempt person, but rather a lazy, clutter-y, piles upon piles kind of person. I live by the mantra of "I'll put it away later." I'm organized in my thoughts, and even in my work processes. But, I have yet to develop a really good system of organizing my "things" -- papers, yarns, files, household stuff. I have a few mini-systems that work beautifully -- my purse has a place for everything, and everything is in its place. My closet is hung by garment type (pants, skirts, long sleeve shirts, cardigans, etc.), and is usually even sorted by color within each category. So, I need more of these mini-systems, as well as some macro-systems to keep the whole house running smoothly.

3) Buy a house, and decorate it beautifully.
We've got the house. (Keep your fingers crossed, though, as we won't actually own it until this time tomorrow morning!) Now I need to choose furniture, floors, paint, and accessories that will make it fit my vision of a warm and inviting, tidy, organized home. Also, see goal #2. I am not confident in my design skills and my eye for color, etc. We may get some outside help. In the interest of keeping this blog as a knitting blog, the house now has its own blog.

4) Knit from stash.
I have 2 large storage boxes, plus a small one, plus 2 large baskets, plus one small one -- all full of yarn!! By the end of September, I hope to consolidate down to one large storage box, plus one basket. Some projects I want to make include the following --
a) design and knit a sweater from my red cotton ease. I have a good idea of some of the design features (deep ribbing at the waist, v-neck or turtleneck, set-in sleeves, etc.)
b) Must Have Cardi for my mom
c) Flower Basket Shawl for me
d) a dozen pairs of socks -- 10 for me or for gifts, 1 for Thom, 1 for FIL
e) fitted sweater from Rowan wool-cotton that came in the Mason-Dixon Hefty Bag.
f) stripey cotton vest for me
g) several non-sock small projects
h) lots of bits and bobs for charity knitting. Starting now, my goal is 24 items (a pair of something counts as one item) by the end of 2007 -- 2 per month.

5) Exercise more.
Between 2000-2003 -- the first three years out of college -- I swam, ran, and went to the gym regularly. I competed in swim meets (biggest one was the YMCA Masters' National swim championships), synchronized swim meets, swim races for charity, open water swim races, and road races. Then I discovered knitting. And got married. And gained 20 30+ pounds. I miss my physical activity, and my swim team teammates. I signed up for 100 miles by April 1, otherwise known as Runagogo. Once I move to my new house, I will live 5 minutes from the swim team (not the 25-30 away that I live now). My goal is to build up to the point where I can get back into open water swimming -- swimming in lakes, ponds, and oceans, instead of pools -- this summer.

6) Eat better.
More fruits and veggies and whole grains. Less prepared foods, more home cooked meals. Use all my organic produce delivery each week.

7) Curse less.
I am intelligent and well educated. I need to find better ways to express myself. Reserve the f-bomb for when it is truly needed :)

8) Be more social.
I like my own company. Yet, I like other people too! Reach out a bit more and spend more time with friends and family.

9) Figure out what to do about getting a masters' degree.
Make a plan. What degree? Where? When? Full or part time? Who will pay for it? Finish it before I have kids, or struggle to do both at once?

10) Be more fiscally responsible.
My husband and I have made good financial decisions so far. We have fab credit scores, an excellent financial planner, and we use Microsoft Money to track our spending. But, there are still a lot of places where we can do better. I would like to eat out less at work, and reduce the amount I spend on small, unnecessary items, to save money for the bigger things in life. Having kids, I hear that is an expensive proposition ...

11) Umm, about those kids I keep mentioning ...
(NO! I'm not pregnant!!) But I do want kids, someday. And someday seems to be getting much closer. Figure out when/how kidlets will fit into our life. We didn't buy a 4-bedroom house for just the two of us, you know. Major life changes will involve lots of agonizing and over-thinking.

12) Agonize and over-think less. Live life more.
Not just about kids, but about lots of things.

13) Be realistic about what one person (i.e. me) can achieve in any given day, month, year, decade, life ... Balance my commitments and be happy.
Perhaps I need to make shorter lists of resolutions!!!

Happy 2007 to you and yours!