New Year's Resolutions

Rest........that is what I am looking forward to this weekend. The holidays have finally passed along with the frantic hustle and bustle that comes with them. I have spent the last week trying to get the house back in order, tidying up the loose ends, wrapping up the late presents that are arriving in the mail, and reaching out to all the family and friends that were unable to make it to visit for the Holidays. Now...this morning.......I can finally sit back and take a few moments to rest.

Amidst all the chaos from Christmas the New Year swept passed me completely unnoticed. Now that I have regained my sanity from the Holidays, I am ready to face the New Year with NEW goals and NEW ambitions.

Here are few of my TOP 2o New Year Resolutions:

Number 1: Put God FIRST in all things. I will seek His guidance in every aspect of my life, no matter how small the decision seems to be.

Number2: Family - I will spend more time with my family. Seeking them out amidst the chaos of our lives. We all have a tendency sometimes to separate ourselves from each other. My house is a perfect example of this. I share a home with my brother, but he lives in his room, upstairs with his TV and computer. He works nights, so I am never certain when he is awake during the day. Sometimes I go an entire day without even knowing he is home until he comes downstairs for something. My daughter also lives with me, but since she is 18 she comes and goes as she pleases, and I am never certain when I will see her. When she is home, she is usually watching TV in the living room, or playing Nintendo DS, or Xbox, or on her computer and I am in my room or in the kitchen watching another TV, cooking, knitting, sewing etc. It seems that maybe with a little more effort, we can all spend some of this time at home together, in the same room, even if we aren't all doing the same thing. And once that happens, maybe we can go one step further and have a conversation.

Number 3: Improve my Health - I quit smoking a little over a year ago, September 25 2007, to be exact. It was the day my sister gave birth to her son Elijah. My sister and her Children were staying with me temporarily during her divorce, and one day I realized that I did not want to be a smoker any more. It was smelly and expensive and by smoking anywhere near my family, even standing at an open window, I was still exposing them to secondhand smoke. So I quit, right then and there, COLD TURKEY. Now over a year later, I can honestly say I don't miss it at all, and whenever I am near anyone who smokes or is smoking, the smell is so strong I feel like I can't breath. It just makes me even more committed to never smoking again!

Now on to a much heavier subject - WEIGHT! I consider myself pretty much the average American Woman. I am overweight, constantly struggling to lose this pound or that pound. Like many women I gained more weight than I should have when I was pregnant and just never really put in the effort to lose it until, over the last 18 years, more and more pounds have seemed to creep up on me. I am not really a junk food junky or anything, although I do like sweets now and then, and a loaf of bread will turn to dust in my pantry before I eat all of it. So what is it that keeps me from looking in full length mirrors and hiding from family and friends with a camera. Personally I think it is just a lack of physical activity. I have worked a desk job for over a decade, leaving the house before dawn and coming home just in time to go to bed. Unless I was going to work or the store, I never left my house. Now, after being laid off for almost 2 years, I have started to expand my horizons. I started an Etsy store in the hope that I might be able to leave my 9-5 days behind me, I have a part time seasonal job doing taxes (this will be my 5th year doing this, only this time it won't be in addition to a full time job). I make an effort to go out with my dad to the movies occasionally, and I meet my sister and her kids for outings to local fairs and interesting events. But although that helps meet the needs of my emotional health, it doesn't do much for my physical well being unless I am meeting them for a picnic on the side of a mountian and I have to hike up to the campsite. So I am making a promise to myself that I will take my 3 dogs for a walk twice a day until my limbs are weak from the influx of blood flowing into muscles that have been inactive for over a decade. I promise to bring my Tony Little Gazelle Elite that I bought 6 years ago and never used, out of the basement, put it in the dining room and use it for 10 minutes a day to start, while I watch Law and Order every afternoon at 2pm. I may even dig up my Windsor Pilates DVD's to spice things up and keep me motivated when I get bored with my Gazelle and feel like quitting.

The list goes on....but lest you get the feeling you are reading an excerpt from a novel...I will save them for another day.

So with those final promises in mind, I will sit here at my local Biggby Coffee, completely guilt free, sipping my Super Caramel Marvel and contemplating getting a piece of Lemon Cake to go with it:)