Looking Ahead To 2010

I know, I know - the Christmas holidays aren't even over yet and I am thinking about 2010.  That's just me.  I am always peering ahead into the future, wondering what will happen, making plans and dreaming of possibilities. 

Some folks may find New Years Resolutions to be silly or pointless.  But I believe they offer a wonderful opportunity to reflect on your life and see what improvements could be made in the coming year.  After all, we can always enhance our lives and our well-beings. 

So I have begun making a list.  (I can't help it, I'm a listmaker)  Call these my resolutions or just call them things I will work toward doing in 2010.  Maybe I'll accomplish them.  Maybe I won't. 

In the end, I don't think it truly matters.  Just taking the time to make the list is vital. If I cross an item off, then great, stupendous, wonderful.  If not, that's okay too.   One thing that I have resolved is that I will always be a "work in progress" kind of person.  I will always be working toward my full potential. 

Things This Thirty-One Year Old Hopes To Do (Or Accomplish) In 2010:

1. Shave my legs (and other parts) more often.  I'm living in a warmer climate, for gosh sake.  I can't continue to use that excuse about growing my winter coat anymore when it stays 60 degrees in December in Florida.
   
   
2. Drink more, eat less.  (as in drink more water and more alcohol and eat less of everything else.  No specific amounts, just less).
    
3. Practice bladder control from drinking more (see above).  Either that, or invest in Depends.  Vivian and I can potty-train together.
    
4. Complete a 5k race.  (Don't care about my time or if I place.  I just want to enter a race and cross the finish line sometime next year).
    
5. Continue wearing less makeup and wearing bangs in my hair.  (Seems to be fooling people like grocery clerks and salesmen into thinking I am younger than I really am.  If I hear, "Wow, you don't look over 30!" one more time, then maybe I won't need to schedule that appointment for Botox after all.)
    
6. Strive to be an even better mom, wife, friend and person.  (Even when all of those people drive me crazy and I want to run them over with the vacuum cleaner).
   
   
7. Dance more.  When dancing is part of my weekly routine, I am a happier person.  (I'm glad to report that I've taken a jump-start on this one before 2010 and have joined a Zumba class just five miles from my house.  Yippee!  I'm shaking my bon-bon again).
   
   
8. Call a friend once a week.  Stay connected.  (Too often, we let things like emails and facebook replace the direct connection of a loved one.  I've been doing this for awhile now and I'm going to do a better job of staying in touch in a more personal way).
    
9. Keep a steadier pace and path.  I have a bad habit of binge-living - I go crazy all at one time often when it comes to cleaning and cooking (not binge eating, thankfully).  I wear myself out doing this when I could space chores and activities out in a better manner. 
   
   
10. Watch a movie once a week, especially a film I haven't yet seen.  (Thanks to a DVR, I should be able to accomplish this, even if I only watch 30 minutes for three days in a row.  Since Kirk and I almost never go to the movies anymore, I want to make time to do this for me).
     
11. Find a trustworthy babysitter and use that babysitter on a frequent basis so I can remember what life was like before having a child.
     
12. Pay attention to expiration dates.  So that I don't accidently give my family food poisoning or some other disease.  (I'm sometimes bad about throwing things out!)
     
13. Read and write in my gratitude journal.  I really have a charmed life.  It's time I wake up and recognize that more often.
     
14. Do push-ups almost every day.  Even if I never get my hips and butt looking sexy again, at least my arms will look good enough to wear sleeveless shirts in the summer months (which in Florida, that is about ten months out of the year).
     
15. Find a worthwhile project (charity) or something that I may want to partake in and regularly contribute to.  Especially if it's something that Vivian can help me with as well.
    
    
16. Try to remember to put things back in their place (that includes people too).  I am my own worst enemy when it comes to, "Where did I put those scissors?"  And "Where is Vivian's shoes?"
    
    
17. Explore deeper into my lack of faith and my confusion when it comes to God/ a maker - creator or whatever.  But do it because it's important to me and I want to figure some things out, not because of anyone preaching to me or what any book says.
     
18. Stay in my pajamas (or just my undewear) for a whole day.  (This should be fairly easy to do since I'm sure I'll begin the potty training process with Viv in a few months so we'll just both walk around naked for several days or weeks).
     
19. Change and wash the bed sheets more often.  So that I'm not scratching my head trying to figure out when was the last time I had clean sheets.
     
20. Read more books.  In fact, complete at least one book per month.  Since I hardly watch television at all, I should be able to do this.  I miss reading and need to do it more often.
    
    
21. Write more but only when I really want to or when the mood strikes me.  Forcing myself to sit and write at designated times doesn't seem to work for me and those "free" times don't exist much either.  Instead, continue to carry my little notebook with me and write whenever I feel inspired.
     
22. Spend more quality time with the pets.  They drive me nuts but they're mostly good animals who deserve to be brushed and bathed more than once every four months.
     
23. Play more board games.  Why don't Kirk and I do this on the weekend?  I kick butt at board games usually.  And I'm very competitive.  I need to play more Taboo!, more Scene It and more Sequence to demonstrate my true intelligence.
     
24. Keep up with the news and some politics so that I can be more educated on current events.  (I'll give this one a shot but it's low on my list).
     
25. Take more baths.  I have a nice garden tub.  Why not use it instead of jumping in the shower all the time?
     
26. Visit family more.  Go see my grandmothers while they're still living and around.  Kirk and I definitely have intentions to make more trips to see relatives in 2010.
     
27. Blow my nose less and use Q-tips less.  A few boogers and a little bit of earwax is good for the body.  I'm making myself bleed from excessive cleaning and cleansing.  I must stop.
    
    
28. See if I can convince Kirk to fart less.  Agree to belch less for him if he passes gas less for me.  (Although I get the better end of the deal, literally).
     
29. Listen to music more often.  It always makes me feel better. 
    
    
30. Give more hugs and kisses to those around me.  Give them freely and willingly whenever the mood strikes me.
    
    
31. Pay it forward whenever I can.  People have been very friendly and helpful to me so I want to do the same for others, especially any new people I meet in the area. 
    
    
32. Understand that I won't complete everything on this list and that's okay.  If I start to get down about that, then I will just begin again with #1 and #2.  

That's all I can think of for now. This list is long enough. 

And I didn't want to go any higher than the age I will be turning in 2010.   After all, if I could really accomplish these thirty-two things before I actually become thirty two years old, then that would be real cause to celebrate -- you know,  true cause for shaving my legs and drinking more! 

Good luck with your New Years Resolutions if you make them or believe in them!