There is always something about the new year that makes me want to change. As the year changes from old to new, I find myself contemplating an assortment of new ideas about my life and what I want for myself, for my family, for my home. I’m always excited to see what the new year will bring and thankful for the blessings the previous year has given us.
These are some things I would like to do this year:
1. Learn to knit
2. Do more of the cooking from scratch, rather than relying on processed foods for quick meals.
3. Find a church
4. Eliminate excess toys, focusing on the ones that promote the most imaginative and free play. (I’m reading a book called The Power of Play by David Elkind, so far it is has been rather textbookish but very interesting about how media has taken over childhood).
5. Plant a garden in the spring
6. Make sure we get more time outside/exercise.
7. Go to the farmer’s market more frequently when it starts up again.
8. Reduce the amount of time the television is on, even if I’m picky about the shows Widget watches, it can be on for far too long.
9. Be more conscious with the time I have left with just Widget at home. She starts kindergarten next school year, meaning I will have less time with her. And we are waiting to adopt an infant (plus considering opening our home to a slightly older child, younger than Widget still), so that could change our lives in a blink of an eye.
10. Find ways to make this house work for us, so I don’t get my usual itch to move after a couple of years. We really don’t need a different house, despite some of the things I wish were different. I think a lot can be remedied by some renovation projects (paint, new doors/trim, perhaps knocking a hole in a wall).
January 4, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Interesting…many of your resolutions sound much the same as mine…
January 11, 2010 at 4:16 pm
I planted our first garden in 7 years last Spring and we all loved it! I’m also working on cooking more from scratch and eliminating the few processed foods we still use. We decided we would only eat out/order in once in Jan and then ended doing so on the first. I’m kinda proud that we’ve managed to cook 10 days in a row now. I’m also need to work on #6 & #7 and #10 is ongoing for us. We HAVE to finish finishing our basement this year! I laughed at your knocking a hole in the wall comment. One of the first things I said when we moved in here was that we needed to knock out a window, make it into french doors and build a sun room off our living room. Thom looked at me and said, “Can’t you just be content for 24 hrs?” I just can’t help it…
January 11, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Considering your 6 vs. my 1, I think a finished basement would probably be a good plan. Just in time for #1 to have parties without the littles hanging around