2008 Resolutions

(c) 2007 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

(1/2/08: edited to add a 5th resolution.)

Well, last year I had this to say about New Year's Resolutions. If you don't feel like following the link, here are my goals for 2007 in brief:

• Get Pumpkin to start sleeping in a big bed.
• Get Pumpkin potty trained.
• Eat healthily.
• Exercise.

To reflect back, we managed #1 without a problem, the second goal took a little longer due to all the change that happened in her little life (transatlantic move, new baby, move again, move AGAIN), and the last two are a little harder to measure. In general I think I did better at the eat healthily than the exercise overall, partly because of the whole pregnancy thing. I was doing well with exercising almost every morning until we moved into the brick house. With the electrician coming around 7:30 am, I wasn't willing to exercise and possibly meet him in my pjs or exercise gear, so that's slipped by the wayside! Having belly dance every week helps, but it's not enough on its own.

So on to 2008 in only hours! (By the way, "Cheers!" and "Slainte!" to those back in Japan and Ireland who've already rung it in!) Once again, I'm going to set myself some goals (as opposed to resolutions - it feels like I've got a little more wiggle room).

1. To reach an appropriate weight according to my Body Mass Index. I mentioned it in my birthday post of 35 things I'd like to do in my life, so I might as well start now before I keep inching further away from it. Of course, I need to buy a scale to know for certain where I am starting out, but last time I weighted myself, I was only about 10-15 pounds away (ok, now that it's been the holidays, with Oreo Balls, I mean Christmas Coal, and Love Boats, it might be more like 15-20). Not fabulous, and it won't be easy because I do not have much willpower when it comes to food, but within the realm of possible. I figure if I do weekly weigh-ins, that will help me keep on track and be a regular reminder to watch what I eat and stay active. I might set some monthly goals to help me with this. Even if I only lose 5 lbs., (how's that for defeatist talk already, huh?) it'll still be worthwhile.

2. To get Penguin sleeping in her own bed. Even though I swore it wouldn't happen again, like Pumpkin when she was a wee lass, Penguin has learned to only fall asleep while nursing. And since I'm much more likely to nurse her in our bed than I did with Pumpkin, she's now in the habit of wanting to have a bit of a snack whenever she wakes up in the night. She's well past the age of needing to eat in the night, and it's definitely just a comfort thing, but, oh, it's going to be rough. She's a stubborn little thing already, and a good yeller, so it will not be fun for any of us. I'm holding off until Steve the electrician is done so that if (when) we do this and don't get much sleep at night, it won't matter if we have a little lie-in in the morning and don't get out of the pjs right away. Then, yeah, I'll have to look forward to the joy of having a little more room in our bed, and sleeping more soundly, to help me get through the painful week or two of retraining her to sleep on her own. Lord help us.

3. To get Pumpkin more independent with the potty. She's trained (except a couple of accidents lately when she was too busy playing with new Christmas toys and the like) and very able, but it's faster and easier for me to help her with the details. I need to start easing back and letting her handle more and more of the process from beginning to end. The incentive for this is a community ed. class I'd like to sign her up for in the fall. It's 2 hours, twice a week, but the kids have to be totally independent with the potty. We've certainly got time to accomplish this, and now a washer and dryer in the house (yay!), but making it a goal will help me get moving on it sooner.

4. To unpack/look through every box before we've been in the house a year. I say "look through" because some stuff, like holiday decorations, costumes, fabric and sewing supplies, and such like that, will probably always live in plastic totes, but I want to finish unpacking and putting things away! Argh! I know it takes a while to find a place for everything, and some of our stuff has been in boxes the whole time we were away and all, but I'm SOOOO looking forward to knowing where my stuff is and for everything to have a designated place so I can a) find it and b) put it away when I'm done with it!

5. This one's a late addition to my list: To read at least 4 nonfiction books this year. I enjoy reading, but I practically always read fiction. Mr. Kluges recommended The Omnivore's Dilemma to me, and it made me realize I should be at least reading some more nonfiction. And since I'm in-progress on it, I'm going to be counting it as my first one for 2008.


So there ya go - once I hit "Publish Post," I'm committed. I'm a little hesitant about the first one, because it's so measurable. That means I can fail at it. I'm not good with failure, but, hey, if I could do NaBloPoMo, and succeed at that, I'm willing to give that one a go as well! Wish me luck!


P.S. Happy Belated Birthday to my wonderful, wonderful husband! I love you, sweetheart!