Re-Solution

I'm a bit late to this party, but lately I've been mulling over goals for the next year or, should I say, years.

Goal Number One.
To finish (or make the decision to frog) my knitting UFOs. There are too many projects scattered around the Haus. I've been gathering them up and have a big bin in my dining room, waiting for when I get done with the current projects in my knitting bag. I need to keep the urge to start new projects under control. Two exceptions: first, if I start a new project, it should be only to use up any yarn remaining from a just-finished project; second, I am determined to finish a pair (or more) of socks this year. I just frogged the pair I was working on because I was knitting them way too tightly. So I'm eager to cast on and try again.

Goal Number Two.
Shop from the stash for this year. Buying for giving the yarn as a gift to a fellow crafter does not count.

Goal Number Three.
To finish my counted cross stitch UFOs. Granted, my cross stitch materials and supplies don't take up more than 1/10 of the room that my knitting stash does. But this hobby has been on the back burner since I learned to knit. I need to get back to it on a more regular basis. Maybe I need to take one of the projects to the office and work on it during my lunch hour. Even at a couple hours a week, that's more than I'm devoting to it now.

Goal Number Four.
To control the everyday clutter around the house. The biggest incentive for this goal is watching Hoarders on A&E. Seriously, this show will have you cleaning during the commercials. The shows that are the worst are about the animal hoarders and the dead animals the cleaning people find at the bottom of all the debris. You could not pay me enough money to clean the places those people have encountered. (And I've just found out about the TLC show Hoarding: Buried Alive. I'll have to check it out.)

DH and I do not share the same aesthetic when it comes to decorating. He is extremely spartan. I like to display the antiques I have from various relatives. I don't care much for knickknacks, (mainly because I hate dusting them) but I do have some that I've kept because they have sentimental value. Part of our clutter problem is that we have no closets on the first floor of our home. But I would like to get in the habit of dealing with clutter during the week, rather than having it build up to be dealt with each Saturday when cleaning.

Goal Number Five.
To be more healthy. So few words, but it covers so much. Included in this is getting to bed at a reasonable time...say by midnight on work nights. It also means becoming more physically active. Between a desk job (for the most part), a long commute, and knitting, that's a lot of sitting. As with anyone my size, this goal includes losing weight. This could be a whole post on it's own - even it's own blog.

But my goal is to avoid temporary change. I need to find a solution that works for both DH and I, one that becomes a rest-of-our-lives habit. We need to eat more non-processed food. I need to learn to clean, cut, and cook with vegetables I've never used before - kale, brussel sprouts, kale, rutabaga, etc. This does not mean that I am going to follow strict regimens - those are a recipe for failure. I know myself. Eventually I will eat chips or chocolate - the key is to do so in infrequent moderation. I have to admit that Crazy Aunt Purl has inspired me. It's all small changes, but like money, they all add up.

Goal Number Six.
Read more - or listen to more audiobooks.

Goal Number Seven.
Consume less. Reduce, reuse, recycle. I've been pretty good in the past couple of years - which I think is because I don't care for shopping as entertainment. For me, shopping needs to serve a purpose. (This may be why I still wear T-shirts I got in 1995.) I have one pair of dress/work shoes. Three years ago I lost my winter boots and I still haven't replaced them (and yes, it's awfully cold to shovel snow in tennis shoes). But I can be an impulse buyer when it comes to clothes. For example, I purchased a sweater that was marked down from $40.00 to $3.99. However, it's not a good color on me (gray) and does not flatter my figure at all. Not a costly mistake, but a mistake nonetheless. And those add up.

One place I know I can cut back is buying books and magazines. I've got plenty of books that I haven't read yet. And I need to take advantage of the libraries where I work and live.

I'm inspired by people who are living this to the extreme, like the woman who has 33 clothing items or the challenge to own only 100 items. While I don't want to join in on these challenges, I want to be very thoughtful about each and every purchase. If anything new comes into the house, an old item(s) must go out of the house to the local thrift store.

Maybe I'll be ambitious enough to keep track of my progress throughout the year on a monthly or quarterly basis. While I know I'll make progress in these goals, I want to make sure that when I don't do as well as I want or hope, that I don't give up or let my lack of progress stop me from getting back on track.

What about you? What are your goals?