Happy 2010 everyone!
Our new year started off with an unexpected, unwelcome surprise. Of which I'm not allowed to blog about, or discuss- because it is just plain gross. Seriously. I'll leave it at that.
In other news, have I told you how much I love January? My tree is halfway down, the decorations are halfway in their boxes, and I love the feeling of reclaiming my home. The sparseness, the empty tables- it just feels good. In other news, besides the usual "lose weight, be healthy" etc. of the standard resolutions-- here are a few more I'm adding to my list this year.
1. Plan a REAL family vacation. We went to Catalina for TWO days last summer. That's the most vacation we've had in awhile. Now granted, we live 15 minutes from the beach and visit Disneyland on average, 3xs a month. But still. We need to get away.
2. Try 3 new recipes a month. I did a pretty good job of this last year. I cooked ribs. I made a blueberry pie. We steamed lobsters. I did fancy French food. Now I'm going to strive to cook more seasonally, without leaving much of a carbon footprint. (Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" was my favorite read of 2009). I need to capitalize on the bounty of Southern California's produce. It's seriously amazing. My neighbor knocked on my door yesterday (why yes! It was 2pm and I was still in my jammies) and brought me oranges, tangerines and lemons- picked from her trees.
3. I have some major organizing that needs to be tackled. Before I left for China, I ordered a lovely black lateral filing cabinet for my office. (thanks Ballard Designs!) I envisioned a clear desktop- and oodles of neatly tabbed folders containing all of my organized paperwork. Ummmm..... it contains the paperwork- but it's in stacks, and not filed. And my desk? Is a total mess. So are my closets. My garage. My linen closet. Lots to do here.
4. Focus more on date nights. When I lived in Houston, I was really good about this. We had 2 nights a month- dedicated to spending time as a couple. Every 3 months or so, Matt would take me out to a mac-Daddy dinner and we tried some of the best restaurants in Houston. Since we moved here? Not so much. When we do go out, it's usually for a work function, or to see other couples. I'm tired of having crayons at EVERY meal we have as a couple.
5. Photograph more. We put together awesome photo books for the grandparents for Xmas (thank you Blurb.com!) and it made me realize that I need to figure out how to work the camera (not just in Dummy mode) and take more pictures. My husband is the expert, but I'm the one that's got the time. My friend told me about a class I can take, and I'm seriously thinking about signing up.
That's it! I hope all of you are having a healthy, and welcoming start to the new year. It's gonna be a good one. I can feel it in my bones.
4 comments:
Oh oh tell me about Catalina. I have never been there and really want to make a whole family trip out of it. Just 1 or 2 nights but probably 10 or so of us. Any tips?
-h
This is truly inspiring. Barbara Kingsolver will be presenting writers' workshops at the San Miguel Writers Conference in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico February 19-23 2010. I just signed up. It looks like a rare opportunity to meet her. Are you going?
Wish I could help you organize! I love doing it:). My family all had the stomach bug on xmas eve and New Years day into the 2nd of Jan, fa la la la la la la la la la, fun times:). All of your resolutions seem reasonable and you can accomplish them all.
FOT again (Friend of Tracey). Had to read a bit more, right?!
-So, I'm from Houston too.
-We have not had a REAL family vacation in a while.
-I love to cook and would love to swap favorite recipes with you!
-Organizing the papers in my house, well, let's just not talk about that.
-And yes, yes, yes, I need to figure out how to use my camera in anything BUT dummy mode.
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