2013 Resolutions

Interestingly, I've never made New Year's Resolutions before. I don't know why. Perhaps it has to do with setting myself up for failure.  Many people set goals, and then feel very badly when they fail. Of course, often those goals were unrealistic to begin with, so failure was a high probability.  I don't know about you, but I don't like failure.  As an adult with ADHD, I know far too much about failure to follow through (look - a bunny!) I often take on more than I can handle - get frustrated, and quit rather than completing the task below the stated goal.  It ends up becoming an all or nothing proposition. Either I achieve the goal - winning on every count - or quit, because I can't stand to put in the effort and come up short. (If I fail to meet the goal because I didn't make the effort, it's a different story.)

My intention is to try and make realistic goals, so I can actually achieve them without feeling defeated before I begin.  If I find these goals to be too much I will revise them, but for now, this is what I'm taking on for 2013:

1. Walk 30 minutes every day. 
2. Budget $100 per week for food/groceries - and stick to it. This includes eating out. It does not include dog food or chicken food. It does not include cleaning supplies.
3. Create a more structured daily schedule - and follow it.  Too often, I float through the day, not accomplishing the things I set out to do, because I'm not following a schedule. I'm hoping more structure will make me feel more productive, efficient, and effective. 
4. Crochet - 1 square a week, plus other projects. (Finish the mixed stripe blanket, etc.) 
5. Blog - once a week minimum. More is good. 
6. Read again. I miss reading for fun. I used to do it all the time. Goal - at least one hour of "extra-curricular" reading each week. Reading tied to specific work projects doesn't count.
7. De-clutter my house and my life. Remove 1 big bag of stuff each week.  It can be donated, recycled, or trashed, but it has to go. I have a terrible habit of accumulating stuff that "might be useful."  My husband and Thing One are bad about this, too.  Maybe I can get Thing Two to help..... she's ruthless about tossing things out. 
8. Garden more efficiently and effectively this summer. We didn't produce much in the way of veggies last year, and this needs to change - especially with my food budget goal in place. (I will not count the cost of gardening in my food budget.) 
9. Less television. Less Facebook and Pinterest. Not sure what goals I want to establish around this yet, but I know I want less of them in 2013.  Perhaps the parameters need to be built around accomplishing the other goals first? 
10. When I fail, don't give up. I'm sure there are days I will not walk, and weeks I will not crochet a square, throw out a bag of stuff, or stick to the food budget. It's okay; I have permission to fail - but not to give up. There is always time to start again. 

What are your goals this year?

Blog Envy

This weekend, I figured out how to customize the appearance of my blog a bit.  Yes, it was boring. Now, I'm quite sure it's too busy.  Before long, I'll be tired of it and change it again. Change is good. Color and chaos - GOOD! (Nine hours after publishing, and I've already changed it. Shocking!)

I spend a bit of time looking around at other blogs - following pinterest links to instructions on how to do this or that - usually driven by food or crochet projects. And yes, I'll admit it. I have Blog Envy.

Why do so many blogs out there look so darn perfect? It's like these people live in a Better Homes & Garden magazine, not in reality. The colors are balanced and beautiful, photography looks professionally done.  The projects are lovely and displayed to make them even more lovely, and the entries are well-written, amusing, entertaining, yadda yadda.  They are not the ramblings of a woman who's life is filled with organized chaos and stress.

Confession - my home, my blog, my life - will never be so beautifully organized and perfect. My photos are taken with the camera on my phone - because I don't know where the "good" camera is right now.  I have to clear away a spot on the table, the couch, or the chair to lay out my crochet and get a picture. (I work hard to get a photo that doesn't show the clutter nearby.)

We aren't hoarders, not by any stretch. I'm constantly tossing things out, donating, putting things away. But I always seem to be in the middle of a project (bulk mailing appeal letters for work, crocheting a giant blanket, handmaking holiday cards) and these projects make things look messy! The house is clean.  But the house is 85 years old, small, and lacks sufficient storage space.

And dangit - we LIVE here. There is STUFF around. There are dogs and there are kids. (Okay - the kids aren't little anymore - but anyone with college students in their life knows they are just as - or perhaps messier - than toddlers.)

The dogs: Ellie Mae, Fat Gertie, and Isabelle the Varmint, track in dirt and debris. They shed and shake that dirt everywhere. My husband spends about 2 hours a day sweeping it up. Not even kidding.

The girls come home from university and drop their things in the entrance hall.  Bags of laundry, heavily laden backpacks, shopping bags - whatever they have on hand - placed everywhere except where they belong.  It generally only lasts a few days, and then they return to school, but those days are ridiculous.

When I look at these blogs of perfection, I used to feel inadequate. But no more.