Happy New Year 2011

I'm not sure why, but I find myself looking forward to 2011 with uncharacteristic (for me, anyway) optimism.

vintage ephemera

2010 was overwhelmingly good:

• Our oldest graduated from college. She worked so hard, did so well, and is now plotting her course through graduate school as she holds down a job, and is adjusting to her first home-away-from home. So much for one year, but she has handled it with poise and aplomb. My heart swells with pride when I think of the beautiful young woman she's become.
• Our middle daughter also had a year of many changes. She was accepted into her first choice of universities; she turned 18, and from my perspective, she grew up. Suddenly, my baby is so incredibly mature, introspective, and graceful. She's always been my sunniest child - beautiful, cheerful and pleasant; but now there is something else - she's on the cusp of being a "grown up". My sweetest child is fledging and I could not be prouder of everything she's become. 
• Clementine turned five. In addition to becoming much more self-sufficient, she started preschool, had her tonsils out after a very long illness, grew 5 inches, had her long hair cut into a cute pixie cut, advanced several levels in swim class, and started ballet lessons (which she loves). 
• Dan had a busy, productive year. He took three week-long trips for work (New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts). He spent a week in VMWare training (VM = Virtual Machine), which he really enjoyed, and he'll be taking the exam to be certified in VMWare after the first of the year. Dan went elk and antelope hunting, and brought home a very nice antelope which now graces our freezer.He worked on various projects around the house, spent more time at the gym, and spent a lot of time doing "daddy stuff".
• As for me... I've had a busy year as well; being a wife and a mother is a full-time job.
  I've done some writing (but not nearly enough), and some crafting (not nearly enough). I did a fair bit of knitting (but not nearly enough), and even got around to making Clementine's Halloween costume by hand... which I hope to get around to posting here soon.
  I did some de-cluttering, but got seriously sidetracked when Clementine was so sick (from November 2009 through May, 2010).
  I had surgery at the beginning of December, which was a long time coming, and am starting to feel better.
  
  
  
  vintage ephemera

My resolutions for 2011 are: 

• To be a better wife. I've been consciously working on this during the past year and I hope I've made progress. My husband is the sweetest, kindest, best man in the world and he deserves someone who appreciates him and helps him in every way possible. I strive to be yet more helpful, more supportive, and more appreciative in the new year.
  
• To be a better mom. I need to remind myself to make time for the most important things in life - spending time with my beloved three daughters. They fill my heart with indescribable joy. 
• To be a better home maker. I'd like to make more of our food from scratch, and sew more. Last year I decluttered my kitchen, learned to make yogurt, and started baking from scratch again, this time using gluten-free recipes. I'd like to bake more, and make more of the things and products we use. 
• I'd like to continue to make our home greener, both because it's healthier and because it almost always costs less. Last year I purged the kitchen of nearly every piece of plastic and replaced them with china and Pyrex/Fire King from thrift stores (safer and cheaper than the plastic was when it was new). Glass never melts, doesn't off-gas, and looks so much prettier than plastic.
  This year, I'd like to focus on greener cleaning supplies and to continue buying organic where it matters (The Organic Dirty Dozen - foods which should always be purchased in organic form^) 
• To watch many more awful B-movies with my husband. We cancelled cable last spring, and while the amount of TV viewing in our home went way down overall, we soon began to seek out and watch old B-movies together. But instead of sitting there passively watching TV, we found ourselves talking, laughing, and enjoying ourselves. Movie Night is the highlight of my week now.
• I'd like to work more in clay, knit more often, and craft more. I did pretty well last year, making time for several small projects, but could certainly do more. One of my goals this year is to make as many of the gifts we give during the year as possible.
• I'd like to exercise more, including getting out and hiking. It's a shame to live amongst all this beauty and not spend more time in nature. 
• Immediately return to our 10-a-day decluttering plan, starting January 1st (today!). It works like this: Pick 10 things - however you wish to define "things" - 10 magazines, 10 forks, ten pieces of paper. Ten of one thing  or ten different things. Then, take those ten things, whatever they are, and get rid of them. Give them away, recycle them, thrown them out, donate them, shred them, whatever. Easy, right? Just do ten a day, every day.
• Read more. I don't read enough. Actually, I read a lot, but most of what I read isn't in book form. So, I'd like to focus on reading more books. 
• Recommit to The Compact Movement. The Compact Movement is dedicated to buying less through agreeing to buying new only what you absolutely need (food, medicine, school books, etc.), and trying not to buy anything else for a year (or for whatever period you commit to).
• To appreciate everything I have. Not things, but people and relationships. I'm blessed with loving friends and family, but I don't express how much I love and care for all of these wonderful people as much as I should.

vintage ephemera

With that in mind, I would like to wish you the Happiest of Happy New Years, and thank you so much for reading.

vintage postcard from 1927
Welcome, 2011
The Year of the Rabbit

Namasté

5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Happy New Year!

Tonight, as the audio-animatronic Dick Clark and the even less realistic semi- humanoid Ryan Seacrest ring in the New Year in Times Square, we'll be ringing in the New Year the way we usually do: dinner in, a movie in the player or a game, then cuddling together after everyone else is asleep. We found lobster on sale at Costco for $6.80 a pound, so we'll be having crustaceans, drawn butter, a salad, and baked potatoes for dinner; tea and sparkling cider for drinks, and crème caramel (egg custard) for dessert. And wine for toasting at midnight.

Times Square (NYC) by Michael McDonough(^),
used under Creative Commons License

Tomorrow begins a new year. Last year I made a few resolutions...

• At the end of last year, I resolved to lose weight, and I did - I'm down about 20 pounds. Yay!
• I resolved to exercise, and I did, some. I need to do more. Semi-yay!
  
• I resolved to not chicken out and finally do something about the pain I'd been feeling, and I had minor surgery in February. The surgery went well, and combined with no longer eating wheat, my pain is gone. Yay!
• I resolved to be neater, and made some progress, but probably not as much as I should or could have. I like clean, but don't really mind clutter. I wish it bothered me more, I guess. Another semi-yay!
• Work on crafty things more than the previous year. I did ok on this resolution. Probably could have done more, but did a whole lot more than the previous year, so I think I'm happy.
  
  
  Our dog, if he were green and made from polymer clay.
  
  
• I resolved to get out with friends more. I didn't really do very well with this one at all. Phooey. I will double down and make more of an effort in 2009.
  
• My final resolution, shared with my husband, was to follow the Compact. The Compact is a group of people who resolve not to purchase anything new for a year and to look carefully at their purchases to determine what is truly needed and what is merely wanted. It isn't a matter of debt or anything like that (for us, at least). It was an exercise in discipline and of discovery, of what is really important.
  
  You can read more about the Compact here at Good Magazine(^) or here at the San Francisco Chronicle(^) .

We did very well for a long time, then moderately well for a while, then not so well. We were disappointed that we weren't able to last a whole year, but are resolved to try again, starting tomorrow. We've written up our own guidelines for the coming year, which are:

Follow the basic Compact - no non-necessary spending on new anything unless it is a matter of health job, and/or safety, with the following details:

• Mutually agreed upon educational materials for SuperCat are exempt if we can't find them used or at the library. She's currently learning to read and we may need a book or two.
  
• Memberships may be exempt, as they are services. They would include membership to the Denver Museum of Science and Nature, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and possibly to Costco.
  
• Mutually agreed upon materials to finish previously started projects - limited to those items only (i.e., bias tape to finish a previously started sewing project, nails to finish a wood project, etc.) may be exempt, as it is utterly wasteful to abandon a dress, for example, for lack of three buttons.
  
• New clothes for SuperCat if she needs them; only if clothes can't be found elsewhere (hand me downs, sewing, etc.
  
• Remodeling materials, always checking Restore(^) first.
• All gifts & cards should be handmade (I'm already working on Valentines Day ).
  
• Internet connection, computer parts, etc., necessary to keep the computers in good working order. Mutual agreement on new purchases in this area.
  
• Postage as needed.
• Try to move toward more sustainable habits, like: cloth napkins, hanging out more clothes to dry, etc.
  
• Dinner/lunch out no more than 2x week. Week starts on Sunday and ends Saturday night. Eating out is almost certainly more wasteful than eating in.
  
• Freecycle(^)/FreeSharing(^), hand-me-downs, antiquing, thrift, Restore(^), etc., is always preferable to new whenever feasible.
• Food, obviously, is exempt.
  
• Utilities, insurance, etc., to maintain our household are exempt. We have to stay warm.
  
• Medicine, medical care and pharmacy needs are exempt. We have to stay healthy.
  
• Car repairs as needed to maintain safety are exempt. We have to stay safe.
  
• Career-related materials are automatically exempt. Self-explanatory.
  

That's pretty much it. It's not too difficult in some ways, very difficult in others. Consumerism is a habit many of us don't think a lot about, it has become automatic.

My own resolutions this year are:

• Join a local knitting group. I had plans to join in October, but something came up and I couldn't. I have enough yarn to knit the entire year away without fear of running out, and the women in the group seem to be clever and smart and are obviously talented.
  
• Exercise an hour a day. I'm not quite there yet, but getting closer.
  
• Lose weight (who doesn't have this as a resolution?).
  
• Grow my hair out longer than it is now.
  
• Complete projects I've started but haven't finished. They include finishing some knitting, finishing a set of dolls, completing some earrings, a quilt, and some tutus.
  
  
  doughnut earrings on silver wire in need of findings to be finished
  (that's what jewelry parts are called, findings)
  
  
  cupcake earrings which need to be finished
  
• Try to reduce the amount of clutter in every aspect of our lives. To me, clutter isn't only stuff. Clutter is anything that we don't need or want.
  
• Make soap with lye. I'd like to try my hand at making a super-fatted soap to use as a shampoo bar.
  
• Make cheese from scratch. This just sounds like fun, doesn't it?
  
• Edge closer to an all-Linux environment, computer-wise. I'm more than half-way there. My desktop machine is all-Linux, and my laptop dual-boots.
  
  
  Resolved: to spend more time with Tux, the Linux mascot
  
• Make more of our food from scratch. We've made huge strides in this area, and I'd like to continue. Cooking from scratch is rewarding and fun.
  
  
  homemade french onion soup
  
• Make treats instead of buying them. I already regularly make Chex Mix, marshmallow treats, and cupcakes. In the last month or so, we've made double chocolate rocky road fudge (with marshmallows and walnuts), and hard lollipops. Both were easy and fun, and both were so much better than anything we could have bought. Next year we plan to pull taffy and make peanut brittle.
  
• Follow the Compact, and apply it to everything above.

So, how about you? What are your New Years resolutions? Whatever you choose,

Happy New Year!

Namaste.

Current Mood: cool