My Chosen Destinations

I didn’t include my goals in my last post partly because I didn’t want to make an already long post even longer but also because I was still fleshing out my plans and wanted to have them straight in my brain before posting them for all to see.  Now that I’ve got them figured out it’s time to share.

• Fit Into My Clothes Again – I know “exercise” is, like, the biggest cliche of all New Year’s resolution cliches but there it is.  Since moving from California over a year and a half ago I haven’t really gotten back into a good exercise habit despite a few half hearted attempts.  Some of that is because I was pregnant and, well, during pregnancy I’m either not moving so I don’t barf or I’m not moving because I’m so big it’s unbelievably awkward and uncomfortable.  Wingnut is now eight months old.  I’ve been nursing which I believe helped me lose a lot of the baby fat but I seem to have reached the point where that luxury is gone and I’m still left with an extra 10-15 pounds I didn’t have before getting pregnant.  I can still actually get into most of my clothes but they don’t fit well, make me uncomfortable quickly, and they pull in all the wrong places.  I’d like to be able to wear all my clothes again and feel confident doing it.  Yes, this goal is pure vanity and I am not ashamed to admit it.  I’m not really overweight but I have acquired a bit of a tummy and am not in good shape anymore.  Getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight would be great but I’d like to go even a little further.  I used to spend 20+ hours a week rehearsing for shows and when I wasn’t doing that I was taking a couple of classes that kept me moving.  When I went to beauty school I stopped doing that sort of thing and my weight fluctuation went up about 10 pounds.  By working out again I’d like to get back to my pre-beauty school weight and shape and once I do I’m going to treat myself to a new head-to-toe outfit.
• My Plan of Action - ODD is setting a similar goal (for different reasons) so this is something we’re going to work at together.  I think working together will help us both stay motivated.  We’re planning to take turns every other night doing cardio while the other does strength training.  We’re planning to do our workouts after Peanut is in bed but we already know that is going to have to change when ODD begins his ER rotation because he’ll have late nights for those five weeks.  In that case we’ll change to earlier mornings.
• Organize My Recipes and Get Rid of My Magazine Collection – I know these are seemingly unrelated but in my world they are.  A few years ago I typed up a bunch of the recipes I had floating around on scraps of paper, printed them off, and put them in page protectors in a binder along with printouts of recipes I’ve collected from The Food Network, Allrecipes, Epicurious, and lovely online friends who are kind enough to share.  Since then I’ve printed off even more recipes as well as cut a bunch out of magazines and they’re floating around my kitchen, some loose, some in folders.  I have several years of Real Simple, the occasional Martha Stewart Living, and many random copies of Better Homes and Gardens in bookshelves just taking up space.  I know there are more recipes in these magazines I’d like to get out so I can recycle the rest of the magazine and free up some valuable shelf space.  Once all these are pulled out I’d like to sort them in some way and get them into binders so I can easily find and use them.
• My Plan of Action – I’m going to set the timer and spend an hour each week looking through as many magazines as I can in that time.  I will cut out the recipes I want and put them in a file.  Once a magazine has been looked through I will either throw it in the recycling or put it in the craft closet to be used for collages at a later time.  When all my magazines have been perused I will spend my hour sorting through the clipped recipes, organizing them, and putting them in binders so they can be put to good use.
• Sew At Least One Project Each Month – My sewing motivation goes in waves.  Sometimes I spend days or weeks in my sewing room working on little projects.  Other times my sewing machine will sit for months just gathering dust.  I want to make at least one project each month.  It doesn’t have to be big.  One month when I’m more motivated it may be a quilt or a dress for Peanut.  Another month when I’m less motivated it may be just a little needlebook.  My point is to keep my eyes open for things I want to try so I can continue building my sewing skills and add new methods and tricks to my mental sewing basket.
• My Plan of Action – At the beginning of each month I will spend some time planning out what I want to make.  Throwing things together is still perfectly acceptable but I also want to look at the supplies I have and use some of them for projects instead of just letting them look pretty on a shelf.  If I need something I do not already have I will go to the fabric store with that project in mind.  I will also purchase at least one high quality pattern this year and give it my best shot.  I will publish my creations on this blog whether they work out or not.
• Pare Down My Photos – ODD and I have had a digital camera since 2004.  We took quite a few photos but nothing compared to what we began taking when Peanut was born in 2006.  Usually I’m in such a hurry when I dump my card on the computer I don’t look at my photos very closely and, going back through, I find I have many almost-duplicates that could easily be deleted without really losing anything.  We have a big hard drive but even so it’s getting rather full.  Since photos can take up a lot of space I’d like to weed out any photos we don’t need.
• My Plan of Action – I will set a timer for 30 minutes once a week and sort through our photos which are filed by date, weeding out any pictures we can do without.  I will not be a computer pack rat.
• I Will Publish My Blog – Again – December wrapped up my fourth year of blogging.  Of my four years I have printed two. I used a company connected with QOOP called blogprinting.com.  It was simple and fast.  All I had to do was select the dates I wanted, choose a size, do the cover, and pay the money.  It was easy peasy and I was happy with the product.  Last year when I went to publish I discovered blogprinting.com was no longer in business.  After looking around I discovered QOOP could still print it but I had to export it, turn it into a PDF, upload it to their site, and do a few other things to get it all together.  I also considered using Blurb.  When I first looked they weren’t able to slurp my blog because I use WordPress.  After a while I received an update telling me they had changed that and it could be slurped after all.  So I slurped it.  Then discovered it would take a considerable amount of time because I’d have to change all my photos, rearrange all my stuff, and choose different page layouts for every. single. page. of the book.  Being tired and pregnant I was not willing to devote that amount of time or energy to a book so it didn’t happen.  Now I have two years that aren’t published and I’d like to get it done.  My first two books are pretty simple – almost like I printed my blog out on nice, semi-glossy 8×10 paper and had it perfect bound.  It’s great for what it is but I think I’m ready to devote some time to turning my archives into really nice hardback books through Blurb.
• My Plan of Action - The two most recent years are my priority but I’m hoping to also re-do my first two years so they are all the same because I’m anal retentive about things like that.  I will set a timer for 45-60 minutes at least three days every week during Peanut’s quiet time and use that time to work on my blog books.  I will need to upload my original photos into the books because the ones I post on Flickr and the ones I posted ages ago on Blogger have been compressed so they load more quickly online and because of that have lost some resolution.  I have come to consider this part of my family’s history so I think it deserves some time and effort.

Now that this is all written out it seems a bit daunting to me because most of these things can only be accomplished a little at a time.  Usually I’m an all or nothing kind of girl.  When I work on a project typically I begin it and do pretty much nothing else until it is finished.  Anything that gets in my way is just an annoyance and that includes eating, sleeping, and unfortunately taking care of my family.  Honestly, I’d like to spend an entire weekend with no children or husband around and just devote the whole time to organizing my recipes or photos but that is not really something I can do at this point in my life.  I’m still a wife and mother and still have things I’m responsible for.  This method of doing things little by little is going to be a big stretch for me but I think if I can keep myself motivated and see the progress I’m making, as little as it may be, I can reach my goals.  After all, by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.