2012

And we have a brand-new fresh year!

Although making resolutions is a bit of a cliche--and why should we pick one calendar day over any other to get a fresh start--it's not bad to ponder what you'd like to improve in your life.  Mine?

1.  Get over myself.  Too often I find myself doing stuff that I really don't want to do--because it needs to be done and if I don't do it, who will?  And the answer is--if it's important enough, then someone will.  Specifically, I really don't want to do all-day (or all-week) camps with kids.  I don't mind doing hour-long programs, but I find being with children all day to be completely exhausting--the last day camp I did (two days after Christmas) I came home, drank several glasses of wine, and slept until it was time to go to bed.

Teaching--will probably continue to teach  until Bob retires.  Don't particularly like it (mainly because the classes are 100+ students, who don't really want to be there), but lots of people have jobs they don't particularly like.  Bob's retiring in less than three years, and plumping up the nest egg might be a good idea.

But, in general, if I don't think of myself as Mighty Mouse--here to save the day--I can do more of the stuff that I like.  I think the problem with saying "No" is that I'm very bad at asking for help.  If I do finally ask for help, it's an act of desperation.  So I assume that anyone who asks for my help is in a desperate situation.  That's likely not the case--I might just be the most convenient person to ask.

2.  Watch less junk TV.  There are shows that I like (mostly the Cooking Channel) and I don't begrudge the time watching them.  The problem is when I sit there and settle for whatever is on because it's easier than getting up and doing anything else.  Which leads me to

3.  Eat dessert first (metaphorically).  Many times there are things that I want do to--maybe sew, or weave, or read a book--but I don't because I feel I should do my chores first.  When the reward for getting off the couch and away from the TV is that you get to  clean the bathroom--well, you definitely settle for whatever is on the tube.  So the chores are still undone, and I'm frustrated because "I don't have enough time" to do anything I like.  Well--as long as the laundry isn't being put away--I might as well be weaving.

4.  Start a project notebook.  I did this some years ago, and enjoyed it, but didn't keep it up.  I post some works in progress and finished work on this blog, but it doesn't have the details such as size of needles used or patterns or how the loom was threaded.  Like the blog, this would take some time, but it would be worth it.   And I've managed to keep the blog going for a couple of years now--keeping a diary was one of my resolutions, and it seems to be working..

So those are my goals--nothing earth shaking, but we'll see how it goes.