Another Year has Begun

Every year I reflect on the previous year's resolutions and set new goals for the new year. This year is proving to be more difficult than most as I've been having trouble with health problems lately. So my main goal for 2014 is to get healthy!

Since my spurt of crochet activity in October my left hand has become much more numb and very weak, so much so that I can now longer crochet! This is terrible for me, as I had plenty of plans to use up the large amount of cotton I bought from Bendigo Woollen Mills recently, but now I'm left with nothing else to do but browse facebook! So my main short term goal is to get my hand sorted out so I can return to some sense of normality.

our new herb garden after just two months growth

In the mean time, I've discovered a new website called Goodreads that recommends new books to read depending on ratings you've given books you've already read. So I think some reading is in store for the new year! And of course another new years resolution is to keep trying with the exercise. We have a new exercise bike set up in the living room which I can use, its just getting on it that's the challenge! And like last year, gardening is still a goal for me. I'd love to get out more into the garden on our new suburban block. We have a new raised garden bed coming soon which I hope to blog about in another month or two.

What are your new year's resolutions?

Goals for the New Year

Every year at this time I paused to reflect on the previous year and which goals I should have for the new year. Since starting this blog, my new year's resolutions have been getting simpler.

Thomas loves eating strawberries fresh from the garden so I want to grow my own

I'd really like to use this year to learn as much as I possibly can about gardening, specifically growing my own food and other useful productive plants. There is so much information on the internet, every question you can think of has the potential to be answered. I also want to spend more time in Brian and Freya's garden in Stanthorpe, where they grow lots of vegetables, it really is my inspiration. I wonder if one day I might find it within me to go back and study a certificate in horticulture? But I'm a long way off that yet, I just want to learn what I can for now. I also want to look after the fruit trees on my parent's property in Yandina, that's another place where I can learn more about growing food. Growing useful productive plants really interests me. I'm even growing my own potted cotton right now, it currently has developing bolls that will split open soon. I'm not sure what I will do with it, I'm guessing I will try and spin it with the spindle Brian made me.

Thomas loves to spend time with his grandfather and eating fresh carrot from his veggie patch

My other goal for the year relates to last year's resolution. I simply wanted to sort out my house better in preparation to move, to use up the yarn I have stashed here and to sell unwanted stuff. And while I have used a fair bit of the yarn, its only the tip of the iceberg and there is much, much more to go. So now I'm not sure what is a reasonable amount to hope to get through in 12 months. Probably a bit less than I thought I would use last year! We still haven't moved house, as we're thinking to buy our own place. With the market like it is at the moment, its hard to set our hearts on anything, but we have seen the bank and hopefully will find 'our house' within the 6 months time frame. I was going to sell a lot more things than I did, but I'm now thinking I better keep most of it just in case we change our mind and have a second child. We still have a year or three to decide on that one.

And of course, the final goal which is one I think most people have and that is to get healthy! Especially if I want to garden as much as I do, I really need to be fit and have more energy to complete my goals for the new year. One way we're doing this is cutting out sugar completely from our diet. We never were big fans of sugar from the start, we don't drink soft drinks at all, nor much sweet things. So cutting out the sugar completely is just the next step for us. And somehow we need to find a way we can exercise together, we still haven't found the solution to that one, but I will keep on trying!

What are your new year's resolutions?

My New Year's Resolutions

Last year, I didn't have any resolutions, other than to survive my first year as a mum! The previous year my goal was to learn more about crochet, to try and learn how to read patterns. Well I did that, and my baby son is doing very well now too, so now its time to think of a new goal for the new year!

my collection of fine coloured crochet thread

My goal for 2012 is to use up as much of the yarn that has accumulated around here as possible! I hope to make lots of useful items for friends and family, and perhaps try and sell some things on ebay. I really must try very hard not to buy any more yarn! I'm sure I have a lifetime's supply here already!

My other goal is to sell a lot of other things on ebay, things that we don't need or use and no longer have room to store. Our flat is pretty small and its made to feel smaller than it is with all the clutter. My goal for this year is to stream line my house, ready for a possible house move at the end of next year.

Of course, my other goal for the year is to be a good mum! I want to get Thomas into music lessons, and to take him swimming more. And we need to do some more socialising, too!

I think it's useful to start the new year with a new goal, something that is achievable, and something that you will enjoy doing. A feeling of accomplishment is important as we look back over our past year, especially for people like myself who don't work at a job. Even if you don't achieve everything you set out to, it's good to celebrate the gains you have made, even the smallest ones.

What are your new year's resolutions?

That Time of Year

Its that time of year to take down the Christmas decorations, if you're the kind of person to go to the trouble. My efforts in this department are a mere token gesture, for me its to acknowledge the significance of this event on our culture. Celebrating seasons and the passage of time is important. We mark our lives with significant occasions, rejoicing in the fact that somehow we are here, alive and on this planet (by miracle or coincidence, or a combination of both). If we did not celebrate significant occasions, our lives would be merely a string of days strung together with no memorable markers to divide the time. To look backwards and remember significant occasions is important to give your life meaning. That's what I think, anyway!

I like our little Christmas tree. We picked it up from the local newsagent. It's a very practical tree for us. Its small, and packs down flat into a handy box. As renters, we need to be practical about the trivial things in life! My Christmas decorations are minimal and easy to manage. You won't catch me stringing up garlands of tinsel and rows of dangly balls and stars! I certainly wouldn't bother with Christmas lights, those things simply BEG to break. And there you are with all this broken crap, what then to do with it? Best not to bother, imho. I think the Santa I blue tac to my kitchen buffet might have been recycled from a Christmas cake several years ago. I stick him up if the thought occurs to me. The festive dangling penguin was the gift tag from the bottle of wine my sister gave us, and I thought he looked particularly cheery, so hung him up to give Santa company.

Now is also the time to think about goals for the future year. Taking that moment to contemplate things you would like to accomplish and making resolutions to address them, is important. Otherwise, our lives would simply be a string of days strung together. Oh, I already said that? It's worth repeating. If you don't pause to make a goal you can aim to achieve, when you look back you may think you have accomplished nothing. And the feeling of having accomplished nothing is something to avoid. Even if you have very simple, achievable goals, it's worth having them.

My New Years Resolutions
1. Use up all the wool/cloth etc.
2. Get all my poems onto the website.
3. Level all classes in WoW to 80.
4. Organise the house better so it's easier to move by December.

My major goals for 2010
1. Enjoy activities away from the computer, eg. homemaking, gardening, etc
2. Enjoy activities away from World of Warcraft, eg. blogging, Sims3
3. Enjoy a different role within WoW, eg. leveller, raider
4. Of course, the obilgatory "get fit" goal /sigh (I need to loose 7cm from my waist!)
5. And most importantly, enjoy continuing to maintain current relationships :)

Homecraft
I'd like to use up as much wool, cloth, ribbons, buttons, etc, that I already have here before I buy any new materials from the craft store.
I'd like to make practical things that I can use in the home and that I might have otherwise bought if I didn't make it myself.
Before buying something, I'd like to try and ask myself first, could I make this myself?
I'd like to try the glass fusing kit.
I'd like to start work on making gifts to give next Christmas.

Gardening
I'd like to continue exploring things we can successfully grow in pots here, and how we can use them in the kitchen.

Blogging
I'd like to try and make a blog entry at least once a day.
I'd like to add a little more at the poetry site at least once a day.

Sims3
I'd like to only play Sims3 a limited amount, exploring higher levels of free will in characters.

World of Warcraft
Until expansion, I want my contribution to the running of the guild to continue to be limited, to encourage others to do it as much as possible.
After expansion, I might want to start helping run the guild more again, I might not!
I want to level at least my druid to 80, currently 76, before the Chinese New Year Festival in February.
I want to continue raiding end-game, preferrably on my hunter.
Before expansion, I would like to try and level to 80 my warrior (74), rogue (70), death knight (62) and shaman (45).

It might seem like I have a lot of goals for 2010, but I don't think its too much for me because these are also instead of goals I might have achieved in the workplace.