Welcome 2010!

I didn't have a good 2009. No one big thing threw me off; it was a whole bunch of things that did it. At Thanksgiving my husband said he was hopeful that 2010 would bring us better fortune. I said, "It has to be better for us than 2009!"

However, since it does no good to dwell on what sucked. This year I'm dedicating myself to progress. I can't change the Michigan economy and give my husband work. I can't give myself an office with a window. I can do things that move me forward. So I'm determined to concentrate on 3 areas and throw in one specific task per month from my life list.

Recently a friend said, "I miss writing every day." This really struck a chord with me, as I love to write, but don't do it much. So area #1 is writing. I will write every day - mostly here, but there will be at least 30 minutes/day dedicated to writing something.

I've fallen off my diabetes band wagon lately. I had surgery in November (am now uterus free) and since I felt so awful for the first couple of weeks I ate whatever I wanted. Then the holidays came. Area #2 is mindful eating. Not just avoiding the things that make me feel bad (sugar, too much caffeine), but trying to eat the things that are good for me (more veggies, whole grains).

The addendum to area #2 is exercise. I was forbidden to exercise after the surgery for obvious reasons (abdominal surgery doesn't lend itself to a lot of crunches). Then (again) the holidays appeared. I go back to work on January 4, so expect to get myself back into a schedule of getting up early and spending some quality time with the elliptical machine. I plan on beginning with 20 minutes, 3 days per week for the month of January. A long term goal in the fitness area is riding a century ride (100 miles over the course of a couple of days).

Area #3 is fiber. A couple of friends and I plan on spinning 4 ounces of fiber/week and blogging about it (blog to be determined later). I've been spinning a lot in the last year, but I tend to spin the same kind of yarn over and over. It's lovely yarn and I've managed to sell some of it on Etsy and at local craft fairs. However, I'd really like to expand my repertoire of yarns and plan on working through Judith MacKenzie McCuin's book The Intentional Spinner.

My task for January is to get my resume in order. I spoke with the career counselor at my graduate school last July. She was very encouraging and gave me some good tips to get everything up to speed. I haven't look at it since. By January 31, I will have a working resume that I can send out to some companies in other areas of the country to see if I can get something going somewhere.

So those are the goals. I already have a bunch of fiber lined up for the 4 oz/week. I have stuff on the iPod to watch/listen to while exercising. I've pulled out the cookbooks and plan on some great meals from new recipes. 2010 is going to be a great year for me.

(image ganked from Robert Price)