blink and you'll miss it: Resolutions...

Resolutions...

It's time for my annual list of things I'd like to get done in the upcoming year.

I predict I'll do at least two of them... Maybe...

1. Reduce the Clutter

I am a pack rat. I blame genetics and my love for all things inane and trivial.

Despite my recent lodgings transfer and massive downsize, I still seem drawn to the five unneeded Rubbermaid bins I see on clearance at Target, the Japanese sushi eraser 12-pack I saw at the Party Outlet store and the yards of kitschy material on sale at JoAnns. I save these things knowing some day they will be of use. But this year I resolve not to take something, even if it's on super-massive-closeout-clearance-sale, unless I'm going to put it to immediate use. This may translate into more frequent last minute stops to the superstore but will hopefully also cut down on clutter underfoot.

2. Take more pictures

I'm not gonna lie here, I take a lot of pictures. But I've slacked off recently, and this is unacceptable. Never will my children be this age again. Never will they be so willing to climb into my lap and pose for cheesy pictures again. I will not have this moment back 20 years from now. And so often I'm torn between reveling in the moment and capturing it on film to revel in later... So perhaps this resolution should be not simply Take more Pictures...but Take more Pictures that Count. I don't need to be a shutterbug, but I don't want to miss the important things.

3. Dance More

Didn't think it was possible did you? And yet, besides the sort I do in my living room (or Beccah's living room, on the Wii) I don't do a lot of dancing. And no, I don't mean just mindlessly grinding and gyrating on a dark club floor (although that IS fun, don't get me wrong!) I mean dancing. I used to love to go swing dancing and salsa dancing and have even done a titch of ballroom in my former life. I'd like to get back to that again... even if just for an evening or two.

4. Celebrate More

It's so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind of life and forget to celebrate the small things: A lost tooth, an A on a homework assignment, a week where no one had an accident... You get my drift here. I'd like to try and place less emphasis on the hugely commercial holidays that require a ton of legwork and $50 in pre-made storebought decorations; and more emphasis on celebrating in small ways, like a batch of someone's favorite cookies if they have a good day, a dinner out after a promotion (please, god) and the like. Sometimes it's nice to step back from your own life and be thankful for the small little Wins in the every day.

5. Take a Family Portrait

I have enough friends that are professional-grade photographers that it is absolutely a sin and a crime against nature that I do not have some decent, not taken by myself at arms length, photos of the Munchkins and I. This should probably be moved up to #1 on the list... this one HAS to happen soon...before my kids are too cool to smile for the camera.

6. Go South for the Winter.

Really this is just a fancy little way for me to say I. WANT. A. VACATION! A real, honest-to-god, lay on the beach, drink during the day, eat seafood fresh out of the ocean, stay in a hotel vacation. It doesn't have to be a long vacation. It doesn't have to be outside of the contiguous 48. But as god as my witness I WILL leave Indiana in 2011 for warmer climes.

7. Get More Crafty.

I'd like to think I'm already pretty darn crafty, but I tend to pick up side projects here & there and not really focus on any one thing. So, initially for 2011 I'd like to pick A craft a month (crochet, knit, decoupage, embroidery, etc) and really focus in on each one, try & put a little perfection onto it and not get distracted so quickly by my overflowing, ever-growing binder of projects-I'd-like-to-try-and-recreate.

8. Get More Sleep.