Winter and Adjusting

Winter has got to be the most inconvenient of all the seasons. Granted this year we've been pretty lucky (well global warming might not be luck I guess) but I still am not a fan of forcing myself to run in the cold, not to mention the ice that screws up everyone's commutes and cuts into the traffic for pretty much every small business in town.

I enjoy staying in and curling up with a book like the best of them but I haven't had much time to do that either - looking forward to being finished with school and having free time once again. And even though things are going pretty darn great - finally - the low light gets me down. SAD I guess. Winter just isn't my favorite.

But I'm also trying to adjust to a new schedule, one that accommodates work, school, stuff around the house, and now someone else. I love a good routine and mine's been thrown for a loop the past few weeks and it's just going to take some time to find the balance again. Thankfully I'm spending time with one of the most thoughtful and kind people I know. And I'm also being pushed to reach out, ask for help, and learn how to do things with a partner - instead of just with my stubborn self - once more. I think I'm going to like it, but it's going take a little getting used to. All good things in life are worth some extra effort, no question. Just have to keep reminding myself to enjoy it, take things one step at a time, and make the best of this fun new beginning.

#6

Took the knife skills class tonight I'd been meaning to try for, oh, over a year. It was totally worth the price, and I got a nice new paring knife out of the deal. I realized that I didn't have as poor knife skills as I thought, but also learned some good techniques and it was a confidence booster to just do it, on my own, and do well. Looking forward to that next onion I have to dice!

The rest of the list is moving ahead pretty well, although it's not going to be a 100% success - I wasn't able to commit to making my Christmas gifts this year - both time, energy, and inspiration were lacking. But it's ok, I didn't mean to force myself to do things I just couldn't handle. And there are a lot of other activities on the list I am much more excited about. Sledding on Art Hill for one...maybe soon! Snow is in the forecast. Finally!

Resolving

Since I already have quite the un-accomplished list of things to do in the next few months, I didn't feel the need to go overboard on resolutions. Yet I couldn't pass up the chance to challenge myself to be a better person and commit some ideas to paper. And yes, real paper, as in my journal. Or in the words of that girl in Bridesmaids, "a sad, hand-written book". Ha! Well, I guess it's not all sad stuff in there, but plenty of it. Hopefully that will be changing in 2012. And so, about those resolutions...

• Big commitment to less food waste and better meal planning and frequent cooking. This is something I got started on last year but need to step it up, both for my diet, my life (crazy w/ school sometimes) and my budget.
• Cook at least one recipe out of every cookbook on my shelf or it goes in the Goodwill pile. I don't have a ton, but I know some are just collecting dust and there's nothing I love better than simplifying my "stuff". Less is more.
• Continue focusing on my mental well-being and just be a more calm, rational, thoughtful person and friend.
• Conquer my budget once and for all - find a balance and get there, without falling back into the awful cycle of paying off credit cards then racking them up again. This could be tricky with some recent life developments, but I'm serious about it now. 30 has me REALLY ready to drop the plastic and start saving for a house.
• Stay in touch with people I love and do a better job with birthdays, sending cards, etc. I'm not a huge celebrator but I know it's very important to let others know you remembered them on their day and I want to do this. I need to get a stash of cards, write up dates on my calendar and stay on top of things.

That's really all I could come up with. Of course, there's still the list of 30 things...down to 25, but really 24 since one had to do with Christmas gifts and I most certainly did not catch the DIY bug as I had hoped. But that's ok. It's better to be honest about ourselves than hold ourselves accountable to things we cannot or do not want to do.

Ok 2012. I'm liking you already. And I'll like you even more if I can manage these few resolutions. Let's do it.