Good-bye 2006

Good-bye 2006...I will not mourn you. I dubbed you the *Year of Tears* and indeed, you certainly lived up to your name. 2007 is going to be the *Year of Healing and Being Good to Myself and Others*.

I know it's that time of the year when you are to let go of the past and ring in the new with all sorts of resolutions tied to that *new* like ribbons on a package. I tried that...resolutions do not work for me cause they last about as long as a gnat's attention span. I am not a resolution kind of person, I guess. The same with lists, there is something confining about listing things, something regimental about lists, especially things that go along with improvement. Now, I know that is contrary to what I do, I believe that I make many lists, grocery lists, to-do lists for work, I keep an appointment book and a journal. And I do find that listing things tends to keep me focused and at task. But I do not run my life by lists...that's why listing goals for needlework and that 10-25-50 challenge that I jumped into failed about 24 hours after I posted it. Must be the rebel in me.

I do have some things that I want to work on during the new year. I will be 50 this year. 50! I do not know where the time went, in my mind's eye I am still in my 20's, I feel good most days, although I creak a little more when I get up in the morning. So, I do know that this year I will be taking a greater interest in my health and upkeep. That means flossing and moisturizing more often than I do now. Eating less chocolate and less snack foods, good-bye Doritos. It means submitting to a battery of tests, those tests that are recommended by your doctor when you reach this age. And it means losing the last 32 pounds and getting to my goal weight by the end of June. There, I wrote it. I am declaring that I will be at goal by June
30th. Keep me honest and cheer me on! I also promise to walk on my treadmill daily for at least 35 minutes 3 times a week and for 15 minutes for the other 4 days.

Financially, I am going to start to save a bit of each paycheck. We live paycheck to paycheck and throughout our 28 year marriage, my DH and I have been diametrically opposed on financial matters. He's a saver. I am a spender. Although I do not shop as much as I used to, I am known to blow through a good chunk of cash in a very short amount of time. Taking stock of what I have recently made me realize that there is little that I want or really need. I have some long term goals for my house, there is a dining room I'd like to furnish and a floor that needs to be installed. But I am not in a hugh hurry for either of these things. After all, I've waited 28 years so far, what's a little more time?
Since the DH will be leaving a relatively high paying job and going to a high school teaching position in the next 2 years, we have actually banded together and decided that we will be debt free by that time. That means no more VISA, paying off the cars and the mortgage. We'd like to be in a position where the only debt we have is the home equity loan and the college loan we took out for the Cadet. I guess this means that I will have to work out a REAL budget instead of the one that I subscribe to now, which is pretty unstructured.

Work---hmm-mm. Well, there are so many things that affect me that I can not control so I've decided that I would go with the flow but work on getting some outside education that will further my career rather than just getting by with what I know.
Even if it doesn't get me a raise or a promotion, I've decided that I have to get to know and understand what the latest business trends are (lean manufacturing and Six Sigma)because my company is embracing both these disciplines and my job depends on being able to work with them. Also, this year I am contemplating getting my ASQ Quality Auditor's Certification.

And then there's my leisure activities. Horse, stitching, painting. I am not going to obsess about the size of my stash, the amount of fabric I own, or the number of projects waiting for needle and thread. I also am hoping that I can resist jumping on the latest bandwagon and buying just for having the charts. But if I do, I will not feel guilty or beat up on my self. This is my hobby and I will have fun with it. My horses are doing ok, I lean on the Dh to take care of them most of the winter cause I am not a cold kind of person...and I live in Upstate NY. And painting...well, that's been bubbling up more and more to the surface.

So hello to 2007. I believe it's going to be a GREAT Year!