New Year--New Resolves

I'm not really much for New Year's Resolutions. I've found people, especially myself, rarely follow thru on them. I try to do things better each year that way I don't feel I've failed if I don't meet that complete and often time vague resolution. This year, however, I have several things I simply must do. Either because an outside force is dictating it, or due to an irresistable inner compunction.

1. I have to a) get in some form of improved physical condition and b) lose some weight. This is not the average resolution. Granted, part of it is the "popular" thing to do as evidenced by all the ads & tradition. This is a double-edged sword aimed straight at me. I'm not getting any younger, I've been gaining like a crazy lady the last 3 months and Mr. B's big health scare this fall scared both of us really good. The other side of the sword is that we are planning a trip to the Boundry Canoe area on the Canadian border in mid-June. Yes, just he, me, and endless "sea" for 2 weeks. This is usually the "man trip" for all the B-family men involving much canoeing, hiking with heavy packs and little bathing. I got talked into a modified version for two. In order to pull my weight, literally, this girl's got to lose minimum 15 pounds by then.

2. Be thriftier. I had this down to a mad science when the kids were little, money was nearly none-existant and Mr. B was in college. Life got easier and I got softer-fiscally and physically. LOL. I just feel like we need and should do better. Toward that end, I've been brushing off my old shopping skills and got out the coupon scissors. I'm also learning all kinds of new tricks on blogs. (Aren't they great?!) Our church offers scrip--gift cards essentially, that we purchase from church but the retailer then gives back a percentage to the church. The percentage varies with the retailer. We buy from certain retailers anyway and wanted to help the church income. We found coincidently that it is making us much more conscious of working within our budget. Plus for church and plus for us.

3. Start a garden this spring. This will relate to 1 and 2. We used to have a veggie garden and loved the peace and feeling of accomplishment that digging in the dirt gives. We both have more time for this once again and have set out sights at getting our hands dirty again.

4. Sew from stash!! I have lots of wonderful fabric and patterns and got very little sewing done in December at all. Now I need to use that stash as much as possible. No new purchases except notions or linings needed for specific project until March.

All these are very do-able. I have the tools and momentum to do them. March will be a good check-in date as it's halfway to vacay in June. June then will be a good check-in date for halfway thru the year. So--mark, set, go!!!