Ok, I'm ready to resolute myself....

New Years Resolutions 2009....

1)  Be Less Stressed.  Accomplish this by using the crock pot once a week, simplifying my schedule, be mindful of time drains (like facebook and blogger), and knowing my limits:  In other words, "Just Say No".

2)  Race 100 Miles in 2009, and complete my first marathon.  I will accomplish this by running 3 days a week, 4 days on the weeks I do not workout at another source and staying true to a training plan.  This is not like a diet, you can't cheat.  I put this one in here as a free-be.  I figure, I deserve one goal that is easy to reach.  When exactly did I start to think that racing 100 miles and completing a marathon is an easy goal?

3)  Complete 3 classes toward my degree, whether I want to or not.  

4)  Eat Vegetarian Once a Week.  Last year we went vegetarian one dinner a week.  Now, I'm ready to go Veg for a whole day at a time.  I don't think I can force this on the rest of the family.

5)  Stop having so much fun.  No really.  I spend so much time planning fun activities for our weekends, that about half the time I am not having fun when we're out supposedly having fun.  I'm really going to limit the children to one activity a "season", & we're really going to kick the habit of making so many plans on the weekends that we can't do anything w/o stressing.  No, that doesn't mean no more bowling, movie nights, ice skating, etc.  It just means, limiting these things to 1 event/weekend.  Hopefully this will make our quality family time together more special.  I'll let you know how it works out.

6)  And this is one I just came up with... run alone once a week.  No stroller, no company, nothing.  Why?  Because I need the time to think... and when I am running I can actually think about things that don't require notes.  I can't do homework, surf the web, check my crackbook page, balance the checkbook, etc while I'm running.  I can let my mind wander though, and that's what I need to do.  My most biggest "epiphanies" have come on long runs though, more than 6 miles, so I'll have to see if it works on short runs too.  

7)  Make the budget and stick to it.  Last year's budget was definitely made.  I know because I made it... but beyond the first month when we figured out it wasn't as accurate as we'd hoped, I never went back and revamped.  We had no allowances or limits for nearly 6 months.  It's stupid.  No, we're not worse off than last year, but damn it, we're not where we SHOULD be and that sucks.  So, this year I'm trying a few things I've learned in the past 6 months, only all at once, to see if they work.  IF they work, I should have about $2400 in savings over that time.  And if that's the case, I'll be sure to write up my new plan into a book and sell it.  Or, more likely, I'll post it for free on this blog.