Spin Cycle - Out with the Old - In with the New

I love New Year's. Not because it's an excuse to stay up late, drink a lot of alcohol and scream, yell and kiss the nearest person standing next to you on cue. No, I get excited about making resolutions. And I mean really excited. My friends and family think I'm insane, but I just can't help it. I'm a goal-driven person.

I usually start thinking about my resolutions a couple of weeks in advance, like around the middle of December. Culling my choices down to a manageable number is the hardest part of the whole process. This year was no different. And the fact that I was buzzing away on a really good caffeine high didn't help. But after I came down a bit, I was able to decide on a couple of resolutions that I want to tackle for 2009. Here they are in no particular order.

Resolution #1 - To make health and wellness a priority in my life. To achieve this I will do the following things:
- work out regularly 4 times a week for at least 30 min.
- Continue to eat lots of fruits and veggies. Eat healthier foods in greater proportions and unhealthy foods in small amounts.
- Schedule all required medical exams - i.e. my yearly "peek n' poke", a mammogram, and my routine dental cleaning.

Resolution #2 - To improve my financial heatlh. To accomplish this I will do the following the steps:
- Set up a couple of "goal savings accounts" with my local bank. This will enable me to save up for bigger purchases etc. instead of trying to buy things when money is tight etc.
- Develop smarter spending habits. I will "think" before I buy. I don't fall victim to impulse purchases very often, but I figure in this tight economy even a few times is too much. To avoid this I plan to put items on hold or even lay them away to give myself a few extra days to mull it over - in which time I probably will have decided I can live without said item after all thus saving myself a couple of bucks
- Obtain copies of my credit reports and scores from all three major companies so I can start the new year with a good picture of my credit score.

Resolution #3 - To learn something new and to continue to improve upon one thing I already do. The new thing I want to learn is how to make metal stampled jewelry and the thing I want to improve upon is my blog.

Resolution #4 - To continue to do my small part for the environment which means continuing to live by the "three R's" - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. I am also going to buy local foods and American-made products as often as possible.

Resolution #5 - Try new things as family. Even though going to the beach won't be new to us, we're definitely going to go more this year. We're going to try letter boxing and geo-caching, we're going to take the boys on their first over-night camping trip - even if it turns out to be in the back yard. We're going to visit some place completely new - even if the drive is long. The list could go on and on.

Resolution #6 - Last but least, I reslove to incorporate gratitude into my daily life. I spent most of last year sort of co-existing with a rather pessimistic outlook on life, even when my life is full of blessings. My husband and I are still both gainfully employed in recession proof industries, we're all healthy, we have a great family and an amazing bunch of friends, we have always had food on our table, a roof over our heads and clothing on our backs. My kids don't want for anything and they go to good schools, and we've never feared for our safety. These things aren't extraordinary -they're basic and yet so many people in the world are lacking them. I'm going to make an extra good effort this year of appreciating them.

I think that wraps up my resolutions for the year. Now I'm off to read all the other resolution spins. Who knows - I might see a really good one I have to adopt for myself!

Happy New Year!!!