Resolution Time

I know, it's such a cliche to write down your New Year's Resolutions, but I feel like if I don't put my resolutions out there, who's going to hold me accountable? (Certainly not myself, I don't have that kind of self discipline).  So can you hold me accountable?  I'm jotting down 11 resolutions to do in 2011.

First, the ones that always make the annual list:

1) Exercise more. We're heading to Costa Rica at Easter for our first big trip without Charlotte, and damn it, I want to look good in my bathing suit.  I lost all of my pregnancy weight, but Southern Cuisine mixed in with general holiday overindulgence has added a few extra pounds.  My goal is to exercise three times a week. We stopped our gym membership because neither of us was ever going, but I do have my trusty DVD of the 30 Day Shred.  It's actually very good, cost me fewer than $10, but it only helps if I actually do it on a regular basis. (I did work out to the DVD yesterday and plan to go running tomorrow since I'm working from home).

2) Keep the house better organized. We bit the bullet a few months' back and decided to hire housecleaners to come every other week.  The new house is just much bigger, I work full-time, and I just didn't want to use my precious free time (and time with Charlotte) cleaning the house.  Plus, I was literally getting one portion of the house super clean each week (like the bathrooms, or dusting), but never ever finishing. The money is definitely well-spent, and our house is overall much cleaner (well, as clean as you can be having a toddler who creates her own toy-nado wherever she goes and drops food on the floor).  However, we still need better organization - that whole "a place for everything and everything in its place."  We have plenty of space now, but not enough organizational-type things that will help the house feeling less cluttered.

3) Make healthier meals with more vegetables.  Charlotte's still a pretty picky eater, and it's just too easy (and lazy) to make her the same foods from the same "white" food group (bread, pasta, cheese).  I need to be more creative and better organized (see step 2) about meal planning during the week. I checked out this great book from library on top 100 finger foods for toddlers, many of which have vegetables hidden.

And here are some other 2011 resolutions.

4) Take more pictures. We always seem to forget to take pictures.

5) Print more pictures. When I actually take pictures of Charlotte, I post them to the blog or to Facebook, but I never actually print them.  The pictures I have of her at work are from when we took her to Sears. When she was 4 months old! 

6) Decorate the house.  We've been in our house for seven months, and I've managed to do one new thing to the house in all that time. I painted the dining room wall. In August.  Obviously, it's kind of impossible to paint while Charlotte is up and about, but I could be better at being productive during her naptime.  Same thing goes with putting up artwork. (we did buy a new couch for the family room)

7) Go somewhere with Chris without Charlotte at least once a month. We're heading out for dinner on Thursday for my birthday, so I guess we've got January taken care of already.  But really, it's important to have time for just the two of us, and we don't get enough of it.  (Although we do have lunch together every so often when I work from home, which is nice).

8) Read more books.  I probably read more, but I counted 20 books that I read in 2010. Not bad. It's more than one book a month, but I know I can do better.  Let's go for 26 read by the end of 2011. That's one every two weeks.  Chris got me the Nook as an early birthday present, and I'm trying to figure out how I can "borrow" ebooks from the Sacramento Library.  I've gotten really into checking books out at the library (it's so easy - I hear about good books, request them online and then pick them up when they're ready), and I'd hate to abandon it now that I have a newfangled eReader (plus, there are very few books that I want to own besides the Hunger Games series - go out and buy them if you haven't read them yet!).

9) Bring my lunch to work.  This one again goes to the whole being better organized resolution.  I wake up early to get to work early, but I often am too lazy to bring my lunch (or not creative enough to bring something other than a boring turkey sandwich, which I definitely don't want to eat day after day).  And seeing as how I work downtown, going out for lunch can get pricey quick.

10) Go outside for at least 15 minutes a day.  This one can go with resolution number 1 (exercising more). Sometimes the only time I'm outside is when I make the walk from my car to the office and vice versa.  This is hard in the winter when the days are so short and I leave for work before it's light and get home after it's dark.  But I should always be able to have at least 15 minutes to take a quick walk outside. Being outside just makes me feel more alive than sitting at my desk all day.  Plus, Charlotte doesn't get to go outside much right now with all the bad weather we've been having (mostly because I don't want to get cold and wet - she couldn't care less), and she loves being outside.

11) Explore more of the area with Charlotte.  Now that Charlotte is getting older, there are more things we can do with her.  She loves seeing new things, but sometimes our weekends are so packed with meaningless errands that we don't get to do anything fun.  I resolve to explore something (outside, preferably) outside of the house at least once a weekend.  That seems like a tall order, but really, it could just be going out to the duck pond to feed the ducks, or to the park.  Or being a tourist in our area -- there are so many things to explore within an hour's drive.  Ideally, I'd like to explore some hikes in the foothills or Sierras. And we need to find a bike trailer so we can get back on our bikes, as a family!

Okay, so there you have it.  Eleven resolutions in 2011. What's on your list (and I'm curious, so please tell me!!)?