1 January a day late...(with the usual verbal diarrhea)

I want to try my hand at photo essaying this month. I think it'll help motivate me in the cleaning department, steady my hand with the ole point and click, and give me different perspectives on things. Going to try just photos sometimes if I can...don't know how the writer in me will keep from commenting though. Example: top pic is, of course, the Figmeister, doing what cats do. Lower pic illustrates my current state nicely: the new Vera Bradley from Mom (must snatch up more Caffe Latte prints before they're retired! It's a sickness!); the amazing wicker case from LilSisinlaw, which I'm thinking of using as a lunchbox at work; and the portfolio behind them, which will be used this year to plan the move.

It's probably good my brain was taken up with the task of tending to a 22-month-old yesterday...kept me from getting too contemplative. Sweet kid, didn't give me a lick of trouble, and I was paid handsomely for my efforts. Thank goodness. Amazing and humbling the relief that comes with a little dough...

But resolutions aren't a bad thing...they force you to take a look at yourself and your life, beat some dust out of your mental rugs, and move forward with new determination. I see some folks calling them what they are: goals. Think I'll take a stab at that too...that way they won't be broken nearly as easily.

Life is one big work in progress. Yeah, ok, not exactly profound. But we've been existing in this rut for so long, it's comfortable, and that's just not acceptable. I look around our dusty, smoky, cluttered apartment and I know it's not healthy, and that we can be happier, with hard work and goal setting. So what better time?

Never had a year go by as quickly as 2009 did. It's unsettling. Pretty sure it helped with the grieving process, the getting-by-without-Dad, but otherwise, it kind of blows. I'm a year older, still sans children, and we're in an apartment that oughta be condemned or fireblasted or something...

And this was going to be a low-word-count post ::chuckles::

As for the goals:

1. Catch up financially. Start saving.

2. Travel to NC in February, April, June, July, and August. Move top of September.

3. Find new job(s). Motivate husband to do same.

4. Continue eating healthy and exercising. Start walking and yoga on regular basis.

Hey, whaddaya know, I did keep it short. Left "get pregnant" off the list, because it's not something that falls under the category of "I have significant control over this and can make it happen." I'm learning patience, I'm eating better (sort of), dropping some weight, we can time things perfectly, and nature still may not bless us. So I'm stepping back a pinch mentally, or trying to.

And of course, I have the little goals...I want to continue knitting socks, finish the pullover sweater and start a cardigan, knit a pullover for Husby, and get craftier big time. I want to stop telling myself I can't draw and start just doing it. I want to sew more.

Those are big goddamn goals. Thing is, in this economic climate, where credit reports are taking a backseat to being able to pay your bills, the move is actually doable. We have lousy credit, but no evictions, more than 10 years in the same home, and as long as we can find work that'll pay the rent, I'm confident we can find a landlord/management company willing to work with us. Probably a bit wide-eyed, but catching up is going to be hard enough...time to get planning.