Leaves to grow on.

I'm pretty partial to years that start off with glorious sunshine and amazing fun.
My new year's party went, I felt, very well. I'd been worrying and worrying because it sounded like a million people were going to show up and they were all going to bring friends, but the guest list turned out to be comprised of 16.
16 people is exactly how many people fit in my house comfortably.
There were drinks, and delectable foods, and the discord of rockband being sung by the drunk and tone deaf. There were shared resolutions, party dresses, and mistletoe. (Highly underused mistletoe, I might add. I think there were only 3 kisses under the mistletoe over the course of the entire 8 hours of active partying. Ridiculous.) We counted down and toasted and laughed.
The world turned over and the sun rose again.

Now it's a new year. The darkest days of the old year have passed, and winter is beginning to pass with it. Spring seems like a possibility, now that the old year is out of the way. There will be cold and snow for a couple more months, but my rosebush thought about it and decided to grow ten beautiful new leaves.

I'm going to take a page from Darling's book (Darling is the rosebush) and turn over ten new leaves myself. (In this public forum, such that I may be held accountable to my new years plans)

1. I'm going to weigh 120 lbs by the end of march.
2. I will devote 30 minutes of every day to keeping my home reasonably clean.
3. I will take better preventative mental health care of myself during the school quarters.
4. I'm going to become more frugal and aware of our finances.
5. At least twice a week, I will prepare meals that have the potential to provide leftovers for not only my own lunch, but also for my husband's lunch.
6. My day planner will be used such that I prepare for life a week before anything is due. (this is not to say that I will not still do homework the day before I need it. I just want to be aware that it exists a week before I need to do it.)
7. I will fold the laundry within 2 days of doing the laundry. End goal- do the laundry, fold the laundry, put the laundry away all on the same day by December of 2011.
8. My communication skills will improve by leaps and bounds and I will enunciate more clearly.
9. I will give away at least one hug a day.
10. I will go to at least one hot springs this year and will follow naturopathic principles while I'm there. (the more sun on skin the better, follow hot water with cold, be at peace with nature's laws, ect.)


How many leaves will you turn this year? How can your life be of higher quality? Make your goals...then tell someone so that in three weeks, when your exercise program really starts kicking your ass, or there's tons of school and no one to see the house, or... that person will inconveniently call you on your slacking off. <3

Here's to changes and difficulty and smiles- it's a whole new year.