New Year 2007 Resolutions

Here are my 2007 New Year's Resolutions.

1. Health and personal appearance.

a. Work on personal appearance this year:

1. Lose weight (25 - 40 pounds)

2. Eat healthy foods

3. Exercise at least three times a week.

b. Put moisturizer on 2x per day

c. Pay attention to clothes.

1. Since I’ve re-discovered the bargains in Downtown L.A., spend more money on nice shoes.

2. Knitting.

a. Do not buy any yarn this year unless it is meant for a suit that will be knit within the next two months.

b. The only knitting things I am allowed to buy are knitting magazines and DAK.

c. Knit 1 item to wear a month.

d. Try to knit at least 2 hours a week.

3. Money

a. Save A LOT of money this year.

b. Do not go out to eat every week.

c. Bring lunch/dinner to work.

d. Put money in bank every paycheck.

e. Live within means/stay on budget.

f. Pay off all debts except for student loan debts.

a. Try to manage money so that I’m not scraping by the end of the month. In other words, have some money in the checking account at the end of the month.

4. Work

a. Be on time for work. Work starts at 8:30 a.m., NOT 9:10 a.m.

b. Start cleaning out office and putting things in the right place.

c. Look for a new job in student affairs before the end of the year.

5. Procrastination.

a. Do not procrastinate.

b. Open mail and DEAL WITH IT RIGHT THEN AND THERE!!!!! No procrastination or denial

c. Don’t let unwashed dishes stay in sink for longer than 24 hours (well, okay, maybe 36). My record was 3 weeks (the dishes were rinsed, though. I was BUSY writing my papers! And, I eat out a lot).

d. Keep office clean and files up to date.

e. TRY to make bed, even if it means only pulling up the covers.

f. DO NOT TURN IN PAPERS 2 WEEKS LATE.

6. Household

a. Very similar to the procrastination category, but oh well…..

b. Keep clutter to a minimum

c. Hang up clothes every night.

d. Keep home desk kind of neat

e. Try to put everything away. A place for everything and everything in its place.

7. Be fearless. Take risks. Be positive. Be confident. At the age of 46, you’ve earned it!

a. Try to do one new thing a month.

1. Take the metro somewhere…..anywhere…….

2. Go out to dinner alone.

8. Be kinder to everyone.

9. Try to be more of a friend to my children.

10. Take medicine EVERY DAY. No excuses for forgetting to take it for a month. That’s when you get scary mammogram results!!!!

11. Decide what to do with all the different 401Ks I have from all my other jobs. Either move them, consolidate them, or re-allocate them. (Especially the two money market ones that are just sitting around doing nothing!!!!!)

12. Try to blog at least once a week, even if it is off-topic and/or very short.

13. Try to give more of yourself to others. Be kinder to those in need. Do not complain or sigh when volunteering at cancer support center.

14. Smile more. Try not to be so aloof, especially with strangers, especially with HANDSOME strangers.

15. Flirt more. I need the practice.

You'll notice I left out any dating resolutions. I have decided to work on myself--inside and out--this year. I am going to lose weight this year and look fabulous. Today I signed up for 30 personal training sessions at the gym and I have been studying veganism. I don't think I can do 100% vegan, but maybe 85 - 90%. If I'm hungry and the only thing to eat is chicken, well, then I am going to eat it! Also, I like my fruit smoothies in the morning, so I don't think I can give up dairy.

Anyway, I want to be at peace this coming new year. 2006 was a great year.....I feel more in control of myself and my life....and I want to continue the trend.....now, if I can only lose 40 pounds.......HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays to everyone. It's been awhile, I know, but I have been busy. I was in a lot of pain because of a jaw thing. Really, the dentists at USC are pretty terrible. I knew that, but I still went to them because my insurance covered everything. I switched from one dentist--the cute one--to another one--the short one--because the cute one seemed oblivious to my pain when he was drilling and later putting in a crown. Well, after a year and a half, the short one didn't seem to know much about pain management when I started to have excruciating pain in November. FIVE WEEKS LATER, after going to the dentist at least once a week and sometimes twice a week because of the terrible terrible pain, I went back because there was this huge golf-ball sized lump growing out of the side of my jaw. Well, what do you know? It was an abcess and I needed a root canal. Well, excuse me, but didn't I kind of say that the first time I went to the dentist? FIVE WEEKS OF EXCRUCIATING PAIN. It was terrible. And then my crown broke. I went back and the short dentist was very very mean to me, probably because I had called to complain about the care I had been receiving. Needless to say, I am now looking for a new dentist.

Anyway.....aside from the pain, life has been very busy. I had to turn in two papers. They were two weeks late. And then I peeked at my grades. I am pissed. I got an A and an A-. That brings my gpa to 3.825. If you factor in the other two A's I got from previous classes at Rossier, my gpa is 3.9. Not good enough. I have to talk to my professor, because according to my calculations, my scores were enough for a straight A.

I have sooooo much yarn. I went to Big Lots last week and bought 4 of those huge plastic bins by Sterilite to put my yarn in. If you count the 1 bin I already had in my place and the two or three bins of yarn I have in storage and the yarn tree which holds about 70 cones of yarn, I have a LOT OF YARN. I was pretty good about not buying yarn this year. I think I will continue the moratorium on yarn for another year....at least until I use up 1 bin of yarn. I didn't realize I had so many acrylic yarns.........I have two bins full of acrylics.......I don't wear acrylics.........Anyway, I think I will be making tons and tons of baby blankets and hats. For some reason, my friends have been having lots of babies.

My goal for my winter break was to clean up and organize my place. But I am feeling overwhelmed. So much stuff! And the other day, I went over to my daughter's place and found out that her roommate had thrown out the black futon I had paid $400 for. I found it in the garage and brought it back. But where am I going to put it? ALSO, my daughter brought back the Franciscan service for 8 I lost when my mother-in-law packed it up and shipped it to the Philippines without asking me after I married my husband. I am so excited to get it back, but I really don't have any room for it. I already have my every day dishes, as well as my good Lenox china and the Noritake set my Mom gave us as a wedding gift. But, the Franciscan set is really vintage California, and the Franciscan factory was located just around the corner from our house in Los Feliz. I think I will make the Franciscan set my everyday set.

Back to my goals. Besides cleaning up and organizing, I wanted to do some knitting. But here it is Wednesday.....and my week is almost gone!!!!! I am having my hair cut and colored today (you didn't think those blond streaks came naturally, did you?), and wanted to hang out with my friends and/or go to a movie.

Speaking of movies, I saw Dreamgirls on Christmas Day and The Queen yesterday. Oh my goodness gracious, I LOOOOOVED Dreamgirls!!!! It was wonderful. The Queen was great, too, but I absolutely loved Jennifer Hudson's performance in Dreamgirls. Beyonce was very very bland and I can not for the life of me figure out how she got the Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. She was incidental to the plot.....the plot revolved around Jennifer Hudson's character. Eddie Murphy was absolutely fabulous, as well. A genius performance, really.

Okay, I have to get ready for my hairdresser appointment. I will catch up with you later. I promised I would tell you about my daughter's adventures in El Salvador and I will. Also, I will post my New Year's resolutions. Talk to you later!