I always make new year's resolutions - and I "report" to myself on them every month (I generally put them on index cards, so that I can report my progress on the back), as well as "reporting" to a friend of mine weekly on how they are going. I try to keep them simple, and the list not too long (last year I had 7 - this year I have a few more, but all interrelated to 3 categories: health, writing, and personal growth). I put a lot of thought into only making goals for the year that I *know* with absolute certainty are completely reachable. I don't add stuff like household projects, since those depend on outside things (money, time, cooperation of others). I only make resolutions/goals that require nothing but my own personal time and abilities.

For example, one of my goals is to submit at least one article or short story for publication this year. You'll note that my goal is *not* to "get published" - that depends completely on the editors and a host of other things. My goal is what I can control - just writing (something short - managable in conjunction with my other noveling goals), editing, polishing, and sending something in.

This year I spent an hour or so going through planners at the store to find the *perfect* one to set time periods and deadlines for my health goals and my writing goals. Last night I spent another hour picking out a new purse that would hold said planner, a notebook, and my normal "purse things" without being too large, heavy or bulky (not an easy task - it irritated me, but I'm happy with my choice LOL). This evening I have a couple hours freed up that I am going to go through my planner, month by month, week by week, and actually schedule blocks of time to work on certain goals throughout the year, with deadlines for each to be finished by. I'll schedule *more* time than I actually think will be necessary, just to give myself some added flexibility for "life". That article or short story I want to submit "somewhere"? I'll schedule a month to research what publication I want to submit to, another month to write it, another month to edit it, and the deadline for accomplishing that goal will be a date that I *know* I can meet, even with all the other things going on this year. It's not going to take me a month each to do all those things, but by scheduling extra time, I'm giving myself no excuse *not* to acheive that goal - if I don't, it's my own fault, and I can't blame "life" for screwing it up, because I planned for "life" all along.

I probably should make it a goal to learn not to be so verbose when writing/responding to forum posts - but like I said, I make goals that I know are "reachable". ;-)

This year I am putting Christmas "duties" in my calendar. My business cards and personal cards will be done in Sept waiting to be mailed.

Then I will make sure my closets are clean and everything is simplified so I can concentrate on my dd. My main goal is to organize and plan my 4-yr old's homeschooling this year as I'm fast approaching "Kindergarten". This means taking her many places too. Yikes...scary! Somehow homeschooling and organization seem to be opposites!

Any help in the homeschool vs organization area are welcome!

Wow Jamie....that's impressive!

My two cents worth of homeschooling advice: don't buy more than you need. Don't be tempted by fabulous looking materials. Keep it simple. Organize one large closest dedicated to homeschool stuff with shelves and plastic see-thru boxes clearly labeled with materials. Buy a bookcase for books (like real books, not text-books, etc.) Set a "books and supplies" budget and stick to it. And use the Saxon phonics program. My parochial school uses that three year program in grades K through 2nd. It is excellent. My five year old is reading simple words already, and she is in a class of 24 children.

On homeschooling (I was homeschooled, as was my sis)...I have a few suggestions:

1. Buy only a year's worth of materials at a time. It can really get out of hand if you get more than that.

2. Create an area in your house that is *only* for learning in...no play in that area. It will help your child switch from "play mode" to "school mode" and back.

3. Set up a really good filing system. You'll need it to store completed work and tests...maybe not so much for kindergarden, but if you start it *now*, then by 1st grade you'll have your system all worked out.

4. Make sure you have all the info from your local school superintendant on what is required of families that homeschool. Here in MT, homeschooling is easy - the parents just send a letter of intent to homeschool every year, and that's that. But in many states, the laws are more complex - study up on them so you can work with the superintendant's office.

Good luck! :-)

My goal is to get a cleaning lady, and to get some vacuuming & cleaning done myself every week.

Beyond that, I'm not planning.

RE: homeschooling - use your library! You can check stuff out, then you can take it back, and let them deal with the clutter :)

Seriously, with a kindergartener you will need a dizzying array of new and interesting info to keep her attention. The library has not only books, but often also has music CD's, videos, and children's actvity programs. It's an easy way to try out a lot of different materials to see what works and what doesn't.

Don't be too concerned about a rigid program or schedule. Many states don't require education until age six, which also means you don't have to submit paperwork just yet, or keep track of her work, or prove that you are doing anything in particular. Just enjoy the time you have with her, and the learning will happen.

Tally Sue, those sound like perfect goals for you - completely attainable. :-) Good luck!

I won't hijack this thread anymore, but I wanted to warn annellis: Be careful before you contact local school authorities. Contact your state homeschool association (google on your state and homeschool associations) in order to find out exactly what you legally are required to provide local school district authorities. It is critical that you make friends with other local homeschoolers through this homeschool group for support and advice. Do not contact your school or the district until you understand very clearly what the law requires you to submit as legal documentation of schooling. Give them only what they ask for, no more. In Texas, homeschools have the same status as any private school (which are largely unregulated). So when I homeschooled my children, I didn't owe anyone any documentation. Which was good, since I was so disorganized it would have taken an act of God to produce! But all of that is ancient history.... six out of seven are in Catholic schools now and are doing great.

Now back to the original topic: I am bagging up old toys to toss. That's right, I'm just tossing them because I can't imagine who in the world would want such beat-up, dirty, pieces-a-missing, toys. I have to reclaim my sunroom. Talley has emphasized the importance of adequate shelves, so I'm buying shelves today. I'm keeping my vast collection of original Fisher Price Little People, because I adore these toys. I'm getting rid of my marignal homeschool stuff (which all dates from the 1990's anyway, its obsolete!). I am tossing margin school projects and the reams of paperwork we receive from our parochial school.

I have spent tens of thousands of dollars rennovating my kitchen and family room, plus new flooring thorughout the house, to let clutter steal my enjoyment. There! Now I'm going to bag more junk!!

~Cindy

wahh! I want a cleaning lady! Or a Dyson Animal vacuum. Both seem expensive. And effective.

OK, guess I'll be the cleaning lady. I already have a vacuum. And an animal. Now if I could just teach the cat to vacuum, I'd have it made. Hmmm...

I have made a committment to de-clutter something every day. Not to have a spotless house, but to just keep on top of things. So far I have kept this promise to myself, and I like the results.

On resolutions in general, if you google "resolution tracking system" there is a neat-looking thing you can order to keep on track throughout the year. I think the store was Uncommon Goods.

My main goal is to get my mother down from two houses to one by the end of the year. She is 87 and this situation has been going on way too long. I have to admit it's not just for her own good--I can't spend another year watching how she is living, watching things deteriorate... spending one day a week with her and accomplishing nothing... spending more hours at home researching online and thinking about how to deal with the situation. Somehow I have to get an expert opinion as to whether she is simply a bit eccentric and stubborn, or whether she really doesn't have the ability to handle the things that need to be done. I need to know whether to withdraw from the situation a bit, let her live the way she wants and get on with my own life, or, pursue something like a partial guardianship.

I feel a very strong urge to get my schedule and my life whipped into shape, to kind of feel ready to tackle things in the new year. I'm starting to fill up my planner with every predictable thing I can think of, from library stops to oil changes, so I can see when I'll actually have free time and when weeks are already full. For daily and weekly routines, I've set up email reminders at www.memotome.com. I'm trying to schedule things like mammograms and get them done early in the year. And I bought a daily diary so I have a good place to write down the basic facts of what's happening from day to day. I wanted something completely separate from my planner and my journal, which is more about personal stuff, emotions, etc.

Please wish me luck, and please forgive me when (not if!) I seem to be in a vile mood. I'm pretty stressed out right now, and things may well get worse before they get better.

Erica

Talley_Sue...will like to know how the cleaning lady works out when you get one, especially if you feel it lessens the load and stress to get stuff done.

Erica...I'm trying to do the same...the mamogram thing...and others of the like. I want it to be a healthy year. And Good Luck to you! Because you could not possible have been any more vile than I have this last year! I think it's frustration!

I have a yellow Dyson and I love it. How is the "Animal" Dyson any different?

Mamogram is a great idea too. Plus I'd like to play with my children more after ignoring them while we remodeled. I'm so glad that's over.

Thanks for the ideas generated in this thread.

I want to continue with my routines - they have been the secret to my sanity since going back to work! I want everything to have a place, and if I don't have a place for it...OUT it goes. I want LESS stuff in our home. I want to try to only keep what I truly love.

Sheryl

Cupofkindness, the Dyson Animal is purple and has a special attachment for animal hair. I have read the reviews and it seems to work exceptionally well. My current vacuum is not effective on cat hair. I've had to resort to the lint roller. I've collected so much hair by hand, I could make a new cat!

I want to keep on track with routines via Flylady. I've been off the wagon and it hasn't been fun. Hopping back on.

I want to pare down the stuff in this house.

I want to get serious about tossing things that just sit, unused and unneeded, all over.

I want to really get the house truly clean, to my standards. As an aside-for those thinking about hiring cleaning help, I do feel they don't really deep clean the way one does for one's own home. They are wonderful for helping keep the maintenance of a reasonable level (including clutter control), so I'm not criticizing the basic premise. But I just did some painting in my bathroom and was a bit shocked to see how many dank nasty little spots never got touched by the cleaning service. So I want to go through the house and sparkle up all those dusty dirty corners.

I want to stay out of stores, to start working on saving for a pair of big goals I have in mind financially. And the secondary bonus is not to bring more things into the house after I hopefully get it cleared out. Talley Sue, first do no harm-words to live by indeed!

I also want to try hard to listen more and talk less, and not to be judgmental when I do speak.

Ann

I've been letting the "do no harm" thing slip a little--gotta go back on "zero expenditures" mode.

I do hope to keep slowly ditching stuff, and making spaces in my home easier to clean, harder to collect dust. But I consider that a lifetime goal, not 2005's, LOL!

Live within my budget and
lose weight.
GInger

Jamie, if you pitch an article to a magazine (as opposed to a short story) you'll probably approach them with a query letterÂthe best one you can create. If they go for it, you may find they'd like you to take a somewhat different approach to the article than you had in mind. So I guess what I'm saying is don't put too much time into editing your first effort. :-)

I, too, have resolutions relating to health and writing. Exercise is problematic for me. I have fibromyalgia, and even walking too far or too fast can put me in a flare the next day. But I can't keep going along losing muscle and cardio fitness...I have to do something! So I bought Jackie Chan's Cableflex system on eBay and will commit to regular use, no matter how gentle.

As for writing, last year I got my first contract for an article with a national magazine. It's important that I take advantage of the door that opens up, and get out submissions on a regular basis. I also want to make progress with my memoir and write more fiction. That's a lot of writing ambition, but the need to write is one reason why I took a part-time job rather than doing the sensible thing and getting full-time employment with paid medical insurance.

The other big thing is my house. No surprise there, right? I had one more floor refinished just before Christmas, so now it's time to finally tackle all the boxed, piled, and scattered stuff that's making my downstairs unlivable. It'll be a big project, but 100% necessary. After that I have to learn to paint, and then request delivery of the furniture I bought two years ago. Sounds rather massive, at least to me, but I figure if I schedule even two of my four days off each week, and resign myself to slow-but-steady progress, it'll work. If anyone has ideas for me, they'll be more than welcome.

Susan

Congratulations on your first contract, Susan!!! I'd rather stick with fiction, but, well, if I ever want to make enough money writing to quit *this* job, I will probably have to get into freelance article writing as well...not much money to be made in fiction, unless you happen to be Michael Crichton or something (which I'm not). LOL But no worries - one of my writing goals is to learn to write query letters too (will need one for the novel I'll be submitting later this year), so thanks for the tip. :-)

I really need to develop a "routine" for housecleaning this year too - this new house is *huge* compared to my old one, and it's proving a bit difficult to keep up with, even though DH is a big help. So that's another goal...housecleaning routines. *sigh*

I swear that I'm going to be as organized as I possibly can.
I've allready started to de clutter,by going through one room each day with a garbage bag and if it hasn't been used in the last year and doesn't have sentimental value,out it goes.
I've started with the out of sight rooms such as pantry and laundry room etc.
My secomd resolution is going to be more difficult,as it involves keeping up with my first resolution by not letting clutter worm it's way back into these places.
My aim is to be able to find anything at any time.
Now I have to get DH to cooperate as well.
Oh well,one thing at a time.

Eliza ann

I'm going to spend as much quality time with my girls as I can between now and September when they start full-day kindergarten. Along the way, I want to clean out the basement, unpack things put in storage during the renovation, organize by office, and pay bills on time (thanks to advice here!). I'm more focused on cooking new things than cleaning right now because I'm so happy with my new kitchen after 15 months of construction AND 13 years of very cramped space.

Personally, I'm interested in exercise and healthy eating now that I turned 45 years old. My girls and I have been taking tae kwon do together 2-3 times a week, plus I take a yoga and a pilates class when they are in preschool.

When the girls are back in school, I'd like to go back to doing calligraphy which I studied for 8 years with a fabulous teacher. This year I just couldn't work out my schedule to get to her class but I hope to go back in September. Then I'll need to organize my art supplies and office!

Karen