Here’s a very incomplete, but great beginning to the list of resolutions/epiphanies/ultimate goals I want to address in 2009:

• 2008 DONE & 2009 STARTED TODAY!! Make most, if not all of next year’s Christmas gifts by hand and tailored to each person’s likes/dislikes




• 2008 DONE!! Get my kitchen in order ~ I used to (before the nightmare of this house came to life) make my menus a month in advance. This was really helpful to our budget also. If a recipe called for half of an onion on Monday, I’d make sure to follow it with a recipe on Tuesday that called for the other half. During that time we tried at least 1 new recipe per week so I could try to empty the shoebox (my husband just reminded me that there 3, not “1” of these) FULL of recipes that I’d cut out from newspapers, magazines and such. That never worked because I always filled it right back up, but now it’s overflowing and desperately needs thinning out!!!!!!




• 2008 DONE & 2009 IN PROGRESS ~ Limit my craft & fabric purchases to ONLY the items I need to make things using mostly materials that I already own




• 2008 NOT WHAT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUT A 2009 PLAN OF ATTACK IS IN THE SCHEDULE ~ Take a walk daily (weather permitting or not) OR AT LEAST use the treadmill, it’s already here after all!




• 2008 SUCCESS ~ MY DIABETES IS UNDER CONTROL ForceD myself to eat breakfast! And I managed to lose weight too!
  




• 2008 WAS MINIMAL due to the continued house issues, but 2009 LOOKS MORE PROMISING ~ Continue my volunteering monthly, even if it’s just a home project for something I already support




• 2008 WAS A BUST due to the continued house issues, but 2009 LOOKS PROMISING ~ Write some freelance newspaper/magazine articles




• 2008 WAS A BUST due to the continued house issues, but 2009 LOOKS A LOT MORE PROMISING ~ (Here’s the big scary one I’ve avoided for more years than I care to admit) I will write the novel(s) that have been swirling in my head for years. I have the plots, characters, synopsis and the settings. I’ve conversed with the characters like they are old friends and family, I’ve developed the towns, supporting characters and walked through the houses and buildings like I built them myself. I know everyone’s likes, dislikes, personality traits and idiosyncrasies. I know all the dogs in town and who rides their bike to work or walks. I know how deep and blue the lakes are and how clear the night sky is so much so that all the stars sparkle bright and appear as if you can reach up and pull them down. All I need to do now is capture it all on the blank pages between the colorfully bound covers that I can see so vividly




• 2008 WAS A BUST but THERE’S ALWAYS 2009 ~ Try to sell my screenplay (inquiry letters are written and the 1st couple dozen, 2^ND COUPLE DOZEN rejection letters are making for a great book).




• 2008 WAS A BUST but THERE’S ALWAYS 2009 ~ Find a publisher for the cookbooks I’ve written

So… I scared myself a little (okay ~ a lot and I mean A LOT) with this list. But the age-old question truly is ~ “How do you eat an elephant?” And the answer will always be ~ “One bite at a time!” Some bites will be smaller than others, but that’s okay too!

Happy New Year, one and all, and may you too see the light to your epiphany!