Ten in '10 Updates

A belated first update to my 2010 Resolutions...

Taking care of my body - I have lost some weight, but most importantly, I have not been freaking out about it. I'm watching my portions, cooking more, eating out less, and trying my best not to obsess over what I do and do not eat. I’ve been exercising, sleeping well, taking my vitamins, spending time with people who make me laugh, and avoiding situations (and people) that drain me.

Cook more – I’ve done fairly well with this one. I’ve made a handful of new dishes. Some were a great success (spaghetti squash & chicken bake) and others were a disaster (roasted teriyaki chicken wings), but the important thing is that I’m trying. These next 6 weeks will be a bit of challenge because my meals will be vegan, but I can do it.

Working out – I get an A+ for working out. I’ve been going 4x a week for 5 weeks. This past week, I had an awful cold, so I only went once, but that’s okay. I’m feeling better, so I will put in a little extra time this coming week to make up for last week.

Additional income – does gathering paperwork to do my taxes count? Uncle Sam owes me some serious cash :o) I need to work on this one.

Declutter – I’ve started a donation pile that I’m slowly adding to on a weekly basis. I still have not completed a major purge project yet (I’ve got quite a list going), but the donation pile is slowly growing. That’s something.

Business planning – I have gathered information on a professional organization and certifications for my future line of work. I may have come up with a name for my business. I’ve researched to see if anyone has it, and it’s not taken. I want to have a name picked soon so I can claim the domain name and start coming up with a logo and business cards.

Budget – The bleeding has stopped, so that’s a start. I’ve done pretty well with the budget. I’m really focusing on eliminating the miscellaneous purchase. You know, the one where you go into Target and spend $25 but you have no clue what you bought. I’ve also cut back on eating out. That helps out a lot.

Travel – Um, not so much there. I’ve been chained to my desk at work Mon-Fri, and on the weekends all I want to do is stay at home and relax. Plus, it’s been cold, and I haven’t wanted to do anything that requires me to be away from my bed and heating blanket. It’s a thrilling life I lead.

Photo Books – Ooooh, another not so much. I’m overwhelmed with this project at the moment.

Just say NO! – This one has been difficult, but I’m doing better than I had expected. I’ve said no on more than one occasion, and guess what? We’re all still here. Somehow the world didn’t rotate right off of its axis because I didn’t want to be guilted/coerced into doing something I didn’t want to do. Weird.

So, there you have it! There's definitely some room for improvement, but I think this is a pretty good start.

Ten in '10

Oddly enough, one of my resolutions for 2010 isn't to "stop procrastinating." Like I said in my first post, I came up with this list on January 1st, but I didn't post it because I wasn't sure what I wanted to name my blog. Shocking that after 6 weeks, the best I could come up with was Random Side Notes. Don't judge me. I have other outlets for my creativity.

I came up with my resolutions, and I wanted a place to post them so I would be more accountable. My hope was to post them in January and give monthly progress reports at the beginning of each month. Plan B is to post them in the middle of February, and post a January/February update later on in the week.

Let's begin, shall we?

• Taking care of my body…this is NOT about trying to lose weight for a wedding or for a trip or for any reason other than to feel and look better than I do right now. One of my goals is to lose weight without being obsessive. I've battled my weight for most of my life, and before when I was trying to lose weight, I would weigh and chronicle every ounce of food and water that crossed by lips. 3 tic tacs, 6 calories. As you can imagine, this strategy is and was not very successful. There's a reason the weight keeps coming back. I am not meant to do these things! Sure, if I ate 3 bagels for breakfast, hamburgers and cheese fries for lunch, a medium pizza for dinner and drank soda instead of water, then yes, a food journal and a lesson in portion control is very necessary. However, I can weigh out an ounce of baked Doritos without a scale. I can tell you the fat/calorie/fiber content of thousands of foods. I know proper portion sizes...I just choose to ignore them every now and again. So, no insane counting or tracking. I know what I should eat. I know how much of it I should eat. If I indulge one day, I need to go light the next day. It's all about balance. Speaking of balance...taking care of my body is not limited to eating well. It also includes drinking water, taking my vitamins, exercising regularly, and engaging in activities that lower and relieve stress.

• Cook more and try new recipes...Not to toot my own horn, but I think I'm a pretty good cook. I love to eat, and I have a natural flair for cooking, baking, and food presentation. However, I've fallen into two very bad habits: I either cook the same thing over and over or I give up on meal planning and eat popcorn for dinner. I want (need) to expand my culinary horizons.

• Working out...I have two settings: freakish workout mode or total inactivity. This year, I want to work out more days than not. After running some numbers, I've decided that my goal is to average two 30 minute workouts every three days. That's 243 workouts or 7,290 minutes for the year. My trusty Excel skills have allowed me to come up with a lovely spreadsheet that tracks the type and length of my workouts. I know what you're thinking, this is obsessive, no? Isn't Resolution #1 all about not being obsessive? You're right. However, I'm easing back into this whole working out business after a year of inactivity due to a major injury. So, I want to track my exercising patterns so that if I do start hurting more than usual, then I have something to look at and say, yeah, I really overdid it these past few weeks. Or, if I see that for the past 3 weeks, I've been able to handle this type of workout, maybe I can step it up a notch. Also? I love spreadsheets. There, I said it.

• Find sources for additional income...this could be a new job or a job on the side or winning the lottery. Whatever I decide, I need a little extra cash this year.

• Declutter...I have an inordinate amount of stuff, and it's reached the point where it's overwhelming me. I'm going to slowly start getting rid of the things that I don't absolutely love or need. I want to have a closet full of clothes, shoes, and accessories that I love. I want to have drawers and cabinets full of cosmetics and beauty products that I love. I want everything to have a spot, and even though it might not always be in its spot, I want this lovely thing to have a home. So, a massive purge is in order.

• Business planning and research...I have wanted to own my own business for years now. I know what I want to do, and I dream of the day that I can quit my job and be my own boss. Cliche, I know. I just don't belong in the corporate world. It's not for me. So, I need to finalize my exit strategy. I've done some research here and there. I've run a few numbers to see what kind of savings I will need. However, this year, I want to have a lot of the details in place. I have a list of questions that I need to answer before this dream can become a reality. I've had some major setbacks in the past year, but 2009 is over and 2010 is just ripe with possibilities and opportunities. Rather than sit and pout about having to delay this project another year or two, I'm going to take this time to figure out how toget as prepared as possible for this new venture. SO ridiculously exciting!

• Stick to my budget...I like to think of myself as fiscally responsible. I don't live and spend beyond my means. I save for a rainy day. However, this past year, I haven't really stuck to my budget. It was a bit of a challenge to remain focused on staying within budget when a mountain of medical debt got dumped in my lap while I was on an a lengthy unpaid leave of absence from work. The spreadsheet where I track my finances looks like a crime scene. So.much.red. The spreadsheet has been updated and improved, and it's up to me to stick to it. For my extraneous purchases, I have a special account that will only be funded by cash back rewards from online shopping or cash back rewards from my credit card.

• Travel/site see more...I have friends and family scattered all over the place. There is no reason why I can’t hop on a plane and spend a long weekend in some fun and interesting locale (I've even included saving for travel as a budget line item). Even if I don’t hop on a plane and go far, I should just explore the area where I live. There isn’t much in the way of scenery, but there are fun shops and restaurants and museums and little places to go that would be perfect for day trips.

• Photo Books...I love taking pictures when I travel. In fact, on my last trip, I took over 1100 pictures in 2 weeks. Unfortunately, these pictures just sit on my computer eating up the free space on my hard drive. I want to take all of these pictures and turn them into a coffee table book. I have a watered down version of Photoshop, and there are a million and one websites out there that offer free software to actually put the books together. I just need to actually do it. There are three books that I want to put together. Realistically, I want to finish one of the three books this year.

• Just say NO!...I suspect this will be the hardest one of all. I take a lot of joy in doing nice things for others. Lately, more and more people are taking advantage of that, and what joy I derived in doing those nice things has been effectively stomped out by people expecting me to do this, this, and that because well, that's what I've always done. So, I'm reestablishing boundaries. I'm saying enough is enough, and I'm putting an end to some ridiculous behavior that I have tolerated for years. I'm not going to swing to the other end of the spectrum and turn into a selfish hag. I still want to do nice things for others, but I want to refocus my efforts on people who really need my help as opposed to people who want me to do things for them because they don't have the time/energy/desire/money to do it themselves.

There you have it! My ten in '10. I'll give an 6 week progress report by the end of the week. I just wanted to finally get all of that out there.

Better late than never...

So, apparently, I'm the last person in the world to start a blog because all of the really good names were taken. I settled for hmm, not bad. I have no clear direction for this blog. I wanted a place to put up a random collection of things that clutter my mind. So, I present to you...Random Side Notes. I already know what my next post is going to be because it's been written and sitting in my draft folder in Gmail since Jan 1. I even have a nifty title for my 2010 resolutions. I know, I know, it's practically the middle of February. I never promised punctuality or perfection :)