11 Things

11 things I don’t need in 2011:

1. Debt. Dear gods, how I don’t need this! I swore it off for 2010, then let little things creep up and add to it. In 2011, I hereby swear to follow Dave Ramsey as closely as possible, including *not* spending $80 to sign up for his website (ha!). I will *not* go on a vacation that requires extra money. I will *not* allow the blind people to puppy-dog me into approving outlays for big toys. I *will* work harder to bring in what extra money I can.

2. Hand-me-down clothes. Yes, I actually do need and use hand-me-down clothes. But no, I don’t need hand-me-down *girl* clothes, I don’t need hand-me-down boy clothes smaller than Kender, and I don’t need clothes that I don’t wear anymore. As soon as possible, everything needs to go to Goodwill or a good home, and I will stay on top of this during the year and make sure nothing goes into the basement without a future recipient living in the house.

3. Baby things. Yup, time to purge those, too. I should make it a goal to donate or give away one baby thing each month, and maybe 5 baby toys each month? It’s scary, because the last time I gave away any baby things, I got pregnant. If that happens again, I’m just going to have to break my promise on thing #1.

4. Flab. I really don’t need any more flab. I managed to gain almost 20 pounds in 2010. They have to go, along with their friends that invited them in. I want to get back to skating, other things permitting. I also want to get up and exercise in the mornings more. My days go better when I do this anyway. I’ll continue to eat better, too. I need to be better about keeping fresh fruit in the house, and planning and cooking dinner.

5. Stress. I need less stress. So many stressors are out of my control, but I can choose how to deal with them. Ideally, I’d like to add meditation to my morning routine, but I’m already adding exercise. I guess we’ll see how that works out. In the meantime, I’m already trying to take a breath and consciously adjust my viewpoint whenever I feel myself getting overloaded. It does seem to help.

6. Broken promises. I need to do better about keeping my commitments. I need to check my calendar before I make promises to the kids or to anyone else, and then ADD the promise to my schedule and KEEP it.

7. Clutter. I need to get rid of clutter in my house. I try to stay on top of it, but it keeps sneaking up on me.

8. Dirt. I don’t need dirt in my house, either. For things #7 and #8, I will try to stay on top of my Flylady lists and routines, so I can get and keep things more picked up and cleaner around here.

9. Diapers. If I’m done having babies, then I definitely don’t need diapers anymore. Kender will turn 3 in 2011, and here’s to Kender potty-training younger than Jarod did!

10. UFOs. I have too many UnFinished Objects lying around. I will work harder at sticking to and finishing projects I have instead of starting new ones. I’ve actually done pretty good at this in 2010, so this is a continuance.

11. Internet chatter. I do feel that I need some amount of this, just to stay informed. Blogs and such are almost the only way I get my news, now. But I do not need to get into debates, or spend time arguing with people. Part of me still wants to get the word out, politically evangelize, so-to-speak. But this is causing too much stress, and I spend too much time thinking about conversations and following up on debate points. I’ve made progress on this by getting off of BabyCenter. In 2011, I will stay off, and continue cutting down my interactions on other sites.

Published by solinox

I am a Wiccan priestess, a libertarian mother of triplets plus three, a wife and homeschooling mom to blind and autistic children, a fiber artist, and a Jane of All Trades, always learning and seeking to help.

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