Resolutions Present

Now that I have reflected on my past year's resolutions, I am ready to move onward and declare my resolutions for 2009. They fall under 3 categories:

1. To Knit
2. To Learn
3. To Be

Now, as I have learned from past resolutions, the most successful resolutions are those that are well defined and measurable. That is not always possible, but I will try to set myself up so I will know if I accomplished the goals or not. Here is what I have set out to do within each of those categories.

To Knit
In 2009 I resolve to design and knit a cabled throw. I have done a little bit of cable work, but I have loads to learn. I imagine that this throw will be knit in strips, rather than blocks. I hope to divide up the knitting into monthly chunks to prevent it from taking over the entire year's worth of knitting time. At this point, I am thinking of using Cascade Eco Wool as it fits my image of a really rustic, natural-looking, super warm, cabled blanket that doesn't cost more than all of my living room furniture combined.

To Learn
I hereby admit that I am dependent on Paul for my technology needs. It is the thing that comes naturally to him. He is very capable of handling the things that need handling in regards to our home entertainment technology, our computers, our music, photos...you name it, he is the one who knows how to deal with it in our home. I have been OK with this in the past, as it seemed our division of duties included me handling other things around the house and him handling the stuff that plugs in.

Well, I am over it. I resolve to be independently capable of operating our computer/TV, watching a DVD, burning/ripping CDs, managing my music files and processing photos. Part of the reason I have avoided this area in the past was that it seemed whenever I learned how to operate something, he would "update" or adjust something without telling me and it wouldn't work the next time I tried to use it. It made me really frustrated so I sort of surrendered to not knowing in order to avoid being regularly thwarted and made cranky by our technology.

Now, I am not a stupid person. I can understand basic technology. However, because Paul is interested in techie stuff, our "system" is not user friendly. It is complicated and convoluted to anyone who didn't set it up in the custom way that is oh-so-awesome and just what we needed, AKA Paul. I spoke with Paul and he has agreed to explain it all to me AND to keep me in the loop whenever he tweaks something that impacts the functionality.

So that is the home entertainment component, but that isn't all I want to learn. I also want to learn how to be independent with my music and photos. In order to accomplish that goal, I will need to learn the following: using an external drive to rip and burn music files, gain more in depth knowledge of how itunes functions, learn more photoshop skills, learn how to backup files on CD.

This resolution sounds pretty awful to me, but I know it is necessary and I will feel better knowing I can be the boss of our inanimate objects.

To Be
This is my most vague resolution this year, but I feel it is important to put it out there and remind myself of regularly. I resolve to be mindful of my needs and my choices this year in regards to nutrition, exercise and stress. This is probably the most common resolution EVER, but I think it is especially relevant to my life this year.

I am adjusting to a life that does not include as much daily walking and in order to compensate and feel physically well, I need to find other outlets for exercise. I just signed up for some dance classes through community education, so if those go well, I will keep taking them each quarter and be all set. My fingers are crossed.

I am still job searching with no way of knowing when that will be over and that is, as you can imagine, stressful. I have been doing pretty well with managing that stress and keeping a level head about my situation and I want to continue in that way.

I like sweets. Probably too much. So, this year I am going to try to be more conscious of how much sugar I am consuming and minimize my consumption. I am not "dieting" or freaking out and cutting it out of my diet, I just want to be more mindful about my sugar consumption.

So there you have it. I've declared them and now I have my work cut out for me in 2009.