My New Years Resolutions and go ahead and share yours :)

And a Happy New Years Eve to all of you out there!  I'm doing something different this year in that I'm actually making New Years Resolutions.  Why?  Well, believe it or not I've always been a "list" type of person...well at least until I had kids...then I was lucky to tread water in the chaos.  This coming year, though, especially after this last year...I want it to be different.  I want it to have some purpose and direction and by doing such I hope it will help pull me out of the "funk" I've been in since my dad passed away and such.  So, here's my New Years Resolutions (and yes, I will be sharing ways in which I'm implementing these on the blog as well).

1)  Waste Less. 

Odd choice for #1 on my list huh?  Well, not really to me.  The main reason I'm determined to waste less is this.  I'm tired of throwing away about 17 bazillion cubic feet of trash a week.  I mean it's REALLY getting on my nerves.  And I'm tired of paying through the nose for garbage service that I'm not using (people stealing my garbage service by using my dumpster to throw their stuff away, a relative who abuses the privilege of using said dumpster, etc...sometimes I really wish my husband didn't work construction and wanted the thing to help take care of his father's properties *scowl*).  So, I'm going to work on reducing our waste around here in the hopes that I will be able to cancel said dumpster (or at least tell said relative to put the darn thing on his property because it's no longer going to sit in my yard if I'm not using it) and just be able to deal with less money, quite literally, getting "thrown away" every month.

That and honestly waste just bugs me because it seems...well wasteful...so things like trying to potty train my son have gotten bumped up on my priority list (that and autistic or not, having my three year old running around in diapers just sits badly with me if I'm not at least TRYING to help potty train him).  So, be prepared for some new ways to reuse/recycle things in my attempts to reduce the amount of things going into the trash (milk jugs are going to be a big one since we go through about 1 gallon of milk a day around here, etc).

2.  Wake up earlier. 

I know, I'm laughing my tooshie off at this one too considering the sheer miniscule amount of sleep I get now, but I'm figuring it this way.  I am going to work on doing things like taking a 1 hour nap in the 2 hour gap I have while my children are at school three days a week and trying really hard to at LEAST get my kids to bed earlier and work on getting things like an herbal sleep aid and stop itching tincture in the works for my son so he will (hopefullly) start sleeping 4 hours straight every night.  If I can do that, I'd be golden to get up an hour earlier than my kids and thus able to do things like get some "me" time in the mornings, scope out my day and just generally wake up before I have to deal with the rest of the day closing in.  Which leads me to my next goal...

3.  Get my crap together organized. 

I have definitely noticed a sheer downhill slide in my ability to keep track of things since having kids and this last year I've been TERRIBLE about keeping track of when things are due (until I wake up panicked first thing in the morning realizing that a bill is due that day, etc), what month whose birthday falls in, etc.  So, this year I'm going to get more organized if it kills me.  That means meticulously setting one day aside and plugging in alarms into my cell phone for when bills are due (and no I do not do auto pay and I never will...I'm too much of a control freak for it), etc.  That means getting things like menu plans down every week (I've been doing okay at this, but need to get it down to a science) and sticking to them and working like heck to make sure that dinner is done at the right time every night so that I can sit the kids down at the table and try to get my son to try more foods...thus hopefully expanding his severely limited diet.

4.  Work on my thinking on food allergies, and allergies period so that I consider them a challenge, not a curse.

This one is going to be challenging to be sure.  The allergies around here have, quite literally, turned my world upside down.  But, I'm determined to find the bright side to this here tornado going on.  I'm finding that I like working with herbs and making my own things like shampoos and salves (and finding recipes that work) and I'm figuring as I find things that work, I'll share them with you all too...hopefully by helping some people out there with eczema, maybe I can help to justify why my little boy has to suffer and itch so much...try to think of him as "chosen" rather than "cursed"...sounds odd I know, but it's all in the perspective.

5.  Focus on me a little bit more.

I've gotten so many lectures from relatives and friends this year that if I don't start taking care of myself I'm not going to be any good to anyone.  So, I figure I'm going to work on that too.  Start doing things like making sure I'm eating (have a terrible tendency to skip breakfast and lunch...oops), taking some time to do things that I want to do (write, read, paint, craft, etc) and just generally find some time to de-stress (ie breathe) before I find myself in a mental ward with a breakdown someday (and yes, we have those in the family tree, so I am worried about it).

And...

6.  Just try to have a better year than this year!

So, what are your New Years Resolutions for the coming year?