2011 is here and I think I am ready

I wish I could say that I stayed up until midnight saying good-bye to 2010 but I think I fell asleep by 11 PM. What I have been doing over the past few weeks is thinking about my resolutions. I tend to keep my resolutions to myself but this year I am opting to put them out there in the blog world as a way to help me stick with them.

Resolution #1 - No more facebook. I just deactivated my account. Sure - I have done this before but this time I am going to try and stick with it (for a whole year). I could spout off a my concerns about privacy or talk about the degradation of actual person to person interaction but truth be told, I find myself wasting too much time there. I loved that initially it helped me find people I haven't spoken to in years and I admit that I love looking at other people's photos but when I am done, I feel like I just lost brain cells. I will miss catching up with some people (aka the voyeurism) but I will now be freed up to waste my time on blogs (which may lead to a 2012 resolution). Sure I worry about missing out on something big or not being in touch with someone but the people that want to find me, will find me.

Resolution #2 - I believe I shared this worry before but I do worry that in 20 or so years, I will have daughters-in-laws that sit around, drinking wine, and complaining about all the damage I have done to their husbands. I worry that I have created two boys that expect their mom (and eventually their wives) to clean up after them. I swear that I have not consciously done this and truth be told they aren't that horrible but I feel like now is the time to ensure we don't go down the horrible path of messy men. I haven't quite mapped this one out but I need to get them working on picking up after themselves on a more consistent basis especially their socks and toys which are spread throughout the house. And I need little boys who focus on peeing in the toilet; we have had a few incidents here at the Flisakowski Manor and I am always fretting over the imagined (or real) odor in their bathroom. I realize I live with 3 boys and my expectations aren't going to be unrealistic.  I don't expect or want an immaculate house that doesn't look lived in but I think they can work on helping make a tidy house.

Resolution #3 - Projects, projects, projects. Mr. Lucas and I are usually fairly good about tackling home improvement projects but I think this year, I am going to put together a list and make more concrete plans about what we want to get done especially since I know that in just a few short months (or maybe just one month) our weeks are going to be consumed with baseball. These projects will require funding (just send me an email if you want to donate) but I think if we are smart we can get a few tackled. Here is the brief list:

• flooring in our bedroom - after one child spilled an entire bucket of dirty water (he was cleaning up messes around the bathroom toilets) in our bedroom, I told Mr. L I would rather live with the concrete floor then the grossness that was our carpet. We found some flooring at Home Depot that matches the rest of the house so this will be project #1. I would like to do the other two bedrooms as well but those may wait.
• counter tops - this one has been on our list for a long time but I think we just don't know what we want. Funding may be a roadblock on this project but I would like to at least get a good idea on what we want (new counter tops include a bit of a revamp to the layout too) so we can properly budget.
• backyard landscaping/patio - we have done a lot of work on our backyard including the much used, fabulous deck but I want to finish things off a little. Before July hits, we tend to spend a lot of time on the deck and I want to make it bit more inviting. I'd also like to invest in a sunshade to help make the deck a little more usable when it gets warmer.
• front yard landscaping - I hate our front bed an I really need to invest some time to figure out what would be the perfect solution for the space. I have tried various plants but it seems like I plant the wrong plants at the wrong time (right now we finally have a tree that provides shade and I have lantana planted and they want full sun - sounds like those will be moving those to the backyard). Again, I want to focus on making this space more inviting. I'd also love to create a pathway from the sidewalk since most visitors access from the street and not the small path by the driveway.

Resolution #4 - It has been a long time coming but I had to admit to myself, like many other women, I think I wear too many hats. I relish and love each role (mom, worker bee, wife, volunteer) but I tend to loose myself under all these hats. So in an attempt to get me spending a little more time on me I want to focus on two main things.

• Exercise - after running the half I had all sorts of plans for running more but then I hurt my foot and then I just lost motivation all together. Lucky for me I gained extra pounds. So despite the cliche, I am going to commit myself to working out. Specifically I want to get back in to running and focus on getting myself ready for another half. I also really want to get back to the Y and the Body Pump class and honestly this one is the hardest because I realized how much I loathe going to the gym alone. It might be cheating but I may wait and work up to the Y for a February goal in hopes that by then the crowd of other "exercise as my resolution" folks have dropped out.
• Craft time - I am linking up with Chandra on this one and we are going to start a craft night. We are ironing out details but I loved working on the quilt I made for Judes and I think (or rather I know) I need the outlet and sharing it with a friend will make it that much more fun. Of course we will have to make some very strict rules on wine drinking.

Well congratulations on making it through that long, long list of things I want to do in 2011. I am sure that there are more but this is a good start. I'll do my best to keep you posted (I know you desperately want that) and hopefully making this public will help me stick with it.