Happy New Year!  I think that I can still say that, right?  Even though it is January 15th?  Wow; I can’t believe that the month is already half-way over!  December took so much out of me with Christmas, the kids off school and a family vacation.  I was so happy to spend time with my family, but by January 5th I was also happy to have my space again.  Last week I got my house back together and put away every toy, swept up every pine needle and put all the Christmas decorations away (well, except for the ones outside; I hope that we don’t leave them up until spring).  Now I am ready to begin my new year!  What have I got planned this year?  Well, every year–just like everyone else–I make a long list of resolutions or things that I plan to do and then by April I have fallen off the wagon.  Then summer is here, the kids are out of school, any plans that I have made go right out the window.  This year I am trying to figure out what is really important to me and concentrate on that.

January is my month to get organized.  I’m pretty organized already, but there are areas in my life that need work:

1. Clean out my filing cabinet.  I try to do this every January and throw out old receipts, utility bills, etc.

2. Purge and organize my computer files.  I hate any kind of clutter, even on the computer.  I have to watch myself though; I tend to be over-zealous and junk everything–only to realize that I needed that file.

3. Finish decorating my bedroom.  This is the last room in the house to be decorated; Oprah and Nate Berkus would be very annoyed with me because what does that say about me that I have put my personal sanctuary on the back-burner?  It says that I ran out of money, out of steam and that yes, I cared more about my kids’ comfort in their room than mine.  But I am on a roll now and hope to be done decorating soon; I will post photos when I am finished.

4. Have a finance meeting with my husband and make a plan.  With college tuition in the very near future, we need have a very clear financial map for the next 5 years.

5. Start scrapbooking again.  Oh my God I am so behind!  I am actually very anxious about it and frozen by the 7 years of photographs waiting for me.  It is not a coincidence that I stopped scrapbooking 7 years ago and my daughter is 7 years old.  The second kid pretty much took all of my “free” time away.  And now that she is older, her big brother takes all of my time with his rich extracurricular activities and social life.   Mostly I feel guilty about not scrapbooking; my daughter loves looking at her brother’s First Year book while hers is just a big box full of photos and mementos waiting to be archived.  This year I resolve to at least do her First Year book, catch up on both kids’ School Days books (my son’s stops at 2nd grade and he is almost in high school) and add the last 2 years to the Christmas Memories book.  I might have to make digital books for all the other photos.  Did anyone else have this dilemma?  What did you do?

6. Start planning my summer.  I hate, hate, HATE planning the summer so early in the year and up until now I refused to do it.  But year after year when I sat down to plan in May I found that summer camps were already full and vacation spots already booked up.  I can’t fight the system any longer and must fall in line.  Part of the reason I resist planning so early is because my kids don’t need to be in camp; I am able to be home and I actually like spending time with them.  But I finally realized that my daughter prefers to be in summer camp; she likes playing with other kids and needs constant activity.  And my son is at the age where he needs to start volunteering, working a small job or attending an extensive academic or performing arts camp.  Which means that I need to get those balls rolling.

I take pretty good care of my health, but of course I could always do better.  These are not really resolutions, but a plan to change my lifestyle:

1. Start cooking regularly again.  With a husband that travels a lot and kids always on the go, I have fallen into a take-out rut.  I used to cook 5 days a week; I will aim for 4 days now.  It’s not the cooking that is hard, it is the meal-planning that I object to.  But, eating at home is not only more financially sound, it is also healthier.  

2. Wash my face every night.  I admit that some nights I am so exhausted that I just take off my mascara, but not wash my face.   I can’t take my good skin for granted anymore, so I had better treat it right!  Maybe I will work up to the mini-facial routine that Luxetips does, but for now washing my face is a good place to start.  

3. Join the gym down the street.  The gym that I currently belong to is 20+ minutes away and since I don’t already feel like going, that is just one more excuse for me to use.  I know that exercise is important to my health and I need to make it a regular part of my daily routine–which means making it easier to get to.

My family: I feel that I live my life for them, yet I also feel that I don’t do enough.  Mostly I need to just stop the other stuff that I am doing and be present when they are around.  That means reading a long story to my daugther at night, instead of a short one so that I can get back to my own stuff, staying off the computer on the weekends and getting outside with them more to just play.  It’s hard to balance all the things that I want to do for myself with all the things that I want to do with them; there is just not enough time in the day/month/year.   My mantra this year:  ”I am only one person; I can only do so much.”  I will make it a point to carve out time to pursue my dreams and goals, but also be intentional about the time I spent with my family.

So, with the little time that I do have, this is what I would like to do:

1. Continue horse riding lessons in the spring.  I loved riding this fall and felt that it was something that I was doing just for myself.  It was a real physical workout and a challenge to learn something new.

2. Take advanced swimming lessons, maybe even get certified as a lifeguard.  Some years ago I learned how to swim after a lifetime of being afraid of water.  I was so proud of myself and want to learn even more.

3. Get an article published. I enjoy writing this blog and think that I would enjoy writing for someone else as well.

4. Make a business plan for at least 1 of the 50 ideas that I have.  

And of course continue building Funkidivagirl.com; I have many great posts planned this year!  I will help you get more organized in my Ma-Gyver posts.  I will give you my personal travel reviews in T as in Tango.  My Charmed Life, Word From the Mother and What About Me will keep you up to date about what’s happening in my world.  Kicking It Old School is just for fun, while Things I Like/Believe the Hype will inform you of things I think are Funkidivagirl-worthy of trying.  There will be more 4 Real Housewives submissions and more guest posts by Captain Cuisine and The Gastro-Teens.

2008 was a great start for Funkidivagirl and 2009 promises to be even better.  I hope you have enjoyed grooving with me so far and ready for a funki ride in 2009!