2010 - A year of changes

I'm not really into New Year's resolutions - like most people I don't usually keep them!

But I do want to make a few changes around here, and the start of a new year seems like a good time to implement some of them.

The first one is my lifestyle. I go to bed far too late every night and of course the kids get up at their usual time, so I don't get enough sleep. I'm not a great sleeper as it is, so you can imagine the lack of sleep that I'm coping with most of the time, and unfortunately it's mostly my own doing. Also, I don't really think too hard about what I eat, and I always go for the quick-fix option when I'm feeling flat or tired - coke, chocolate, stuff like that. I know this only makes me feel worse in the long run, but often I'm on the run and am not organised enough to have something healthy to grab as a pick-me-up. I also do very little exercise. Once upon a time, many years ago, I could probably have been classed as a gym-junkie. These days, I feel like I could be the #1 couch potato in the country. I come up with all sorts of excuses as to why I can't do any exercise. But really, I'm not getting any younger, and my body is really starting to feel like it's ageing, and I know that this is something I can remedy with just a bit more activity in my day. I know all of these things are compounding each other, and if I just make small changes then I'll begin to feel much better. I also need to lose some weight. I know my lifestyle habits are contributing to that not happening right now. I'm not going on a diet, but I do hope that the lifestyle changes may result in some weight loss.

I'm also supposed to be returning to paid employment later on this year. Nothing's final at this point in time, but that's going to be a major change if it happens, after 4 years of being a stay-at-home-mum. More on that to come in a future post, but the lifestyle thing needs to improve if I'm going to be able to manage to be a mum and an employee and do them both well. I need to start making those changes now.

The other major change I want to make this year relates more to knitting. I don't want to say that I'm going to go on a yarn-buying ban, or a stash diet - I know I won't stick to either of those, and like any kind of "diet" I think I'll do better at reducing the stash if I allow myself a little purchase here and there. I've recently culled my Ravelry queue significantly. Now, for the most part, the items in there are things I really do plan on making - not just things I might someday make. And they should all now be things I have either already bought yarn specifically for, or have something in my stash that I can sub with. So this year I'm going to "shop the stash" first. I'm not saying I won't buy yarn if I don't have something suitable, but I'm going to try hard not to be tempted by new patterns, or buying yarn just for the sake of buying yarn. Of course if something comes along that I just can't resist, then I'll buy it or I'll knit it! But I'll try to keep that to a minimum. I'm also open to changing my mind about what project the yarn I already have will be used for :)

So I've tried to get off to a good start for 2010. I can't say I haven't had coke - I have, but only one can of the full strength stuff this year. I've taken to drinking coke zero if it's around, and given that I dislike the taste of that, my plan to drink less is working! So far the more sleep thing isn't happening. I blame this on Miss F mostly, but I haven't been getting myself off to bed any earlier than usual anyway. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself about that though - we're in holiday mode here even though DH has returned to work, and more often than not it's been far too hot to go to sleep so an early bedtime wouldn't work anyway. The heat has affected the exercise thing too. See I'm making excuses again! But once this coming weekend is over - 3 days forecast to be 41 degrees! - I'll be making a more concerted effort to get the lifestyle thing on track.

On a postive note, everything I've knit so far this year has been from stash and has been something that's been in my queue for a while, so I'm on track with that one!

So here's to 2010 - hopefully it will be a good year for all of us!