Out of the Gates

So, I'm promising myself a few things this year. I'm not going to call them "resolutions," per se, but they're things I want to commit to this year and I'm going to work on them and share my progress on DMD (Driving Miss Dallas).

You all may know that I am an expert goal-setter. However, I am very amateur with the follow-through. I didn't do ANYTHING on my 2009 resolution list. As a matter of fact, I went backwards. I drank more beer, ate more cheese, slacked off from the gym and have love handles and chub of epic proportions. I didn't commit to my yoga practice. In fact, I think that in making an effort to commit I turned myself off to it. I did knit a lot, but I made several false starts when it comes to sweaters. I now have enough yarn to make about 8 or 9 sweaters, but due to a bad combination of pattern and fit, none of them have been completed.

Oh, and getting organized? We did a little of that. Now our house is less of a huge mess, but we have a lot more animals than normal people, so I'm good at cutting myself some slack.

But, I don't really want to sound like I'm blaming myself on missing the mark on many of my goals this year, because 2009 was a real doozie for me. I lost my job at the beginning of April. That turned my whole world upside down. I spent six months on unemployment, feeling worthless and tired and very depressed.

I finally got a great job, though. Finally doing what I wanted to do in the first place, which is write, photograph, and edit.

Did all of this change keep me from meeting my goals? No. It didn't help, but I know that there were several days that, after doing interviews or applying for jobs I just sat and read blogs and baked bread and sat around. I should have taken that time to focus on making myself a better person, a more employable person. I didn't. I got a great job anyway, though.

This year is going to be different, obviously. Every year has it's share of challenges and complications. This one will be just like that, only hopefully easier. So, I'm going to commit to only a handful of things:

1) Knit

2) Run

3) Be happy

I'll let you know how it works out.

Also, make sure you have your hop 'n' john and cabbage. See you here again, soon!