It's Here!

Happy New Year, everyone!!!

I love the first day of each year. It's a great time to start fresh, get some good new habits going, get some old bad ones out ... it's wonderful!

Here are a few of my goals for this year. Yes, most of them (at least the ones that are bloggable) deal with my house; it's the area I struggle with the most. It's the only real thing that John and I have ever fought about, so if I become perfect with my house, we'll never fight again, right? Right??? :)

1. Put a load of laundry in the washer every morning when I wake up. I've tried the 'laundry day' thing. It made me homicidal, and didn't work.

2. Spot sweep under the table after every meal. It takes 2.3 seconds, and makes the biggest difference in the world, so why am I not doing it?

3. Wipe down the bathroom each night. Ditto detail on #2.

4. Take five minutes (set with a timer) before nap time to straighten the loft and kids' rooms, and another five after each meal. We call this a 'five-minute drill,' and they're surprisingly effective. If I do it after each meal, we can hit every area of the house and porch, and when you keep up with something, it never gets so bad that it's impossibly overwhelming. Or so John has been telling me for the last 6 years.

5. Clean my sink every night before bed. Who likes to wake up to a dirty kitchen? Not moi.

6. Make a meal for my father-in-law once a week. This will probably be done once a month, and I'll take over several frozen dishes, once he moves down here. (This situation will probably get its own post in the next few weeks.)

7. Get back to my quiet times in the morning. I've been very, very bad about this lately, and it's really starting to effect my life. When your spiritual walk is off, nothing else seems to be completely right. Nothing. This is probably the most important thing on my list.

8. Get back to my mornings in general. I've just slipped out of this habit in the last month, with all the sickness and holidays and whatnot.

This might seem like a big list to you. Or you might be thinking 'duh' about some of these, like having a clean sink before bed. But the whole things is very doable if I just get into the habit. I've been doing #'s 1 and 5 for a few weeks already, and it has made the biggest difference to my day. I hardly even have to think about it anymore; it's already becoming second nature, like making coffee and letting the chickens out.

So what are your plans/resolutions/goals/whatever? Leave me a comment and let me know. Lurkers, please de-lurk!! I know there's a few of you out there, because I talk to you on the phone and you tell me you read my blog. Heather. Or whoever.

And did I mention ... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!