February 1 - Anyone remember those resolutions?

Don't give up now! It's no longer January, so for most people, I imagine those hopeful resolutions made last month are sooooo last month. But not here! Oh no, I'm living in the past. Actually, I sort of credit my blog with keeping me relatively on track thus far! I read The Happiness Project last month by Gretchen Rubin where she basically made resolutions monthly rather than yearly. One of her biggest tips was pretty much to write the darn things down! If you keep them in front of you, surprise! You pay attention to them!

Here's a look back at mine:

2011 Resolutions

• daily gratitude/happiness journal
• exercise - 2 weekdays and 1 weekend workout
• do the dishes EVERY night
• floss EVERY night
• go to bed earlier - 10 pm weeknights!
• get up when the alarm goes off.  the first time.
• limit drinking mainly to social events

Some, I am a rockstar.....some, well, I have 11 more months to get it right!

• daily gratitude/happiness journal

I have 31 (actually a little more, as my calendar started in December) nice little entries in a calendar next to my bed. It's just a sentence or two about something that I did that day, something that made me happy, something I'm grateful for. NO negativity allowed. Sometimes I even write little inspirational notes to myself if I'm having a bad day. It's pretty cheesy, but you know what? I think it's helping me focus on the great things in my life. Plus it's helping me remember, oh, Thursday. Because my memory is seriously crap these days.

• exercise - 2 weekdays and 1 weekend workout

I'm not 100% on the exercise yet, as you'll notice from my Friday check-in's. Because my baseline is complete sloth, I personally count one or two instances of purposefully getting off my couch as a WIN. And I'll work up to a regular routine.

• do the dishes EVERY night

We (husband makes 1/2 the dishes, so I've enlisted his help with this one) have been doing AWESOME at the dishes resolution! I think there's been one or two nights when it didn't happen, and it seriously bothered me. Added bonus - we have some of our best talks as one washes and one dries. I don't know what it is - some people talk in the car (we're pretty much mute. It's weird), some talk over cooking (I'm usually distracted by trying not to burn things or remove appendages), but for us, dishes is where it's at. Oh, and to help avoid getting absorbed in a movie or something and being too tired lately? I set an alarm in my phone to go off each night at 9. It tells me "Dishes, Brush teeth, Floss!" Even if I don't do it immediately, it's been brought to my attention.

• floss EVERY night

Flossing is going mush like dishes. Yes, it's sad to make a resolution to perform a basic human function, but it's WORKING! I also enlisted/ guilted the husband into joining me here, and our efforts were rewarded at the dentist. I was complimented on my excellent home care, and husband was told that his gums bled a lot less this time!

• go to bed earlier - 10 pm weeknights!

Um, yeah. I LooooooooooVE sleeping, so convincing myself to tuck in early is e-a-s-y. Basically the phone alarm goes off at 9, we clean up, get ready for bed, and I have about 30 minutes to read and I am truly in bed by 10. LOVE it. Yes, I AM turning 87 this year! Ha.

• get up when the alarm goes off.  the first time.

Waking up however.....different story. Hate it. I have the alarm on my phone that goes off twice to ease me into the idea, and the horrible buzzer on the other side of the room.  If I'm working out, I can get up after two horrible buzzes and be on time. Other mornings....I turn off the buzzer and get back in bed and keep resetting my phone alarm. Ugh. My problem may lie in that I don't always have to get up at "workout" time, so I push it later and later on those non-workout days. I realize I SHOULD just get up early....but I still hate it.

• limit drinking mainly to social events

The key to not drinking on weeknights? Water. It's so funny - I'll crave a glass of wine or something if I have nothing to drink already, but if I have a glass of water? I don't really care so much. It's made slightly harder when the people on TV are drinking - the power of suggestion or something! But it's really as simple as giving myself an alternative. Plus it makes me really enjoy that glass of wine on the weekend or out with friends. (Yes, I amended my resolution to basically don't drink alone or during the week. Dinner on Wednesday with a friend - go for it.)

So there's my resolution stick-to-it-ness update. Anyone else sticking to theirs? Or were they just a fun little diversion for a week or two?

Resolve

I don't usually go in for New Year's resolutions.  I mean, no one ever keeps them, so what's the point, right?  But for whatever reason, I'm considering making some this year.  I haven't finalized my list...but here are some things I'm considering:

• daily gratitude journal - I'm not a good journaler, but I'm so forgetful!  I think if I can just jot a line or two, I'm more likely to DO it, and it would be nice to look back at and remember how blessed I really am.
• exercise.  Blech.  You can see if you look at my fitness attempt page (but you probably shouldn't because it's PATHETIC!) that I am not so good at this.  Part of my problem is that I don't actually have weight to lose (I know, I know, woe is me) so it's hard for me to actually see results.  I DO want to tone up though....I have virtually no muscle definition.  I'm basically skinny-fat which isn't really that healthy.  I wonder if there is some sort of fine or punishment I can impose on myself, or a way I can motivate myself to actually do the work??
• dishes.  NO MORE GOING TO BED WITH DIRTY DISHES IN THE SINK!!  This is a huge pet peeve of mine...and I do it to myself!  We don't have a dishwasher, so it's a bit of an additional challenge for me than for most people, but it's a really bad habit.  Must.  Change.
• drinking.  Now before you get the wrong idea, I don't have a drinking problem.  Sure, I may overindulge when faced with an open bar....but I digress.  I'm talking about the nightly glass of wine, and it's half money related.  A bottle or two a week isn't much, but it adds up!  Do I NEED that glass every night?  Do I need it without dinner?  Do I need it when no one else is around?  Nope.  I'm going to try to go for a glass of water instead, and limit my imbibing for social events, or a purposeful drink at the dinner table with my husband.

I may edit or add to this list...I may or may not track them publicly...I may throw in the towel by mid-January.  :)