My 10 In ’10

“Fall down seven times…get up eight”

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Ask anyone in my family, including my extended family. Every New Year’s Eve, I make everyone go around the table after dinner and state their New Year’s resolutions. And if they don’t have any, I make some up for them.

Maybe I’m weird. But I’m a sucker for fresh starts. Newness. A clean slate. A restart.

I make resolutions every year. And I break them every year (usually around February). But that doesn’t deter me from making them again the next year. Not a bit. I’d rather start something and not fully accomplish it than to not start anything at all.

So for 2010, I have come up with “My 10″…a list of some serious, some practical, some ridiculous things that I want to accomplish. And maybe, just maybe, I can come back at the end of the year and report completion and accomplishment. And if I don’t? At least I got to try 10 new things.

1. Project 365. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time…to take a picture of something representative of my life every day. At the end of the year, what a story it will tell! (Check out Project 365 for more info and tips).

2. Be more organized. This is a repeat offender. Typically, I’m a very organized, neatnik person. But three kids, one hubby and a dog…and all that they entail…overwhelm me sometimes. This year, I am going to use more tools like:

• Post-It Labels – they’ve got some really cool new products
• My bank’s online banking tools…to avoid being so “surprised” at the end of the month
• Good ol’ delegation…and a chore chart

3. Get a Roomba. My home is 85% tile and it takes forever to clean. In line with #2, I want to make better use of my time by cleaning less. Ok, not less, just smarter. I’ve heard rave reviews about the Roomba…have you?

4. Be a better friend. By calling a friend when she is on my mind, inviting her over for coffee, going for a walk or meeting her for lunch. A simple gesture goes a long way…for both of us.

5. Run 3 5k races. I’ve done one a year for the past two years. Time to step it up.

6. Read with my kids every school night. I read to my kids when they were little. But now that they’re older, I see the benefit in reading with and to them…still. It is a whole-family activity that I want to continue through the next year. Right now we’re reading The Last Olympian.

7. Stop the late night snacking. I’m a natural-born night owl and I like to stay up and work or watch TV after the house is quiet. A quiet house + TV = Eating (and not healthy stuff like spinach and tofu). I need to break this bad habit.

8. Be “Early to bed, early to rise…” To help with #7, among other things.

9. Try “Once a Month” Cooking. I think I would dig this. I like doing things “in bulk”. Any cookbook recommendations?

10. Take my boys to Disneyland! Yes, that’s right. We have yet to take our boys (8, 10 & 13) to the happiest place on earth (does that make us totally unAmerican, or what?). Hopefully, 2010 will be our year!

No matter what resolutions you make or break, here’s hoping your 2010 is prosperous, healthy and happy!