First Day of a New Year

I slept in. I think I've been trying to catch up on all the sleep I miss during my "normal" life during this week of idleness. In fact, I've been feeling spectacularly lazy this week. Not my usual self at all.

My plans for this week included finishing off some of the projects I started - but I didn't. I did have the stepson and his family over for Christmas dinner, I washed dishes at my mom's house - but really, other than that... I've done nothing. Well, laundry. Believe me, there was a pile of it as I'd been putting it off and putting it off. Most of it's done now, but there will always be more.

This spectacular week of laziness has given me a little time to think and reassess a few things. What follows aren't resolutions, per se, but a list of goals, variably attainable. Some will take a while. Some will happen quickly. I love the quick ones - so gratifying - but the long term goals are the ones worth really putting effort into.

1. Hit list the house. I want to go through every room and make a list of what needs to be done to it. What needs fixing, completing, starting. In addition to the cosmetic repair, I need to declutter. There are six rooms tht need that kind of attention. If I spend one weekend a month in one room for decluttering, I could have much of the house in pretty snappy shape come summer. Of course one of the "rooms" I'm counting is the garage - a giant project. Perhaps mid-spring I should take an extra day off work and tackle that one seriously - when it's not too hot, not too cold and it's not raining.

2. I need to help plan a wedding. Last October I went to Korea to see my brother Matt marry his love Dawon. They're coming to the US in March and want to have a small religious wedding here. This week, I'm going to talk to the priest at the church they want to do it in. It will be small, and probably kind of quick, so hopefully I can get him to fit it in there. There are other things to be done (catering arranged, place for reception) because they won't be here to do it. We'll remain in close contact though!

3. The usual - improve my health!!! I've got weight to lose, pills to get off of, and while the marathon's not going to happen (repetitive achilles injury), I want to do SOMETHING. Possibly join my brother Jay in the Braking the Cycle ride next fall.

4. Make a plan for the future. I've been working for the State of Florida for a long time now. You would think that as time goes by, the stability of your job would improve and your general income level would rise. The opposite has been the rule of the day. No raises (merit or cost of living) in the last six, going on seven years. Insurance costs more and as of next year, we will also be paying into retirement. In addition to all these lovely perks, we are under constant threat of being laid off as the state tries to balance its budget on the backs of the state workers... who are the lowest paid and fewest per capita in the country. As it becomes more and more difficult to pay bills and my husband takes on more and more freelance work, it is obvious that I will need to do something else in the near future. At this point, I do not know what that will be, but I have a little time to figure it out. I'd thought about going for a general contractor's license given how much I love remodeling, but the requirements will make it very difficult to fulfill - some of which require 4 years employment in each field before said license is granted. Were I 20, that wouldn't be such a problem, but I'm nearing 50... problem. So I'm thinking hard about what I can do, what I love, and how I can combine those things and perhaps a little schooling to make a late career that might actually allow me to retire one day. But at this point, I dont' know what that will be.

I think that's quite enough... for one year, anyway.