My Personal To Do List for 2009

[satellitesister]

Resolutions, schmesolutions. That concept is just a one-way ticket to Guiltville. Give me an old-fashioned To Do List and I can check off my items, one by one. Here's mine. What's on your personal To Do List for 2009?

#1 Get a 2009 day planner before March this year. Really, 2009 is the year I get my act together. Must find new system for entering vital pieces of information onto calendar.   Pasting sticky notes, invitations, doctors’ appointment cards and random telephone numbers on magazine inserts into the day planner did not work in 2008. That field trip faux pas still haunts me. Poor kids.  Buy new book and write stuff down. Or really make an effort with Cozi, not juts the fun picture slide show.

#2 Say “no” to commitments I feel obligated to do. Say “yes” to commitments I say I might have said “no” to in the past. ‘Yes’ to coffee with friends, Scrabble with kids, dirty dishes in the sink on Sunday. ‘Yes’ to movies in the middle of the week. ‘No’ to long committee meetings on a Tuesday night that only result in further meetings next Tuesday night.

#3 Eat less ice cream. Okay, amend that: if I’m going to eat ice cream, enjoy the ice cream rather than feeling guilty about every bite.  Put the ice cream in a bowl like a normal person instead of sneaking it out of the carton in heaping tablespoons while standing over sink.

#4 Work on my backhand. Or forehand or backstroke or downward dog. Spend equal time participating in sports as watching children participate in sports. At the very least, walk laps around the soccer field while the kids are running sprints. Oh, and get cute workout clothes. That old grey hoodie is not flattering. 

#5 Stay focused . Seriously, work during work. Finish the novel, write more blogs, try my hand at Chaos Chronicles podcast 2009. Less birthday party-planning/holiday shopping/vacation reservation-making during the 9 to 5 hours.  Do not get sucked into the overstock section at certain websites. Also, replace afternoon M&Ms mini pack with a handful of nuts or at least see #3 and savor the M&Ms.

#6 Abandon scrap booking project. Who’s kidding who?  That scrap booking party was 7 years ago and what is there to show for the hundreds of dollars spent on supplies? Nothing. Just put the pictures in an album and call it a day. Donate boxes of acid-free paper, pinking shears and “school daze” stickers to Brownie troop.

#7 Maintain minimum standards of grooming in public. Stop pretending that I am invisible to others at the grocery store. Fleece loungewear is not acceptable in the produce aisle and nobody’s fooled by the baseball cap. Comb hair, puts on some real pants, and dress like a grown up. And try lipstick every once in a while.

#8 Finish a really hard book, like anything by Toni Morrison or Philip Roth. A Mercy is my book club pick for February. Do not cheese out and only read the reviews. Chick lit is fine in moderation, but too much can make you crave handbags that cost the same as a couch. Challenge brain not bank account.

#9  Get a grip on all technology in possession. Both kids will be in college in 10 years, and then who will teach me how to download songs to my iPod? Embrace the future, like the camera feature on my phone.


#10 Stop comparing. Shoes, jobs, kids, cars, waistlines, wrinkles—just stop it. What I have: healthy family, nice dog, great weather, good friends. What I need: a little more sleep. The balance sheet is in the black. Way to go!

Visti me at www.chaoschronicles.com for more! Happy New Year!