Happy 2011!

I thought that 2009 went quickly, but it was nothing compared to 2010. Last year I had very vague resolutions, which made it hard to track. While I don't want to add too much to my plate, since I am already having a hard time managing my time, I do want to be a bit more specific. Here are my resolutions for 2011, and how they tie into this challenge.

• Start a Project 365 blog, and finish the year. This project is going to help me with # 99.
• Take better care of myself. In order to take care of others, I need to take care of myself. One step in doing that is working out, which ties into # 96. While currently I am the smallest size that I've ever been, I won't be on this dairy-free diet forever. Better to build the healthy habits now, and maybe I'll be able to stay in shape once my diet gets a little relaxed. This will also probably tie into # 20, as I try to make healthier meals for us.
• Complete twelve items on the list by the end of the year. That allows me to finish one item a month, in addition to working on the revolving items. Hopefully, I won't be rushing to finish all twelve in December.
• Keep my blogs updated. This doesn't really tie into anything from this challenge, but it is something that I want to do.

This weekend, I am going to be going through the list and updating anything that I may have forgotten. I am also thinking that I will be giving this blog a face lift (and possibly my other blogs as well). I am getting tired of some of these looks, and will probably change things up a little.

I hope that everyone had a happy 2010, and that 2011 turns out even better!

# 25

25. Get together with friends once a month (12/34)

Last night Christine and Tedd came up to celebrate New Years with us. It was a quiet evening where we went out to dinner, and then watched the ball drop on TV. Very different from years past, but nice to just get to relax with some friends.

# 83

83. Keep my New Years resolutions (1/2)

This year, I went very simple with my resolutions.

First, I wanted to keep up with my inbox. While I haven't been perfect with that at all, I have been so much better than in the past. I might have been helped by Gmail's Priority Inbox, but you use the tools that you have.

Second, I wanted to keep up with this blog. Again, I haven't been perfect, but considering my attention span, I've done pretty well. I'm not as far along on a lot of items as I had hoped, but I am still trying.

I am counting the first full year of this item as complete, knowing that it is an ongoing project. We'll see how I hold up next year.

# 32

32. Organize a family Christmas picture each year (2/3)

The extended family picture. One problem with this is that someone has to miss the picture to be the photographer. Unfortunately, in this case it was Rebecca. I might need to figure out a way to fix this problem for next year. I also unfortunately completely forgot to do this with Geoff's family by the time we got there. There's always next year.

But what I really wanted was a picture of the three of us from Christmas morning. This is the best one that we got, although I wish that it was long so that you could see Geoff and my pj bottoms.

These did not come out as well as I had been hoping. Luckily on Thanksgiving, I was able to get a picture of the three of us, which was eventually used for the Christmas card.

# 15 and # 16

15. Make a dessert for each Christmas dinner (2/3)
16. Make a dessert for each Boxing Day (2/3)

This year, I made cookies for both Christmas dinner and for Boxing Day. I was a bit short on time, so I didn't make as many has I had been planning on, but I was happy to have desserts that I could actually enjoy. I also didn't take as many pictures, since I started to get very busy while I was baking, but I did get a few.

One more year to go, and then these are done.

# 33

33. Send Christmas cards each year (2/3)

Cards have been mailed! There are a few stragglers, where I'm working on getting the addresses, but this is basically done. Much earlier than I anticipated this year. Two down, one to go!

# 14

14. Bake a pie for each Thanksgiving (2/3)

This year, I was planning on making all the desserts for dinner at my mom's house, but I started to not feel well during the week, and wasn't able to get it done. I might have been able to push through had I not known that my mom anticipated Peter making me too busy and bought a bunch of pies anyway. Those pies were not dairy and soy free, so I did make my self get through one pie, which also helped me to get closer to finishing this item (one more year to go). I made an apple pie, with palm shortening instead of soy (and no butter). I thought that it came out pretty well, and was thrilled that I had a dessert to eat for a change. Everyone else said that it was very good, but they might have just been being polite...

No pictures of the actual baking this year, my kitchen was a mess, so I didn't take any. We only have the final product after it was delivered to "the dessert room", which also doubled as the "trying to get babies to nap at the noisy party room".

# 20

20. Try at least two new recipes a month (14/68)

Geoff and I haven't been cooking a lot of new things. The most adventurous that I've gotten recently has been making new food for Peter, but I haven't been counting those towards this total. Today, I took one of the pumpkins that we got at the farm two weeks ago, and started to make a puree for Peter. The first thing that I did was remove the seeds. So instead of just throwing them away, I used a variation this Whole Foods recipe to roast them.

It was a little more effort than I usually like to put in for what is basically a snack, but they came out ok. I will probably do it again when I make the other pumpkin.

# 42

42. Attend Sunday services at least twice a month (21/68)

I have not been able to keep up with this one as much as I would like. Peter had a tendency to wake up too close to 8 for me to be able to go often. (It's annoying because he wakes up so much earlier during the week, when we don't have a place to be at 8.)

This morning, I took advantage of daylight savings. Peter woke up at 7 (would have been 8 if the clocks hadn't changed), which gave me enough time to feed him, dress him, get myself ready and still make it to church on time. I ended up going solo, since Geoff wanted to get a jump start on the laundry.

Peter did so much better than the last time that Geoff and I tried to take him to church (not that he did that badly then). I didn't bother with the car seat, since I knew he would want his freedom. He started to get a little fussy during the sermon, but was calmed down just by going to the back and looking at the windows. I also had to take him out into the hall a little before the communion since he was being a little loud with his teether, but he didn't have a major meltdown. After the service, so many people came up to me to tell me how well behaved he was.

I don't have any pictures, since I was flying solo. Maybe next time, Geoff will be able to come as well, and then I'll be able to get some shots.

# 84

84. Read 2 new books a month (10/68)

I have fallen way behind on this item. Mostly because I don't feel that I can count books like Goodnight Moon and Hop on Pop towards my total. I've joined a new book club (in addition to my new mommy group), so I've finally finished an adult book. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson is not the kind of book that I usually read, but I loved it. I had a hard time putting it down, and it has caused me to not take advantage of the sleep I should have been getting for the past few days.

I was concerned when the woman at the bookstore told me that you had to get through 100 pages before it was any good, and how annoying the Swedish street names and such were. I did not agree with her at all, and I was pretty hooked from the beginning. I would definitely recommend this book to someone who likes to read. (I know too many people who just aren't into books, and I doubt that they would stick this one out.)

And I know that I've fallen way behind on this list, and I haven't been ignoring it. I've just been a little busier than normal. I am also hoping to get back into the swing of some of these items, and get back to updating here more.