Bout time I got '09 in gear

It looks like a lot, but it's not. I'm just very specific with my goals so that each is a step in itself toward fulfilling a larger goal. If I do these things, it'll be easier to cross more of them off come next year!

1. Forgive my father and deal with the issues I've developed with relationships in general because of my relationship with him so that I can stop hurting.
2. Begin yoga/Pilates/stretching 2-3 times a week to alleviate back pain and increase flexibility, strength.
3. Do 15 -30 minutes of cardio at least once a week; work up to two (or three) times a week by July.
4. Sit up straight.
5. Set up a monthly budget cutting out unnecessary expenses and stick to it.
   
6. Set up and begin a payment plan to pay off all credit cards and other debt by July 2010.
7. Set up another savings account so that I can have three: emergency (3-6 months salary); a life happens fund (for unexpected expenses) and a vacation fund.
8. Increase savings contributions to E-trade to finance trip to Spain in fall. Devote tax returns to building up savings reserves and contributing to vacation fund.
9. Do something every month to pamper myself. Get a mani/pedi. Get my hair done. Get a massage. Take a long bath. Buy myself something nice.
10. Try out a new healthy recipe at least once a month. Build up my repetoire to include more than fried foods and fatty sauces.
11. Eat out at a new restaurant at least once a month. Use this time to try different cuisines and experiment.
12. Read. Whatever I want. Magazines. Books. Whatever. Just read.
13. Go see "Raisin in the Sun" at Trinity Jan. 30 - March 30. Go see a show on Broadway with Setta B.
14. Keep clips up and network; send update mailings to potential employees two times a year (March and September, maybe?)
15. Write something that makes me proud, whether it wins any award or not.
    
16. Find an organization to volunteer with and do so, regularly. Can either be one organization with a long term commitment, or various organizations with one time commitments
17. Go on dates with the BF that (sometimes) require more than just driving to Boston and cooking food.
    
18. Take pictures to document life and stretch my creative muscles.
    
19. Start doing crosswords to exercise my mind.
20. Be present at all times. Start each day as if it were on purpose, not an accident.
    

Closet Case

So I'm in the midst of this massive fall cleaning.

I'm doing pretty okay. My house looks otherwise, but I'm doing okay. A large part of that is probably that I spend as little time as possible in my house, and if I am there, I'm cleaning. So I'm not just like, sitting in a pile of purses, ATM receipts and expired salad dressing.

Well, I decided to tackle my closet on Saturday. I'd been sick all week and took a half day on Friday. After sleeping the night away heavily drugged, I got up feeling pretty okay.

And I knew I needed to clean.

Confession time: Remember that trip I went on? Yeah, in July? Um, my suitcase was still sitting at the foot of my bed unpacked. I'd step over it on my way into bed each night. If I needed something inside of it, I'd just rifle through the contents and find the wrinkled article of clothing and put it on.

Don't judge me.

So, I didn't want to do too much on my first day not feeling horrible, so I figured unpacking the suitcase would be a worthwhile venture. But then I realized something: the reason I hadn't unpacked was because I had nowhere to put anything. My walk in closet (yes, it's fantastic) was jammed pack.

Yet I had nothing to wear. Peculiar? I think so.

Tackling the closet was no easy task. As I mentioned, I'm a semi-pack rat, so it pained me to consider throwing out club shirts I hadn't worn since I was 18, shoes I'd worn until the soles flapped, or bags that were perfectly fine except for the gaping hole in the lining. But slowly, I tackled the closet. Taking out the papers, cleaning out the purses, putting every ill fitting, ugly, or just ridiculously old piece of clothing into a trash bag and tossing it into the living room. (That pile of bags, by the way, is beginning to take over my living area. But I digress.)

When I finished hanging up the last skirt and restacking the last shoe box, I was amazed at what I saw. My closet was 1/2 full.

I panicked.

What would I wear? What if all of my clothes were dirty and I needed that short sleeved white polyester sweater that I'd gotten in 11th grade? And how would I ever replace my clothes?!

Then I realized I'd just done laundry and a bunch of clothes were still in the laundry basket.

Relief.

Still, it made me realize that this is the perfect opportunity to re-up my closet. I'm tossing some old jackets and winter coats next -- and my prom dress may have to go as well -- so when it gets cold, I'll have to buy stylish replacements to keep me going through these tough New England winters.

This might not be so bad after all.

Gathering my shambles

I guess it's just kind of that time of life.

A lot of people I talk to are working to "get their lives together." Ah, another Hamptonism working it's way into real life.

This one (though she's a *shudder* Bison) is working on it. So are a few of my other friends.

Whether it's developing a schedule, disciplining yourself, or just figuring out where you want to go in life, we're all just trying to pickup the pieces because our lives, as we see it, are in semi-shambles.

Me? I'm just trying to clean my house.

I've always been a packrat. And a messy one at that. I keep receipts. I keep ticket stubs. I keep twin sheets and comforters from college because I never know when a sleepover may breakout and I'll be glad I had that bed in a bag.

But the problem is the clutter is crowding out my life.

My clothes sit in bags and baskets in my bedroom floor, my walk-in closet too jam packed with clothes to fit them all. Yet, I have nothing to wear. What's taking up space on the rack are things I bought when I got to Hampton. Yeah, it's 2008. I know.

Plastic bags tumble from my kitchen pantry. I'm earth conscious so I don't want to throw them out and crowd up a landfill. I read to the back of one of the shelves, which is so disorganized, I didn't notice the unopened bottle of vinaigrette and bought a new one. (Though, I checked and the expiration date definitely said 2007. So I needed a new one anyway. Sigh.)

I've just got too much stuff.

So I decided to get rid of it.

After I got back from my trip, I figured now was as good a time as any to declutter my life. I threw out probably two years worth of magazines. I chucked those plastic bags (and their paper counterparts). I have no less than six bags of bedding, clothes and shoes waiting to be taken to the nearest Goodwill.

The sad part is, I'm not even close to done.

I bit off too much, people. Instead of working in one room and finishing it before moving on to another, I tackled the whole house because I wanted to put off going through my Tupperware or didn't know where to start when pruning my closet.

The result is that my living room and really, my entire house, looks like a disaster zone.

I'm hoping that when I finish, I'll be able to feel the space I've created. And maybe begin to surround myself with more of the things I love, rather than the things I've held on to in case I needed them.

And I guess that's step one in getting my life together. I just wish it didn't take so long.
Or require so much work.
Or so many trash bags.