Resolve

Four day weekends should happen every weekend. All the time.

I can't even wrap my head around how much Mr. E and I did this weekend.

We watched three movies in theatres (courtesy of a fabulous Christmas present)
organized the garage
re-sorted our plastic storage bins (and ended up with five empty ones!)
took down all the Christmas decorations
moved out our roommate
finished Sherlock season 2
finished my first Kindle book (Jenny Lawson's memoir)
visited the dog park
started a new Mario video game
inventoried our collection of books/DVDs
     ...and so many other around the house activities and errands. 

Our house is sadly open again (both metaphorically and literally, I guess). With the behemoth Christmas tree down the living room has more space than we remember- we'll have to make an effort not to fill it with useless clutter. And our roommate moving has been quite the fiasco: two possibilities lined up and then for one reason or another, both backed out. There's certainly no hard feelings, but I dread the new search for a roommate.

Another year come and gone, another year to look forward to. 

Mr. E and I were talking about the uselessness of New Years- neither of us have really celebrated it and we don't understand the hype.

But as I woke up this morning I thought about beginning anew. Fresh starts. Reinventing yourself. Making choices. And all the New Year symbolizes. It's more than just resolutions or goals. It's work. It's compromise. It's understanding- what's best for yourself and for those around you. Taking account all the things that have happened in the last year and making the choice to re-create or discard those experiences- to encourage new ones just as good and let go of those that may have hurt or harmed.

I want to experience joy daily. 
I want to strengthen my relationship with my husband and with my family by sending birthday cards. 
I want to have a stronger sense of self by meeting people's eyes when I talk to them, and standing up straight and saying "yes" instead of "yeah".
I want to take care of my health by eating produce 5x daily and flossing.
I want to become financially stable by saving more and budgeting our expenses.

Mr. E's resolution? He doesn't ever want to deal with department store price stickers.