Well it looks like it might be time to re-evaluate my goals.  When I started these resolutions, the goal was a happier, healthier, more environmentally friendly lifestyle.  With that in mind, I need to either tweak or change some of these resolutions because they aren’t working towards the bigger goal for me right now.  After a month of trying, I have a pretty good idea of what’s working and what’s not working and some of these resolutions just aren’t cutting it.

So here’s my new update:

1.            Buy no clothes for a year – this one is a keeper.  I have no need nor any desire for new clothes.

2.            Exercise outdoors for at least 15 mins X week for Q1, 30 mins X a week for Q2, 45 mins X a week for Q3 and 60 mins X a week for Q4.– Outside is not a happy place for me which is why I incorporated this resolution. However, what with the nosebleeds and sickness it’s been very hard to keep this one up.  I’m going to change this one to just do something active and take the “outside” bit out as that seems to be the hang-up right now. 

3.            Ditch the Keurig pods after I run out – including at work – haven’t run out yet.  I ran out on Sunday.  I haven’t brought the re-usable pod or coffee grinds to work yet.  I’ll do so tomorrow.

4.            Bring my own milk to work – no plastic creamers! – I’ve managed to keep this one up despite having to resort to coffeemate powder on more than one occasion.  It’s gross which is why I’m pretty good at remembering to bring milk!

5.            Try to get rid of at least 10 things every week without throwing them away (sell, donate, repurpose) – This one is easy and the decluttering continues even if sometimes the 10 things are very small.

6.            Have at least 3 vegetarian days per week – I can’t do this.  My sincere apologies to my vegetarian friends but my gut simply can’t handle it.  I stuck it out for a month despite cramping, gas, bloating and frequent potty trips and it’s making me miserable, so I need to ditch this one.  It will become 3 vegetarian meals a week.  If I can manage those with the help of Beano and Imodium (which have become my best friends in January) then I will consider slowly upping the number of meals without meat.

7.            Buy nothing new without making sure it’s needed, it’s replacing something and that the something it’s replacing is no longer good enough and must be trashed. – I can do this one.  I need to be a bit stricter as my credit card bills were still higher than I would have liked this month (maybe the framing could have waited?  Naw… didn’t want to risk damage to the prints.  It was worth it.)

8.            Re-use all single use plastics that I can.  Recycle those that I can – This one is a challenge that I’m not meeting very well.  Going to change this to keep milk bags to donate to schools to make mats or learn how to make the mats myself.

9.            Reduce purchases that come in single use plastics – I need to work on this one.  I’m not willing to give it up just yet.

10.         Get a pap/physical/mammogram/regular bloodwork – All clear on the pap and the bloodborne pathogens.  So yeah, I’m doing ok  

11.         Start monitoring my blood sugar and adjust my diet accordingly – Still waiting on the batteries. OK I’m going to get on this one this week for sure.

12.         Use up 90% of my yarn before buying more – I actually found more of the colours I needed and finished the afghan.  Already have my next one planned and still have 3 on the go.  So I’m good with keeping this one going.

13.         Save at least $1,500.00 for my RRSPs – this is a keeper

14.         Call my sisters at least twice a month – Oh hells ya!  Love this one!!!!

15.         Take 3 trips to Ottawa by myself to recharge and reconnect with my family – I’m going to keep this one here though I’m not sure how do-able it will be.  To be honest, I’m leery about travelling home with the whole coronavirus thing right now because I don’t want to expose my parents.  Also, I’ll be moving Sarah back home for the summer after all which puts a bit of dent in my plans as well.  Might have to adjust this one later.

16.         Clean up the gardens in the backyard and plant low/no maintenance beds -- This will be a springtime resolution.  With Sarah’s help I should be able to keep it.

17.         Make and stick to a grocery list – I’m pretty good with this one.

18.         Meal plan and do minimal meal Prep – having more trouble with this one.  Will have to try harder.

19.         Reduce screen time (TV, Phone, Computer) at home to no more than 35 hours per week in Q1, 28 hours per week in Q2, 21 hours per week in Q3 and 14 hours per week in Q1. – I 100% suck at this.  My justification for this was that I would be more present in the real world if I escaped less to the fantasy TV world but it’s just not working for me.  Zoning out is pretty much my go to.  So I’m going to have to hit pause on this one for now because it’s just making me feel all guilty and failure-y.  

20.         Tidy/clean 1 room for at least 15 mins every day – I want to change this one to load dishwasher before bed every night.  I really like this habit and I love waking up to a clean kitchen and making lunch with clean containers available.

And that’s where I’m at in February.  Some are working out well, some less well, some not at all.  But that’s life and rather than abandoning the whole thing I will simply adjust as I go along.  

Because that’s the way life works.

Much love,

Julie 

Third (and Half of Fourth) week

Third (and Half of Fourth) week update.

Well I’ll confess that I am struggling.  The never ending cold and frequent nosebleeds were really getting me down.  Some of the resolutions didn’t pan out this week.  To be honest, I doubt those same resolutions will pan out for week four either.  Might have to re-think those. Here’s my updates:

1.            Buy no clothes for a year – still no clothes so YAY!

2.            Exercise outdoors for at least 15 mins X week for Q1, 30 mins X a week for Q2, 45 mins X a week for Q3 and 60 mins X a week for Q4.– shoveled snow for 10 mins then nose started bleeding.  Probably walked a few minutes in the grocery store parking lot?

3.            Ditch the Keurig pods after I run out – including at work – haven’t run out yet.  To be continued.

4.            Bring my own milk to work – no plastic creamers! – Still good on this one! YAY

5.            Try to get rid of at least 10 things every week without throwing them away (sell, donate, repurpose) – The shredding continued and I think I’m about done.  Got rid of a ton so this is still going well.  I’m up to $62 in sold stuff.

6.            Have at least 3 vegetarian days per week – struggled with this one but I did it.  I wasn’t happy about it tho.  Cheese on a bun is not a very exciting lunch.  Going better so far this week.

7.            Buy nothing new without making sure it’s needed, it’s replacing something and that the something it’s replacing is no longer good enough and must be trashed. – Bought stuff for my nose and face masks to hopefully keep Charlie and I from getting sick every time we go to the clinic.  I feel that this was worth the money.

8.            Re-use all single use plastics that I can.  Recycle those that I can – uhm.. ok maybe not so much?

9.            Reduce purchases that come in single use plastics – I haven’t really been paying attention to this one.  My bad.

10.         Get a pap/physical/mammogram/regular bloodwork – crazy story but I did go and get more bloodwork this week to make sure I don’t have any bloodborne diseases because yeah, major nosebleed at work ☹  

11.         Start monitoring my blood sugar and adjust my diet accordingly – Gunther assures me that he has the batteries I need.  I just haven’t seen them yet.

12.         Use up 90% of my yarn before buying more – this is hard!  I’m working on an afghan and I need more white and black.  And these are such staple colours that I know that I will use them… on the good note, I did sell off and give away some yarn that I knew I would never use.

13.         Save at least $1,500.00 for my RRSPs – already covered this month.

14.         Call my sisters at least twice a month – This has been BY FAR my favourite resolution.

15.         Take 3 trips to Ottawa by myself to recharge and reconnect with my family – I missed two days of work already this month because of the sick so this may be tricky for Feb.

16.         Clean up the gardens in the backyard and plant low/no maintenance beds -- This will be a springtime resolution.

17.         Make and stick to a grocery list – made it with Charlie this time.  That was a better plan and easier to stick to though I spend way more money in groceries this week.  OOps

18.         Meal plan and do minimal meal Prep – Did this with Charlie this week.  It helps.

19.         Reduce screen time (TV, Phone, Computer) at home to no more than 35 hours per week in Q1, 28 hours per week in Q2, 21 hours per week in Q3 and 14 hours per week in Q1. – I 100% suck at this.  How hard is it to keep your Screen time under 5 hours a day you might ask?  You would not be a binge Netflix watcher with little to no desire to do anything after supper because for me under 5 hours is damn near impossible and I am failing majorly at this resolution.  Ugh.

20.         Tidy/clean 1 room for at least 15 mins every day – I’ve kept my kitchen clean since I started never going to bed with dirty dishes on the counter.  This is huge for me so I’ll take that for now.  I do work on the decluttering 15 mins a day so I guess that counts?

Well ultimately I still have my struggles but overall I’m happy with the decluttering, the clean kitchen, and the focus on connecting more with my family.  Still got some work on other stuff but I’m ok with that.

Much love,

Julie

WEEK TWO

Second week update.

Week #2 has been HARRRRDDD!!!!  I’m super sick so all I want to do is sleep, eat and watch Netflix. Here’s my updates:

1.            Buy no clothes for a year – still no clothes so YAY!

2.            Exercise outdoors for at least 15 mins X week for Q1, 30 mins X a week for Q2, 45 mins X a week for Q3 and 60 mins X a week for Q4.– Once again, I didn't remember about this resolution until Friday and since the weather was looking dire for Saturday I decided to set out for a walk around the block on Friday night.  I ended up walking around several blocks just to be sure I got the 15 mins in and by the time I was done ended up walking for 25 minutes.  I was cold, sweaty, muddy and sore but I did it!

3.            Ditch the Keurig pods after I run out – including at work – haven’t run out yet.  To be continued.

4.            Bring my own milk to work – no plastic creamers! – I’ve been much better about bringing my own milk to work this week.  Didn’t need to hit the powder once!

5.            Try to get rid of at least 10 things every week without throwing them away (sell, donate, repurpose) – This week involved lots and lots and LOTS of shredding.  I consider old documents I don’t need anymore to be stuff so check on this one too.  Plus I have two big boxes to bring to Value Village on Monday and have now made $33.00 -- GO me!

6.            Have at least 3 vegetarian days per week - Sunday, Tuesday and Friday – check this one off too

7.            Buy nothing new without making sure it’s needed, it’s replacing something and that the something it’s replacing is no longer good enough and must be trashed. – Nothing bought this week other than food.

8.            Re-use all single use plastics that I can.  Recycle those that I can – Charlie has offered to bring empty milk bags to school to make mats with.  It’s something right?

9.            Reduce purchases that come in single use plastics – We’re trying to reduce purchases period so I guess check?

10.         Get a pap/physical/mammogram/regular bloodwork – got the pap!  was most unpleasant but it's done for another year!

11.         Start monitoring my blood sugar and adjust my diet accordingly – blood test came back with good and bad news.  Good news is that my blood sugar levels have improved since August.  Bad news is they’re still a bit too high so upped my insulin.

12.         Use up 90% of my yarn before buying more – check check!

13.         Save at least $1,500.00 for my RRSPs – already covered last week.

14.         Call my sisters at least twice a month – this grounds me and connects me in a way that I have been missing.  I love this resolution!

15.         Take 3 trips to Ottawa by myself to recharge and reconnect with my family – haven’t made any progress on this one yet.

16.         Clean up the gardens in the backyard and plant low/no maintenance beds -- This will be a springtime resolution.

17.         Make and stick to a grocery list – made it YES!  Stuck to it?  Mostly!  Groceries were $79 this week and that’s just about unheard of for us so I’m good with this!

18.         Meal plan and do minimal meal Prep – Been too sick to cook some nights so while I did meal plan, I didn’t follow it so well.

19.         Reduce screen time (TV, Phone, Computer) at home to no more than 35 hours per week in Q1, 28 hours per week in Q2, 21 hours per week in Q3 and 14 hours per week in Q1. – This has been my BIG challenge this week.  I don’t feel like doing anything! I managed this but just barely.  I have little to no motivation when I'm feeling so cruddy.

20.         Tidy/clean 1 room for at least 15 mins every day – Once again Thursday was likely a bit short but I made up for it on other days.

So overall I'm happy with my progress.  I have been able to keep my kitchen and family room clean which is making me very happy especially in the morning when I go to make the lunches.  I'm still in the declutting/organizing phase for most of the other rooms but there is definitely improvement and with G being SUPER busy with work projects I'm pretty much doing it on my own.

Next week I hope to focus on moving my home office off the dining room table and into the actual office.  This may take a bit longer than a week since I can't work surrounded by clutter and the office is still a G-Zone (translation clutter haven) but it's a goal.  I should be able to get there by the end of the month at the very least!

WEEK ONE DOWN

First week update.

So it’s been about a week since I started my resolutions.  Some resolutions have been successful, some still need some fine tuning or to get off the ground.  Here’s my updates:

1.            Buy no clothes for a year - no clothes bought by me!  Success!

2.            Exercise outdoors for at least 15 mins X week for Q1, 30 mins X a week for Q2, 45 mins X a week for Q3 and 60 mins X a week for Q4.– I had forgotten about this one until Friday.  Work was slow so I decided what the heck and logged off for 15 minutes to walk around the parking lot. It sucked.  But I did it.

3.            Ditch the Keurig pods after I run out – including at work – haven’t run out yet.  To be continued.

4.            Bring my own milk to work – no plastic creamers! – I have done this this week and it was hard.  We ran out of milk so I had to use Coffee Mate two days in a row (blech!)  Still… kept the little creamer cups out of the landfill!

5.            Try to get rid of at least 10 things every week without throwing them away (sell, donate, repurpose) - I probably tripled or quadrupled this number this week.  Most of it was Christmas stuff.  Even managed to sell some stuff and return some empties to the Beer Store.  Money earned so far: $26.40

6.            Have at least 3 vegetarian days per week - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday!  DONE!

7.            Buy nothing new without making sure it’s needed, it’s replacing something and that the something it’s replacing is no longer good enough and must be trashed. - The only purchases this week were frames for some original artwork.  This was artwork we already had or had been given and was framed in order to properly show it off and preserve it.  We did find one old unused IKEA frame that would do for one of the prints so we only ordered the matting for this one (full disclosure I didn’t even look – Charlie found it.)  I'm ok with these purchases.  Also bought new razors as I'm down to 2 and don't know when I'll be hitting Costco again.  I have thrown out all the used ones except for the one I’m currently using.  I can usually get a week or two out of razor.  Also ok with this one. 

I will admit to a very close call on this one.  Sarah comes to visit with her dog and we need to block off the doorway from the kitchen to the entrance to keep the puppy downstairs.  Usually we use old boxes but this hasn't been working too well as the puppy gets older and wiser to our tricks.  So the last time Sarah came she brought along the playyard which was very handy.  So I thought I would look in MarketPlace or Varage Sale for a playyard for when Riley (the puppy) comes to visit.  Smart right?  This would mean that we wouldn't have to drive the 3 hours (1.5 there 1.5 hours back) to pick Sarah and Riley up and they could just hop on the train without needing to move a big playyard.  

So the playyard we had bought for Sarah to keep at home was $89 + tax on Amazon.  I found one in my city on Varage Sale for $75 but the seller wasn't really open to negotiations.  Then I found one about half an hour away two cities over for $40.  $40!!!! less than half of what we paid for a new one!  So I messaged the seller and asked if it was available and it was!  But then I thought to myself.. self... ok the boxes are a pain in the butt but they're free and you already have them - weren't you only supposed to buy stuff that you actually needed this year?  So smart self me thanked the lady selling the yard and told her to go ahead and sell to the next person in line.  Then smart me remembered that we have an old futon frame in the basement that will probably work better than the boxes and is also free and already here.  So no playyard was bought.  Go Smart Me!

   

8.            Re-use all single use plastics that I can.  Recycle those that I can - I sucked at this.  This one needs working on for sure - small progress but not near enough.

9.            Reduce purchases that come in single use plastics - We only hit Costco this week so there weren't a lot of options.  I did buy significantly less than I would normally have spent at Costco so there's that.

10.         Get a pap/physical/mammogram/regular bloodwork - pap is scheduled for Jan 8th!  Just got the mammogram in October.  Going to discuss last bloodwork (taken in mid-December) with Doctor when I go in on the 8th.  Fingers crossed!

11.         Start monitoring my blood sugar and adjust my diet accordingly - I will have to locate my glucose meter for this one -- Found the glucose meter!!!  Now to get batteries....

12.         Use up 90% of my yarn before buying more - no yarn bought!  Not even tempted.  Go me!

13.         Save at least $1,500.00 for my RRSPs - this month's contribution transferred to my savings account.  DONE!

14.         Call my sisters at least twice a month -- they called me to wish a Happy New Year and Happy Birthday.

15.         Take 3 trips to Ottawa by myself to recharge and reconnect with my family -- will figure out when my first trip will be soon.  I'm thinking February.

16.         Clean up the gardens in the backyard and plant low/no maintenance beds -- This will be a springtime resolution.

17.         Make and stick to a grocery list -- Did this at Costco!  Gunther bought offlist but that's on him.  I stuck to mine.

18.         Meal plan and do minimal meal Prep -- Need to work on this one.  With the holidays it's been a bit whacky.  Will definitely meal plan and prep a bit for next week.

19.         Reduce screen time (TV, Phone, Computer) at home to no more than 35 hours per week in Q1, 28 hours per week in Q2, 21 hours per week in Q3 and 14 hours per week in Q1. -- this one was a bit tricky what with staying home on the first but I did it.  Caveat - I don't include listening to CBC news or reading books (paper or on my phone) in my totals nor do I include Facebook time spent chatting with friends in Messenger or listing and selling/giving away my stuff. My goal was to limit mindless screen time so learning, chatting and selling don't count as they involve my active participation.

20.         Tidy/clean 1 room for at least 15 mins every day - Cumulatively? for sure!  Might have only done 10 minutes on Thursday night but definitely did way more than 15 mins every other day so I'm ok with that.  The nice thing is that as I declutter cleaning is becoming easier and quicker.  Of course we all know that -- but it's nice to be reminded of that fact.

So there you have it.  I’m still feeling my way around some things others are going quite well.

Looking forward to a mostly successful week 2!

Twenty New Resolutions to Get Me to Fifty

With 2020 fast approaching I have come to the realization that 50 is coming up quickly.  In fact, today is my 49th birthday.

This has led me to reflect on what I have accomplished already and what I still would like to improve upon.

Let me be clear - I have good life.  I am in a happy marriage, have two teen children who make me proud every day one of whom has already moved out and is in college and one who will be leaving in just a few more years to take on his own post-secondary exploits.  My financial situation is secure; I like my job; my health, while not good is being managed and I have a good support system of loving family and friends.

But there are some things that could use some fine tuning for sure.  I'm not as environmentally friendly as I would like.  My ongoing desire to declutter my house has been mostly a failure as things just keep creeping in.  My health is definitely something I need to focus more attention on.  My finances are good but I'm also looking at tuition and expenses for two kids in college in the coming years and eventual retirement.

So I've decided to make 20 resolutions in the year 2020 to bring me to my next personal decade.  Here they are:

1. Buy no clothes for a year
2. Exercise outdoors for at least 15 mins X week for Q1, 30 mins X a week for Q2, 45 mins X a week for Q3 and 60 mins X a week for Q4.
3. Ditch the Keurig pods after I run out – including at work
4. Bring my own milk to work – no plastic creamers!
5. Try to get rid of at least 10 things every week without throwing them away (sell, donate, repurpose)
6. Have at least 3 vegetarian days per week
7. Buy nothing new without making sure it’s needed, it’s replacing something and that the something it’s replacing is no longer good enough and must be trashed.
8. Re-use all single use plastics that I can.  Recycle those that I can
9. Reduce purchases that come in single use plastics
10. Get a pap/physical/mammogram/regular blood work
11. Start monitoring my blood sugar and adjust my diet accordingly - I will have to locate my glucose meter for this one
12. Use up 90% of my yarn before buying more
13. Save at least $1,500.00 for my RRSPs
14. Call my sisters at least twice a month
15. Take 3 trips to Ottawa by myself to recharge and reconnect with my family
16. Clean up the gardens in the backyard and plant low/no maintenance beds
17. Make and stick to a grocery list
18. Meal plan and do minimal meal Prep
19. Reduce screen time (TV, Phone, Computer) at home to no more than 35 hours per week in Q1, 28 hours per week in Q2, 21 hours per week in Q3 and 14 hours per week in Q1.
20. Tidy/clean 1 room for at least 15 mins every day.

Now while technically these are New Years Resolutions, I have already gotten started.  I bought loose peppers at the grocery store instead of the ones that came in a pack, bought the radishes with the leaves still on instead of the ones in a plastic bag, have spent a good 60 minutes tidying my house this morning and got rid of 1/4 of the Christmas decorations I no longer need/want and sold some for $10.

I've put the $10 in a clear plastic container (re-using a single use container that once held chocolate covered raisins) and plan on adding any money I make from online sales of de-cluttered junk in there.  I'll decide later where that money will go but I'm interested to see how much I can make. 

So that's my plan for 2020 and my lead up to turning 50.  I plan on updating with my progress weekly.  I imagine I will be more successful with some resolutions than others but even if I only manage a few of these changes I will be pleased.