The New Year

Reflection.

I know I'm not alone when it comes to this time of year, many people spend time reflecting on the year that has passed, and supposing what sort of things they can accomplish with a brand spankin' new year at their feet. This is a time when I think of all the possibilities, all of the things we can do. Sure, we could do this on any day of the year, but the coming new year is a good reminder for people like me who tend to procrastinate about everything.

I suppose I could start with not procrastinating so much, but we all know that is not practical, or ever going to happen. So let's just mark that right off the list. I think the biggest thing to accomplish this year would be to get our finances under control. We have become very lax on our spending, and we have bought things on credit which is a big no no in my opinion. Definitely going to tighten up the budget this year, and pay some things off.

Among other things, I would like to do some projects around the house. I really want to get a privacy fence installed in the back yard. When the weather is warmer, I can leave the dogs out more often during the day when I am at work.

I have a vision in my mind of our upstairs bathroom, I want to take out the funky 80's cabinet that the sink sits on and replace the sink with something more classic, and ageless, and less bulky. In doing so, I suspect that I will also want to replace the linoleum, and perhaps even the stupid toilet that has to be flushed 3 times to get rid of one little turd.

The tile in the tub/shower is some funky 70's stuff, but overall it is in good condition, I just don't care too much for the robin's egg blue color, but I see no need to replace it. It really just needs fresh grout and caulking. The point of tile is that it lasts darn near forever, styles and fads shouldn't necessarily be a good reason to replace it if it is not damaged. All that and a coat of paint would make it a much nicer place to umm, use. Oh, and I would like to put glass shower doors in, instead of having a nasty shower curtain.

Sounds pretty reasonable huh? Well, it will probably cost a lot, and did I mention we've let our finances go to the birds? But I will deal with that issue soon.

The other thing I would like to do, and I know it won't happen this year, or probably in the next few years, is get rid of this awful berber carpet, and put in either wood floors, which I don't care so much for, or nice new carpet. I just don't like wood floors, but I guess people do, and what I really want to do is sell this house in a few years and I think wood floors are more popular now than carpet. I would also like to tile the kitchen floor, well, really my husband and I would both love to tear the whole thing up and start over, but that's not practical.

One thing at a time here. I'm getting carried away.

We're still working on homeschooling, and making slow progress. I know we are doing the right thing, it just isn't always easy. We will continue with that and eventually I am hoping she will be able to work more independently with some of it, but we're not at that point yet. I would like to work more, and go back to full-time, but I just can't right now.

I truly cannot wait for warmer weather. When it is cold all of the time, I don't like to be outside at all. I really love something about each season, but lately I've been more drawn to the warmer seasons because I have really started to love working outside in the yard. When it comes to shovelling snow, or pulling weeds, I'll take weed pulling any day. Of course when it is 100 degrees on my back porch, I will be longing for snow flurries.

Honestly, I can't wait to see if my roses come back in all of their glory this spring, and I'm really wondering how my mums will do. I am hoping the trees we planted start to look a little less like twigs, and a lot more like trees. I planted them last year, now I just have to wait and see if it was a success.

Oh sure, I need to lose weight and quit smoking and cussing. I'm thinking of these things too, but I don't really want to talk about them. We'll just see.