A quick re-cap of our new year - 1st goal - we stayed up until midnight. CHECK. That's a tough one. Glad we got that one covered.
Last night, Brian and I played a game we got for Christmas from Brian's mom called Carcassone, which is named after a medieval walled city in France that we visited 2 years ago. I hate to admit that I really enjoy the game because there is a fair amount of strategery and thinking (a little like Risk, but less complicated) - and I do not care for games that make my brain REALLY think. But this one is pretty cool.
About halfway through the game, we hear some pretty loud popping and banging. We immediately ran upstairs to check on Michael - then ran outside because we thought our chimney was blowing up since we have a wood-burning fireplace (AWESOME BY THE WAY).
Brian comes inside and says, "The House looks ok."
I look at the clock - it's after midnight. The new year has come and went and we were freaking out over the fireworks noise because we were so not aware.
Welcome to our life as old geezers. Carcassonne is THAT good.
Here's to hoping YOUR new years was much more exciting than ours!
Here's some New Years Resolutions for ya, because I was in the mood this year. Normally, I never make these resolutions because I am not disciplined enough to follow through...but this year - I am turning over a new leaf of self improvement.
- Standard weight loss - Brian and both need to lose weight. I am about 20 lbs overweight. Brian is about 30 lbs overweight. Plan of action: Zero calorie soup already cooking. Egg white vegetable sandwiches for breakfast. Following Vietnamese cooking items and my parents' diet as of now. Sweets are being taken to Brian's work to be given away. Eliminate butter. Walk 5x a week. I got a hill that is pretty good.
- Make a plan for my week during the weekend prior to it. This includes a blogging plan (outline 2 entries per week per blog). Menu plan (which also reduces my grocery bill, another goal). Items for my business plan. Chore plan for the house. Lesson plan for Michael. Craft plan for Michael. Helps me to be more efficient. I have already created my loose daily schedules for every day of the week depending on our activities (school/bible study/swim lessons)
- In bed by 11:00 pm every night. This one is a bit tough. But I want to try as it makes me more efficient during the day.
- Help get the Litrugy of the Word for Kids off the ground at my church. It would be something that Michael really enjoys - I need to be more proactive with the coordinator to make this happen as she is having trouble finding volunteers.
- Spend more on others than ourselves at Christmas. We did this this year - we had a really small Christmas and easily spent twice as much on our extended family/charities than we did on our nuclear family. And it felt really nice. We may continue this for a while until we feel like we would like to splurge for a year! But seriously - we like to simplify at Christmas time and this really does it.
- Reduce non-value added spending by 50%. At least. I have been really spoiled the last decade and did not have to budget. Now, it is time - being a one income family on the East coast and all. No more trips to Costco (eliminated my membership). No more trips to Marshalls until the end of the month after I have looked at savings/etc. No more spending on frivolous things. This one is going to be hard. And if I make it until next January - I will probably throw a party.
So now, it is in writing. And I'm off to post something similar on my La Lumiere Blog as I have resolutions/goals for my business too. It's easy to be lazy and not accomplish anything if you don't have goals. It's time to get back in the business of doing that!
This week, expect to see posts on:
1) Sledding with our fake snow storm.
2) Ice skating in DC and our visit with Devina Pillay! And an I-N-C-R-E-D-i-B-L-E Korean recommendation.
Off to tackle my hill after eating half a bowl of zero calorie soup. It's REALLY good with chili garlic (uoc) from the Asian store. That soup is not so pleasant without it. And then I'll be making vegetable stir fry to be eaten with my deliciously cooked rice from my rice cooker (THANK YOU MOMMY!)
Love,
P
