Goals

Resolutions aren't goals; goals aren't resolutions.  I'm done with resolutions.  Too many things outside my control inhibit my ability to keep to them.  

I'm setting goals.  

My first goal: pick the housework back up.  Again.  I expect to have the house back in visitors dropping by shape within the month, because...well, honestly, it's not that bad, currently.  I figured that, while the FlyLady stuff works, it works better for me if I do a little bit in a different room every day, as well as sticking to the zones.  I've also figured out what she means by a control journal: it's a checklist.  I've got one for every room, and then there's a weekly zone list on her site.  Yeah, there's going to be some days I won't be capable of doing a lot, but I can pick up with the next day's work.*

My second goal: I am going to learn how to sew.  I've got a lot of practical things I need to make--my apron's falling apart, my hot pads are (quite frankly) ratty, and I've got a freakin' ton of worn out clothes that aren't good enough to give away to use in the learning.  Lots of jeans in particular--and denim makes for great quilted hot pads.  So what if I can't cut a straight line with scissors?  They make tools for that, now.**  I'm going to do some oven mitts first, because the ones I have?  The two that haven't worn out on the fingertips to the point they're letting batting show through are too thin, and the thick one...yeah, my hands are small enough that I don't get burned through the exposed batting and inner lining, but my other half's hands are a lot bigger.  And my kids' hands are both longer than mine, and won't be stopping on the growing anytime soon.  

That's not all: I have mending that I need to do, and I need to be able to use a sewing machine to do a curved seam (for which the oven mitt will be good practice).  

Learning to sew feeds into my third goal: attempting to stretch my physical limits, since the stupid autoimmune issue seems to be loosening up just a little.  I have slammed into a wall I didn't realize was there a few too many times.  Inching that wall a little further away so I can do more than just basic chores in a day would be nice. I don't know if it'll work, but it's worth a try...and the sewing machine I have will aid in that.  Even if it's just expanding my capabilities to being able to go a few steps farther in my day, at first.  My goal is to use my treadle machine at least fifteen minutes a day, three days a week, for January.  I'll try to add more in February.  

The fourth, and last, goal I'm going to set for myself: I'm going to do two hours of writing every week day.  I'm going to do another hour of general planning and admin work for writing every week day.  I'm going to get Having a Pint through the final edits and pushed through the Amazon self-publishing stuff within the first quarter of the year.  I'm going to finish the first revision and edit of The Schrodinger Paradox before the kids get out for summer break, and see about who amongst my beta readers has the time/inclination to read for me.  And I am going to finish the current novel project sitting at about a third of the way done in very rough draft.  

Everything here on this list is something small.  Something I can do.  It's something I can see and measure my own progress.  And it feels...so much more concrete than "resolutions."  

*Not having a sense of guilt is massively helpful, sometimes, even if it means pretending to be a functional member of the community a lot harder.  I can drop stuff that I can't do one day without feeling anything more than frustrated.  My sister, on the other hand, seems to have picked up my share of guilt to pile on top of hers...and she can't seem to shake it.  

**I tried.  Lord knows I tried cutting straight lines in fabric with just fabric shears.  I cannot mange it.  Where I had thought a rotary cutter (think: pizza cutter, but for fabric) would be a nicety, it seems to be far more a necessity.