I don't make New Year's Resolutions. I used to, but I always fizzled out by about, oh, January 10 if not sooner. I used to write down things like:

This year, I am going to run a 1/2 marathon (made with a friend who had the same resolution...we are no longer friends, she runs full marathons now, and I can't even run around the block.)
This year, I am going to never yell at my kids
This year, I am going to organize my whole house
This year, I am going to stay caught up on laundry
This year, I am going to save __________ amount of money

Talk about setting myself up for failure. I stopped writing NY's resolutions many years ago when I realized that it was more depressing to make resolutions and fail at keeping them that it was to not make them at all. Now, on New Year's Day, I just tell myself I'm going to do whatever I can to make it a good year and call it enough.

This year, I'm breaking my don't-make-NY-resolutions-vow. However, I'm not making any in the traditional way; I just have have a few little things I want to accomplish this year, and I'm going to post about them here because I know a couple of you who read will bug me to make sure I do what I say I am going to do, and that is what I need...to be bullied into doing things I know I should do. Pathetic, I know.

My biggest "goal" is to finally finish my living room. Over a year ago, I started tearing down the wall paper border that I was so tired of...then I became frustrated because it wasn't coming down very easily, and in true-Rose fashion, I "took a break." That break has lasted embarrassingly long, and it is TIME to finish because I am so tired of looking at this:




I can't believe I am posting those horrible pictures. But, like I said, hopefully posting them and writing about it will give me the kick in the butt I obviously need. I am tired of walking in my front door everyday and looking at that mess. No matter how clean my house is, no matter how decked out, no matter how good it smells because of whatever I've been baking, the eyesore that is the half peeled wallpaper and the bare spots from the already peeled wallpaper in my living room taunt me. I bought 3 gallons of paint over a month ago, hoping that it would inspire me, but it hasn't. Now I just have 3 gallons of paint in my laundry room that taunt me along with the 1/2 finished wallpaper peeling job and along with the unfinished laundry that already taunts me.

My goal is to have the wallpaper down, the holes patched, and the walls painted by spring. Surely I can do that in 3 months.

I am also vowing to begin walking or doing something for exercise. I don't even care if I lose weight. Okay, I do care, but that's not the goal. The goal is to get off my ass and MOVE.

Finally, I AM going to learn how to play that piano pictured above. I have wanted to learn how to play the piano since I was a little girl. We've had that piano for over a year, and it sits unplayed. Well, Rachel tries to play it, but she doesn't really know how. I found a music store a few miles from home that is offering a January special for lessons...8 weeks for only $29!

That's it. Three goals. Surely I can handle that much.

Oh, one more...I want this awesome gadget and must find a way to fit it into my budget:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/breville-pie-maker-bpi640xl/?pkey=cspecialty-electrics%7Celectric-cookware

I know, I haven't written about anything awesome for a couple of days, so I am behind.

*I bought an awesome pair of shoes on Thursday.
*I baked an awesome pie yesterday. And I actually got to eat some. (often, my family eats it all before I have the chance to have even a sliver).
*Today before going grocery shopping for the week, I did an inventory of my pantry and freezer, and with what I had on hand, I was able to buy groceries to make meals until Friday for just a little over $50.
*The most awesome thing of all this week: (I'm sure this will be the only time EVER that I will write these words!) Imagine a drumroll........













My husband actually told me last night that I was right about something!! Did I say !!!!!!!!!!!?

Tony never ever EVER tells me that I may have been right while he was wrong. I won't bore anyone with the boring details, but I didn't go to Lauren's basketball game last night because the weather was supposed to be bad. He laughed at me for making excuses for not wanting to go. And guess what? The weather was horrible, the roads were icy, a bridge was closed...and what should have been a 45 minute trip home for him took over 2 hours. And when he got home, he actually said "I'm so glad you didn't go!"

I think that by itself is enough awesomeness to last the rest of January.