Good-bye 2010!

It's that time of year again! The time when I review my New Year's resolutions and see which ones I actually stuck to. Tomorrow I'll highlight my new New Year's resolutions (which I must admit I'm pretty excited about).

Overall 2010 wasn't anything to really scream about. I was talking with an old friend last night about 2011 and I remarked, "You know, nothing really changed this year. I'm exactly where I was when we started 2010." And it's pretty true. I'm not richer (in fact I might be slightly poorer), I didn't find the love of my life (in fact I went through a pretty disappointing break up this summer), I didn't nab my dream job, I didn't really go anywhere exciting or do anything life changing. 2010 just kind of was. The biggest event was my brother's wedding which took up the better part of the year. Maybe 2010 is just a place holder for the awesomeness that will be 2011. I suppose we'll see.

On to the resolutions!

1. Have 3 things on my needles at a time: something for myself, something for a friend or family member, and something for charity. I think I kind of did this one. Currently I have 1.5 projects for charity on the needles (a pair of half finished fingerless mitts and a pair of mittens that lack one thumb to be finished) and a pair of socks for myself. I did just finish that huge sweater for my mom so I haven't started anything for friends or family at the moment. I know I didn't hold to this hard and fast all year but I still like the spirit of it. I'd say this was half success. Bonus points for being a good idea.

2. Dedicate 2 nights a week to working on my shop(s). Oi, this was when I had the Etsy and the regular online shop. What a nightmare. I quickly abandoned the Etsy shop after about 3 months when I realized it was all a lot of trouble that wasn't really worth it since I had another perfectly nice shop already in place. Lesson here? KISS (keep it simple stupid). As for working 2 nights a week on the shop(s)...that didn't last. During the spring I was working on my brother's wedding, during the summer I was dating, during the fall I started grad school, during the winter was more grad school. I really do want to start carving out more time for the shop though. New Year's resolution take 2? Possibly? This one was a bust for 2010 though :(

3. Vend at 3 fiber festivals/fairs. Almost a success with this one. Stitches South fell through (another big fiasco in and of itself...just a note, if you decide not to do a show and someone else is supposed to be sharing a booth space with you it would be nice to let them know more than a month before hand, you know, common courtesy and such) but I did vend at the Middle Tennessee Fiber Festival and SAFF. One was blazing hot and the other freezing cold but it was a great experience and even though I proclaimed myself to be a dyer and not a Dyer I'm more excited about attacking the shows in 2011 and really growing the business. It helped that my friend Steph went along with me and is able to look at the festivals through a fresh set of eyes.

4. Do more local missions work. I'd say this was accomplished. Especially in the last 6 months. Sometimes it was uncomfortable but I stepped out and I've found some things I'd really like to be involved in. Plus it just makes you feel good.

5. To buy organic cleaners. Another accomplishment. I switched to almost 100% organic cleaners (as well as dishwashing and laundry detergent) and I've really enjoyed it. I think they work as well as non-organic and they don't smell like death in a bottle or melt my skin when I touch them. The best all purpose cleaner I found was the Green Works by Clorox all purpose cleaner. There are less than 10 ingredients in it and it smells pretty decent. It also cleaned the nasty ring around my tub with just a little elbow grease. A feat in and of itself. The other brand I use with great regularity is Seventh Generation which is the "bargain" brand of organic cleaners. I will say that the Seventh Generation all purpose wipes smell funky and leave my hands smelling funky after using them. Not skin melting and eye watering, just...odd. There are some things I haven't completely given up (like my toilet cleaner and Windex mirror wipes) but I'm working on it.

6. Find a workout plan that works for me and stick to it. I know I said that I'd given up on my eating habits and I wanted to work out more but the reverse actually happened. In February or March I was seeing my doctor for the 2nd or 3rd bout of strep throat in just 2 months time and I found this great little pamphlet on 1500 calorie "dieting". I looked through it and the amazing thing was, it was do-able. I wasn't going to have to scour the black market or whole foods looking for a year round jaboticaba dealer just to make a salad. This diet recommended great portion sizes that left me full but not stuffed and dishes that incorporated common fruits and veggies I could find year round at Publix. It was great! I lost 15 pounds in 6 months! Disclaimer: I also switched some medicine that I was taking that I was pretty sure was making me pack on the pounds. I still credit at least 10 pounds to this diet though. I wish I could tell you a magical website to go to and get this plan but there's not one. However, it's distributed by Merck so maybe you could check their website. And the diet is basically 80% fruits and veggies with whole grains and a little meat. Oh, and I never did start exercising regularly.

So there it is, my 2010 New Year's resolution wrap up. Tomorrow I'll list my resolutions for 2011. I'm ready for a new year!