Originally, this post started off being about my goals for the new year but I feel the need to morph it. Since I like doing that Thursday 13 meme, I guess I could outline these goals. Ok, it’ll seem choppy since some of this was written yesterday but here goes:

I visit a lot of blogs and so many of them wrote about their New Year’s Resolutions. As I mentioned, I don’t make them. Well, let’s leave it at that I don’t label them as such. Because I have a long list of things I want to accomplish in 2011. I’m not necessarily resolving to do them; that would mean I had been putting them off or reluctant and I am finally going to do something about them. No, this is juts a list of some of my 2011 goals.

1.) Slow down. I tend to run a tight ship when it comes to my kids and our schedules. Sometimes this creates more stress and I end up yelling and getting so frustrated that it ruins my entire day.

Goal: Think one step at a time and try not to micromanage every minute.

2.) Do more yoga. I did a lot during both pregnancies and now, with two kids and half-marathon training, I am finding it rather difficult to go to a class. The studio I went to before is only 5 minutes from the house and offers two Wednesday classes, at 5;30 and 7:30. I could make the 7:30 but that would be pushing it. Logistical problems stem from still BFing Isaac before bed and having eaten dinner as little as an hour before that, which would make poses, er, uncomfortable.

Goal: No more excuses not to go to yoga.

3.) Write more. I was running along Blairstone when it hit me that I could totally take the characters from my Masters thesis and rework them into a contemporary romance. (I know, I know. Hear me out.) I have read my fair share and god, I could. totally do that. I know I could. And I have actually pounded out about 15 single spaced pages.

Goal: Utilize my degree

4.) Eat less red meat. I don’t mind meat. (Why is it my mind goes to the gutter on that word?) But I get very tired of spaghetti (meat sauce) and tacos (beef), etc. I want more chicken and fish in our diets. Last night, Ash asked em to bake chicken to put into our fettuccine Alfredo. This is a gigantic step for him and he liked it, I am glad to say. One more meal to add to our list.

Goal: Less red, more white

5.) Make more time for myself. I do things for me at home all the time. I don’t, however, go out a lot. Ash tells me I have to take it, just take it and not worry about consequences. My problem is that I feel guilty for leaving him with the kid duties so I can go out and goof off. But he does it. On Thursdays he plays cards and on Sundays too, depending on the time of year; not football season. And he’s fine with me doing it but I am the one with the issue. I have already made some strides here: Girls’ Night Out on Friday and on the 22nd, David and I are taking a day trip.

Goal: Take care of me

6.) Run a half-marathon and keep running. I am on week 8 of training and so far, it’s been good. I have overcome obstacles like extreme cold (for Florida) and knee pain. I keep worrying that once I run the half, I’ll lack a reason to run but it didn’t begin as a race plan. It began as a way to lose weight. I know I have to keep doing this. I want to. I hate this extra belly fat (to my credit: TWO kids, you know?)  and I actually get excited to see my new body as I run farther and farther.

Goal: Go the distance

7.) Watch more movies. I know that sounds a little silly but we have Netflix and we keep getting movies but I find a reason to go to sleep early or watch something else or SOMEthing. I want to catch up on movies I missed now, like IronMan 2, Zombieland and Despicable Me.

Goal: Veg in front of the tube

8.) Get back to rock climbing. We have a freaking wall in our yard! Ash and his friends have done a lot of work building that thing up and after having kids, I just got out of the habit. I loved the climbing we did in the gym and the personal challenge it proved to be. Also, good for those core muscles.

Goal: Get my boulder on.

9.) Teach Elliot more stuff. For Christmas, we got him a U.S. map and some cork board stuff so we can start posting pictures, etc. We’ve been working on cities and states that matter to him (where relatives live) and Ash is going to start doing presidents and stuff. We try to only show him three new things a night then review the  next day. I think balance is important; we don’t want to overload him but getting a head start on school can’t hurt.

Goal: Impart some knowledge

10.) Exercise patience. Elliot tends to drive me right to the end of my rope and I am really going to focus on counting, calming down, and remembering that while he may act like a tiny jerk, he IS only three.

Goal: Don’t kill offspring

11.) Be outdoors more. This one seems particularly time appropriate because the cold has kept us indoors, hunkered under blankets and exceedingly lazy. Though Ash and I both don ColdGear and run, we haven’t gotten the kids outside lately and we’re both sort of angry about the amount of TV we’ve all watched. It’s like we turned to that in lieu of cold outdoor activities and it has depressed us all.

Goal: Appreciate nature and all its elements

12.) Blog more. I don’t know if this one will pan out but I would love to gain a larger reader base. I know I get more comments now than I ever have but I need to find new ways to bring in readers, and not just folks searching for the hot guys. (Though we all know you look forward to Man Candy 😉 )

Goal: Blog more successfully

13.) Do the things I set out to do. We probably all do it; look back and think, “Man, I wish I had done so-and-so while I was thinking about it.” I just did it in this entire post: these are all aspects of my life that I think about changing and yet, time passes and here I am, still talking about it. So from now on, I want to take the chances when they present themselves; stop procrastinating and just do it.

Goal: Do it now, not later.

There you have it.