Hurrah for 2006!

First, let me state for the record just how happy I am for 2005 to be over. Some good things happened, but overall, I'm glad that 2006 brings a bright & shiny new year.

I hate the word "resolutions," so instead, let's talk about plans for 2006. Of course, plans change according to circumstances, so it just sounds better that "plans changed," rather than "resolutions broken."

Sara's Plans for 2006

1. Move to bigger/better apartment. I'm so friggin' sick of our apartment. It's small and so crammed with crap that I don't know where to start purging. But by moving, I will be forced to throw away/donate/sell all our excess stuff.

2. Get back to sewing. I did so much knitting & crocheting in 2005 that I felt I neglected the sewing. Partially, this was because my sewing machine is in the living room, and stuff gets piled on top of the sewing table and chair. Hopefully, this will be helped by the moving and acquiring a 2nd bedroom for sewing/music/computer.

3. Subscribe to magazines, rather than buy them at newstands. I am a magazine junkie, and it's time I admit it, and just subscribe. I end up spending too much money on them at newstands, and so, this year I will subscribe to the following pubs:
A) Food & Wine (continue current sub.)
B) Interweave Knits (continue current sub.)
C) Budget Living (continue current sub.)
D) Vogue (new)
E) Elle Decor (new)
F) Metropolitan Home (new)
G) Vogue Knitting (maybe)
H) Simply Knitting (Brit. mag -- expensive, but worth it)

4. Be a better pet parent to my turtle, Nigella. I feel like I short-change her, compared with the love & affection I shower on my cats, Deano & Doyle. She really enjoys attention (from behind her tank glass -- she is not a holdy kind of turtle), but because she's in the bedroom instead of the living room, it's kind of "out-of-sight, out-of-mind." When we move to the new place, she'll go in the living room (which will also force me to be more on the ball with cleaning her tank).

5. Entertain more. Actually invite people over for to eat dinner, have drinks, hang out. Again, this is a plan for the new apartment, which will
A) Have better parking for guests
B) Be bigger and have more seating options for guests
C) Be cleaner! I don't want guests to get grossed out. Which brings me to...

6. Hire cleaning service. Ok, it's time to admit that neither Rich, nor I, are naturally clean people. We let the clutter and mess build and build until it's so bad, I can't take it anymore, but it's so overwhelming that I don't know where to start. So now, what with the new place, we'll start out right and just have a service come in once a month to do the big stuff and then we can keep up with the little stuff.

Strange that most of my resolutions involve spending money. Yes, the subscription thing will save me money in the long run, but it's an outlay of cash upfront. Oh well. Baby steps.