Wishing You All a Prosperous New Year

I generally don't bother to make New Year resolutions, because I always break them almost before the year begins. However, there are a very few that I need to make this year to make my life easier.

1) I will keep up my exercise program. I have been going to the gym 5-6 days per week for the last few months. I need to do so to build strength and stamina so I won't feel so tired.

2) I will keep track of my calories and carbohydrates. I am overweight. Well - to be perfectly truthful - my BMI says I am actually obese. Part of that is my low thyroid, part my diabetes but mostly it's because even though I don't eat a lot I do eat more carbs than is good for my blood sugar - which means excess insulin, which is part of the fat storage system. I use Fitday.com, a great system that is free if you use it online and only around $30 if you get the downloadable version onto your desktop. I need to record everything that passes my lips. Whenever I keep good food records (3) happens.

3) Inevitably linked to (2) is the "I will lose weight". Not really because I want to be slender and sexy again (though that would be nice!!) But because losing the excess weight should improve some of my health problems - namely my blood pressure and my diabetes. I will post my results weekly as an incentive not to cheat.

4)I will keep better track of my budget. I am pretty frugal, and generally live within my means, but DH is likely to retire sometime in the New Year. That will mean a reduction of income and a need to watch every penny and make it squeak. To this end I have purchased the cheapest version of Quicken and set it up with all the general information needed. I did not give it access to my account numbers and pins - who knows where that information gets stored or sent? Or who has access to it (legally or otherwise)?

5) I have made a sort of plan to help me be more efficient through the day, using the worksheets on the Donna Young website. How well I will keep up to it remains to be seen. One thing you can say about me - I am probably the most disorganized person you know.

6) My last resolution is to keep up my blog this year. I did a really poor job this last year. It is easy to make excuses to not do something. I want to make at least one entry per week.

I wish each and every one of you a Happy and Prosperous New Year
Mary

Who'da Thunk?

Here it is - 27th December. Almost another year gone. So many things have happened this year. My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. We knew that she was getting forgetful, and rather suspected the diagnosis, but to actually have it out there and acknowledged is a blow. She has her good days and her bad ones. But each time I talk to her I can hear a deterioration. It hurts. We expect our mothers to go on and on - perfect and healthy - to have them sick seems an affront to us.

My dad had a heart attack right about this time last year. He has been doing well. He and Mom still live in their small retirement apartment. My brother and sister in law visit and help a lot with weekly shopping, etc., but they still walk to the local shops for day today needs.

I was diagnosed with CLL - Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia - a few months ago. As the name suggests, this is not a dangerous and acute illness. If one were to choose a cancer, this is definitely the one to pick. Painless, and with little effect on quality or quantity of life. About the only current symptom is that I get tired a lot easier than I used to. Just everyday living can get exhausting pretty quickly. But to look on the bright side, I now have a good excuse for being fat and lazy.

My dear grand daughter Krystal had her sweet sixteen birthday this year. Hard to believe that long has gone by. It seems like only yesterday I was visiting with Amanda in the hospital and admiring the tiny brand new bundle.

Stuart and Catherine presented us with a darling baby girl this year - Norah Laine made her appearance on Dec. 7th. I don't think I have ever seen Stuart so totally besotted. I didn't see Norah out of his arms the entire time I visited. He is already wrapped firmly around that tiny little finger of hers...

This year Christmas was very quiet and low key. Ken and I spent it alone by choice. I had a very slow and relaxed schedule, and did most of the work ahead of time so little needed to be done on the actual day. We plan on spending the rest of the week living on leftovers!

New Year. A time for resolutions and plans. My resolution is to continue with my exercise program in order to build up my stamina, and to work harder on my diet. Problem is that everything that I really enjoy eating has lots of both carbs and fat and I am supposed to restrict the former pretty strictly and the latter to at least a reasonable level. I will write down what I eat on my Fitday program so at least I will know where I mess up!

I have also joined a group challenge to cut grocery spending to a dollar per day per person. I have probably got a year's worth of meat in the freezers, and another year's worth on the hoof and I plan on gardening again this next year (hopefully year round this time) so I should be able to do it if we eat strictly what we produce with only the addition of things we can't such as fruit, flours, sugar, honey, etc.

Well, that is enough for today. I will make the resolution to keep up my blog in 2011, even if only once a week.

Until next time - Happy New Year.