Resolutions Update

Well, 2008 is more than a week gone already--hard to believe! Here's where Team Kosior and Kate Kosior stand:

1. Financial planning/budgeting/etc: We are doing very well. After running back and forth to the dump from the big party, I realized that I could, in fact, manage, and we cancelled our trash pick up. The crazy thing was, we were getting our trash picked up maybe once every two weeks, but paying for pick up twice weekly. Plus, those cats never took our recycling. So, we should save about $250 per year on that. Secondly, I opted out of the water pool for work. I was paying $47 per year for one glass of water per week. I bought a 1 gallon jug and threw it in the fridge. That should last me about 3 months. I have not been to a bookstore, to Target, or Walmart, or to the library book sales. I was eating out every single day for lunch and have not had one lunch out since the first of the year. It's way cheaper to eat in and better for you too.

2. Soda: I still have not had so much as one sip of soda since 12/31, which is now going on 11 days. Has it been easy? Nope. The other night, I forgot, and I had my hand on the cap of a 2 liter of Pepsi at book club before my brain kicked in and yelled, "STOP! PUT THE SODA DOWN AND BACK AWAY SLOWLY!" I sighed and got a glass of water. That's not to say I haven't had caffeine. I wouldn't have had the strength to get through the weekend last weekend without it. And let's face it, a chai frappucino from Starbucks isn't the most healthy thing in the universe. But it's not soda, so it doesn't count. I've tried to skirt the issue in the past by drinking that fizzy water that has fruit flavoring, but that has always led me back to drinking soda, so I'm not tempting it this time. We'll see how it goes. I'm getting mighty sick of water.

3. Taking Care of Myself: Damn, this is a pain in the butt. Part of my plan is to include in my daily routine "pampering" time. I now have about 6 different shampoos and body washes and foot scrubs and stuff in the shower. I love the stuff, but it takes forever. On top of that, I'm flossing REGULARLY, not just when I am overcome with guilt about not flossing, I'm wearing socks and putting lotion on my sorely neglected feet, I'm finding activities to do in Fredericksburg that are fulfilling my need for companionship and brain stimulation, and am trying to eat out less, which is much better and healthier.

4. Reading: My goal is to read Gone With the Wind this year, but I haven't even gotten a copy of it yet. I hate, hate, hate mass market paperbacks, and so I'm skulking about till I can get a non-mmp to read. Meanwhile, I've already read three books this year. Is another 100 in sight? Maybe. I'm not committing to anything at this point.

5. Job hunt: I've been diligently looking daily, but haven't found much. I got a raise though, so I'm not hating work quite as much as I might have otherwise. Still, I was driving around today and thought, "Do I really want my butt in this car 17 years from now?" The answer was a firm "Hell no!" I'll keep investigating my options.

So, that's where things stand, 10 days into the new year... Hopefully things continue to go well. Some things have started with a bang, others I've been slacking. We'll see where the year takes us!