You say you want a Resolution

Who thinks she's SO original and punny with that title? That'd be ME. So, it's January 5, 2010 and I'm just now getting a chance to write my New Year's post. Why so late, you ask? I'll tell you. I spent the New Year's weekend camped out in the middle of BuFu Nowhere and not only is there no internet out there in God's Country (Red Mountain CA at Teagle Wash), there's no cellphone reception either. If you need to make a call, you get on your dirt bike and ride up a hill, stand on the biggest rock at the top of the hill, figure out the direction of the wind and if you're lucky, you'll be able to complete the call.

So we get home Sunday night with an injured and very, very crabby-ass teenage son so I spent yesterday getting him to the doctor (he's fine. The swelling on the knee should go down in a couple of days) and trying to get my house in a semblance of order (and failing), doing laundry, cleaning and I never got a chance to sit down at the computer for more than a minute to answer e-mails.

ANYWAY. In the last few weeks leading up to the end of the first decade of the 2nd millenium, it became clear that some changes HAD to be made, financially, physically and mentally. TheManTheMyth spent the majority of the summer months unemployed and he's had to take a $200 a week pay cut until he gets caught back up. He also no longer receives his annual "gift" from his mom so funds are a bit (to put it mildly) tight. So it's time to stop the unnecessary and frivolous spending.

I've been eating fast food WAY too much and it shows. I'm fatter than I've ever been in my entire life. I actually weighed myself this morning and it was what I expected but was hoping it wouldn't be. So, if I cut out fast food, not only would I lose weight but I would be saving an unbelievable amount of money which is a win/win situation. I know it will be difficult because I was in the habit of eating a Del Taco Bacon & Egg Quesadilla along with hash brown sticks almost every. single. day. It was my crack. But it was costing me about $90 a month just to feed my habit. Luckily for me, Del Taco had to start using Zero transfat oil and things just don't taste the same. The last time I had Crack was December 31, 2009 and I'm not missing it. Much.

My other big expenditure is magazines. I love me some magazines. People, US Weekly, InStyle, Vanity Fair, Real Simple, the Soap magazines and British Tatler are the magazines I buy every week/month. Sometimes I get the People and US from my sister but I buy all the others. I figured out I was spending well over $800 a year just on magazines alone. That's a LOT of money. I can either read the online versions or I can go to my local bookstore and read the magazines while sitting in the comfy chairs Borders and Barnes & Noble provide. And my sister has been real good at passing down her magazines to me. Kind of a recycle, reuse, reduce type of thing.

I also need to get off my ever-expanding ass and get back to walking. Now that the kids are back in school after winter break, I can drop off Thing 2 at school and continue on to the park for my morning power walk, which I did this morning. Yay me! I got those Sketcher Shape-up shoes for Christmas and dammit, I WILL get use out of them. By the time I was done with my 2 mile walk (Yay me!), my legs were a bit woogly. And after my walk, instead of heading to the Crack House, I came home and made a bowl of Trader Joe's Old Fashioned Steel Cut oatmeal with a sliced banana for some sweetness. So see? I'm trying.

So in a nutshell, my Resolution for 2010 (and beyond) is to streamline. I need to, no wait. I MUST streamline my unnecessary spending. I must streamline my body and I would like to streamline "stuff" and declutter. Everything is connected and if I can be successful at one, the others should naturally follow.

Otherwise? I'm fucked. That's it, that's the list.

So here's to a Streamlined Me for 2010!