I don't post much about this anymore. If anyone has been really interested in Dinah they might have read my archives from 2006 and discovered that it was all I blogged about. It was my focus that year and I was obsessed about what I was buying, and what I was eating, and how much I moved and what the scale read and on and on and on. It was motivating at the time, but it was also all-encompassing and I felt like I was obsessed with THAT NUMBER ON THE GODDAMN SCALE. (Can you tell that me and the scale don't have a good relationship).

I've gained and lost 10 pounds so many times it makes me want to cry. I've made the promise to myself to eat well, exercise, and get fit about 36 500 times now and I've failed a good 30 000 times.

I realize that I need to do something different in 2010. I need to do something that works! But what?

Do Weight Watchers again? Try another diet plan? Try Atkins? Journal what I eat? Exercise every day? Take up a new sport? Have the goal to run a 5KM? Focus on exercise or focus on diet? Stop smoking? Do the couch to 5k? Take a running room clinic? Join a gym? Buy a treadmill? Buy an elliptical? Buy some work out dvds? Learn yoga? Aim to lose 10 pounds, 30 pounds, 50 pounds, 75 pounds, 100 pounds? Walk 5 miles, 10, 20, 30, 500?

See, there are too many choices. I never know what to focus on. & because there are so many options I flip back and forth between each one as it suits me. That is not good either.

Some facts ala Intro to Philosophy.

Fact #1 - Dinah The Human needs exercise.
Fact #2 - Scout The Dog needs walks.
Fact #3 - Humans get exercise from walks.

Therefore Dinah The Human needs to walk Scout the Dog for exercise.

Simple, eh?

I desperately need to pick something that I will succeed at, but is a step in the right direction and is ACTION (remember this is the year of ACTION for Dinah). I think something to do with the dog would be a good starting place as I want to see her be a successful part of this family.

RESOLUTION #1 OF 2010

I, Dinah The Human pledge to walk Scout the Dog twice a day 5 days a week, with the goal of 250 walks in 2010.

There are some caveats to this that I have decided I need to have:
1. If it is colder then -30 one walk is optional
2. A walk can consist of as short a distance of 5 houses and back.


I will make some kind of side bar thingy to keep me motivated and to keep me on track and for me to remember (cause I have a bad memory). I think it would be neat to have a ticker that counted how many walks I have done with her...some like a goal of 250 walks this year? Ooooh, I like how that sounds....(I adjusted the pledge up there in case there is confusion)

Dinah quickly hits publish and runs off to find a side bar she likes...

Well, I would just like to say that for about 1 week our EF had over $1,000 in it. We achieved our initial goal of $1,000!!!!!!

Then the washing machine broke. Leaking on the underneath, cracked pipe. We talked about getting it fixed, but then we discovered that brand new that washer is under $250. It didn't seem worth it to try and fix it.

We purchased another one for altogether $532. I took $32 out of our House Fund (leaves $7) and the rest out of the EF. It's a Samsung front loader and it arrives Jan. 19. Until it arrives we are creatively doing laundry at the laundromat. We wash the clothes there and then bring them home to dry them in the dryer.

So we are now down $500 in our EF. In some ways I'm sad. It took so long to get it to 1K and now we've emptied it back to almost halfway.

BUT

It was wonderful and almost exciting to just go out and buy a new washing machine. There was no worry. There was no question about which cc to put it on. There was no panic about cost. There was no arguments. There was no lost sleep. There was no uncertainty.

It was just go out and buy what we needed. It was an awesome feeling.

I was at the library this morning working on my sermon for tomorrow and before I left I checked out some books. The other day I had been compiling an Amazon Wishlist full of books to work on buying.

As I was about to leave, I realized "hey this is a library. I betcha a bunch of those books I was going to buy are actually here and I could borrow the books instead of buying them and then only reading half of them".

2 of the books were at the library! I came home with these...


I also found this book which looks quite interesting.
Not only do I feel frugal, I also feel quite green today. I'm also feeling quite academic. :)

This year there is so much to say goodbye too. We're saying goodbye to 2009 and to the 2000's as well. This morning it's a whole new decade. This morning it's a whole new year. This morning is an empty slate. Clean and Fresh.

A new year, a new decade, a new day, a new month, brings us to new beginnings. In blog land the minute there is a new beginning of anything we make goals. In real life we make resolutions. On the interwebz we make lists and lists of what we will achieve and then promptly not follow through with anything. Or at least I do.

I looked at what my goals for 2009 were and in typical dinah fashion I did not follow through on any of them. It's not like they were stupid goals. It's not like they didn't apply to my life. It's not like they were unachievable. I just lost focus--as usual.

This year, for 2010, I don't want to jump into anything. I don't want to panic and write something just because that's what everyone else is doing. I really need to sit down and examine what I need to work on in 2010 and what I want to work on. I need to have a plan with steps, not just a vague statement. I want to work on what I am passionate about. I want to change myself and the world and my family.

I'm going to hopefully have about a weeks worth of meditative and reflective blog posts detailing what's going to happen in 2010. This might look like a month by month strategy. Or something more open, without any numerical boundaries.

I believe I want to focus on these areas in 2010:

1. Health & Wellness
2. Being Green
3. Money Matters
4. Career & Business
5. God's Call

These are basically what I presently blog about, so my first challenge is to learn how to translate my ramblings into something concrete that I can and will follow through with.

I want 2010 to be the year of action for dinah.

Today is our 5 year anniversary. We're planning on going to see an early movie this afternoon with Andrew and going out for a bite to eat after wards.

This is a picture of us 5 years ago on our wedding day in the Registrar's office in Glasgow, Scotland. We eloped and go married at 10 AM with lunch at noon. Only Husband's parents were there as our witnesses. It was nice and stress free.

Doggy sweater I made for Scout. It didn't work out as good as I was hoping. In the end the pattern didn't end up making much sense and then I did some troubleshooting and flew by the seat of my pants and ended up with this. It doesn't stay on her all that well. I think she needs something with actual arm holes.

The No-Sew Fleece Blanket I made Andrew for Christmas. Initially I was going to make a smaller blanket and make mitts, a scarf, and a toque with the fleece. But after I watched some videos on how to make the no-sew fleece blankets I decided it would be best to make a bigger blanket so I didn't have anything left to make the other stuff. I think it turned out very nice. I don't know if I would make them again. It was quite an expensive blanket. $23. I think I would only make it again if I got a really good deal on fleece.

The hat that "Santa" brought for me this Christmas. I love the hat but a certain 4 year old seems to have claimed it as his own. It was time consuming with all the stopping and changing colours, but it is a good way to use up scraps and it looks hella awesome. I want to make more of them!

Now that Christmas is over and after all that time I spent making the round ripples for my friends wedding and I'm sick of crocheting I've moved back into my cross stitch that I anticipate will be complete sometime in 2012. If I squint I can sort of tell that it has trees. :P

Cheers!

Our very old washing machine has started leaking. Husband reports that one of the pipes on the bottom is cracked. We have been talking on and off about replacing the washer for about a year now. It's been a little temperamental since we moved in to this house 2 years ago.

We have some Emergency Fund money and some Christmas Money so I'm scoouring the internet for the best deal I can find....

Christ was not born at Christmastime
invoked by practised choirs,
embraced by plastic mangers
and fulfilling our desires.
No kindergarten was his home,
no drummer boy his page,
no earth had frozen snow on snow
when God had come of age.

Instead on the periphery,
eccentric through decree,
the power behind the universe
was born a refugee;
a refugee from heaven above
became the world's creator,
and chose an unknown peasant girl
as host and liberator.

-Final verses of "The Antichristmas Carol" by John Bell

So far I have spent $274ish on Christmas. This is presents for Husband, Andrew, the dog, the Secret Santa I participated in, and stockings for the 3 of us. Husband and I don't usually exchange gifts...but I did buy him a few little things this year. I told him about this, so I wonder if he's gotten me anything.

I've paid off $143 of it and I'm deciding how I want to pay off the other $130. I know, I know I didn't pay cash for everything. Spank me now. I can take it.

We have $30 in our house fund so I am planning on using that. That would bring the balance down to $100. I'm thinking of taking $1oo out of our Emergency Fund. I know Gail would scowl at, but really using the EF is better then having debt right? Spank me now. I can take it.

I still have to pay the sitting fee ($180) for the photographer for my whole family's portraits. The sitting fee is my gift to my whole family (ie. parents & grandparents and extended relatives). I don't have funds saved for that (except for money in the EF). I know, I know, spank me now. But i have a super secret plan. We almost always get some money for Christmas from people, so my plan is to use our Christmas money to pay for the sitting fee as we aren't taking pictures until December 29th. Super secret plan sound okay?

This is the really the first year that I have not stressed about Christmas. Actually, I've hardly given it any thought. Once I decided to do the photography thing and I agreed with my friends not to exchange gifts and Husband and I don't really exchange gifts. All I've had to worry about is presents for Andrew and Christmas stockings for the 3 of us. It's nice just being able to relax and enjoy the season...especially with 2 weeks off work!

How is it possible that it is only 5 days to Christmas? When did this happen? We only just put up our tree on Friday (and actually that is only halfway done because we can't find 1 box of decorations in the basement). I still have Andrew's stuff to make. We have not planned the Christmas Eve service yet (and I haven't even started to think about the January First Sundays service which is fast approaching). Our house is a mess (thanks to a busy November and December where everything got put the side and piled up).

Yarg. So much to do and so little time. It's times like these that I make lists. :P I haven't made a list in a long while, maybe that's been part of my problem with feeling in control and organized? I hope this helps me focus and get things done!

This week all this stuff needs doing:

• Organize First Sundays Material.
• Find that box of Christmas Decorations! (it has all my heirloom decorations, that's why I'm worried about it)
• Read "Mission Shaped Children"
• Plan Christmas Eve Service
• Make Andrew's Blanket, scarf, mitts and toque
• Put away laundry (there's about 6 baskets waiting to be put away)
• Decorate the rest of the house (aka find homes for the decorations sitting on the coffee table)
• Work on Personnel Policies for daycare
  
• Clean, Clean, Clean