2009 New Year's Resolutions

It's been a while since my last blog entry. Sorry for that. I've been busy, lazy, etc... It's 2009! I survived another year. You know what that means? Time for my New Year's Resolutions. I didn't do so well with my resolutions from last year, but I'm willing to refine and give it another try. So, here goes.

Work harder, but play more

I went back to work for Sun Microsystems in 2008. With this move, I've been working a lot. However, I haven't been focused as well as I can be so therefore I haven't been as efficient. This causes me to have to work more to keep up. This year I resolve to work harder 9 to 5, but learn to put away work at the end of the day and wind down... play hard.

Relax

This kind of goes hand and hand with "Worker harder, but play more". I have a hard time just sitting and relaxing. When I'm not working, I'm working. I'm researching, trying to learn new things, etc. This keeps my blood pressure pretty high. The Dr. wants me to bring it down. This means, in part, that I need to "chill".

Get Healthy

I purposely didn't put the good ol' new years stand by, "lose weight". Yes... I need to lose weight and that's part of this, but it's more than that. I need to get healthy. This means not just east less, but eat better. Cut out some salt. Exercise. Get my blood pressure lower (see points above).

Spend more one on one time with my daughter, Rachel.

She's growing up fast and I don't feel like I know her as well as I'd like. She's an amazing little girl! Every time I look at her I'm amazed that she came from my DNA.

Take and print more photographs

Photography is a creative outlet for me. I love doing it and it's "de-stresses" me. I resolve to get out more and take more photos. I'm going to start a 365 project of some sort and follow through with it. I also want to print more of my photos and put them up in the house as art. I haven't framed any of my photos in many years. Even family photos. I need to do this. I want to have at least one large "art" photo that I took on my wall by the end of 2009!

Blog more!

Again... I need to stop working and relax. Blogging is a good way to get my ideas and thoughts out of my head.

Be a nicer person

I came to the realization recently that I'm an $%@ Hole. I guess I've always been one and I just didn't realize it. Not everyone feels this way, but some important people in my life seem to think so. So, I need to figure out a way to make myself a "nicer" person. I don't exactly know how to approach this, but I'm going to humble myself and reach out to people to figure out how to improve on this.

Live "Greener" and more natural

Heather and I have been migrating to a greener lifestyle over the last two years. We will continue to do so in 2009. We shop at the farmers market and use reusable bags. Use more glass containers, instead of plastic. Drink less bottled water and more from our own filter into reusable glass or metal containers. Cook more from scratch. Make our own bread, cookies, snacks, juice, etc. Avoid preservatives. Eat more fruit and veggies. Start a garden. I want to raise chickens for eggs... but I'm not going to commit to that until I read through my neighborhood bi-laws. Ha!

Get on a healthier, more family friendly routine

I tend to sleep in. Some mornings, I'm not up before Brian leaves for school. I'm usually up before Rachel. I stay up later than everyone else in the house. I resolve to wake up early. Before Brian wakes up. I want to fix Breakfast for the kids. Have my quiet time with God and read the Bible. Get in some exercise. All BEFORE I start work for the day. I want to go to sleep when Heather goes to sleep. Which can be quite early.

Go to the beach more, swim more in the ocean, and spend more time in the sun

Yeah... I look like a corpse. I live by the ocean and don't visit very often. Heather loves it. She loves to go as often as possible. It would do me good to get some more daylight exposure!

Get Organized

I started using the "Getting Things Done" methodology last year and it's fantastic. I just need to apply the ideas across everything in my life and be consistent with it. I need to organize my routine. Do thins more consistently.

Whew! That's a big list. I'm sure I'll blow some of them, but I'm sure going to try to achieve them all. We'll see!