Goals for the New Year

Since I have been retired, I haven’t done much in the way of planning for the upcoming year. I think I enjoyed NOT having to do that, as my company required it. This year, I’m enthusiastic about it. The week between Christmas and New Year’s, I wasn’t feeling great, and I spent a lot of time thinking about what I want to be doing this year. I made lists- three of them.

List one- projects around my house. There are several things that needed to be updated, replaced, painted or fixed around my house. I scribbled down 16 I want to accomplish this year. They range from very large projects (installing a walkway in front of my house) to very small projects (hemming a pair of jeans I bought in the wrong length). I’ve already completed three of them though.

List two- things I want to learn to do this year. So far I have signed up for a plant grafting class and a pottery class, and I just saw an ad for a knitting class I want to take. Unfortunately, its at the same time as the grafting class. Will work on that. I’m looking for a gardening class too…

I’m also deep cleaning my house. This all started when my cleaning lady cancelled one day. I had already stripped the beds and washed the sheets before she cancelled, and I had done a project that left the floors a mess. She wanted to reschedule for later that week, but the mess simply couldn’t wait. So I told her not to worry about it- I’d just do it myself. I learned a couple of things that day. The first thing is that I don’t mind cleaning the house that much- and its great exercise! The second is that she isn’t doing a great job. She only stays about 3 hours, and there is no way she could do much more than hit the dirtiest spots. It took me 5 hours and I wasn’t even finished with what she is supposed to be doing. I realize she’s a lot better at it than me and she SHOULD be faster, but I found a lot more dirt than I should have. Also I found things that needed mending or decluttering that I had not noticed since I wasn’t cleaning it myself. For example, when I cleaned the kids bathroom, there were bottles of shampoo, bodywash, conditioner, etc. crowding every available surface in the bathroom. When my son got home from school, we went through them and tossed the ones he no longer uses. Also, I noticed that the shower rod in his bathroom is rusting (why would anyone ever make a shower rod that isn’t rustproof??) and needs replacing.

Cleaning a house is is a new experience and a learning process for me. My mom always had a housekeeper. I never learned to clean, and didn’t even know what needed to be cleaned. My friends laughed at me when I bought a book, but it has been eye-opening! I knew you needed to clean the screen under the stove vent hood, but I didn’t know there was grease above the screen. I have been living in this house for 10 years now, and it was NASTY under there. I didn’t know you’re supposed to clean over the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets. I had never wiped a baseboard or ceiling fan before ever. I assumed my cleaning lady was cleaning whatever needed to be cleaned, but discovered that there were a whole lot of things in my house that were filthy. I think I’ll do it myself for a while.

After you start cleaning your house, you’ll begin to notice the clutter. Mostly because clutter makes it more difficult to clean. You have to remove all of the clutter, then you have to clean the surface, then clean the clutter, then you have to put it back. If you have a lot of clutter, it gets to be a lot of work. So after I clear a surface to clean it, I’ve been taking a hard look at which things I want to put back. I’m getting rid of a lot, and enjoying all the clean clear space in my house!

I’m also planning on keeping up with my expenses this year. I haven’t done it in several years, and while I don’t particularly enjoy doing it, I find the information useful. I also tend to spend less when I know its going to end up in a monthly column! I don’t spend less on the things I love, but I tend to skip the wasteful purchases, and that’s always a good thing since I tend to regret them anyway.

Fun retirement activity of the week- My husband doesn’t particularly like seeing movies, and I find it hard to schedule them with my friends, most of whom still work. There was a movie I wanted to see at the theater, so I just went one afternoon, all by myself. I didn’t even have to share my popcorn!

Happy New Year, y’all!