Here we go, 2018!!

Happy New Year, pals!!

Wow.  2018!!!  How is it that I'm always a little blind-sided by the New Year?  How is it that each year seems to fly by so quickly, even more quickly than the last?!

The holidays were wonderful.  I'm a little bit heartbroken that they're over already.  It was just such a GOOD week of eating, drinking, exchanging gifts, and spending quality time with family.  I didn't want it to end!  The only bad part was, of course, the heart palps (yes, they're still here, and they're driving me nuts), and I also caught a cold that carried me into the New Year.

I hate to start the fresh slate off all whiny & complainy, but man, I hate not feeling well.  We're working on getting to the bottom of the palpitations and figuring them out, but add the good ol' common cold on top of it, and I get rather dramatic.  Yesterday afternoon/evening, I coughed so hard & so much I thought my head was going to explode.  Aside from that, it's been headaches coming and going, stuffy nose, and just feeling generally drained and tired.  It could be worse, I know, it's not the end of the world.  But I like to start my New Year off with some zip and pizzazz, and this year I just haven't been able to.

But I've tried!  Oh, how I've tried!!  Here's a few of the things - a few of my "Resolutions", if you will - that I've set to try and make myself feel better in 2018.

• The good ol' standby, the Resolution that never gets old: Lose weight.  I really loathe the fact that I let myself gain all - literally, ALL - of my weight back after doing so well at losing it a few years ago.  I decided my best success comes when I follow a program, and while it would make sense to go back to Beachbody and do TurboFire and Shakeology, I really didn't want to make the time commitment (often at least an hour in exercise, 6x week), or the financial commitment ($150+ each month for the Shakes) that it requires.  Instead, I took advantage of a 50% promo with Weight Watchers and joined their Online club.  I think it's one of the very few popular weight loss programs that I have NOT tried yet, and decided to give it a whirl for 6 months.  I think if I could shed some pounds, I'd be feeling a lot better than I am right now.  I don't need to be a stick, I just want to have some energy and feel healthy again.  If I dropped a few sizes, well...all the better.
• Of course, I come home after signing up for Weight Watchers and feeling good about that decision, and I'm greeted by all the leftover holiday treats I'd stocked up on... chips & dip, candy, chocolate, cookies, nuts, every which way I turn.  UGH!!  I wish I had the willpower to bag it all up and throw it out, but I don't.  I just love it all too much!!  So I'm giving myself the week to enjoy the last of the treats and then they have to go away.  I'll be "officially" starting my next weight loss journey next Monday.
• 2018:  The Year of SAVING!!!  It's no secret that I'm really bad at saving money.  As soon as I get my credit card paid off, I wrack it right back up again.  And usually, it's on things I don't really need.  My goal for this year is to be more careful about spending, particularly on clothes ("Is this a WANT or a NEED??") and to start building up a cushion in my savings.  I have been successfully doing the 52-Week Money Challenge for several years now, and I'm going to continue it as well, but it usually is completely gone after Christmas.  I want to make more of an effort to build my bank account up.  I have no trips planned for this year, so that should help (last year, I had Florida and Nova Scotia). I also have no major foreseeable expenses (knock on wood).  It seems to me it's a good year to start putting some coin away... once the Christmas debt is paid off first, of course.
• I have a goal to be even MORE artistic in 2018.  I know, I already do Paint Nites with Shannon as often as I can, but I want to do more.  Before Christmas, I took one of her painting on glass classes for the first time, and I LOVED it.  I found it so soothing and relaxing.  I also want to do more adult colouring (I have 3 books and use them so seldom), I want to play more guitar, and I want to write more.  I really want to let that artistic side of me flourish and grow.  
• I plan to do some major de-cluttering and cleaning this year.  I have closets that are jam-packed, a fridge and freezer that are hard to get into they're so full, and just a lot of stuff lying around.  I need to watch a few episodes of Hoarders to spook myself, and then go on a cleaning & purging rampage!!  Thankfully, having Mondays and Fridays off in the winter, I have some extra time to do this.  This coming weekend, I'll be taking down Christmas, and after that, it's on to the next steps.

So, that's a little glimpse at my Resolutions for 2018.  The actual list is much longer, and includes mundane things like "Read 15 books" and "get new blinds for the living room".  But the ones above are the ones I'll really be focusing on, especially in the first few months of the year.

I can't wait to get out of this funk and move on to bigger & better!!  Here's to 2018!!