New Year's resolutions

[via Boopsie Daisy's Flickr]
My wild and crazy New Year's involved me falling asleep at 9:30 p.m. Then reading "Happy New Year's" texts the next morning. My mom stayed up till midnight and I imagine partied like mad with the dog and my dad. Clearly, her resolution for 2011 is to be cooler than her daughter. Mission accomplished.***I've been on a resolutions moratorium for a couple years -- the last one being "I will not lose anymore chapsticks" a while back, which I've more or less kept. Well, I did semi-commit to keeping a ledger to track my spending last year, which ended up being a full commitment (which will be flowering into a project TBA).

When I used to consciously make resolutions, they'd be of the grand, sweeping variety -- become perfect, grow a foot tall, etc. -- which inevitably ended in failure by hour one of the new year. It's the resolutions that don't require me to change my character and I'm uncommitted to are the ones that end up winning, apparently.

So here goes for 2011 resolutions that won't change me from a bitter bitch to Glinda the Good Witch and that I may or may not commit to:
1. Write thank you cards (OK, so this is somewhat related to my character). I'm horrible when it comes to these -- the culprit being a combination of laziness and anxiety (which I have about any writing in general), regardless of how amazing the gift is. And oh look! I just found an idiot's guide to writing thank you notes.

2. Employ a "one-touch" policy with as much as possible. After clicking and reviewing an e-mail, make a decision to trash or respond. If I change from PJs to work clothes, fold up those PJs then and there. If I pull out tools and fabric, put them away after I'm done (although, sometimes, leaving mess until the next morning can do wonders for creativity).

3. When feeling overwhelmed or frustrated, write a list. This almost always seems to do the trick.
***Another thing to keep in mind about New Year's resolutions: There are two more New Year holidays after this Jan. 1 one -- Chinese New Year in February and Persian New Year (Norooz) in March. So if you screw up in January, you have two more shots at getting the resolutions thing down. I also suggest you have champagne and a countdown on each of those New Years. If you screw up after Norooz, it probably means you're a sad excuse of a person.