New Year Resolutions - Three Months On ...

Anyone else remember their New Year's resolutions? Still going to the gym? sticking to that diet? I'm sort of glad my resolutions were easier....

Ok, I'm a bit late with this three month 'progress check' or whatever you might like to call it but April came in along with a nasty cold virus and it's taken me a week or more to shift it.

So...three months into my New Years resolutions and to be honest after a good start I think things are slowing down a bit.

Taking things bit by bit ...

Physical de-cluttering - I started off enthusiastically, sorted out a bin-liner size charity bag of clothes and took them to the drop off point, found some material left over from a previous project and gave it a new life, picked out some books that could go to friends or charity shops, and rescued some of last year's homegrown veg from the compost heap - one week making 'weird' marmalade from pumpkin, the next using up the pumpkin in chutney and turning stored apples and frozen raspberries into jam ....  BUT ....this last month things have been allowed to drift. In a way, looking back over the last month I realise how MUCH I've let things slide, so I'm determined to carry on with this. I really could do with a functioning spare room and the only way to get one is to clear the rubbish out!


Spend less time on social media - hmm, not sure about this one. I 'think' I've cut down on it during the day but possibly spending more time there in the evening. Without tracking who's using the pc and when, it's impossible to be sure....


Stop RT-ing every single competition - definitely a success! One resolution that I'm sticking to. I haven't won a single unwanted prize this year. Still entering the ones I actually WANT to win though...

Cutting back on book reading/reviewing  -  not by a drastic amount but enough to reduce the pressure. I'm trying to limit myself to books I REALLY want to read instead of agreeing to every offer. On the down-side, I'm still tempted to download every vaguely appealing book I spot on Netgalley

Get up earlier - erm, no! Definitely must try harder at this one.

Get a life - The feeling behind this was to get out more now the teen has left home, maybe try out something new but above all not end up (as some friends admitted they were worried about doing) staying in every night watching TV. In some ways I've been quite busy, but mainly doing the things I did before - a couple of book related events, theatre trips (Nottingham Playhouse Any Means Necessary  and Derby Theatre Look Back In Anger and an updated feminist version Jinny), and book club. A couple of nights out though really have fitted in with the new 'get a life' plan; the first an evening of acoustic music in a pub, the second an evening of both books and music - for us two oldies to go out to this sort of event without the teen in charge is unknown, so it's really a big step outside my comfort zone.


Get Out More - at first this was more a sort of pottering about resolution - walking up to the library, doing bits and bobs around the garden, watching the sunset - but as the year's progressed we've been out and about more  - to see snowdrops in bloom on an almost spur of the moment trip to Biddulph Grange Gardens while dropping the teen back off at uni, taking advantage of a sunny day to go out to a local park. Also, with flowers and salads shooting up in the greenhouse, and weeds trying to take over the garden, I'm spending more time outside, though preferably on sunny days.






Blog more - although I'm keeping up with tracking these resolutions, and writing about some of the places and events I've been to, I'm not sure I'm quite blogging as I'd intended. For one thing, I'd like to bring all my various blogs together (apart from the book review site) but I rather resent the time I'd have to spend organising this!


I think things are going ok at the moment, though both 'de-cluttering' and 'getting up' need some work. The next three months will bring us to mid-summer ...so I wonder how things will have gone by then...