Goals for 2013

I am not into making New Years resolutions, I like to make goals. What is that you say? Resolutions and goals are the same thing? Says who? Anyway, after spending the past year dusting my cluttered bookshelf that holds my dozens of cookbooks, I have decided to start using those cookbooks. 

My goal is to pick at least one cookbook a week and select a new recipe to try. This coming week, I am going to make a pasta dish out of "Essential Pepin" by Jacques Pepin and a soup out of "Vegetarian Soups For All Seasons" by Nava Atlas. 

Since my blog started out of my love for Susan Anderson's "itty bitty" books, I think it is time for me to get back to knitting thru the "itty bittys". My goal is to make one pattern a month. This month, I am going to make "wrap-me-up puppies", on page 99 of the book "itty bitty toys".

I don't know if you remember, I was making a queen size Hexagon afghan for my daughter. I started it in March of 2012. It is time to get serious about getting this done. So far, I have completed 114 of the 440 hexagons that I need. My goal is to complete 1 hexagon a day.

I am hoping that I use my time wisely so I will find extra hours in the day to learn new knitting and crocheting techniques and stitches. I received this wonderful knitting book for Christmas, "Cast On, Bind Off" by Leslie Ann Bestor. 

I refuse to set the usual "lose the fat" goal. However, yesterday I was watching the "Today" show and they had their weight loss guy on, pedaling his new book. I didn't get the name of it and really don't care. He was talking about his new theory to losing weight. I love Weight Watchers. I always do good on it. For some reason, I can't get my mind to commit to it right now. So, today I started this crazy new diet. You pick an 8 hour span during the day to eat. Eat what you want, how much you want. Ideally you will learn to make healthy choices, but for now, just worry about the 8 hour span. His theory is, you eat within the 8 hours and then fast the remaining 16 hours a day. It gives your body 16 hours to rest and burn calories. Time will tell. Today I did great. I start eating at 11:00am and ended my eating at 7:00pm. Since I get up at 5:45am, it was concerning that I wouldn't have my first bite until 11:00am, but I was fine. Hopefully, this will give me a jump start. I have alot of weight to lose.

My most important goal for 2013, is to make a difference. I am one of those people who always opens doors for people, I smile alot, I talk to strangers, but I need to make a difference. I need to be aware of those who need a little something extra to get through the day. It might be encouragement, maybe to be invited over for a home cooked meal, possibly a bag of groceries, or maybe just a phone call. I am SO blessed with a wonderful family and great friends. I am thankful everyday.