7. do five things i have never done before

FEBRUARY
1. Play a lead role in a play

JUNE/JULY
2. Make friends with old people

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
3. Surprise someone on her birthday

NOVEMBER
4. Vote

DECEMBER
5. Drive a rental car

First resolution of the new year: Remember my resolutions

From: Sharon
Subject: phrase-a-day
Date: Thu, January 31, 2008, 11:57 pm

chere stacy,

quelles sont tes resolutions pour le nouvel an?

i didn't make any . . . but i think i have a few (or possibly just things to give up over lent):

1. stop fidgeting (playing with earrings, necklaces, rubbing my eyes, running my fingers through my hair, swinging my legs, tapping my pencil, fussing with things on my desk while i'm talking . . . basically just SIT STILL, especially when i am speaking! i just took my earrings out because i was doing it - the big pink jewel ones with a little clasp, do you know which one i'm talking about?)
2. procrastinate less
3. read 19 more books this year, maybe more!
4. appreciate people more
5. let them know!
6. relax
7. do five things i have never done before
8. learn to figure out what went wrong when things go wrong, and then learn from it, but not agonize/constantly recall what went wrong

probably more, but . . . i will think of them later! i like doing new year's resolutions on the last day of the first month :)

love, sharon

(The only one I thought about vaguely throughout the year was No. 7.)

We spent New Year's Day cleaning house

Behind my dad's back.

My family hoards junk. Truth undeniable. We let years pass before we go on major cleaning sprees, and even then, the questionable pricelessness of some of the stuff we find means that we put a lot of it back into closets and cabinets to chill some more. And to avoid my dad rescuing "memories" from the trash, my mom has skipped wastebins in the past and set stuff straight out on the curb. But then, "Why did you recycle these newspapers? These headlines were historical, we should keep these!"

Mmhm, packrats are us. (It really is all of us.) But Dad was surprisingly cooperative today! Since my cousin and her family left on Sunday (fussy two-year old in tote), we've been itching to revamp our household organization. So today we recycled/threw out old drinking cups (plastic, from the kiddie days), candy, glass jars (the uses are endless when they're lidless, with the salsa washed out), homemade candles that smelled like crayons, old (empty) cookie tins, boxes, old bath toys, and things from our freezer that my mom had completely forgotten about. Dad stepped in the kitchen towards the end and approved the discard pile/pitched in.

I'm glancing at my bookshelf and thinking I may continue tomorrow - I have years of school papers that I actually will Not reference or remember the contents of. Ever. And a lot of paperbacks that no one in my family will read, I should figure out where to donate those. I also have sweaters that I haven't worn in years that my sister probably won't want. They say you should get rid of anything you haven't used or worn in a year, and I have a lot of those.

I love decluttering. A great way to start off the new year.