Goals for 2010

I think I've finally hammered out my Goals for the year of 2010. What, one twelfth of the year has already passed? Hey, I'm just a thoughtful, careful thinker. And slow.

For 2010 I'd like to read better, and less. I was surprised how many books I'd read in 2009, but even more surprised that even with continuously working on my lifelong goal to read all the books on the BYU Honors Reading List (I think we all need ultimately meaningless lists sometimes) how many fluffy books I read. I don't mind a little light entertainment now and then, but I was surprised by how stupid some of the books were. I just used the word surprised three (now four) times in this paragraph. Maybe I should also have a New Year's goal of using a thesaurus.

Specifically, I'm planning to read three certain types of books every month. Now, I'm already behind, and it's February, but the important aspect of this goal is not staying on top of it, but rather continuously working toward it by reading better. I'm going to read a non fiction on my BYU List, a fiction on my BYU list, and then I'm going to read another non-fiction book that I own, and have been meaning to read forever, but have never gotten around to. I was culling down our belongings after Christmas, and kept coming across books that I've been given as books or whatnot, and have always meant to read, but never actually cracked the cover on. I'm really bad at reading non-fiction. Somehow the lack of a storyline makes it hard for me to snuggle up with it when I really ought to be sleeping and read the book to the very last line in the wee hours of the morning. And I'd like to pare down the number of books we own, but most of the get riddable ones are the books I've been meaning to read for forever.

However, I know all sorts of good informative gems are hidden away in books without lurid plotlines, and I am determined to begin appreciating them.

Goal number 2:
Wear makeup when I know I'll be going out that day. So, this is a frivolous goal, but I, like many Homemakers, struggle with feeling frumpy sometimes, and this is to combat that feeling that I am secretly a hermit who may only be 27 years old, but looks and acts 47 years.

Goal number 3:
Not feel overwhelmed by having three children by the end of the year. That'll give me six months with three kids to figure out how to live with three kids.

Goal number 4:
Read the Book of Mormon every day. Ummm, I'm already doing badly at this. But what is the point of having a goal if not to challenge ourselves to do better? If only I knew a foolproof method to achieve this goal. Besides, you know, opening up the Book of Mormon and reading every single day.

Goal number 5:
Be happy this year, regardless of circumstances. When reviewing the past year, I've realized that how I felt emotionally much of the year directly reflected the life circumstances I was currently going through. When funding was great, and the weather was nice, I felt great. When our funding turned rocky, or bad news hit, or I was morning sick, I was emotionally down. I've always felt that I am a happy person, so I'd like to live to actually reflect this belief. I also know that we can be happy regardless of our what happens, or doesn't happen, in our lives. I usually try to not do really difficult to measure goals with indefinable boundaries, but this time I shall make an exception.