New New New Year...Happier and Happier and Happier

I started the new year in a pretty ho-hum, parental sort of way: knitting whilst watching TV with the hubby, in bed by 10 PM. Not quite the party animal days of yore, in which I think each year involved dancing like a maniac, certain years involved whole bottles of champagne consumed entirely by me, and not always gracefully like an adult, but maybe more like straight from the bottle. Which probably cost $12 and caused a painful hangover.

This year, however, is a good year, started exactly the way I wanted it to. Quietly, but peacefully. Contentedly. With resolve. And hell, there was wine so it was fine.

At work a few years ago I was asked to take this "personality assessment" like many of us are asked by our employers, called Strenthfinders. First you answer a bunch of questions about yourself; annoyingly, it's timed so you have to think fast about whether you prefer to coach people or teach people, etc. At the end it churns out this report that sums up your inner workings in frighteningly accurate ways, in some cases. Well, my results shed light on the part of me Strengthfinders calls "Acheiver" which basically means that if I'm not constantly acheiving something--could be anything: dishes, a knitting project, folding clothes--I'm discontented. But it's also combined with another of my personality traits called Focus. This one-two punch means I'm never content and I'm always looking to the future. Essentially I sit around and fret about what's going to happen, and how I can get to where I want to be. Sometimes it's like motivation, sometimes exasperation. Strange that a little survey could be so insightful. I suppose I could have just asked my mother or my husband and they'd say the same.

So in 2009 I've made a commitment to move some things forward. We're going to move out of our house, whether it's to another part of town or another part of the country we don't know for sure, but we're moving outta this dumpy suburb f'shizzle. That's the big one. And, I'm going to start spending more time pursuing goals, instead of checking tasks off my to-do list. We'll see how it all works out, but I have the vision in my head, and now I'm ready to get it going. No more whisper of discontent, I'm moving and shaking. On day five of our new year, I got a promotion at work: a sure sign that things are looking up!

In other news, I'm downsizing. It's a hard thing to do, but the right thing to do if one wants to move and one doesn't want 29 PODS parked outside ones house. My mom and I opened a new Etsy shop called I Love Vintage Stuff just for, you guessed it, vintage stuff. Check us out, we've already made some sales which means more space in the moving truck for all my fabric (not being downsized)! Yay!

How are your new year's resolutions coming along?