Weeks 4 & 5 (&6!)

So I am still staying constant with being a bit of a failure on the blog front. Who knew I could suck so bad? (I did)

My closet/stuff purge continues. I made some money on the eBay, which, as always, is a fantastic motivator - to go buy more stuff. :o(

I need to get to a mental place where I let go of old stuff, and then don't run out and immediately buy a replacement. I've been reading some other blogs (where the authors are much more successful in consistent updates) on how they are trying to handle their purchases this year. One blogger has tried the purging method, the price limit method, both with little to no success. This year she's given herself a number limit on the amount of new things she's allowed to acquire. I'm not sure if that would work for me, but I'm willing to give it a try. So far the most successful thing I've done is unsubscribe from all the retailers who send me daily emails on what's on sale.

My 5th week of the year was all about the Super Bowl. Indy hosted it this year and I knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime moment for me. I am not a big fan of crowds, or drinking, or crowds that have been drinking, but I made it a goal to go experience the events. Luckily, I work downtown mere blocks from all the excitement, making it that much more accessible and harder to avoid. All-in-all, I went out 3 evenings of the week, prompted in part by the unbelievably awesome weather we had, and the general good mood of everyone out enjoying it.

On the 6th week of the year - I'm calling it my "birthday week," even though I didn't do that much celebrating. But sometimes you need an entire week to come to terms with the fact that you're a year older. ;o)

My goal for the upcoming week - I'm going to overcome whatever sinus nasty has taken over my body AND get my financials in order (ie, filing). And I promise to report back.

Weeks 2 & 3: omgoshthisissohard

Ok, so I am not failing on making myself do new tasks each week, but I am failing on the blog portion of my goal.

The 2nd week of 2012 I made myself network both personally and professionally. It wasn't as scary as I anticipated, and I am happy to say I would do it again. Just not every night of a week, as I did this time.

On week 3 I made some MUCH NEEDED progress on simplifying my life and getting my finances in better shape by posting some things on ebay. I find an incredible sense of satisfaction whenever I sell things on ebay or the consignment store, but I find the prep to do so can be a big pain. However, I sold 2 big ticket items this week, so the influx of cash a great motivator.

This week the goal is to purge some goods to a local charity....

Operation: FAIL!

For my first blog post of the year 2012, I thought I would start small with a manageable task - cleaning my kitchen table.

Before:

After:

As you can see, the "progress" was at "best" "minimal." I'm pretty sure a blind, autistic monkey with at least one hand could have done a better job of straightening up, but hey, I did mange to get most of the food put away.

The truth is, I could offer a slew of excuses as to why I didn't get it done, but I realize there will always be excuses and obstacles.

So...I shall continue to straighten up the table, and will put another challenge on the docket for this week.

Let's Start at the Very Beginning...

For several years now, I've felt like I've been in a holding pattern with life. I've been waiting on something to happen, something to make me get out and do more. And I've realized that I can't get out of my holding pattern unless I actually DO something. So this is my Year of Weeks - a challenge to myself. I have never done a New Year's Resolution, because the idea of sticking with one thing for a whole year sounded both overwhelming and too constricting. I want to try out various things, but not sure if I need to commit to an entire year for each. So I thought about some of the things I'd like to accomplish, getting rid of junk, spending more time with people I care about, giving more back to the community, and I thought about trying something for each week in the year of 2012.

So this is it....this is the beginning of A Year of Weeks. Where each week I will focus on attempting something new, or different, or finally putting my focus on finishing a goal. Be it giving back, reconnecting with someone, or just finally getting that moldy brick of cheese out of the fridge. I know some things will be easy, some fun, others I will find horrid, and may not actually accomplish. But I have 52 tries.