Today’s Homemaker

Oh, how I love New Year’s Day! It is my favorite holiday. The lack of pressure to get things done, the mellow feeling that comes after the Christmas merry-making is over, the freshness of a clean slate…there is just nothing better.

As you may guess by my exuberance, I always make New Year’s resolutions. They’re never elaborate, and they’re never difficult to accomplish. They are not goals or abstract aspirations. They are small, do-able steps that will improve my life and help me to better achieve my goals and live the life I’m meant to live.

Now after all of that fanfare, I bet you can’t wait to hear mine, right? Well, if you’re expecting profundity, this list will be anticlimactic (just how many big words can I stuff into one small sentence anyway?).

1. Go to bed early
2. Check my email/blogs/myspace no more than twice a day
3. Remember my friends’ birthdays

The great thing about this year’s resolutions, besides their simplicity, is the huge impact they will have despite their smallness. I like little things that make a big difference, don’t you?

And that brings me to some more information that I promised. This year Today’s Homemaker will be focusing on little things that you can do in your home that will reward you ten-, twenty-, or (dare we say?) a hundred-fold. Everything will be simple. Everything will be do-able. But despite the inherent “smallness” of our focus, we will be achieving big results.

This is not an “all-or-nothing” gig, either. There’s no wagon to fall off of. No habits to make or break or feel guilty about making or breaking. Not that I’m against those things. Everything in moderation. However, I’ve decided that life is more about “being” than “doing.”

So what helps us to “be” better? Inspiration in huge doses. Encouragement in huger doses. A positive outlook. True friends. Family. And in my experience, a relationship with the Almighty above all else.

And that’s what we’re going to be about this year. A wise friend once told me that the first thing you have to do before going on a journey is to label your bus. Friends, this is where we’re headed. I’m so thankful we’re together on this trip.

Happy New Year!