Ironic, isn't it?

I started this blog as one of my New Year's resolutions. I resolved to make a blog and post fairly frequently, at least twice a week. So, where's the irony? I'm shutting my computer down for an unknown time to try to start up my other resolutions, and I don't know when I'll be back. So I hope I don't loose my blogging steam in the meantime.

What's that you're asking? You want to know my other resolutions? Alrighty, you ask, I provide.

1) Have a productive garden.

We are lucky enough to live in an apartment with a backyard. I know, pinch me. Even luckier? It already had a 5'x12' raised bed when we moved in. Luckiest!?! The manager doesn't mind that we tore up the edge of the yard to make even more garden space. All of this adds up to 220 square feet of garden space just in the back yard. And that can mean a lot of veggies.

But last year I was dying from morning sickness, The Hubby was embroiled in school and work, and the aphids ate everything. Oh, and the raccoons. I used to think raccoons were cute and innocent until they stole Every. Last. Blueberry. And half my plums. So raccoons are now part of the Axis of Evil.

But this year is going to be better! And we want to actually preserve a portion of our crop, especially tomatoes, potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, peas, beans, and greens.

So thus starts our gardening adventure. We have a new grow table for starting transplants. Okay, it's an old changing table with three shelves and 18" florescent fixtures, but it's going to WORK! And The Hubby has spent the last few days plotting when to start everything, so we're feeling up to the challenge. Wish us luck.

2) Start a Montessori program with my son.

BuggaBoo is ready for a little more structure in his school. We really want to home school our children for at least the elementary years. BuggaBoo knows some letters, can count to five, and is really interested in matching pairs right now, so I need to sit down and put together some "jobs" for him. I'm really attracted to the Montessori way of teaching because the children are usually self-guided and learn through play.

So up in the works is making sandpaper letters, dressing frames, and file folder games.

Okay, something cool, I just learned how to do links, so yay me!

I need to get this stuff in order before Baby is born because, if you didn't know, newborns take a lot of your time.

3) Stop caring so much what other people think.

I think this is self explanatory. Actually I think it boils down to having more confidence in myself.

4) Be out of debt by the end of the year.

We have $8,000 left of The Hubby's student loans. We had about $17,500 at the beginning of 2009. The Hubby grosses $33,000 a year. I am a stay-at-home mother, but I've been attributing some income the last few month with doing daycare. I'm quitting that in two weeks and not taking it back up again after Baby is born. I am hoping to finally perfect some of my sewing patterns for babies and getting them up on Etsy for sale.

We've decided to not start saving for property until we're completely out of debt, thanks to the advice of Dave Ramsey. Seriously, check this guy out.

5) Eat healthier.

The Hubby is Type I diabetic and we do really well with our diet already, but there's room for improvement. I want to use way less fat in cooking and cut down on our already low amount of sugar.

6) Sew more.

This is one of those save-my-sanity goals. Sewing can be relaxing for me, and I like making custom clothes for BuggaBoo. Due to the fact that he's thin and cloth diapered it's hard to find clothes that fit him well, and I like the stuff I make for him better than almost any ready-to-wear thing I can get. I also want to make some more things for me, which will have to wait until after Baby is here and my body is a bit more, erm, normal. Also included in this goal is making a personalized sewing dummy for my usual body so next time I'm doing this whole pregnancy thing I can still make clothes for my post-pregnancy body.

So, what do you think? Ambitious, probably, but that's what I'm all about. What are your goals this year, and have you started yet?