Happy New Year!

New Year's is probably my favorite holiday, so it's ironic that when midnight rolls around I'll most likely be passed out with a toddler kicking me in the ribs.

Still, the cool thing about New Year's for me is the possibility of starting fresh. In that spirit I'd like to list a few resolutions for the upcoming year:

• Continue menu planning. Yeah, you're probably sick of hearing about this. But I think I really have it down now. I'm up to about sixteen recipes my husband and I both like, and I've started freezing most of the leftovers for use another time instead of subjecting us to them for days and days, screwing up plans for the rest of the week in the process.


• Get back to living frugally. I used to be very, very frugal, and while I hope to never have to resort to some of the tightwad ways that helped us survive in the past, being more careful with our money is always a good thing. I feel so lucky to be able to stay home full-time with Henry. My husband works hard at his job and as the family CFO I want to respect the money he brings home to us.


• Continue decluttering, organizing and packing. I started in on this with a vengeance when we first decided to move but have since lost steam. We have about six weeks before we close on the new house (if our current house sells...fingers crossed), so this should definitely be doable. I have to work on this after Henry's in bed at night or contend with Henry undoing my efforts, but mostly I just need to do it.


• Put limits on my time online. This is especially important when Henry is awake, as I find myself taking advantage of his increasingly independent play by dinking around on the computer. This is not behavior I want to be modeling for him. But I also waste a lot of time on the internet after he's asleep and at the very least I could be reading for pleasure again (imagine!).


• Finally, next year I would like for us to do something together as a family to celebrate the beginning of a new year. Nothing crazy, like the year I fell over into a snowbank on the way home from a bar (in another lifetime, the details of which shall never, ever be disclosed), but maybe a small gathering of friends with other kids over the dinner hour. Maybe it will be with people we haven't even met yet. Who knows what 2007 will bring?