New Year's Giftolutions

So, I read a lot of other blogs. About all sorts of different things, not just books. Some are friends' blogs whereby they update the rest of us on happenings in their lives and daily musings; some are topical, about books or publishing or fitness or entertainment; some are written by authors I really like; etc. I have recently started reading a blog called Cranky Fitness, written by Crabby McSlacker, which really appeals to my feelings about working out - it truly truly SUCKS but we should really try to do it anyway and here are ways to make it a little easier. Anyway. So Crabby wrote a post earlier this month about a friend of hers who's all one with the universe and whatnot. And this friend of hers doesn't make resolutions at the start of each new year. She makes a list of gifts she's going to give to herself. It sounds a little hippity-dippity and corny, but I kinda like it. I mean, making resolutions has certainly never worked for me, so I might as well give the positive spin thing a try.

Therefore, today's post has nothing in particular to do with books or reading. It's just about me and my life. Here is a (short) list of gifts I'm going to give myself in 2010:

• The gift of a house I feel comfortable living in. This means organizing so that we don't feel we're bursting at the seams. I think if I commit one weekend day per month to this task (and a little money on organizational tools), I can give myself a house I love to come home to and some peace of mind.
• The gift of smaller jeans. I have made no secret among my friends of the fact that I'm trying to be all healthy, both for the sake of my health and the sake of my waistline. I will never be a teeny-tiny waifish person, but I am still definitely overweight. I've lost 25 lbs since June 2009, and I plan to continue that trend by keeping on with my current eating habits (and tracking everything I eat on SparkPeople) and by exercising - either at the gym I'm currently trying out to see if I want to join it or on my own at home. But I kinda like the gym, and I've been good about going, so it may just be worth the money.
• The gift of a good night's sleep. Or actually, many good nights' sleep. We need a new mattress. We've known this for about a year. We've put off actually going out and shopping for a new mattress for about a year. It's going to be expensive, and choosing the right one is going to be a pain in the butt. But no more procrastinating - our good sleep (and uncricked backs) is the most important thing!
• The gift of financial security. We've done pretty well with budgeting and saving money in the past year - but I think we can do better. And that would make me feel better. I seriously worry about what would happen if one of our cars (both of which are over 10 years old) were to die AND one of us lost his/her job at the same time. Or a major appliance needed replacing or any other infinite number of bad and expensive things. We have a hefty emergency fund - about 6 months of living expenses - but it's still scary. We're young enough that our 401ks and IRAs are not as flush as they will be in 20 years, so borrowing against them (if that became necessary) would be a really, really bad thing and set us back possible decades in our retirement. I want to do everything we can to ensure our financial security, even when things are bad. I think this means a big, scary money conversation with my husband and possibly adjusting our budget to make better financial decisions.

So what are your giftolutions for 2010? Think we can all stick with them?