Happy New Year!

I've been a bad blogger for a while now, and much as I'd like to dive into the New Year with a blog post full of upbeat and inspiring resolutions, the fact is, I can't do it. For many years, I made resolutions, and for many years, I failed to keep them. Until one year, I made the perfect resolution:

I resolve that I will never again make a New Year's Resolution.

Do you like it? It's elegant and simple and so much more: It's a resolution I've kept to this day.

In the end, though, I do have things I want to accomplish this year, and first among those things is to finish some things I've already started.

One thing I've realized recently: Finishing things is not my strong suit.

1. Crafts. As silly as Knit the Season was (and it was), it was also a painful reminder that finishing craft projects is not my strong suit. As with books, I'm really, really good at buying craft supplies. I'm great at organizing and storing those supplies, too. Under my bed is a box of half-finished needlework, which serves as a painful reminder of  my lack of follow-through, as well as the fact that tastes change, sometimes a lot.
2. Decorating. I have several unframed pictures in the closet, several framed-but-not-hung pictures also in the closet, and several curtain rods I've bought that are in their original wrappers, sitting next to the windows for which they were bought, but unhung because I never found the right curtain. We've been in this house five years.
3. Books. I'm not good at finishing books. Why is that? I like to read, but so many books end up being returned to my library only half-read. It makes me feel like a slacker, but I'm starting to think that maybe ... just maybe ... it has something to do with those books.

I've got six more months to go to finish this reading challenge, and I'm determined to do it. I'd like to make a resolution about it, but I can't ... I think you understand the dilemma.

I think part of the problem is I might have issues with perfectionism. For five years, I have convinced myself that the perfect curtains will have to be made by me, since there always something a little bit off about what's ready made in the catalogs. And suddenly it's a big project that requires a lot of effort from me and ...  doesn't get done.

Last night, though, I got a catalog and my husband and I picked out curtains for our bedroom - over dinner. In about five minutes. Well, five years and five minutes. I've been catching up with my reading and here we have my first blog post of the year. So, rather than make a resolution, I think I will make a wish:  2010: May it be the year we finish what we start.

Happy New Year!