Happy 2013!

I hope all of you celebrated your New Year's holiday in ways that set the tone for 2013. Here in NYC we did a whole lot of just eating and playing....you know....things we excel at.

We started New Year's Eve with salads, twice baked potatoes, and hot wings. The wings were divine...and so spicy that they burnt Ten's cheeks...so pretty much perfect.

Lunch the next day was udon, sauteed cabbage, salads, karaage (Japanese fried chicken), and some left over bits of things. We decided not to do osechi because Mia is too little this year...same goes for soba...so udon it was....and it was so good.

The weather was so cold, and with the sickies going around (and we've each battled them over the past few weeks) we decided to stay indoors...and made our own version of confetti for our daytime countdown(s). Mia couldn't quite understand why she wasn't allowed to eat it.

So, I have been trying to come up with some resolutions for 2013...and I have nothing groundbreaking or unique...but here we go.

1. Lose 10 kg. Though I would also be happy with just 5kg...but 10 kg would be best.

2. Read 3 books per month. I think that by the end of the year...I should be able to average this.

3. Plan one family outing per month....this can be anything from a trip to the zoo to a weekend away.

4. Vacation! I would love to plan a weekend or two away and maybe one bigger vacation...but we shall see how this works out financially.

5. Continue to make sure we spend active and engaged time with Mia everyday....you know... no staying parked in front of the TV...not that we do this anyway.

6. Find our new home. Living in Manhattan is great...but not when it comes for Mia to start school... so the hunt will be on.

7. Make Ten's Bento (lunch box) everyday...and not only that...but I'd like to make them something he looks forward to.

8. Enter a walk for charity. I would really like to do this with Ten and Mia...but getting fit while supporting a good cause would be so much fun!

9. Blog more consistently and update the blog...I believe you may know how much I dislike the look of my blog...so this is the year I spend a few hours to fix it...I hope.

10. Try to make myself more presentable... you know pluck the old eyebrows....make sure my hair is all in the same color range...not go out in sweats....yes indeed it is time to dress like an adult....when needed.

11. Helping out financially. Each year I make a few small bits of income, and I'm hoping to continue this...somehow...while not taking away from my house duties of course.

12. Finally, I want to catch up on projects I have going on like photo books and baby books...I also need to get some things sorted out with hotel stays and frequent flier miles...you know...tying up loose ends.

So there are my goals for 2013. I think they are all realistic. What are yours?