New Year Resolutions

This is a companion piece to a similarly-themed article on Pete’s site, which, all things being equal, should be published at roughly the same time.

A couple of years ago I resolved to be much better at remembering people’s birthdays. I managed pretty well for the first half of the year, but then it all went a bit wrong. Something to do with having a baby, which took up a lot of my time. Recognising my limitations, I don’t think I resolved anything much for 2007, except perhaps to try to relax a bit more. Now I feel able to get back on the resolution bandwagon, and here are my firm intentions for 2008:

1. Complete the various items on the todo list that involve paying people to do stuff to the house. Let’s aim for one a month. I have the budget, just not the inclination; I even have quotes for most of the jobs. Here are just a few of the things that I am going to try to achieve: replace the kitchen fridge with a cupboard; replace the front door with a better one; replace the glass panes in the other doors with safety glass or board; repair the guttering; have the gravel removed from the garden and lay some lawn; other sundry items.
2. Continuing a project I have been working on this year, I will aim to replace all the cleaning chemicals in the house with eco-friendly equivalents. I don’t believe it’s very eco just to throw stuff out, so I just buy green products when it comes to replacing things that have been used up. During 2007 I have been quite successful at replacing most of our toiletries, such as deodorant (now a crystal deo), shower gel, shampoo etc. The only thing I have gone back to the mainstream version of is toothpaste, because the Kingfisher mint toothpaste that I tried never gave me a shiny clean feeling, and I worried that maybe it wasn’t doing the job. As someone who only goes to the dentist every 15 years, it’s important to have confidence in my toothpaste.

I think two resolutions are enough, don’t you?

Next week’s Stuntpost will be on the subject of our plans for our new allotment – look out for it on Monday.