Rosie Colored Glasses: Hello, 2013.

I'm not sure how I feel about this new year, yet. Most people I know seem to be pretty glad to be rid of 2012, and are looking forward with eagerness to this new year. I've also seen a good many declarations of Resolution. I suspect they are under the impression that when one is dealing with a self-discipline problem, having people know what you resolved is greatly helpful. I just think it prompts people to be untruthful about their progress.

Josh and I had our Financial Meeting. He made a chart. Goals for the family, goals for himself, goals for me. And how much money I will have to make up for when he no longer has the GI bill, and the extra money it gives us. [Before you start to have a Fiscal Cliff aneurysm, or some other fit regarding your tax dollars, please recall that this is the GI bill that Josh purchased when he was in the military. the money came out of our paycheck monthly.] Anyway, he wanted to know if he had my personal goals correct. Um...no. I informed him that the only goal I had was the one about the money I have to make up, and that I was a little insulted that it was being listed as mine. Really. Never before have I had a monetary value attached to my job hunting. It's not very me. And I'm insulted that things like bedroom furniture are what Josh would anticipate as my goals for the year. My goal is to get through this year, be employed somewhere that doesn't involve my having to search again for childcare, and be a good wife and mother. I also want to work hard at taiko and learn new stuff, and actually become good at something in that arena. I want to be helpful.

I ended up having to put up with Buy New Couches at Ladue (or similar) Goodwill. It's true that I've always hated the couches Josh's mom gave us. And it's true that they have large, unsightly tears in the vinyl. So, am I the reason we need new couches? No. Josh wants to put the house up for sale, and we can't have those out where they can be seen by potential buyers.

Speaking of buying, it's not like there aren't things that I like and want. I just can't, in good conscience, claim that they are my goals ever, much less this year's. They're more like pipe dreams. Wanna see some?

I would like to use my china. I adore my dishes, and have lots of really great ones. But I have a crappy table that we fished out of a dumpster in Yuma. Josh sometimes threatens to buy me a new one, but what is the point of buying a table when we don't even have a dining room to put it in? However, once I have a dining room, one of these will do, I'm sure: