I’m not sure if I ever mentioned it or not, but my dad was a high school teacher. He taught Biology II: Anatomy and Physiology for almost 30 years, and for 25 of those years he also founded and taught the A.P. Biology class. His A.P. Bio class was so successful, in fact, that Oakland University wanted him to modify his program because every Mott student who was in the class tested out of Oakland’s basic biology classes. He just laughed and kept right on teaching.

With a husband who taught high school and three kids with 12 years between the oldest and the youngest, it probably comes as no surprise that my mom considered New Years to be the day after Labor Day at our house. Even now, fifteen years after leaving school myself, I always feel a stir of excitement when I walk into a store in August and spy all the back-to-school things. While I’m not a mom, I still find something so compelling about September and fresh starts that I find myself jotting down long term to-do lists, making plans for short and long term projects… a list of resolutions, if you will.

Last month, I bought myself a beautiful new planner from Whitney English to begin writing and tracking all my goals, as well as my daily plans. If you’ve opened the link, you know it wasn’t the cheapest planner out there, but not only do I love the aesthetics of the planner, I also love the fact it was purchased from an independent business woman.

One resolution I made just this past weekend was to keep my home in better shape. It took me 18 hours of cleaning to prep for my party Saturday night, and if one was looking closely, they’d have noticed I didn’t dust my bathroom (glass shelves), my bedroom or my office. I was too busy scrubbing my kitchen floor and bathroom sink, vacuuming three weeks worth of cat hair, cleaning out produce purchased three weeks ago from my refrigerator and giving the milk that expired in July (don’t ask) worried glances as I seriously thought it might explode in my kitchen. Oh, and don’t mention my bedroom closet, which is where I shoved all the dirty laundry I could until I couldn’t shove anymore and settled for placing the third (yes, third) basket next to my bedoom door shrouded in a towel.

The kitchen cleaning experience, along with a serious look at my finances, also prompted me to resolve to plan meals better and stop wasting money on buying lunch everyday at work. I need to begin planning out menus and grocery lists and following through with my plans. However, this should be fairly easy to accomplish as not only do I have the Internet at my fingertips, but I have an entire bookcase dedicated to nothing but cookbooks. Seriously. And I live within a mile, ONE MILE, from some of the best grocery stores Michigan can offer. Hollywood Markets, Meijer, Kroger and Whole Foods (Paycheck). I’ve already been combing through this week’s sales papers for deals, and I’m planning on going to Eastern Market, one of the oldest Farmers Markets in the country, on Saturday.

I’d love to purchase (or barter) some mums while I’m there, but my asshat apartment complex has been threatening to paint my balcony for the better part of three weeks now and with my lucky, no sooner would I buy them then the painting would actually start.

Seriously, though… getting both my meal planning and spending under control should also help me lose weight. I’m at the heaviest I’ve ever been; I literally just got up and weighed myself. I weigh a whopping 285 pounds.

Two hundred and eighty-five pounds.

That’s a lot

A LOT.

Wow.

Okay, so weight loss just moved up to the top of the list of Resolutions. Which is actually okay with me. I decided several weeks ago that I’m spending my 40th birthday in Paris with my best friend, Amanda. And let’s face it; you can’t go to the world’s fashion capital when you’re 150 pounds overweight.

I really weigh that much? Damn.

Enough with the whole weight thing.

Well, one more thing. It certainly explains why everything is so tight and my knees and ankles are killing me. And it stops. Now.

Finally though, my biggest resolution for the moment?

To take myself more seriously.

I just invested over $200 on my blog. Between getting my own site (yes, I went self-hosted for anyone who knows what that means) and the redesign, I just sank $200 into the blog.

And you know what? I already know it’s worth it.

But more on that later.

In the meantime…. If you’d like a little something from me that was designed by the beautiful Kristyn of KP Designs, go to the Mo Livin’ Large Facebook page and message me your address. 🙂