Starting early

I don't make New Year's resolutions. However, I do put things on my To Do list, and work at getting them done.

Three new things on my to do list-

1. Clean out the house. Some would say this is spring cleaning, but when spring gets here, I hope to be fishing and camping. I am going through everything in the house and sorting it into 3 piles - keep and put up, garage sale, and trash. I've done this before but never to this extent. the criteria between keep and garage sale is have you used this in the last 6 months. If not, it hits the garage sale.

2. Build a camping trailer. I love to camp. However, due to my disabilities, I can no longer tent camp, so I am building a camping trailer. This is a trailer loosely based on the idea of the old teardrop trailers, with only a bed and a small amount of storage in the cabin, and an outdoor kitchen with the kitchen supplies in the rear under a hatch. The one I am building will have external body dimensions of 8 feet long by 4 feet 9 inches wide by 4 feet tall. All electrical power for interior lights and a vent fan will be supplied by an on board 12 volt battery. I am hoping to keep the total weight loaded and ready to roll to around 1000 pounds or less. With the size and weight of this trailer, hopefully it won't impact my fuel mileage more than about 20 %. If it doesn't, it will get used quite a bit.
I expect construction to start in about a week to a week and a half, and expect it to be useable in approximately 4-5 months. I don't expect it to ever be completely finished as I am an inveterate tinkerer, and will always be tweaking my design. Someone who is a better woodworker with no disabilities and a well equipped shop could probably build this basic design in 1-2 months, but then again, a better woodworker would probably fancy it up quite a bit but that's not my style. I prefer things as basic as possible when I build them, to lessen the chance of mistakes. If you would like more info on this type of trailer, start with Teardrops and Tiny Travel Trailers. Their forum is filled with a great group of people (and 2 or 3 cantankerous old bahstids) who can answer any questions you might possibly have after reading all the posts. They also have free plans (free is always good) for building this type of trailer.

3.Last but definitely not least, I need to try to get my weight back under control. Over the last 3 to 4 years I have picked up a few extra pounds here and there. In my prime, I stood 6 foot 6 inches tall and felt best at about 220 pounds. After the arthritis hit, due to my legs not straightening out all the way, I now stand about 6 foot 4 inches. Also, due to a lack of exercise, which is due to a lack of mobility, I now weigh about 240 pounds. I need to get back down to at least 220 pounds, and 210 would probably be even better, so I need to lose between 20 and 30 pounds. I don't believe in fad diets, or the need for diet pills (in my case). I think I can lose weight by eating 3 to 4 small meals a day, with each meal consisting of a small portion of protein and a portion of vegetables. The first meal of the day will also have a small carbohydrate component for quick energy. My thought are portion control, less carbs and staying away from junk food should allow me to lose about 1 pound a week. I guess we'll see. I'm also looking for some form of low impact exercise to do, to see if it helps.

To all of you that make New Year's resolutions, good luck.