Outlining a New Book - AAARGH!

I've started working on a new project - working title: "The Omega Notebook Project" - and so far I'm following my usual approach...

1. I have a germ of an idea, share it with my family, and they say "Meh."
2. I write down the germ, still convinced it has promise.  I assume I just wasn't able to communicate how cool the idea was to my family.  Plus, they are notoriously hard to impress.
3. I leave the written-down germ in a notebook for an indefinite period of time (in this case, about a year).
4. I get inspired one day to write the first page (more on this below).
5. I file the first page away for an indefinite period of time (in this case, about six months).
6. I find the first page while I'm looking for something else and decide it's really worth working up.
7. I start outlining, get halfway through and say "Meh."

Which is where I am now with this project.  I think it sounds like a really fun story, but the outline makes it seem boring and predictable.  On the other hand, if I just start from the first page and go freestyle, who knows if I'll end up where I need to at the end?!?

About the first page thing...
The way it works is I get and idea for a story and an environment and characters and whatnot, and then, all of a sudden, one day I'll get a flash and write an introductory page that sets the voice and tone and character for the whole piece.  It actually works pretty well - I've got four or five sitting around now, just waiting for me to grit my teeth and finish an outline...

More to come, 
Cheers!