2009: achievements and resolutions

I’m back in Notts now, finally – and was surprised to come back to some ice on the ground. Today we were intending to get up early – that didn’t happen, as I stupidly set my alarm clock to go off on weekdays Yeah…So between Joe taking three hours to pack and me playing with his nephew and the Playmobil (not to mention cooking pancakes and playing with the cats), we didn’t leave Sussex until about 2pm, probably later. Instead of getting to London by 12 as roughly planned, we got there about 4, had a quick Subway and then went off in search of the David and Goliath shop, where I spent stupid amounts but got some very cute stuff. London was so crowded though…I wasn’t really expecting the shops to be so busy on a cold winter weekend evening, especially in an area not known for its sales. But D&G did have a few things cheaper in their ‘sale’.

Then after a quick detour to Waterstone’s, it was back on another train to Notts. I was intending to be good and get the bus, but it was so cold and I was tired out so I got a taxi home. It was only £5 anyway. On the journey I got stuck into a book I bought randomly, The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. I make a point of staying away from so-called bestsellers and supposed award nominated books as a rule (guess I’ve worked in Marketing too long, and I’m a natural cynic anyway), but this is great so far. I’m not exactly sure why, because it’s a bit of a slow starter, and some things are too obviously pointed out long after I’ve guessed/assumed them anyway. But I generally tend to carry on reading a book once I’ve started unless it’s very badly written or has a major plot/character flaw I just can’t accept.

I said I’d blog with more details about my new year’s resolutions, so here goes. I’ve hinted at and mentioned some before, but here’s a comprehensive list for motivation. I don’t tend to do them, and definitely not extensively like this, but I’m on my way to improving my life for the better, so here goes. I’m also going to make a list of the things I achieved in 2009, because it’s just as important to credit the things I have done (and also less depressing)!

New Year’s Resolutions

1. Be healthier (and lose weight) – I’ve put on about 14lb since last year, that needs to go, and I also need to start eating better to regulate my moods and look after my body better! I want to achieve this by planning in advance what I’m going to eat, having no-preparation healthy foods/meals around for when I’m really tired, and using up what’s in the fridge. This links to…

2. Be more adventurous with cooking. This way I’ll have less chance of getting bored with my food and be more inclined to eat a bigger variety of things. I intend to make my own recipes more, to bring the garage freezer into the kitchen to store healthy batches of food and lovely frozen berries, and to look for inspiration online. I’m living a heavily vegetarian lifestyle now, and this will be intensified by the fact that I hate cooking raw meat.

3. Save money to achieve my goals. I’m wasting far too much money on rubbish at the moment, and I’m fairly self-sufficient on a financial level, so this shouldn’t be happening. So I’m going to withdraw £200 a month from my salary and just spend that (or less than that). (That doesn’t include bills, which will go out automatically, but will mean I have a lot more freed up and I can control spending better).

4. Get laser eye surgery. At the moment I’m thinking about April, assuming that I qualify for the treatment. It might not happen, but I’m going to try my hardest because I rely on my glasses a lot more now and I hate them.

5. Learn to drive. I’ll be pretty much starting from scratch again since I haven’t had lessons for about four years and I hate driving, but it’s something I need to do.

6. Set aside time for Blossom.nu. I still need to buy a connector for my keyboard, but once I have a schedule worked out and my desktop setup complete, I’ll be doing proper and regular updates.

7. Get more exercise. Whether that’s going out for a walk, doing a Wii Fit or EA Active workout, yoga, pilates, resistance band training, swimming, or something else, I’ll be stretching my body and muscles and hopefully getting some fresh air as well.

8. Sort out a proper plan for balancing everything. Obviously I’m working full time, and with travel time and short dark days, it takes quite a lot out of me – if I let it. I also have to balance friends, Joe, running a house, family, pets, general socialising, cooking, exercise, a website and my other interests with that. So if I work everything out properly, there will be enough time. There WILL!

9. Be nicer and more tolerant. This should follow from a better diet and more sleep, but I need to be nicer and more patient. I especially need to be nicer to people like Joe, who do a lot for me and who I take for granted sometimes.

10. Stay in touch with friends. I get lazy what with Facebook and everything, and far too often it’s my friends asking me to do stuff rather than me asking them. There have been lots of examples of this over Christmas. It’s difficult because lots of people have moved all over the country, if not out of it, but I need to make more effort.

11. Sleep better. No more going to sleep at 2am, getting up at 7:45am and living on energy drinks. Early to bed, relax with music or a book, then up early and a quick burst of yoga followed by a healthy breakfast and then off to work. Whew!

12. Donate more to charity. This includes money, and volunteering. I came across a few very worthy charities that I want to be more involved with in 2010, and use my experiences to blog and promote them as well.

Yeah…that all sounds like a lot of work to me too. It will be worth it though, assuming I don’t explode from it all

On to things I achieved in 2009…

1. Work. I started 2009 in a job I was quickly growing to hate, but in July I was offered a lovely job in Nottingham with a much more relaxed environment and a better work/life balance for me. So a definite check in this box. It could be better, but then I know from experience it could be a hell of a lot worse, and this was something I wanted badly – to escape Swindon – so a solid achievement. Probably my most influential one of the year.

2. Independence. Swindon taught me a lot, because it was the first time I was truly 100% independent. Living far away from home, supporting myself completely. It was more of a challenge than university. This is cheating a little because it started in 2008, but meh.

3. Financial independence. I’m not living off my parents in any way, yes I have my student loans and a mortgage, but I pay for everything and I have savings, so I’m in a good position which I completely appreciate and feel so thankful for. Plus I’ve been lucky enough to be able to buy nice things for myself – a new digital camera, lovely Clinique skincare products, a short break away – nothing too expensive, but things I’ve worked hard to earn the money for.

4. Developed relationships. I’ve never been happier with Joe, he’s everything to me. I also made some amazing friends in Swindon, and I’m getting to know the people at my current job more too. And I made some uni friends through Joe and societies as well. I have 40 year old friends. I also have 18 year old friends. Being in a kind of joint universe with working people and uni people can be a bit weird, but it definitely makes things more interesting.

5. Clear outs. I had big clear outs both at home and my parents’ house, and got rid of a lot of old crap. I wouldn’t say my style is minimal, but I’m definitely not a horader like I used to be. I do hang on to all my books and work I’ve done over the years, but clearing out useless childhood things and my wardrobe were big jobs that had a good influence, and my old things will hopefully do some good for charity as well as my psychological state!

6. Fixed things. I painted my parents’ study and organised it all, and I sorted a few things at my house including helping my dad re-tile the bathroom, fit a new shower, and replace the bath and flooring (and by ‘help’ I mean choose and pay for the things I wanted and then complain about how long it was taking). Oh, and I re-painted my bathroom and did a lot of cleaning in addition to completely clearing out the garden.

7. House mates. I’m lucky enough to still be living with people I really get on with. No one’s perfect, but we all accept that and it’s nice to have a good atmosphere at home.

8. Settled in a lifestyle. This is a kind of vague one, and consists of several different parts. I updated a lot of old stuff that needed doing – started a new skincare regime, bought a new camera, added to my ‘work wardrobe’, expanded my film collection, started buying almost all organic food where possible, etc. I was much more settled once I left Swindon and had my own space again.

Yep, I could have achieved lots more. I was mainly thrown off because all my energy until July was consumed finding another job, going to interviews, completing hundreds of applications, etc. etc. From July until about September, I was de-stressing. You know how it feels when you’ve been holding your breath for ages and then let it go? Yeah…it was like that. After that I kind of got stuck. Not in a rut as such, more like a happy place, but now I’m keen to get things moving and finish up my smaller goals before moving on to the bigger ones, like saving up to travel, doing a master’s degree, things like that.

And this has got way too long as it is, so that’s all for now folks