Saturday 1 January 2011

The Not Really Resolutions

Every year, January 1st seems to sneak up on me, which is ridiculous for many reasons, not least the fact that it happens every year. (No. Wait. That is the only reason it’s ridiculous.)

Faced with people asking me on the spot I come up with something either entirely rubbish or generic or something which is never going to be achievable. I once swore that I would take my make-up off every single night and then woke up the next morning with the remains of New Year’s Eve smeared under my eyes.

This year I decided I would be prepared for 2011.

Also I didn’t want to do work in the weeks leading up to Christmas so spent an awful lot of time staring into space, contemplating what I wanted to achieve next year (perhaps finding a new job should be on the list?!).

I have come up with a number of resolutions. Or not so much resolutions as just things that I want to achieve. Some are big, some are ridiculously small but all of them I think are important in their own ways. I hesitated before posting about them because I knew that the second I hit publish I was making a commitment and I could readily be held to account for any potential failure.

But I’m going to do it. I’m going to put this list up here. I’m going to give it a little page all of its own and I’ll cross them off as I do them and you, if you want to, can keep track.

So with a deep breath, the following I hope to achieve by the end of 2011:

1. Run a 5km race – most likely the Race for Life (and I don’t mean run for 5 minutes and then walk the rest of the way, I would like to keep moving at pace for the whole thing)

2. Crochet a Ripple blanket

3. Back up all my photos on to CD (this sounds ridiculous I know but if my laptop were to break, my gut-wrenching screams would be heard the world over, I have got to do this. Putting it on the list is the best way I can think of to galvanise me into action.)

4. Paint my frog (remember him? I need to get on that!)

5. Go to the cinema on my own (time and time and time again there are films I want to see that I never end up seeing because I can’t find someone to go with me or find the time when our schedules meet up. I need to just suck it up and go on my own.)

6. Complete Project 365 (take a photo every day, upload it on to Flickr, I get the feeling that it’s going to be quite the pain in the backside, but I’d like to document my year photographically as well as on the blog.)

7. Make an album/scrapbook of my photos from 2010’s trip to France. (I have everything I need, I just need to print the photos out and wield some glue)

8. Go over to Belfast to visit my family because I haven’t seen them in a ridiculously long time and it’s only over the freakin’ sea.

9. Read 12 classics throughout the year (having been faced with everything that I've read over the past year I feel it was a little too light on the heavyweights so I am resolving to expand my reading, and hopefully my brain, a little further in 2011)

10. Cross stitch at least one Christmas card each month (that way I’ll have made at least 12 cards by the time Christmas 2011 comes along and won’t feel like a complete crafty failure like I did this Christmas!)

So, you know, wish me luck?!

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As you may or may not have guessed, this is a scheduled post that I set up a while ago (because I'm an organised freak) I'm currently not in Hull, but away with that person that I've said I'm not going to talk about on this blog, spending New Year with him. I shall be returning up North on 2nd January and will hopefully be blogging again after that.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that reads and comments on this little ol' blog of mine - I love you in a very creepy and probably inappropriate way and look forward to continuing that creepy and inappropriate love in 2011.

Happy New Year!

16 comments:

  1. I don't do resolutions but I like your to do list. I'm hoping to do more photographs but I'm doing one a week instead of every day.

    Good luck with your intentions.

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  2. I haven't even tried to make resolutions this year, I forget what they are within a week so never accomplish them. I've got a list of 101 things I want to complete in 1001 days though which I'm still going with and hopefully I'll manage to complete!

    Hope you had a good New Year and all the best for 2011!

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  3. High Five for Creepy and Inappropriate!

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  4. I like this list, they're more like 'goals' rather than 'resolutions' - I think you'll do great! Maybe I'll make learning how to schedule posts a goal for 2011...

    Have a wonderful 2011 xx

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  5. OK, so I am keeping my resolutions to myself but I has them!!
    Just wanted to say: yes, you can put your photos on CD and it makes them easy to take round to show others or whatever, but also I would recommend an external hard drive - I back up EVERYTHING, but that's one of my fears really.

    Also, it's a TOAD!!!

    And 365 is a bit of a life-sucker, I started 52 weeks once which was a bit easier to manage, but then I started one of my well-known long-distance relationships and it died! My advice is have a theme: such as say, a mirror picture, some kind of journey, words from films/ books songs... that kind of thing!

    Anyway, good luck with it all.. I'm off to start one of the 5 scrapbooks of holidays I've been saving up!!!

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  6. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! :) Good luck with your resolutions, get your ass over to Belfast and have some wheaten bread lol... We went over for Christmas, had a great time!

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  7. Yep, get an external hard drive - much quicker and easier. Mine's from Lidl and it works a treat.

    I don't do resolutions either, but there's a sort-of to-do list coming together so I suppose that could count. Might join you in that 5km race though...

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  8. run? RUN? You are mad...mad I tell you!!! Oh and you can put photos on an external hard drive too...it is quicker...

    nice frog...

    cinema - do it - I did it this year. It is fine!

    Happy New Year hun!!! Oh and I want to know about the unmentionable man...sorry!

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  9. Happy New Year! My goal is to streamline and organize this year...

    Thank you for blogging-- you do not frighten me with your creepy and inappropriate love, because I know you'll never find me!!!

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  10. Re backing up your photos - use an external hard drive as this is much easier and you can add/remove files as required!

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  11. Great post, and here's hoping you've had a great New Year's... we will welcome creepy and inappropriate as long as you're there to be it!

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  12. Well girl, that is quite the list .... actually I know you can do all of it! I agree with everyone, use an external hard drive! I haven't been by for a while and I sure missed your writing, posting, journalling! Happy New Year!

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  13. They seem like eminently sensible resolutions to me. I made some last year but I don't quite think I can be faffed this year. And we're already nearly 4 days into the year so it's probably a bit pointless me starting now.

    Solo cinema going is fab. I've got plenty of people to see films with but I do enjoy going by myself - no-one steals your popcorn!

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  14. Cool. I look forward to your monthly classic-reading and cross-stitch-card posts.

    I always enjoy your book reviews and they have motivated me to read more this year. Last year I picked up The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet about half way through and it ate my reading mojo with its mind-numbing tedium until 30th December. This year I'm going to try to read at least a couple of books a month.

    Hope you had an excellent trip away and generally have a brilliant 2011!

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  15. Hooray for the reasonable list of things you hope to achieve! All very commendable! Esp. love the crapbook and stitching ideas!

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  16. Oooh, can I borrow your cinema thing? I have always thought I really should be brave and venture to the cinema on my own as well. Apparently it is a very cool thing to do!!x

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