Fireworks exploded over Sydney Harbor. The ball dropped in New York City. My motherland dropped a giant potato as the clock struck midnight. And I went to bed at 10PM with a good book. Yup, 2014 is officially upon us. I know that I have previously stated that I abstain from New Year’s resolutions, as I have the willpower and focus of a 5 year old (eating habits too!), but then I realized with such a big year looming ahead of me, maybe I should give in and go jump into the resolution lake with both feet.
If I don’t make (and break!) some stereotypical goals for the next 365 days, who will?
Not wanting to overload myself (all the self-help sites say I should take it easy on the goal-setting), I’ll stick with three of the most commonly set resolutions at the start of a new year. So, in no particular order, here are my official resolutions for 2014:
1) Lose 10 (or 200) pounds- Who doesn’t want to lose a bit of weight? This is especially true for a Foreign Service family facing pack out. As I look around my apartment, I realize that there is going to be some super serious spring cleaning going on starting in about April. (Who am I kidding? I am a freak about organizing and packing, so it will probably start in February, but then it is winter cleaning, which just doesn’t have the same ring to it. So, for the sake of this blog, and Thad’s sanity, I’ll say April. After that, I can’t be responsible for my actions.) Between clothes that I haven’t worn in two years and those that aren’t going to be necessary on the equator, my floor cleaning woman is going to hit the jackpot. There will also be some paring down of unnecessary odds and ends that have collected over the last two years, as well as the giving away of whatever random items remain from our consumables shipment. (I plead innocent on that one! It was my first time doing consumables. It will be done differently next time.) I’ll definitely be hitting the ten pound mark and probably coming closer to 200 when it is all said and done, although sadly, none of it will change my jeans’ size.
2) Stop smoking- You’d think for someone who has never lit a cigarette this wouldn’t need to be on the list, but after two years in Chengdu, I definitely have smokers’ lung! When I cough, I sound like an old woman with emphysema and chest colds cling as if I had a multiple-pack-a-day habit. Getting out of Chengdu for a bit will definitely delay my need for a portable oxygen cart!
3) Make more time for “me”- Considering I’m going to be out of a job in less than five months, I should be able to find a bit of time to pursue my hobbies. Come July, my faithful readers will either be seeing a blog post a day, as I have all the time in the world to ponder and write, or they’ll never hear from me again as I sink into depression, never changing out of my sweatpants and forgetting to brush my teeth, all from a lack of schedule/motivation.
While they are definitely the stereotypical goals as the last page of the calendar turns, they are certainly not traditional! So, along with Pink and a bit of my much-loved pop music, I will raise my glass since I am wrong, in all the right ways, and welcome 2014 knowing that I am too school for cool and always happy to party on my own.
Here’s to another year of searching for the ends of sidewalk and the adventures that I stumble into along the way.
Happy 2014!
In Search of the End of the Sidewalk 