Yes, I know. We’re a week into the new year. And also resolutions are very, well, 2011. But I’m going to give it a shot anyway.
Lose weight
Partly because I really have to, and partly because no list of resolutions would be complete without this one. This is the little moment where I can fool myself that I’ll accomplish what I haven’t been able to do in the last 35 years: eat less calories than I consume, and end the year trim and slim. Yeah, right. But I’m going to give it a shot anyway.
Exercise more
Strangely enough, this is not as much of a fooling-myself as the weight loss. I started 2011 extremely unfit and ended it very unfit. I call that progress. I have actually enjoyed going to gym and running in 2011 and hope to do much more of that in 2012.
More specifically: In 2011 I ran/walked the 10k section of the Soweto marathon. My friend who did it with me estimated that we ran about 4k of the 10k, in total. If all goes well, I hope to run most or all of the 10k this year. It will take some serious work before I can get there, but it will be good for me, and I’ll probably enjoy doing it.
Bake more
Well, in the last quarter of the year anyway. I love baking, as you know by now. And I have two new recipe books to play with! But in between we hope to redo our kitchen, actually half our house, with all the nightmares that renovations always include. So the baking more bit will have to wait. Except (and here’s where resolution 1 will fall by the wayside) the building won’t start until March or April. So there’s still plenty of time to create some ridiculously unhealthy treats.
Take more pictures
When our oldest was a baby we took about a million pictures per day. The youngest, on the other hand, is lucky if she gets in front of a lens once every 2 months. They are growing up so fast, and I’d really like to have a good set of pictures that chronicle their babyhood and childhood.
Go on an advanced driving course
Like every other adult in the universe, I consider myself a decent driver. Good, even. But I’m very aware of the responsibility that comes with driving my two children around every day. And from what I’ve read these courses really can help hone my driving skills.
Be up to date on the news
I’m terrible with current events. I suppose that’s strange, given that I work in a professional environment with newspapers on many desks and loads of people talking about the news. We did a trivia quiz over Christmas with questions about events that happened in 2011, and while my family did excellent, it was mostly my husband. So I hope to stay more up to date. I did order my new iPhone 4S this morning, so that should help! :)
Write a paper for a professional conference
My colleague Matt and I have been threatening to write a paper on a specific piece of work for ages. If we do well, we might get a trip overseas out of the deal – and even if we don’t it will be good experience. So this has got to go on my list.
So – what’s your resolution for 2012? Want to share?
