All these things that I have done

So, as my brief post from yesterday indicated I plan to make a post per day to my LJ this year. It will be interesting to see how that survives contact with (for example) Glastonbury but it's worth a shot. I reserve the right to do 2 word posts on slow days though :)

Looking back at last year's resolutions, I'm not doing too badly there. The routine thing started well but didn't really stick but up until the last month I would have said I'd got a lot better at making sure things didn't slip through the net. Still worth working on that one. All the others have actually been pretty much achieved, which is a nice thought.

This year is going to be the big party so of course I want to organise that and see it go sucessfully. I want to pass my OU course and choose my next one. I want to find out how feasible it would be to start a Guide company and, if possible, get it going. I want to keep more on top of the housework and keep the house looking nice all year round. I want to make better use of the time between getting home from work and when we eat (which has expanded this year as Alex gets home much later than me). I want to start playing my violin again (possibly in the early evening time) and to pass on my cello to someone who will actually get use out of it as, much as I love it, I just don't play it. I want to commission the extension from an architect

I also want to do something about my weight but I'm hesitant about making that an actual resolution because I currently feel rather powerless about the whole thing. I haven't found any strategies in the whole of my period of trying to lose weight (about 5 years now) which I've been able to maintain in the long term. Still, I do plan to go back to my doctor this year and see if she can make any suggestions for what I could do. I also plan to go to the gym after work for a workout once a week. That will need to be straight after work as my gym membership only allows entry until 5:30 and I find lunchtimes are not long enough for me to do a proper workout on the machines. I should be able to find at least one evening per week though. I also plan to cycle to work as much as possible - Fridays are out because of Brownies but other than that only heavy rain or the combination of a strong wind with a very heavy cold (as then I can't breathe enough) are allowed to deter me. Fingers crossed, I guess!

Finally, I have managed to finish my Christmas shopping! I've done everyone, oh yes I have and Mum, your pile is no longer meagre :) Now I just have to wrap it all up. I ended up stashing it at Alex's office because I didn't think I'd be able to bike it home but in the end I could have kept hold of it as I ended up taxi-ing home with Ruth :) We were out celebrating the end of term and talking of Brownie stuff and everything else in the world. We always seem to have quality nights out - it was really good, although probably not fantastic for the diet :) Actually, I'm not going to worry too much about the diet until after Christmas - after all, I wouldn't want to spoil the gourmet feast Dad's preparing for us!

When I was at the gig on Sunday, the idea suddenly popped into my head that I would try to do a post every day next year. Could be fun, although it's unlikely I'd actually manage it. Still, I might give it a go. Something about the Pindrop Choir put me in a very aspirational mood - I was making plans to hand on the cello and start playing the violin again and join some kind of choir (again!) and all sorts :)

Now that I've finally had my credit card bill and got back to my computer again I have been able to do something that I've been meaning to do for a while - I've paid for this account :) I actually probably won't use most of the extra features for paid users but I just think that I use it so much and get so much pleasure out of it, especially when I'm bored at work that I want to support it.

I have decided to get on with all the things I have been putting off "til next year" - I've done LJ so this is what I have got left

Finish MCSE. I'm nearly there with this - I only need to do 2 more exams now. I'm hoping to have this done by the end of the month.

Get cats. As soon as I've finished this entry I'm ringing up the Cats Protection League to start the adoption process :)

Get NTL. As soon as I've done the above I'll be surfing over to the NTL website to decide what exactly I want.

Lose weight. I know I can do this - I just have to train myself to maintain my willpower through stressful situations cos that's when I put it all back on. Actually, also when drunk (witness my crisp demolition at cleanskies Saturday night) So, from now on, I'm on a diet. Stop me from eating crisps in the pub, OK.

My other good thing that I'm doing today is of course my fast. Not going too badly so far although I am starting to get a bit peckish. Alex has promised to try to pick up some kind of frozen pizza to take to the party to break my fast with as I doubt even Cowley Road will have takeouts still open at midnight on NYE.

And finally, the rest of Christmas - I did mean to make entries on my palm but utterly forgot so you'll have to have it in ( one big chunk )