Possum Star 2000: 2009

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Interesting fact: Auld Lang Syne means "old long since" in the Germanic dialect of lowland Scotland. Well, at least I think it's interesting...

2010 is a blank canvas, a fresh start. 2010 is my chance to do better, to try not to screw up so much. 2010, if you'll give me a break, I promise I won't let you down.

Or, at least I'll try not to.

2009 wasn't really a bad year. It was, in fact, a pretty good ride. Noah turned 3, we sold a house and bought another house, Chauntelle got an iPod AND a stand mixer...all in all, not too shabby.

Still, I find myself a bit disappointed at the missed opportunities and dropped balls, at all the failures and half-successes and dead-ends. I feel like plenty of things happened TO me in the past year, but I didn't accomplish much myself. I'd like for 2010 to be different.

So, here's a list of benchmarks for 2010. I don't think of these items New Year's resolutions, exactly. There more like markers or signposts. If I'm meeting my goals, or even coming close to meeting my goals, then I know I'm moving in the right direction.

+Decide what to call the new year. Okay, this one I've pretty much already worked out: it's Twenty Ten, not Two Thousand Ten, or whatever.

+Lose 2 pounds of weight per month. I think this is do-able.

+Assemble a design portfolio containing 20-25 STRONG pieces. If necessary, ask for help with assembling it (and help will be necessary, I'm sure).

+Plan a celebration for every month. Ok, so this one may seem kinda weird, but I was just thinking that it would be nice to have a party, or cookout, or festive get-together every single month. Obviously, birthdays and holidays lend themselves to these sorts of events, but even during months where there is no natural celebratory occasion, I want to have one. (Happy August Day 2010!)

+Go to Walt Disney World in September. Several things have to align for this to become a reality, but I think this will be the first year that Noah would truly appreciate the experience, and so I'd really like to do whatever it takes to make it happen.

+Cook at home. We kind of got out of this habit during the summer and fall (i.e., the period when we were fixing up the old house and working to sell it), but we've got a great new kitchen, Chauntelle has a beautiful new stand mixer, and we both like to cook (certain) things, so it should be a snap to start doing this again.

+Be more patient. Ok, so the two personality defects that poison my life and make it impossible for me to succeed are my low self-esteem and my difficuly "right-sizing" my reactions to events that frustrate me. What I have determined this past year is that my angry, frustrated behavior is really just a manifestation of my severe lack of patience. This is one that I really need to conquer, especially now that we have a 3-and-a-half-year-old who likes to draw on the furniture and poop in his pants. I can't be lashing out every time Noah paints the cat. I need to maintain my patience and respond appropriately.

I'm sure I can think of other resolu-, er, benchmarks, but I'm pretty sure these are the biggies, and if I can meet them in 2010, maybe I won't feel like quite so much of a loser come December 31. At least I can try.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Six Five Design

Purely theoretical at this point...bonus points for anyone who knows the significance of 6-5...oh, who am I kidding...it's pretty much only Mom looking at this blog anyway...