Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Ten and Ten to ring in 2010

I hate top 10 lists. Naturally, I had to make one of my own. As we are entering 2010, it seemed appropriate.

But instead of resolutions, or shoulding on myself, I will celebrate what I have managed to do, and look forward to evolving even more in 2010.

Ten things I did well in 2009:

1. Followed through on a hunch. In late May, after being jealous of everyone else in the world going on vacation, including my sister to Italy, my brother to Italy, my other sister to Cancun and my other sister to Cancun, I actually read an email asking me if I thought I deserved a vacation. Well, hell yes. So I wrote a few paragraphs in a few minutes, and thanks to the kindness of over 1300 strangers and Homeaway, we won a $5,000 vacation from Homeaway.

2. Chose well. We are going to France in May 2010. This apartment in Paris for 3 days, then this apartment in the south of France, Villefranche-sur-mer, for 7 days.

3. Addressed the mounting medical bills. This was not fun, but necessary. However, I will say this: it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It hardly ever is. Answer: Payment plans. For five years, but who cares. It was worth it to have my son have those surgeries.

4. Kept dental appointments. Ok, I didn't perform the dental work, but I DID show up for the appointmentS. And got a bunch of old fillings fixed.



5. Performed my job duties. Part of my job, in addition to litigating, is to train people, create powerpoints, explaining laws and recent cases that impact my clients' work. I do that. And at several different points this year, I received compliments. I was called "a natural," "fearless," "clever,"; they asked me to train additional departments, and while I can't get into the details, I made my mark in a significant way that changed the way a very big entity did business.



6. Parented. I have to say, Brody is a pretty spectacular child. He is genuinely joyful, and surpasses any limits anyone thinks he has. He is starting to recognize letters, his vocabulary is effervescent, and he is always, consistently, improving his fine motor skills. And he is sweet. He adapted to having thumbs, and maintains a wicked, sly sense of humor. At age 3. Mostly, that is just him, but I will take some small measure of credit, even if its only that he has my eyelashes.



7. Juggled. Not balls or oranges or eggs, but surgeries, and work, and marriage, and friendships, while obtaining casts, renal ultrasounds, right thumb, left thumb, pin removal, clinic visits, doctor visits, H1N1 vaccinations and boosters, and trips to Michigan, Santa Fe, and Salt Lake (x6). The thumb surgeries were the longest, riskiest surgeries - what with the potential of losing his fingers, and being under general anesthetic for 4-5 hours each time; yet, I hardly wept at all, and I did not malpractice. Win-win.

8. Planned for happier days. No, we are not debt-free. Yet. In 2009 I made sure we had a concrete plan in place to be debt-free in 3 years (except for house). I've worried about this many nights; to have a plan in place, a plan with which we are complying, is lovely and liberating.


9. Wrote it down. I have a lot of ideas that float in and out of my head on a daily basis. In 2009, I actually wrote two of them down: Five Skies, and listing my jewelry for sale on Etsy. Things are afoot, and 2010, well, I'll get to that in a minute.

10. Decluttered. Ten lawn and leaf size bags of maternity clothes, five large storage boxes of 0-24 month clothes, multiple trunk fulls of books, toys, stuffed animals, blankets, sheets, my clothes, J's clothes, crap we don't need. All to goodwill. It felt fantastic to get it out of the house/garage.

Now, for resolutions.


I hate resolutions.

They do not work, because they are, at least for me, things I *should* be doing, but not things that I actually want to do.

So instead of resolutions, I look forward to a year from now, when I can look back and hopefully have a few of these on my "things I did well in 2010" list.


Ten feats I look forward to accomplishing in 2010:


1. Yard cleanup. We bought a house in 2001 with a pie shaped lot, meaning it fans out behind our house. Biggest yard in the area, by far. Great for dogs. Not great for people (J & me) who cannot keep green things alive, discern whether something is a weed or a flower, or would rather nap in sunshine than garden in sunshine. But it is time. I want the yard to look, if not spectacular, at least maintained. I plan to be out there quite a bit.


2. Jewelry on Etsy. I have a store front. I just need pictures of the jewelry. And recently, my anon friend who is a photographer agreed to take the pictures for me. Perhaps she can teach me, because this is the best I can do with my Kodak easy share I bought in 2004:


3. Reorganizing. And continue decluttering. Really, we have so much more room. But I'm in the mood to revamp, reorganize, repurpose.


4. Maintaining a clean house. We suffer from chaos: can't have anyone over syndrome. We don't like to clean. But clean we shall, in 30 minute bursts throughout the week. As a reward, on the 15th every month, Maria will come and clean our house from top to bottom, including the hardwood, pet-hair-covered, floors. The cost is budgeted, and will require sacrifice. The sacrifice will be worth it.


5. Laundry. I'm the kind of gal who likes to start, but not finish. I will load a dishwasher, load the washing machine, load the groceries into the trunk. I cannot stand the thought of unloading a dishwasher, putting clean clothes into a closet, or emptying groceries from the store. It's so anti-climactic. The exciting things were the doing of the thing, not the aftermath. But I like the sense I get after I do the putting away that I get. It's serene. I like that.

6. Sculpted arms. And legs. And glutes. When I dated a trainer from my gym in law school, I had them. I want them back. It's time. I want to be strong in body.





7. Topless on a beach. It helps that no. 1, 2 from above and no. 6 from below are in place, no? I just want to be topless. It would feel nice and liberating. Men can do it; I want to do it. As long as I had adequate SPF.




8. Singing in public. I sing in the shower, car, Brody's bedroom. Why not public? Sure, I will most definitely probably be intoxicated at a karaoke bar, but there you go. I will hopefully be dressed.


9. Contemplate part-time work. Not real part-time work, but a 4 days a week, resulting in a 3 day weekend. .80 time, specifically. I talked to my bosses about it today. They have no problem if I want to do it. I don't actually want the concomitant 20% pay cut, however, but if no. 3 above works out, maybe I can do it. Target date, if it's viable, is July 1, 2010 (new fiscal year).


10. Plan an extraordinary 40th birthday. It's hard to believe, but there are only 358 days until I turn 40. I have 40 before 40 to do (posts coming later), and some kind of awe-inspiring something to execute, and a grand slam party to plan.

What did you do well this year? What do you look forward to accomplishing in 2010, and why?

PS. I have anon comments turned on.


PpS. Happy New Year

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank.
We are going to put words on them ourselves.
The book is called Opportunity and
its first chapter is New Year's Day.”
~Edith Lovejoy Pierce~

4 comments:

Dawn said...

Great post! You are awesome! I did the topless thing once on a beach in the Dominican republic. It was liberating. ;). Happy new year.

Shannon said...

Awesome, you have inspired me to make my lists too!

Unknown said...

I hope to accomplish giving birth to Griffin at home and breastfeeding him. If I accomplish those, I will be ecstatic.

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