the eleventies

As I leapt off the tallest stool I could find on New Year's Eve at 11:59:59 (a tradition passed on by my childhood best friend's Norwegian mother), I found myself thinking something along the lines of "good bloody riddance 2010!" rather than my usual wish for the new year. Not that 2010 was particularly awful; I had a decent albeit severely underpaid job, T-rav went back to school (alhamdulillah!), we lived in a lovely house with superb neighbors, my sister moved back to the area, I took Irish dance AND karate, and we got chickens. Really, not much to complain about. But my general feeling for most of the year was blah. Blah blah blah. It was a year of stagnant monotony, and more often than I like to admit, I was grumpy, irritable, depressed, and unpleasant to be around, especially for my poor T-rav. I'm glad 2010 is over.

Sometimes I think it's silly that we make goals and resolutions for the coming year. As if one particular day really made things a clean slate, fresh and new. Nothing magically changes once the clock strikes 12:00 on January 1st. I'm probably still a surly disconsolate beast. But...I'm hopeful that 2011 will bring a bit more excitement and a whole lot of change with it. And so, in the spirit of hopefulness, here are a few of my goals/hopes/wishes for the eleventies.

1. Move out of Utah. And stay out. Not that there's anything wrong with Utah, I've just been here too long.
2. Travel somewhere outside of the US and Canada. Some days my wanderlust is so tangible it's painful. I itch to go somewhere.
3. Finish the study Raceli and I are working on and submit it for publication.
4. Compare, criticize, and complain less.
5. Find some way to raise substantial money for the Haitian school belonging to my former student. Ideas would be appreciated.
6. Win out (reach the pre-champ level) in all my dances in Irish dance. I have a LOT of practicing ahead of me.
7. Become better friends with myself.
8. Go on the road trip I've been secretly planning.
9. Read more. About a wider variety of things.

Wish me luck.