And of course I do an update on my New Year's resolutions now that I'm finally making progress on a couple...
1. Keep exercising 30 minutes every day (brisk walking). Start doing additional higher-intensity workouts at least 1-2 times a week, hopefully more often over time. Okay, not doing as well on this as I should be, but hopefully the new apartment will change that.
2. Start volunteering somewhere on a weekly basis. Why the heck haven't I done this yet? Damn. I have an application form sitting around somewhere in my apartment, but I've lost track of it. I should send for another one. I repeat, why the heck haven't I done this yet?
3. Renew my library card at the Evanston library, and start taking out books and reading on the El. There's no reason I should spend 40 minutes twice a day staring out the window. I think I have taken out more books from the Evanston library in the last 4 months than in the previous 4 school years. Maybe twice as many.
4. Write more. More (and better) entries here, but also fiction. I've always wanted to try NaNoWriMo, and maybe I can do it this year, but there's no way I can pull it off if I'm as rusty at writing on November 1 as I am now. And if that's too ambitious, I can at least try to come up with some short pieces. Writing Protest articles is good, and I certainly write enough memos at work, but I want to be more expressive and more creative. Finally got inspired about two weeks ago-- bought a grey blank book to carry in my bag and have been writing on the train. I've got to stick to it, but now I've started, and that's half the battle.
5. Do the dishes more often; at the very least, commit to making sure that the sink is completely dish-free by the end of every weekend. Okay, so not so great at this. But the new apartment will have a dishwasher. And then I can just commit to putting all the dishes in the dishwasher. Plan B.
6. Don't turn on the TV before 11pm on weekdays. See, I've come to the conclusion that really, the internet is more damaging than TV. I mostly have the TV on while I'm on the internet, and if I didn't, I'd probably get bored with the TV pretty quickly and turn it off. So really, I should be making some sort of resolution about less internet. But damn, that's hard.
7. Make lunches at home. Yes, having $1 cup 'o' soups every day is cheaper than going out to eat, but if I bring actual lunches from home, it'll probably be cheaper, healthier, and more interesting. I'm definitely doing more of this than pre-New Year's, but still probably less than half of the time. I can do better.
8. Make more interesting and complicated meals, instead of the same endless rotation (spaghetti, potatoes, stir-fry, rice and beans, rinse and repeat). Try to make a new and/or challenging meal at least every weekend. Took a loooong hiatus from this from about March through May, but have finally gotten back into it. On top of the fondue on Saturday, in the last week I've made lasagna, potato-crusted salmon, and rhubarb crisp (which is not really a meal, but give me the creative part). And I'm going to do some sort of interesting bean thing in the crockpot any day now, really.
9. Work hard at making, improving, and maintaining friendships, even when it's awkward and difficult. Do what's necessary to spend time with people, instead of taking the lazy road and then moping about it. Eh. Middling, I guess. I'm hoping for a good summer.
