Resolutions.

So it's that time of year again. And the morning after the night before...

New Years Eve 2011 was fairly sedate to be honest. It began in the middle of a raging storm, continued with a few wines with my darling friend Florence, continued into the 'night club district' (ha!) of Kalgoorlie and ended around 1am - very early by our usual standards. Truth be told, I'm feeling better for having an earlier night. I'm definitely getting old and sensible.

I have made a few resolutions.

1. Giving up sugar.

Now, I don't eat badly really. I love good food. Frankly, I'm a bit of a food wanker. I also love bad food, and it's here that I fall down. The worse the food, the higher the carbohydrate content, the more rabid I become during eating. I really don't have a shut off switch when it comes to sugar.

I've also reached a point in my life where I am 'bigger' (read: fatter) than I have ever been and than I really ought to be at this age. I don't think I've ever been a 'small' girl - maybe in primary school - and I do carry it well (if I say so myself) and most importantly have never had an 'issue' with it. I do now.

Recently I downloaded Sarah Wilson's I Quit Sugar e-book and I thought Yep, I can do this - and I should do this. That said I defeated my 1 January seediness with a big bowl of rice and peas with chilli and soy sauce... Rome wasn't built in a day...

2. Read a book a fortnight

2012 is the National Year of Reading and originally I had set the bar at a book a month, but my sister convinced me to aim a little higher. It's not just the act of reading itself, because I do read a lot, but the quality of the text. Of late, I've become a tad too fond of the thrillercrimepolicedrama novels that my Mother borrows from the library and it seems to be all I'm reading.

My last reading obsession was with Australian History and fiction with a social history bent - I devoured Van Diemen's Land: A History by James Boyce and completely lost my emotional banana over The Harp in the South by Ruth Park. This time around I'm focusing on a genre that I have zero experience with - American Literature. I'm thinking the angst of The Catcher in the Rye and in non-fiction the great migrations and the Frontier.

Yes, I am a nerd.

To avoid this becoming a socially isolating resolution, I've roped Florence in to it. We decided last time we had dinner that we needed to make more of an effort to see each other - differing work schedules etc etc - and last night over wine we created our own little book club. Lord knows how functional it will be, but two birds and all that jazz. Because she had just acquired a copy of Grapes of Wrath this will be our first read. 

3. Focus on my professional self

Nine days before Christmas my workplace closed its doors. I know. Awesome. It wasn't a job I wanted to do for the rest of my life, but - god damn it - it paid the bills. At the moment there isn't a whole lot out there so I'm taking it as an enforced holiday to poverty.

Losing my job also gave me a glimpse of my future - that of going job to job in administrative and support roles for the rest of my life. I do have a professional qualification - Secondary English Teaching - but I would, quite frankly prefer to pull my fingernails out slowly than practise it. So I need a new one. To this end I am going to do the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. Completely unglamourous, but functional and portable and something to build on.

This resolution, to my mind, is also the start of next year's resolution to crack down and focus on saving for my Tasmanian rural dream.



So, here's to 2012. Last year was an odd one - not a bad year, but one that was a little all over the place. 2012 will hopefully be a chance to build on the good that came my way and to move on from - and more importantly learn from - the unpleasantness. Cheers!