Buongiorno, 2010

It's very trendy this year to not make resolutions, since everyone knows that they're impossible to keep, and who wants to set themselves up for failure, am I right? Except I can't help but be hopeful about the start of a new year, especially when it's also the start of a new decade, and although I might not be making any "resolutions" per se, I have been inspired to make some changes.

Our New Year's Eve was pretty meh, just the two of us on the couch in our pjs, watching The Hangover and Season 3 of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and half-heartedly playing drinking games. On the bright side, neither of us were hung over the next day, so we could spend New Year's Day being very, very productive.

We've been talking about The Great Purge of 2010 for a while. The situation is this: CM moved into this apartment in February with all his stuff. Then I moved in a month later with all my stuff. Three months later, we both left for the summer, and I have just now gotten back. The result is that the apartment was in chaos, especially our second bedroom, which became a dumping ground for all the stuff that didn't have any place to live. Which was a lot. It was making us both anxious and (among other factors, like heat that doesn't work, walls made of cotton candy, and no closet space) causing us to hate our apartment.

What better day than the first of the year to tackle a project like that? We went through it all, taking bags and bags of trash to the dumpster, setting aside crates of books to sell, and filling bags and bags to take to the Salvation Army. We're not finished, but I already feel like the GP of '10 is doing its magic—I'm feeling better already. The only thing that would have made it more satisfying is a paper shredder.

CM and I are also making some lifestyle changes for our own health and happiness. By the end of Christmas we both felt like big fat pigs (pizza and ribs on Christmas Eve (CM's family tradition), a roast on Christmas, huge pancake breakfasts, and countless pieces of candy will do that), so we started a diet on Dec 28. One week in, I think I can speak for both of us that it's going great. The diet is a simple one: don't eat things that are bad for you. We're making the rules up as we go along, but it involves a lot more meal planning, a lot less eating out, and mostly just a more mindful approach to what we put in our bodies. We're coupling that with a new exercise schedule: CM's doing his own thing, and I'm going to a personal trainer 3 times a week. And, of course, the dance lessons. We had our first one already, and I was shocked by what a workout it was.

On top of all that I have a few other goals, too: 1) Get much better at French before my next project which starts in a month, 2) Stop stressing out about work prospects for '10-'11, 3) Get cracking on the pile of books I want to read, 4) Keep in better contact with friends who are elsewhere, 5) See my family more, 6) Plan another European adventure, and 7) Try new things.

I don't think that's too ambitious for one year, do you?