Welcome 2010!

So tomorrow marks a new year. I look back on what I did in 2009 and am proud of myself. I didn't set any resolutions last year, but I think it served me well. At that point, I don't think I was able to look outside the rut I was in. The first half of the year I didn't do much but wallow.

But in the summer things started turning around. I challenged myself in other endeavors that I think are starting to round me out as a person the way other things I've done haven't. And while I have only dipped my toe in the water, both culinary arts and writing feel like other avenues that I might be successful in. It's too soon to tell, but I remain hopeful and eager to see what will happen there.

I just turned 27, and now it feels like 30 is just way too close. It got me thinking of a few things that I want to accomplish before I turn 30:

- Make my own birthday cake, complete with fondant and decorations.
- Run a marathon.
- Be debt-free other than my mortgage.
- Have a query-able novel manuscript.

Those goals lead naturally into my 2010 resolutions. Being a compulsive overachiever, I must admit I have many more goals than this, but here's a few to share.

- Read 50 books, at least 5 of which are non-fiction.
- Pay off the loan on the brand-new car I bought in 2009.
- Finish my NaNo 2009 novel.
- Run a race every month, any distance.

But my most important goal is something that I'm notoriously bad at doing. Don't lose connections with people. That's something I really need to be better about. The people that mean a lot to me deserve better than that.

While I may not be staying up to see the new year in its first moments, I would like to think of it not as the tragic nature of a homebody, but as a chance to greet the new year refreshed and ready to go.