New Year, New Decade.

Okay, I totally appreciate that 2001 was the first year of the new millenium, therefore 2010 is the last year of the first decade. I lost that battle 10 years ago, and went to 2000 parties and listened to people who earnestly stockpiled their houses with survival food for the catastrophe that would come. (It did come, but it came in the form of the Bush II Administration, but that's neither here nor there.)

Anyway...I'm on board with the zero being the first year because the sooner I can put the rampant shit of the Oughts behind me, the better. I'm more than willing to kick the last decade to the curb. The suckage of the last decade is almost breathtaking, taken in a lump: husband and both parents died, I survived a brain aneurysm, was hit by three hurricanes, changed jobs twice and one employer went under, current job is an exhausting dead end...what am I missing? Oh, Boy had two near-death car accidents. My beloved Bossy Dog was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Throw in the random stuff of life and bad dates and all the crap I've mercifully forgotten and yeah, I'm SO done with this decade.

2010, I have plans for you. I have plans for me. I have finally figured out, after years of screwing around, that the only way to make honest changes in life is to be brutally honest about where you are, and draw a map to where you want to be, and just do it. And no, this has nothing to do with selling the house and moving to Asheville. This is an internal reorganizing. A regrouping. Re-prioritizing. I've spent the last decade in survival mode, lurching from one crisis to another, so it's not much of a surprise that I have not made much progress toward a new life. Regrouping involves making a happy life where I am, which may lead me elsewhere, or may not.

Random list of things I want to do in 2010:

Get my yoga practice back.

Find work that challenges me in ways other than attempting to control my Fist of Death. Work that means something to me, that makes me feel like I'm doing something good.

Sleep. Sleep lots. It's amazing what sleep does for me, when I do it. 2 days into my Asheville visit, and I could see a change in my face in the mirror. I looked younger, fresher, healthier; there was muscle tone where there had been drooping.

Walk lots.

Eat right.

Focus on positive, upbeat entertainment in my ample spare time - not mindless happy self help talk, but witty writers and sharp humor. Read good books, watch more movies, listen to audiobooks.

Knit the yarn stash.

I've already used up all my waking hours with the above, but if I had an unlimited list, I'd add:

Get my Spanish back. Believe it or don't, but I graduated college ahead of schedule by scoring at "native fluency" to CLEP out of a year of Spanish. Yeah, that was a long time ago, and I have retained a few nouns and swear words. But it's all in there somewhere, and it would be a healthy way to give my brain some exercise.

Write down the shit stirring around in my head.

Acquire and train a puppy to keep the Bossy One happy in his old age.

Obviously I have to become independently wealthy to do the above, because there just aren't enough hours in the day.

I'm planning to go to Cousin C's tomorrow, but that's not for sure, because I can't tell if I'm coming down with a Crud. I have that feeling - kinda sinus-y, headachy, definitely tired, like something is brewing. And you know, I want to see the visiting cousins, but if serious sleeping and regrouping feels better, that's the way to go.