I don’t tend to make New Year’s resolutions, and when I do, they’re usually simple and basic, like these ones. Last year I made mine at Rosh Hashanah, there were only five of them, and I didn’t keep three. Not a great track record.
But, inspired by Andrea’s gargantuan list, I have decided that, new decade, new attitude. This year, I will actually set out some lofty goals for myself, and hopefully even achieve them. So, without further adieu, here’s my list of 120 things to do in 2010:
- Go to Morocco.
- Go camping at least twice next summer.
- Find my dream apartment and move into it.
- Get my own washer/dryer and finally stop dragging my laundry around like a friggin’ nomad.
- Get a dishwasher.
- Replace my 12-year-old car with something newer and zippier.
- …or else get rid of it and join CommunAuto.
- Successfully fight that unfair, BS speeding ticket.
- Complete and edit my NaNoWriMo 2009 project.
- Participate in NaNoWriMo 2010.
- …and win.
- Buy those new dishes I was eyeing at the Ottawa kitchen store.
- Buy a spice rack.
- Paint my kitchen yellow. (I’ve always wanted a yellow kitchen, for some reason.)
- Go skiing at least three times.
- Go snowshoeing.
- Visit Cathy.
- Visit Andrea and Jim.
- Convince Andrea and Jim to come visit more often.
- Host Etrek Montreal-fest 2010.
- Eat breakfast (other than coffee) more days than not.
- Buy a vegetable steamer.
- Find a new volunteer project.
- Celebrate Canada Day someplace where people are actually happy to be Canadian.
- …with fireworks.
- …and some typically Canadian music like Blue Rodeo or Great Big Sea.
- Buy new socks and throw out the ones with holes in them.
- Reprise Buy Nothing Week.
- Roast marshmellows over a fireplace.
- Have a board game brunch.
- Eat crepes at CDL.
- Host a wine and cheese.
- Host a fondue party.
- Make homemade sushi.
- Play poker.
- …and win.
- Finish reading Don Quixote.
- …in time for the January book club meet-up.
- Watch the rest of the UK version of Life On Mars.
- Attend the St. Patrick’s Day Parade
- …and fail to remember much about it later.
- Turn 30.
- …with minimal freaking out.
- Go to New York City. (I heart NY).
- Go to Quebec City.
- Get through the winter without succumbing to the winter blahs.
- …and weighing less than I do now.
- Win tickets to something on the radio.
- Get a letter to the editor published in the newspaper.
- Attend the Salon Passion Chocolat.
- …and the Jazz Fest.
- …and the Comedy Fest.
- …and Bluesfest Ottawa.
- …and Nuit Blanche.
- …and the FrancoFolies.
- …and FantasiaFest.
- …and a bunch of other festivals.
- Keep walking to work every day, as long as I live within walking distance.
- Pack lunches and avoid the takeout trap.
- Pay someone an undeserved compliment.
- Learn to sew well enough to hem my own pant legs and sleeves.
- Don’t get the flu.
- Call my grandfather.
- Learn CSS.
- …and update the look and feel of this blog so it’s not so ugly.
- Blog more often.
- Read the Israeli news headlines more regularly.
- …in Hebrew, to keep my language skills from going completely rusty.
- …and listen to online radio or watch online TV broadcasts in Hebrew, too, for the same reason.
- Update my online (Flickr) photo albums.
- Update my offline (printed) photo albums.
- Buy fruits and veggies from the farmers’ markets instead of the supermarket.
- Vote.
- …in an election where my vote actually makes a difference.
- Visit the Contemporary Arts Museum on freebie Wednesday.
- Go to at least one rock concert.
- …by a band that has been around for less than 15 years.
- Watch the Cannes Lions winning ads.
- Carry on an entire conversation with a francophone without letting on that I’m anglo.
- Try 10 new restaurants in Montreal.
- Find a good answer to the inevitable questions about my name that doesn’t involve exasperation, or a long backstory.
- Clean the oven.
- …using baking soda (?)
- Organize my DVD collection.
- Set out to buy clothes and actually end up with clothes.
- …and no shoes.
- Master the art of the experience brief.
- Get more (consumer) insightful.
- Retrieve my old electric keyboard and actually remind myself how to play it.
- Reduce the procrastination to a manageable level.
- Pay my taxes.
- …and put the refund towards travel.
- Win my 2009-10 fantasy hockey pool.
- Draft Ovi in the 2010-11 fantasy hockey pool.
- Go to at least one Habs’ playoff game – contingent on them actually making the playoffs, of course.
- Keep kosher(ish) for Passover.
- Couchsurf.
- Host couchsurfers.
- Help at least three friends plan trips.
- Invent a new smoothie recipe.
- Watch the Olympics on TV.
- …and see the Canadian team win the hockey gold. (Hey, I can hope, right?)
- Improve my Spanish from a 20-word vocabulary to at least a 50-word one.
- Watch Mad Men Season 4.
- Upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7.
- …preferably without losing my mind in the process.
- Go apple picking in the fall.
- Sell my old backpacks.
- Clear out my closets and drawers.
- …and participate in a clothing swap.
- …and donate whatever I cannot swap to charity.
- Drink more green tea instead of coffee.
- Finish the pile of books that are sitting on my “to read” shelf.
- Get my grandmother’s chicken soup recipe from my mom.
- …and learn to make it.
- Convince my mom that the world isn’t going to end in 2012, regardless of what the Mayans said.
- Go karaoking.
- Go kayaking.
- Laugh a lot.
- Spend less time in front of the computer making these lists, and more time actually doing the things on them.
Yes, I know the original post had 201 things and this one only has 120. But it was all I could think of. Besides, if I manage to do even half of these things this year, it will be a very productive year.
Nice!! And an eTrek Montreal fest made it. You've almost inspired me to make a similar list. I would have to include reviving eTrek though and I know not how to do it 🙂
These are amazing 😀 Hope you can accomplish them all!!
Now THAT’s a list. Awesome!
That was a really good post, I found it while looking for hotels for my summer holidays 2010, but I will definitely have to adapt this, although maybe as “My 120 Things To Do This DECADE”! Might try and get a few done on holiday, too.
Maria