From 2008 to 2009
I'll break this down into three sections:
Christmas Vacation recap
It wasn't a very busy Christmas break, but I planned it that way, so I consider it a success. The first few days were spent tidying up around the house and finishing off Christmas shopping. I (unexpectedly) got my netbook on the 22nd, a testament to Purolator's delivery speed. Christmas Eve and Christmas morning I spent at Mom's place. In the evening we went to my aunt and uncle's place for an awesome turkey dinner.
After Christmas Day, the vacation got a little "drinkier." Boxing Day we went to Trapper's for some drinks and to watch a hockey game. The day after, House and James came over for a bit and we headed to the Georgetown. And the day after that, myself and Craig did a monster day-boil. Started at 3:00pm and drank till about 2:00am. With, between us, 32 beers during. Nuts.
Took my foot off the pedal then, and had a mellower couple of days. Necessarily, because I was coming down with something. Richard and Jennifer had a nice Christmas gathering at their place, involving most of our visiting high school friends.
New Year's Eve I felt like crap, but knowing that myself and others didn't have a plan for that night, I managed to medicate myself with coffee, chicken soup, and amoxicillin (compliments of Dr. Brown), and have a few souls in. It came to my attention that night how expensive my drinking tastes have become -- scotch and wine were the orders of the night. Party ended at around 5am, I guess, and I managed to get at least a few hours sleep.
From then until yesterday, I battled some kind of flu. The worst is over now, so I'm ready for work tomorrow (shudder). So there it is, vacation in five paragraphs.
2008 New Year's Resolutions Recap
Cooking/lunches -- This started out badly, got a whole lot better, but in the dying days of 2008 when I was so busy with work, etc., it died off. I'm going to claim success, though, since I learned about a 8-9 new recipes, plus the dozens from the BBQ course I took. Also, not a single freezer dinner had in 2008 (I think).
Housework -- I only found myself eyes-deep in chores a few times this year. I did manage to make it part of my daily routine, however, not 30 minutes as I had hoped. I've found that the secret is to let everything have its place. As I'm still making some of those places (see below), my housekeeping system still needs to be streamlined.
Carpentry -- I still really enjoy it, it's just that I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. In 2008, I made two plant stands, a dresser, a wine rack, *almost* got the entertainment centre replacement done (two coats of stain left -- c'mon!!). I had hoped to get six projects done. Obviously, I came up a little short.
Electronics -- Fail. It just reminded me too much of work. That and I need some kind of better system in my workshop so I can keep the sawdust off everything.
Piano -- Success, I claim. I learned a bunch of new songs, and I also got involved with this French choir thingy.
What did I learn? Resolutions are hard to keep. However, I was at least mindful of these five items for most days of the past year, so their statement on this blog was at least somewhat useful.
2009 Resolutions
So what will make the list this year?
One thing: Time management, or just doing it.
It seems like the unifying element in all my misses above is the drive to just get my ass in gear and do it. Often I find myself surfing the net, or turning on the TV, or (and this isn't really bad) playing the same songs on the piano. Or when I'm not that lazy, I waste time thinking about doing stuff, or the best way to do stuff. Before I know it, a couple of hours of my evening have been stolen. And getting started on tasks at hand on weekends is even worse. I wake up thinking "Oh yeah... all day to do that" and then it's 1pm and nothing even started -- sometimes not even dressed.
Worse still is that I find these habits creeping into the workplace. I'll waste time mulling over details rather than just starting and letting the details come naturally. Sometimes I leave work frustrated at how few tangible results have been attained. I realize that sometimes that's the nature of the beast, but other times I feel it could have been prevented.
So how am I going to break this habit, or bore you, the reader, with somehow quantifying it?
That I'm not going to worry about. Right now, I'm going to get off my ass and tidy this damn office.
Christmas Vacation recap
It wasn't a very busy Christmas break, but I planned it that way, so I consider it a success. The first few days were spent tidying up around the house and finishing off Christmas shopping. I (unexpectedly) got my netbook on the 22nd, a testament to Purolator's delivery speed. Christmas Eve and Christmas morning I spent at Mom's place. In the evening we went to my aunt and uncle's place for an awesome turkey dinner.
After Christmas Day, the vacation got a little "drinkier." Boxing Day we went to Trapper's for some drinks and to watch a hockey game. The day after, House and James came over for a bit and we headed to the Georgetown. And the day after that, myself and Craig did a monster day-boil. Started at 3:00pm and drank till about 2:00am. With, between us, 32 beers during. Nuts.
Took my foot off the pedal then, and had a mellower couple of days. Necessarily, because I was coming down with something. Richard and Jennifer had a nice Christmas gathering at their place, involving most of our visiting high school friends.
New Year's Eve I felt like crap, but knowing that myself and others didn't have a plan for that night, I managed to medicate myself with coffee, chicken soup, and amoxicillin (compliments of Dr. Brown), and have a few souls in. It came to my attention that night how expensive my drinking tastes have become -- scotch and wine were the orders of the night. Party ended at around 5am, I guess, and I managed to get at least a few hours sleep.
From then until yesterday, I battled some kind of flu. The worst is over now, so I'm ready for work tomorrow (shudder). So there it is, vacation in five paragraphs.
2008 New Year's Resolutions Recap
Cooking/lunches -- This started out badly, got a whole lot better, but in the dying days of 2008 when I was so busy with work, etc., it died off. I'm going to claim success, though, since I learned about a 8-9 new recipes, plus the dozens from the BBQ course I took. Also, not a single freezer dinner had in 2008 (I think).
Housework -- I only found myself eyes-deep in chores a few times this year. I did manage to make it part of my daily routine, however, not 30 minutes as I had hoped. I've found that the secret is to let everything have its place. As I'm still making some of those places (see below), my housekeeping system still needs to be streamlined.
Carpentry -- I still really enjoy it, it's just that I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. In 2008, I made two plant stands, a dresser, a wine rack, *almost* got the entertainment centre replacement done (two coats of stain left -- c'mon!!). I had hoped to get six projects done. Obviously, I came up a little short.
Electronics -- Fail. It just reminded me too much of work. That and I need some kind of better system in my workshop so I can keep the sawdust off everything.
Piano -- Success, I claim. I learned a bunch of new songs, and I also got involved with this French choir thingy.
What did I learn? Resolutions are hard to keep. However, I was at least mindful of these five items for most days of the past year, so their statement on this blog was at least somewhat useful.
2009 Resolutions
So what will make the list this year?
One thing: Time management, or just doing it.
It seems like the unifying element in all my misses above is the drive to just get my ass in gear and do it. Often I find myself surfing the net, or turning on the TV, or (and this isn't really bad) playing the same songs on the piano. Or when I'm not that lazy, I waste time thinking about doing stuff, or the best way to do stuff. Before I know it, a couple of hours of my evening have been stolen. And getting started on tasks at hand on weekends is even worse. I wake up thinking "Oh yeah... all day to do that" and then it's 1pm and nothing even started -- sometimes not even dressed.
Worse still is that I find these habits creeping into the workplace. I'll waste time mulling over details rather than just starting and letting the details come naturally. Sometimes I leave work frustrated at how few tangible results have been attained. I realize that sometimes that's the nature of the beast, but other times I feel it could have been prevented.
So how am I going to break this habit, or bore you, the reader, with somehow quantifying it?
That I'm not going to worry about. Right now, I'm going to get off my ass and tidy this damn office.
posted by Dave Green at 4:18 p.m.
2 Comments:
Sounds like you had a great holiday. All I can say to yours and Craig's bender with 32 beer.... is holy crap! However, since I one drank 22 by myself in less than 11 hours.... it's not too bad (that being said, I would probably die of alcohol poisoning if I even attempted to do that now... let alone 16)
Most troubling was that it happened after a Georgetown night. And for the most part, I still felt in control.
I'm surprised my liver forgave me enough to let me do NYE. :)
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