11 verbs for 2011

This is my goal/theme setting post for the new year, a list of intended actions along with some thoughts on how they might be realised.

1. Sleep - the aim is for 8 hours a night in bed with the lights out and, given that I set my alarm for 6:30am, this would mean lights out at 10:30pm, which seems unlikely, on account of me being at least part nocturnal. Still, it's something to work towards. Note to self: no laptops allowed in the bedroom, read a damn book instead you twit!
2. Exercise - I need to move in ways that make me feel good. So I'd better work out what that means and then do it. Maybe I should try a dance class. Or yoga or pilates or something. Or aqua-aerobics. But mostly I should just walk the dog more. When I think about what activities I know I love it always comes down to 2 things, swimming and horse-riding. The latter is probably not practical on account of cost and opportunity but regular swimming is perfectly possible and I would love to get back to feeling as strong and competent in the water as I did when I was younger. I could swim laps for ever without feeling tired, well ok, at least 30 minutes at any rate.
3. Organise - I want to continue working with the order from chaos theme I began back in August last year and there's plenty of small scale jobs around the place to tackle. However, there's also one big one that I've been avoiding for years, I want to cull my books and get them arranged alphabetically and in fiction/non-fiction/kid-friendly categories.
4. Budget - Time and money. Don't waste them thoughtlessly (NB well considered time and money wasting is entirely acceptable), and give generously to those in need when I can.
5. Create - Making beautiful things makes me happy. I should do it more often.
6. Cook - Making yummy things makes me happy too. I think I'll aim for trying one new recipe a month.
7. Learn - I hope I'm always learning, through reading things that challenge me to think, through trying a new craft, by taking lessons (I'll be continuing with singing lessons this year), by helping the kids with research for school, there are so many opportunities for learning in simply being engaged with life.
8. Teach - What better thing to do with things you've learned than to pass that learning on to someone else? Many moons ago I toyed with the idea of writing up a tablet weaving tutorial for absolute beginners and publishing it here on my blog along with the various patterns that I've woven. I'm sure there's plenty of resources out there on the intertubes for teaching yourself to weave but I reckon one more can't hurt.
9. Laugh - There really ought to be more of this in everyday life, not sure how one makes that happen other than by being open to the absurd and not so caught up in stress and angst that laughter gets lost. But failing that there's always the tickets we've got to go see Billy Connolly in February and Tim Minchin in March!
10. Love - Ok, everything I try and write here is coming out trite and inadequate, I probably need more sleep to be more articulate (see point 1). Might revisit this idea later on when I:
11. Review - Each month I want to come back to this list and see how things are going and remind myself of what my goals are.

Happy New Year everyone, may your 2011 be filled with love and laughter and all the good things of life!