Making Plans

Welcome to the future! Isn't it glorious?!?

I'm a little sad that the future doesn't actually look like this,

I had a rousing evening of staying home and watching movies. It seemed that all my options for the night involved large crowds and loud noises, and I just wasn't feeling it. So after a viewing of Dinner for One (it's tradition), I snuggled in with my kitties and a couple of movies: The Social Network and Michael Collins. I'd never seen The Social Network which seemed odd given the amount of time I spend on Facebook. I saw Michael Collins on a date 17 years ago - yes, I'm that old - but a recent discussion about it prompted the repeat viewing. While it's a decent enough movie (historically accurate bio-pics are hard to get right), a better option to learn and understand that time in Irish history is The Wind That Shakes the Barley. Great film. Check it out.

At any rate, I'm just going to assume everyone had a more exciting evening than I did. On to the 2014 resolutions!

1. Go to kickboxing/bootcamp at least 11 times a month.

In an ideal world, I'd be making a commitment of going to every class, every week (that's four classes a week) but this is not an ideal world. Attending class is a huge time commitment as I go straight from work and don't get home until 7:30 or 8:00pm. Some weeks, doing that four nights in a row is just not going to be feasible. So while I want to aim for attending every class, my minimum is going to be 11. And maybe, for added incentive, I should say something silly like "if I don't make the 11 classes, I will do [insert number] burpees".

 Because if there is one thing that will make sure I get my ass to class at least 11 times a month, it's the threat of more burpees than I'd get in class.

2. Run two 10Ks

I will be running the TC10K in April because that's what you do when you live in Victoria and like to pretend you're a runner... or you're high on running endorphins and you agree with some Twitter friends that it sounds like a great idea to form a team. Same thing, really. But I want to aim to run another one in the Fall, something to keep me going once the TC is finished. If I get really hardcore, I'll do the Gunnar Shaw but I don't know if I'm ready for that level of trail race in the cold.

And just to be very clear, when I say 'run a 10K' I mean 'jog a 10K with plenty of walking breaks'. Let's not fool anyone here with thoughts of speedy races.

This totally counts as running, right?

3. Start the process of becoming certified in Instructional Design.

I'm a technical writer. To move forward in my field, Instructional Design is where it is at. Don't worry, I don't expect you to understand any of that. The plan is to enroll in a few classes, probably starting in September because they're through schools that start in September. Someone should probably remind me of this in June.

4. Improve my German.

A few years ago, I gave myself an ultimatum: either that was going to be the year that I worked on my German or I would drop it and just accept that das Schiff had sailed. I did nothing that year and so I let my half-hearted attempts to improve my German stop. 

Then I went back to Germany and Switzerland this past year and had to use my rusty German. Surprisingly, my German was much better than I anticipated and I gained a lot of confidence in my ability to use it. Not surprisingly, it reignited the desire to improve my German. I've been working on it casually for the past few months and I'm going to continue doing so in 2014. I'm still trying to determine how I plan to 'measure' my improvement. Hmm, a Christmas trip to Germany/Switzerland where I speak only German for the entire two weeks? Anyone want to fund that?

And that, my friends, concludes my resolutions for 2014. Nothing crazy, but building on what I've already started.

Wish me luck!

Question: How about you? Any resolutions? Or are you not a resolution person?