What is on your 2009 To do List?

[Divia]

My brother did this last year. He had things like eating contests etc. I thought that maybe I would do this too. Its not a new years resolution but things you want to complete for 2009. What's on your list?

My List:

Swim with the dolphins
Get a massage
Finish a second draft of ANY story that I'm working on. :o
Go to Seneca Falls
Volunteer somewhere
Take a trip to Salem or Gettysburg

[Ash]

Mmm, lets see: staying healthy, staying out of debt, staying married (not so hard to do), staying in my job, staying active - pretty much what I plan to do every year! I know, I'm boring. I just never do the goal thing, or the resolution thing. I do plan to read more books than this year; I really slacked off this last year for some reason, and to maybe focus a little more on non-fiction.

[boswellbaxter]

Finish my Wars of the Roses novel. Start another one!

[Leyland]

Hmmmm ...

I haven't been back to New Orleans since May 2004, so I think I need to get a long weekend visit in. The greatest music and oyster po boys! mmmmm.

I intend to freshly paint all the porch furniture and do some remedial gardening - it appears my previous attempts were a bit ambitious since I see lots of dead looking stuff that I thought would be OK.

Improving hiking endurance skills is a must and I will definitely get many more Appalachian day hikes in this year.

Take my niece on a summer road trip or across the Atlantic to England or Ireland.

I need to earn 15 hours of accounting credits to reach the SC state CPA license requirement. That's only five classes, so maybe the scheduling will work out for the calendar year and I can get them all in. If not, done in 2010 then!

And just ..... to keep smiling!

[Kasthu]

I've got a number of things on my list, some of them major:

--Find a better job.

--Apply to graduate school in medieval history (I've been meaning to do so since 2005, but people kept telling me to get a job rather than go back to school right after undergrad).

--Exercise more regularly.

--If I have the money to do so, travel more. I used to travel a lot, but I haven't been overseas in three or four years, so I think I need to get out more. I'd love to go back to England and Italy.

--As far as reading goes, I think I'm OK with that (read nearly 140 books this year)... but I'd like to branch out a bit more (more contemporary fiction, more classics).

[SonjaMarie]

140?! That's almost double then I've read (71). I hope to read more next year but I don't think I'll get to 140!

SM

[Rowan]

Hmmmm ...

I haven't been back to New Orleans since May 2004, so I think I need to get a long weekend visit in. The greatest music and oyster po boys! mmmmm.


Let me know when you're coming and we can make plans to get a coffee or something. :)

My plans are:


work more diligently on my manuscript
find a new job
read all the books I keep buying
try learning Welsh
visit my friend in Florida

[Maggie]

For me in 2009 I just want to not forget all the things I love to do. In 2008 I got so wrapped up in all the nasty stuff at work, I forgot all the stuff I like doing.

[pat]

For me: go to college for either the Librarian Diploma or Pilates certification. Write. Sew (I have a number of projects that need completing, and I plan to finish them this year!) I want to drop a dress size - I could do with two but I am looking at the big picture and making small steps.

[Alaric]

* buy my first car. I've had my driver's license since I turned sixteen in 2003 but have never bought a car that is actually mine.
* complete my honours degree, hopefully in first-class.
* see if I can find a proper job after completing honours that won't involve doing a PHD.
* get into better shape. I used to be pretty fit from when I played two sports every week but ever since I hurt my knee and stopped playing I've put on about 15kg's too many.
* try and make some headway into one of the many novel ideas I come up with when I can find the time, study permitting.
* read more books than I did last year.
* find time to go on a holiday at some stage.

[Telynor]

What I need to do:
Get my studio organized more efficently
Lose a tenth of my weight and exercise more (maybe hire a personal trainer?)
Keep up my level of review writing

What I want to do:
Take another class at the local community college
Take a cruise somewhere
Meet some of you guys in person

[LCW]

Here's my list of resolutions and goals, not necessarily in order of priorities:
Finish redoing the house and yard
Finish hiking all the local trails
Get a Presa Canario puppy
Do more Yoga
Get married

[Misfit]

Lose a tenth of my weight and exercise more (maybe hire a personal trainer?)

Going to be interesting to see what happens after my next appointment with the knee doctor - they said the next step is.............horrors..............you all sitting down?

PHYSICAL THERAPY.

Guess in some ways the injury is going to be a good thing? We'll see. Other than that I'm not planning much of anything until I see the damage that the insurance company won't cover. Life is good. Maybe.

[Leyland]

Take a cruise somewhere
Meet some of you guys in person

Hey - maybe a summertime HFO members cruise! Cool Alaska, anyone?

[SonjaMarie]

Hey - maybe a summertime HFO members cruise! Cool Alaska, anyone?

I'd kill to go on a cruise, but I could never afford it.

SM

[MLE]

Things I have to do:
Adjust to being grandbaby daycare.
Become competent on Dreamweaver (a web design program)
Increase skills on Cubase (an audio editing program)
Lose another 10 pounds. (lost 10 in '07, but only maintained the loss throughout '08)
Get my leg muscles used to horseback riding again.
Make sure my beloved gets his exercise even if I have to chase him every step up bunburner hill every morning.
Edit my almost-finished book on llama training and herd behaviors.
Begin and complete extensive and intrusive -- but necessary -- dental work.

[Ash]

Misfit, next door to my classroom is the district's PT room; and the gals that work there actually call it Physical Torture :) Its really not, but I've had my share and sometimes it feels like it! But I remember when the exercises suddenly felt easy, and I felt like a new person. Hang in there, it will happen!

Oh, I know something I have to do - our district requires us to do some kind of project as part of our three year evaluation. Three years ago, I decided to completely revamp my sign lessons for parents, and get them on DVD. Well, I've done everything but this last, and I have until May to get the last done. And it will probably take until May - yikes.

[MLE]

I'd kill to go on a cruise, but I could never afford it.

SM
You know, they are surprisingly cheap if you are willing to fill the leftover spaces. Our family did a 7-night Alaska cruise for $500 a person, just because we were willing to take the rainier first week in May. Everything was included, there was plenty to do onboard even when it rained, and the ship was an engineering marvel (Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas). My favorite part was talking to the crew about their home countries.

[SonjaMarie]

You know, they are surprisingly cheap if you are willing to fill the leftover spaces. Our family did a 7-night Alaska cruise for $500 a person, just because we were willing to take the rainier first week in May. Everything was included, there was plenty to do onboard even when it rained, and the ship was an engineering marvel (Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas). My favorite part was talking to the crew about their home countries.

Yeah, but even that is a bit much for my family since we are all on disability. I keep a tight rein on our budget so when we have things that come up, like this recent weather, we have the money to cover the extra money that will show up on our bills. Our electric bill is usually under $50 a month, it was $122 for Dec. :P

SM

[Leyland]

You know, they are surprisingly cheap if you are willing to fill the leftover spaces. Our family did a 7-night Alaska cruise for $500 a person, just because we were willing to take the rainier first week in May. Everything was included, there was plenty to do onboard even when it rained, and the ship was an engineering marvel (Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas). My favorite part was talking to the crew about their home countries.

I believe we have found our HFO cruise director! $500 sounds good to me. You can bring that darling grandbaby along, MLE!

High heat and intense sun gives me bad headaches and dizziness, so a rainy Alaskan cruise instead of a usual Caribbean one actually does sound like a winner to me. Good to know!

[Ash]

I've never gotten the big deal about cruises. My mom tried to get us to go on one for our honeymoon; nope, a trip down the pacific coast highway was more the ticket to me. I'd feel trapped on a ship; and all the food and entertainment is just so not me. Now, I'd take a trip down the Rhine, or the Mississipi. Otherwise, my feet on solid ground, thankyouverymuch, and the freedom to see what I want to see is more my style

Next summer (2010) is our 20th anniversary and we really want to go back to France. So our goal this year is to save money for next.

[Divia]

I am going on my first cruise this Feb. I am wicked excited about it. :D

[Susan]

I am going on my first cruise this Feb. I am wicked excited about it. :D

I've been on three cruises and loved them all. I hope you do too.

[Alaric]

Going to be interesting to see what happens after my next appointment with the knee doctor - they said the next step is.............horrors..............you all sitting down?

PHYSICAL THERAPY.

Guess in some ways the injury is going to be a good thing? We'll see. Other than that I'm not planning much of anything until I see the damage that the insurance company won't cover. Life is good. Maybe.

I can really sympathise. What did you do to yours?

I dislocated my right knee just before Christmas in 2004, although I was lucky that I got away with little to no long-term ligament damage (nothing too serious). I did have some rehab on it - mostly walking/wading in a pool (which I hated as I can barely swim) and crunches in a gym - but nothing too intensive. It would not have been pretty had I done something a little worse, though, because it was never needed for me to have a surgery to fix anything. It would just heal on its own. But now, because there was still some damage that was never surgically repaired, I'm left with more or less a constant dull ache in my knee.

Knees really are a massive pain, aren't they? Such an important part of the body yet it breaks so easily. :( I've had some longer lasting side-effects from it too. The older sister of one of my friends is actually a physiotherapist/masseuse and she recently pointed out something I never even noticed when I was at his place and laying on the sofa on my stomach - subconsciously I put virtually all my weight on the left side of my body, pulling it that way (kind of like the tower of Pisa). Apparently doing that can lead to curvature of the spine and scoliosis, or developing a hunchback. :eek: The fact that I usually sleep on my stomach makes that even more unsettling, ever since she told me that I've now noticed that I can't stand flat-footed for very long (otherwise I get a throb of pain) and end up shifting all my weight to my left side. It's something I can probably only correct at the gym.

[Telynor]

I believe we have found our HFO cruise director! $500 sounds good to me. You can bring that darling grandbaby along, MLE!

High heat and intense sun gives me bad headaches and dizziness, so a rainy Alaskan cruise instead of a usual Caribbean one actually does sound like a winner to me. Good to know!

Alaska is the one that I am considering, and 500 would be very reasonable. I also got a notice from Celebrity that they are offering some specials this year -- if you can afford it, I am wagering that this is going to be a year to travel.

[Ludmilla]

I feel like I'm buried alive in clutter and bureaucracy. I can't do much about the latter, but I really need to make headway on the former.

Exercise more, is another. Maybe for every aggregated hour of reading, I'll squeeze in 10 minutes of exercise. Now that my husband bought an elliptical machine, I really have no excuse.

Further out, I'd love for us to be in a financial situation for me to quit my job. It used to be tolerable, but management has become increasingly inflexible and micro-managing, and I have no respect for the people I work for. I don't care about a career path or how much money I make. I just want to do something that makes me feel like I'm a productive human being rather than a doormat, and which helps us supplement our income and allows me the flexibility to take care of our kids (in elementary school).

[MLE]

I believe we have found our HFO cruise director! $500 sounds good to me. You can bring that darling grandbaby along, MLE!

High heat and intense sun gives me bad headaches and dizziness, so a rainy Alaskan cruise instead of a usual Caribbean one actually does sound like a winner to me. Good to know!
Naw, I'm no cruise director. I did a hitch in the Coast Guard, and the dh and I prefer to hike the mountains. We've had enough of boats! Our eldest and wife are cruise nuts, they find all the cheap deals -- since they are as broke as any young couple paying for housing in California -- and when the youngest finally got married, we wanted to find something we could do together for a week so all the spouses could get better acquainted. The cruise was an ideal venue for that, and the rain actually made it more effective for the purpose.

I have to confess that the opulence made me feel a little like a fish out of water -- what with all the NGO world poverty organizations we work with, sneaking off to the lounge to catch up on emails from personal friends living in places without so much as a flush toilet.

Our next big trip will be Pakistan. Mahmood's family has been trying to get us to come visit for years, and their feelings are starting to get hurt.

[EC2]

Work:
Get researching on the next project
Catch up with the ones on the go (hah!)
Move on up to the next level
Sort out passport so I can spread my wings a bit more.

Home:
Get the kitchen sorted out (hah! again)

Play
Book a couple of working breaks - Looks like being Yorkshire and Sussex to fit in with the work in progress and future work.
Start going out for walks again.
Read more books.

Health and well being.
Get those extra pounds off at the gym
Continue to deepen my spiritual awareness and sense of wonder.

[Leyland]

Sort out passport so I can spread my wings a bit more.

Good reminder! Mine expired a year and a half ago and I keep forgetting to send it in for a new one. I had a dream last night about going to Egypt for some sort of ad hoc work project (not accounting though) and then realized I couldn't go overseas. So much for that adventure!

Must be a sign to get that new passport!

[diamondlil]

I've been thinking about doing this as well for my son and myself! Not that I can afford to go anywhere, but even if there is something cheap that comes up I am not ready at this point in time!

[michellemoran]

Oh, great post idea Divia!!! For 2009 I'd like to:

Attend the HNS Conference
Do a Scandinavia trip
Publish my third novel
Uh... finish editing my third novel
Buy more books as gifts
Begin my fourth book

[xiaotien]

crikey. on the forefront of my mind
is to finish the rough draft to my contracted
sequel to SILVER PHOENIX.

also have a picture book dummy due soon
and i'm all but clueless as to how to make one.

um, dealing with a debut coming out in
may. trying very hard not to think about it.
probably not the right attitude to take. haha!
esp with someone like michelle who's so great
with marketing here! 8)

um... i'd love to attend the scbwi los angeles
conference in august. and i'd also love to visit
nyc this year, if possible.

[princess garnet]

Attend ALA Annual Conference in Chicago

[xiaotien]

princess...lucky you!!