There are a couple years left of the year, but the truth is I know I won't complete any of the resolutions that aren't already done. And the great thing about a new year is that it offers 356 new days to tackle the items that are left and to add some new ones.
When I started this list of resolutions early this year I wanted to force myself out of my comfort zone a little bit as well as get back to some things I really enjoy, but for which I don't always make the time. The list was also sort of a back up plan in a ways because the one thing I really wanted last year was to get a fellowship to study at Stanford, which I knew was a long shot. I thought the list would be a way to distract myself if the fellowship didn't come through, which it didn't.
I finished a lot of the resolutions, such as eating at five new restaurants and cooking with five new ingredients, early on in the year. Others took a lot longer to accomplish, like going on a date. Still others have yet to come to fruition - like clean out the garage. For the resolutions I didn't complete, I'll carry them over to next year. And there are some I did complete that I'd like to keep as a reminder to try new things next year. In the next few weeks. I'll spend some time thinking about new things I might want to add to the list, just to keep things fresh next year. Look for an updated list soon after the New Year.
For now, here is a recap of how things went so far in 2010:
1.) Read 10 new books
I actually just finished an 11th book a couple days ago - an early work by the author of "Bridget Jones Diary," "Cause Celeb" just wasn't quite as endearing as the later works to come.
Some of the books were by authors I know well, such as Nick Hornby. Others were by people I'd heard of, but never read before such as Chuck Palahniuk. I found that I have a habit of picking books on the serious side, so maybe next year a resolution will be to find a little lighter reading through the year.
Other reads included:
Hunger by Lan Samantha Chang
Lullabye by Chuck Palahniuk
Click by multiple authors
Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd
Passing for Thin by Francine Kuffel
Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro
A Version of the Truth by Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
2.) Eat at five new restaurants - I ate at more than five new restaurants this year and I am proud of myself for getting out of the regular routines of going to the same, old restaurants. The list is longer than what I have below, and includes some places I tried while on vacation in San Diego as well as a great breakfast place in San Jose called Bill's Cafe that has eggs Benedict served up in unique ways. This is a resolution I'd like to carry over into next year, especially since I still haven't gone to the fancy Los Gatos restaurant that inspired the resolution in the first place.
Rosy's at the Beach -Morgan Hill
Pluto's - Santana Row
Village Bistro - Santana Row
Lizarran Tapas Selectas - Gilroy
Knife and Fork Cafe - Hollister
The Mucky Duck - Monterey
Brickhouse Burger Company - Indianapolis - okay, this place has a pretzel bun for their burgers - enough said.
Champp's - Indianapolis
Kona Jack's - Indianapolis
Aqui - Campbell
Satura Cakes - Campbell
3.) Make homemade ravioli
The homemade ravioli should have been simple - had the pasta maker I have at home not been broken. Pasta is not meant to be rolled out by hand with a rolling pin so my ravioli were a little bit thicker and tougher than they should have been. But they still tasted good, especially with the homemade sauce.
5.) Take a trip somewhere (other than Indiana)
Now I thought this resolution was going to be complete in May, when I booked a flight to Denver and made plans to stay with someone I knew there. But it didn't work out and I ended up cancelling that part of the trip. I did, however, make two trips to Indiana two months in a row. The first was to surprise a good friend at her bridal shower/bachelorette party. She was surprised when I showed up at her house in a rental car. It was a whirlwind trip, where I flew in on a redeye and back out early the next morning, without any time to sleep. It was exhausting, but worth it to be with my friend and the rest of the wedding party. I flew back for the wedding and it was worth it.
Now for my trip somewhere other than Indiana, I spent a few days in San Diego to see my cousin graduate from marine boot camp. The extra time was spent visiting the San Diego Zoo and scoping out Old Town San Diego. One of the great finds on the trip was some artisan olive oil and vinegars from Temecula Olive Oil Company. In fact, the stuff is so good, we hardly want to use it because we have such a limited supply. It can be ordered online, so I might have to order some more.
6.) Cook recipes with five ingredients I haven't used before
Hoisin sauce - This tangy sauce is perfect with chicken, though a friend of mine argued that it doesn't really count as an ingredient. I think it did.
Swiss chard - This vegetable can be sauteed and served alone, or added into pasta dishes. It has plenty of healthy ingredients, though I prefer the regular chard to rainbow chard, because the latter tastes a bit bitter to me.
Quinoa - This seed has is a complete protein, but it was something I couldn't stomach. I am not sure if it was just the way I prepared it or if I had a bad batch. Whatever it is, the experience turned my stomach and now just seeing photos of quinoa makes me queasy.
Celery root - This root vegetable is perfect roasted in the oven with a little bit of olive oil. It was one of several new root vegetables I tried this year, and it's about time to cook some up again.
Golden beets - Until shit year, I had never cooked beets at home. For people who have only had canned beets, the fresh variety roasted in the oven is an epiphany. The vegetables and sweet and complex, and so worth the time of making them oneself.
8.) Write a short story - I actually wrote a few things, though I am not sure if they are complete yet so I don't really know whether to call this one done. I plan to continue working on this pieces of started and try to find time to start some new ones.
9.) Go on a date - I actually end up going on more than one date, with more than one person, in addition to a few kinda, sort of date situations. But at least last month, I went out with someone when I knew for sure it was a date and had a good time.
10.) Apply for a fellowship - I applied for the Knight Fellowship early in the year, and was disappointed when I got the news early in February that I had not made it past the first round of the application process. It's one of those things I could apply for again, but part of me feels like I was applying because I felt really stuck where I was and I didn't know what else to do. I'd love an opportunity like this in the future, but for next year I'm happy with where I am with the paper for which I work.
11.) Quit farmville - I had to give it up cold turkey - though I still received requests from family and friends for quite sometime. No more FB games for me. I can't do it.
12.) Take a class - I took a cupcake decorating class and I wasn't very good at it. I don't think I will be decorating many cupcakes, and in fact, except for the plethora of baking around the holidays, I don't really like to bake all that much. I will be using one of the tips I got, however, of using an offset spatula when I bake a cake for Christmas. Hopefully I can get the cake to look decent since I have a bad history with them not turning out quite like I'd like them to.
I'd like to keep this resolution again for next year, even if it is just a cooking class.
14.) Keep up the gym routines - I've been to the gym once in the last week - due to a cold that morphed into a sinus infection - but I am proud to report that since January, with the exception of this week, I have been an avid gym-goer with a record of five to six trips a week. I run everyday I go, I weight train, I ride the bike and I use the elliptical. At the end of August, I even started taking a boot camp class twice a week and it really seemed to add intensity to my workout. When I first started, I would be sore for days after class, from the squats and lunges and crunches, but it all started to get a lot easier and I started to see the difference in myself.
It helps that I have family who go with me a few times a week to keep me motivated from skipping all the time. And I love having a nike sensor that tracks my mileage for me so I know how far I've gone - since July I've run or walked more than 300 miles! I feel healthier, less stressed out at work and just feel better overall. It's a resolution I definitely plan to continue over to next year.
15.) Decide on what kind of car I want - My parents bought a car and I got their old car so I didn't really have to decide what I wanted. It worked out pretty well for me.
16.) Enter (and complete) a 5K run/walk
I entered my first 5K in March and was glad just not to be the last one in. My time was a mediocre 41+ minutes. But I kept running at the gym and entered another 5K in May, and one in October. For my last 5K, I came in just over 34 minutes, a vast improvement from my original time. Now, with the exception of the last week or so when I've been pretty sick, I run 1.5 miles five days a week and tackle a longer 3.5 mile run once a week. It's something I hope to continue to do, with the goal of whittle my time down a little for each 5K I enter.
18.) Have tulips or lilies in my garden
I missed the winter planting time for tulips last year, but I did buy some transplants when they were available at a local hardware store in early spring. This year, I am hoping to get some bulbs in the ground early in the year in hopes that they might bloom on their own in spring. I haven't had much luck with bulbs in the past, but I can always try.
19.) Make homemade pasta sauce (entirely from scratch)
This resolution turned out to be a lot of work. With my mom's help, I roasted a bunch of tomatoes, only to get about 1/2 a cup of tomato sauce to use in the pasta sauce. It was tasty, but required a lot of work, especially since a glass pan exploded in the oven with the first batch of tomatoes, which then had to be thrown out.
To be continued next year:
4.) Learn my aunt's gnocchi recipe - My aunt has promised to show me the recipe early next year, so hopefully this will be in the bag soon enough. On the other hand, I did learn to make spinach gnocchi, which was a tasty and pretty easy meal to prepare.
7.) Watch all the Academy Award best picture winners - With this one, the truth is I was just watching too many movies in the theater and too many TV shows on DVD at home. I watched the complete series of Criminal Minds, the Gilmore Girls and Joan of Arcadia so that took up a lot of time. I rented "Hurt Locker" with someone once, but we didn't actually watch it so this is still one to work on next year, preferably before a new best picture is added to the list.
13.) Scan old photos of family and friends - I never got around to this one, but I'd still like to work on it for next year. I did print out some digital photos for my family, however, since my aunt wanted to know how to get "normal" pictures.
17.) Clean out the garage - My mom did some work on the garage on days when I wasn't home, but this one needs to get done but always ends up a last priority. So next year, I'll keep this on the list.
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