2011, really?

The concept of the year 2011 is so bizarre that I can't quite get my head wrapped around it. Of course, my not getting things never stopped the world from carrying on doing its thing, so here we are, to quote Lennon, "another year over, a new one has begun," and this time it's 2011.

You would think that looking back at my list of new year's resolutions from 2010 and realizing that I've barely managed to check off 3 out of the 10 items I had set out to accomplish this time last year would bum me out a little bit, but I'm cool with it. Maybe I've grown older and wiser and finally at ease with things, or maybe I've just come to terms with my utter lack of resolve, either way I am OK with not having achieved as much as I would have liked in a year's time.

This year, though I wasn't able to stay away from making a list altogether, I have limited myself to the following five items:

1. Exercise three times a week, eat better, and lose 15lbs by the end of May so that I can fit back into that suitcase full of skinny clothes currently sitting in storage (the clothes, not the suitcase).
2. Become a very good floral designer.
3. Pay back the last bit of student loans that we owe to the Ontario government by the end of February then scrimp & save a good sum of money for all the fun things we want to do over the next couple of years.
4. Organize all my computer files and back things up.
5. Sort through and organize all the rest of our stuff.

There, that doesn't seem that unreasonable now, does it? I will give an interim report in May and let you know how I got on with things this time around.

Mike, on the other hand, has one goal and one goal only: ace the GMAT in April, write up a few brilliant applications, and get accepted into MBA school for Fall 2012 admissions. He is now fully immersed in studying for the exam most weeknights plus a full day on the weekend and time seems to be flying by.

The other theme for 2011 seems to be weddings (and I heart weddings) -- so far we are booked for four, two of which are overseas thereby giving us an excellent excuse to finally get back to traveling again after a year and a half of hiatus. We are saving up to return to England/France at the end of May, see Slovenia/Croatia at the end of August, trek through Asia next spring, and summer at the cottage one more time before getting ready for school in the fall.

In closing I shall leave you with a few photos (mostly of Alex, naturally) to mark the end of 2010! :o)