I’ve made lots and lots of New Year’s Resolutions before, both on the blog and in my head, and very few of them have worked out. This year, I changed the concept around completely and debuted the Life List - a long-term set of goals and things to aim at. Some are crazy, some are impossible, some are easy and most will take time. I figured a quick review for the year would be appropriate, with some thoughts on what is next.

3. Run a 5k race

Complete!

If you’d have shown me this part of the list any time before July, I would have laughed your head off. Running was an alien concept, and yet in just four short months (is that really all it was?) I completed a five kilometre race. I wasn’t fast, but I did it. Looking back, I can’t quite comprehend how I managed it, so the achievement is still a big surprise.

I’ve been pondering whether to put more running related goals in the list. I only went out a couple of times after the race itself, and then the clocks changed. I wasn’t keen on running in the dark, and we’ve already established that morning running does not work for me and my big ol’ red face. However, I started itching to get my trainers on again. I decided to wait for the Christmas holidays, and step out in the daytime. And then it snowed! Dang and blast it.

Nevertheless, I did run once or twice, and I’ve got the bug for it again. I picked up the Bridge 2 10k app, from those who provided me the 5k one. Three months off is not so good for the fitness, though, and I’ve had to regress to the Ease into 10k instead. Decisions to be made now include whether to target any more running goals, and whether to blog what I’m doing. I know the running posts are not particularly interesting, but it certainly is an incentive to head outside when you’ve got a blog draft looming over you.

More thought (and running) required.

9. Travel the UK in alphabetical order

In Progress

Grr, this one came to an abrupt halt when everything closed for the winter, and then it got cold. Initially the challenge had been to complete it within a year but I soon realised that was unreasonable. I made an excellent start though, with a good variety of the country visited - including an awesome trip to Scotland.

I got a bit het up about the letter J, and I’m still trying to decide which option to go with. This challenge may take quite a lot longer than I imagined, particularly with the chaotic life I am leading right now, but it is definitely not going to end on I.

15. Watch 500 films

In Progress

Well, the Film Watch page just gets bigger and better all the time. Christmas heralded a bumper crop of films, and Mr C and I have instigated a mostly regular film watch evening as well. Still enjoying learning about the movies I should already know, and taking in the brand new ones. Equally, I am beginning to have actual film knowledge as well, which is just crazy.

22. Successfully grow a strawberry

Complete!

The strawberry was the easy part. As was the lettuce and the tomatoes. Let’s not talk about the rest.

24. Watch and blog every episode of new Doctor Who

In Progress

It’s much easier to blog about Doctor Who as it arrives on our TV screens than it is to actually schedule time to go back and watch it. I think I am struggling with the Ecclestone era more than I thought, but over Christmas I bought a bit more of David Tennant, so hopefully that will be an incentive.

30. Try 20 new foods

In Progress

Oh dear, oh dear. This started as a new year resolution to try five new foods, but I extended it when it became a life list thing. The more I think about it, the more I don’t want to do it, although allowing myself to include fancy new alcohol helps! I did make a cool banner this year too.

62. Solve a Rubik’s Cube

In Progress

This seemed like such an innocent idea when written on the screen, but once you have the physical cube it becomes much more stressful! I can’t describe it any better than in a recent post:

I am in the same predicament I was before – keep trying to achieve something but messing it up and finally scraping back to having just one side complete. At some point I will just go ahead and buy the book to attempt to move on, but I am not willing to admit defeat just yet.

63. Read the Best 100 Novels according to one list

In Progress

Mmmmm, books. After only a short while, doing this has opened up my literary world, with the ability to actually finish a Terry Practchett book and some Aldous Huxley thrown in as well. I imagine this will take a long time to complete, if ever, because there are so many books I want to read and nowhere near enough time.

My wish list on Amazon is about seven pages long, filled to the brim with Kindle books, and that’s only ones I have stumbled across. If I sat and thought about it, I’d probably spend my days hitting the wish list button thus using up time rather than actually reading anything.

At the moment, I’m working through two books. One is on the list and one isn’t. I think that might be a way to do it going forward.

What of 2011?

Naturally, plans for this year include more films, more books, more cubing, and hopefully some more travel related alphabet adventures. Having indulged in baking some gammon over the holiday, I’d like to start thinking about some of the more kitchen based list items as well. Plus, the Story Spinners one is always in the back of my head.

Plenty more fun and frolics to come in the next 12 months, I think.