Today is December 14...unbelievable. Not only is Christmas like 10 days away, but 2008 will be drawing to a close in a little over two weeks. I'm not very excited.

2008 has been, shall we say, an eventful year...

1. I left my old job and started a new job.
2. I moved in with H2B.
3. I visited a new country (Dominican!)
4. H2B and I moved to a new apartment.
5. I smashed up my car.
6. I got a new car.
7. I got engaged.

It has been a rollercoaster of a year, that's for sure--never a dull moment. But it's also been a fabulous year and one that I'm a little sad to see come to a close. Plus, in general, I hate New Year's. I don't like New Year's Eve--I don't like the pressure of feeling like I need to have plans for an exciting night out. I don't enjoy making New Year's resolutions and I'm not a big fan of the idea that I'm another year closer to death.

I've started giving a little thought to my New Year's resolutions for 2009. I'm sure this list will be tweaked a bunch, but here are my thoughtstarters as of today:

1. Learn to budget.
I don't keep a budget. I know approximately what I spend on the necessities each month: rent, food, bills, car stuff. I know that when I want something I go and buy it. And I know approximately how much money I bring home. What I want to start doing is actually create some kind of Excel spreadsheet (gag gag gag *stabs Excel*) and actually track my money coming in and money going out for a month or two, see if it looks reasonable, and learn to spend more wisely, which ties in nicely with my next points...

2. Set up online banking with seperate accounts: chequing, retirement, wedding, and house.
I currently have all my money going straight into my chequing account and no where else. Stupid, right? I would like to have different "pots" and make sure each pot is getting what it needs. I can't believe I'm just getting to this now.

3. Run 10K.
Right now, I do 4 to 4.25 miles several times a week, which is roughly 6.4-6.8 kilometres. I would like to be able to say I can run 10K in one stint. I think it'll be doable!

4. Visit a new country.
I don't even care which country...it just has to be new. Considering I've only visited three, that shouldn't be too difficult.

5. Write every day.
Even if it's one line in my journal about how crappy the drive to work was or what I wore to the gym. I love writing and I don't do it nearly enough.

6. Keep in touch better with friends.
I am ABYSMAL at keeping in close contact with even my best friends. Work, volunteering, gym, yada yada...everyone's busy and I suck at nurturing relationships. Once a week, I will call or contact someone to hang out or just catch up over the phone. But it has to be more than a Facebook wall post.

7. Spend more time doing the things I love best.
Painting, photography, baking, going to weird shops, making crappy crafts: all things I love to do; all things I don't do enough to make me happy. This year I am going to spend more time on hobbies. Spending one weekend morning, even a couple hours, at one of my hobbies will be good for me, I think. So often on weekends I'm like "OK WE HAVE TO CLEAN THE HOUSE! OK NOW WE HAVE TO GET GROCERIES!" and so on and so forth I really don't enjoy the time and then come Sunday night (ahem *right now*) I'm pouting because I wasted my weekend and I'm going to be up in eight hours getting ready for work again and sulking.

Soooo...look out 2009...I am going to be baking up a storm, painting assorted shitty items, hoarding cash like a miser and hauling ass galore. Good times ahead!