One More Day...: Wow, 2010 already!

Another year in the books and the next upon us. Time to take a brief look back at how I faired with the resolutions!

1) Cook more (eat in and eat well)
I didn't do a good job of quantifying how often I ate in but I can recall making quite a few dishes and enjoying them very much (somethings, like chicken soup and granola, for the first time). I'd be comfortable giving myself a pass mark.

2) Be a bit more cultured (Art, Literature, Theater, Music, Film all come to mind...)
Probably the one I achieved most resoundingly. Finally got to visit some of the many museums in the Bay Area (CAS, Cantor, de Young, SFMOMA, SJ Tech, et al). I also finished a couple of books to continue some of the reading momentum I built last yr. Saw a play (entitled Souvenir) and attended no less than 3 concerts (one of which featured the San Fran Symphony). Didn't see as many movies as I would've liked but Star Trek was thoroughly enjoyable and Up was the best movie I've seen in quite some time. I couldn't have done much of this on my own so thanks for the help.

3) Live healthy (in many facets...perhaps this stems from my month w/o Insurance over the summer?...oh and I should floss more)
So, I flossed more. I also did reasonably well with the physical fitness aspect. I'll be completely honest though and withhold a pass mark due to a couple of illnesses near the end of the year (flu/cold) and a persistent shoulder injury that continues to bug me. Thanksgiving was a while ago but I'll readily admit now that I'm thankful for my health insurance!

4) Give (As junk as things may get, I'm luckier than many)
Mixed results. I certainly did much better on the monetary donation front (including an improved Movember showing) but I was not as involved from a service perspective as I would've liked.

5) Get out (I'll leave this intentionally vague...outdoors and out of country mostly)
So I finally was able to hike around the Bay Area to the level that I had hoped (at one point, I hiked weekly). I also found myself on the top of Mt. Whitney. And, on the travel front, I made it down to NZ. Enough to earn a pass in my books.

2009 really flew by in a flash. Given the challenges that were faced globally, it was a pretty tough year all around. It wasn't all doom and gloom and there's a lot to be hopeful for in the new year and the new decade. Here's the list for 2010...

1) Go somewhere old and somewhere new (I'm curious to see where I'll end up)

2) Return to 100% health and keep up the fitness (Fix the shoulder and then be able to do the Koko Head hike next Xmas faster than this yr)

3) Mind the memory (Be better about remembering things)

4) Take more/better photos (I've been a bit too reliant on friends for pics in recent yrs)

5) Make something (art, home improvement, a garden...whatever)

That should give me plenty to aspire to.

This new year holds quite a bit of potential with a World Cup fast approaching (Go NZ) and a couple new leaders with a year of experience behind them (Obama & Key). Let's make this a year to remember (hopefully for good reasons)!