Fate's 2013 New Years Resolutions

My 2012 resolutions all went downhill pretty quick.  So, here I am at the start of 2013 trying to figure out my list of 'accomplishments' for this year.  As usual, these will be more "goals" than resolutions, although a few of them are a bit cliched.

1. Restart "Dave Ramsey Plan"
While we haven't gone crazy in our spending, Fin and I have relaxed after a couple years doing a really good job budgeting.  Mostly, this is my fault - feeling burned out looking at bills.  By most measures, we've taken a year off our financial plan, and need to get back onboard.  There's some discussion at the office of bringing on personal financial advisors and such - might be interesting.

2. Make soap again.
I made enough soap to last us a long while, and then we switched over to left over fragments floating around.  We're running low on all of the above, and I need to get my stuff together and go through with it.  Largely, it's a bit of a pain with the cats (we wrangle them up into a room for a couple hours).

3. Build evil-project laboratory
I haven't had space to work on electronics projects since I moved to the area - multiple small apartments, followed by a small house.  Working on audio wiring, I purchased a soldering iron, and find myself considering the possibilities of electronics tinkering again.  With any luck, Fin can have some space for her craft projects, and I'll have space to tinker.

4. Learn a Bach Fugue
I'm hoping better than "learn a Beethoven Sonata", and then playing Op. 49.  I still haven't selected one, but I've started working on a 3-part invention to get my ready.

5. Time Lapse Garden Video
I'm still dismayed by the destruction of my previous camera for the time lapse project.  Tho, I do a significant collection of photos I could make something with (at least until mid-spring timeframe).  I'm not sure what sort of hardware investment I'll make here, but there's multiple options, and I do have a nice project enclosure to help things along.

6. Get back to writing
I haven't written significantly for a year.  I'm hoping to improve my work/life balance and get this blog thing going well again.

7. Reorganize the office
This one would likely be #1 if Fin ordered the list, but the low place here is symptomatic of both of our desires to tackle the beast.  The office is the one area of the house that isn't currently "awesome".  Mostly on account of HUGE collections of "stuff" that needs unpacked and sorted, including the majority of boxes from before I moved in. :o

And now, I'll place the "standard" resolutions.  These are serious, but feel too cliched to take seriously.

8. Take longer/better vacation at some point in 2013.
9. Get to the gym / Y / etc...
10. Spend less time watching TV & playing video games.

I'm not going to justify these with explanations, and really, I debated putting them on the list.  Still, I hope to break trends and accomplish something there to write about. :)

That said, one of the important things (to me) about the "New Years Ritual", is to recognize your accomplishments over the past year that might not have been "resolved".  2012 saw a large number of "bucket list" items, and I suspect 2013 will as well.

--- Fate