So we are 11 days in the 11th year of the new millennium and I figure its better late than never to make some resolutions and work on them through the year. This past year flew by so quick that I had no time to think where life was heading. I think for the first time in my life, I went with the flow without any conscious planning. It turned out to be good but I did gain 25lbs (yes, yikes!), did nothing to move forward with my career, settled in a rental that I do not love, and sat on my butt watching TV and playing games on my iPhone for the majority of the year. It sounds all bad but I did do some good thinks like learn to live with B , build our relationship, scream at him while he tried to maneuver our raft on a river in the mountains, travel a good amount, got compliments on our home decor, and hosted some hit pani-puri parties.

I want 2011 to be more productive. I guess life is a bunch of experiences and you can plan all you want but it will throw curve balls, but I figured these resolutions will make 2011 a little more productive than 2010! 2010 was good in its own way, I just want 2011 to be better. Here’ my list:

- Lose all the crazy weight I have gained and go back to being a size 4!

- MOVE! As much as I like the floorplan in our apartment, I do not want to live here past our lease. B agrees.

- Cook atleast 4 times a week at home. I love cooking but I hate doing the dishes and in this battle, I hate doing the dishes always wins! Everytime B doesn’t want to do the dishes, we go out and eat. So this year, I will cook even if B doesn’t do the dishes. And as much as I hate looking at those dirty dishes, I will cook more!

- Reuse more, recycle more, and reduce waste! I have all these cloth bags at home that I forget to take with me to the grocery stores and end up with loads of plastic bags. I will make a more concerted effort to reuse bags, finish leftovers in the fridge instead of just tossing them, and recycle more cans, plastic bottles, paper, instead of tossing them in the trash. We also use a lot of paper towels – a bane in the American society. Will make an effort to buy less paper towels and more microfiber towels for cleaning the kitchen, counters, etc.

- Spend atleast 5 minutes a day decluttering our home. Doable right?

- Travel more! Enough said.

- Have atleast 6 months worth of pay in savings in addition to an emergency fund and down payment for a house! Just need to be more frugal. We do have 2 full months of our pay saved up in addition to our other stuff but I would really like to get to 6 months.

- Take that exam and apply for the doctorate! My worst fear aside from losing my loved ones is taking this exam! I have put it off for 4 years and spent thousands preparing. I better do it in 2011!

- Try to talk B into getting rid of the ugly, huge, MAN-sofa recliners. Get something a little more dainty but I fear this is a battle already lost. Worth putting it on the list!

- Find my passion. I always hear people talking about what their true passion is. I really don’t know what my true passion is. I enjoy cooking, traveling, oohing at pretty interior decor, looking at teeth etc. But there’s really not one thing that makes me go gaga. I want to find that thing! I want that feeling of exhilaration and satisfaction that only comes from doing something you absolutely love to do. And you get that feeling over and over again from doing what you are truly passionate about. Yes, I want to find my true passion. Making love does not count .

- Find a good theme/look for my blog that I can fall in love with.

- Blog atleast once a week – there! That’s one goal that’s truly measurable and comes with a plan. Once a week!

So come 2012. I will check back and see how much I accomplished!

Adios!-

So I was watching the movie Julie and Julia. In the movie, Julie Powell says she never finishes everything! Ring a bell? Well, it did with me. I never finish anything! I never reach goals on time. Well not never, but RARELY!

I had decided a while ago that I would keep up with the organization around the house. Well, that worked for a few weeks and I am back to a disorganized house. Heck, I didn’t even finish my oatmeal regimen.

Then, I decided that I would take this class and study for the entrance exam and actually take the exam TODAY. Well, today is here and I am not taking the exam. I have decided to now break that “take the exam” into small goals like study this chapter, finish this much each day and take it one step at a time. I have also decided that I can only blog after I finish atleast one part of my daily allotted study material. So guess what, I have finished part one of today’s allotted study material and I feel great!

Does it sound like I am a little disarrayed with my life? The answer is a big fat YES! I have struggled with finding my calling. Teeth? Yes. But the doctorate? Shit (pardon the language), that’s still far away and so is the ever elusive exam score I need. B asks me to do what I love to do. Well, the one thing I love to do besides sleeping and watching TV is cooking. I am not that great a cook but it does bring me immense joy when I see my family eating food that I have cooked. And it brings me even more joy when they like it. I have now successfully made this blog post a confused mixture of words. It doesn’t even have a thesis. But hey, I do have a conclusion.

The conclusion here is that I shall start with small goals of studying and small goals of cooking more regularly. The fact is that even though I love to cook, I am usually so tired at the end of the day that I don’t cook. My personal small term cooking goal is to cook atleast one thing 6 days out of 7, starting today. So there you have the jist of this long and confusing post: 1) Small term study goals 2) Only blog after atleast 1 part of the daily alloted study material is complete and 3) Cook atleast one thing 6 days out of 7 (to start out with – someday I want to conquer 365 days of food).

Here we go. Today’s goal – Pasta in a Mushroom Cream Sauce.