New school year resolutions

For me, the new year doesn't happen on January 1st but at the end of August.  It's a time when I think about where I want my year to go and the things I would like to achieve, both at school and in my personal life. 

The year ahead is going to be a strange one as a lot has changed.  At work, my two closest friends and my wonderful head of department have all left, so school will be a lonelier place.  And at the end of last term I won a long-sought after promotion, so will be working extra hard to get to grips with my new role.  At home, I am eagerly awaiting the return from the Netherlands of The Boy.  This will be the first time we have lived in the same city (apart from a couple of weeks at the very start of our relationship), so I am filled with all the feelings about spending the upcoming year with him.

In July of 2012 I made a list of ten resolutions for last academic year, and my progress towards meeting them has been - if I do say so myself - pretty impressive.  They were:

1. Appreciate and enjoy my city - DONE
2. Appreciate and enjoy my country - NOT DONE

3. Appreciate and enjoy Europe. - DONE 

4. Get my house in order - WORK IN PROGRESS

5. Buy a bike and ride it - DONE

6. Take more photographs - DONE

7. Work less, live more - DONE

8. Be a better teacher - DONE - BUT ALWAYS MORE TO DO! 

9. Get a new tattoo - NOT DONE

10. Try and work out where (metaphorically) to go next - DONE

As I was really rather successful with those, I thought the time was ripe for some new resolutions for this new school year:

1. Restart the £100 challenge, at least until my credit card is paid off (turns out long distance relationships don't come cheap).

2. At least once a month, make a meal that I've never cooked before.  I love cooking, and make almost every meal from scratch, but I am very predictable in the kitchen, relying on a small handful of recipes that I repeat ad infinitum.  Going out with a vegan has made me a little more experimental, but I'd like to make use of my multitude of cookbooks, rather than just flicking through them to admire the pictures.

3. Do 30 minutes of cardio at least four times a week, and weights at least twice a week. NOT for weight-loss purposes, I hasten to add. I'm not falling for that bullshit, don't worry. I just love the way my body feels after exercise (I'm particularly taken with my nascent biceps), and even if the cardio isn't at the gym I want to make sure I get plenty of exercise this year.

4. Make good use of my day off.  I started well last year, but slipped into the bad habit of going out on a Monday night and then being too, err, 'tired and emotional' to do much on Tuesday.  I'd like to use the time better this year: day trips, crafting sessions, even a day in bed reading.  As long as it's not just a day filled with chores or staring blankly at my laptop.

5. Get that damn tattoo decided on and get it done!

I will, of course, be blogging on the regular about my progress - particularly towards numbers 1, 2 and 4.  Wish me luck!