52 lists

I do love a blogging project, especially one which allows me to indulge in another of my loves: in this case, lists.  There is nothing better than making a nice list.  I have notepads full of them, on topics ranging from books I want to read, to my favourite baby names (yep, even though I don't want children), to holiday destinations I want to visit.  I even have, somewhere in a little pink notebook, a list of every person I've ever kissed (although some of them are by necessity nameless - as in, I've either forgotten it or never knew it - and just say things like, "random indie boy in Pulp t-shirt, Glastonbury 1997").

So, even though I happened across Made in Hunters' 52 Lists challenge two weeks late, I leapt at the chance to take part.  I can't wait to have a new list topic landing in my inbox each week, and my Christmas pressie Bread & Jam notebook is the perfect place to make notes for each week's list. 

Week 1: List your goals for the year

1. Don't worry, be happy.  This was my big goal for 2014, and I'm not doing terribly well so far!  Two weeks of illness have left me too readily focusing on pain, medication and
2. Streamline my email inbox, unsubscribing from the marketing emails that I never read.
3. Speak to my tattoo artist about the two new tattoos I've been planning for years.
4. Write in my new Q&A A Day journal every night before bed.
5. Save up to buy a DSLR or bridge camera and learn how to use it!
6. Take more pictures of myself and The Boy, especially together.  It's sad how few photos we have of our time together.
7. Have a proper sit down to look at my finances: my mortgage, credit cards and savings accounts all need to be working for me, so I can save for some big trips in 2015 (family reunion in Canada AND my cousin's wedding in South Africa).
8. Be better about what I eat.  It's frustrating to come up against dietary restrictions when I come from a very fat-positive background of, "I can eat what the hell I want!"  But I have to be honest with myself: getting my IBS and related conditions under control is so much more important than eating cheeseburgers as a quasi-political statement.
9. Empty the under-stairs cupboard, which is reaching critical levels of fullness.  
10. Read 52 books.  I'd initially wanted to aim for 100, but one a week seems like a more realistic goal.  I managed 70 last year, so I'm hoping to smash this goal!

Week 2: Favourite moments of 2013

1. Watching the fireworks in Nijmegen in the early hours of 1st January 2013.
2. A romantic spring weekend in Paris with The Boy.
3. Being a bridesmaid for my best friend.
4. Getting a promotion at work.
5. Every wonderful airport and railway station reunion while in a long distance relationship... but especially the one when he returned for good.
6. The Christmas Day Harry Potter quiz with my brothers and 6 year-old niece (and especially the moment when Gracie told Richard, who hadn't got a question right all round, to "get it together!").
7. Reading by the log fire while drinking champagne in the Cotswolds with The Boy.