Resolutions for 2008 - The Year of the F

And no, you filthy-minded blog-readers! I am not talking about an activity that begins with F and rhymes with "mucking." Indeed, the resolutions this year center around 3 less explicit f-words - fitness, finances, and fun. (I know, the "fun" seems out of place with the first two, but bear with me.)

Fitness:

Dr. Crazy fell so far off the fitness wagon in 2007 that she hardly knows how to talk about it. The exercise? The eating well? Yes, those things didn't so much happen. At all. Things really went off the rails in July, but they were already on that path from about January of last year. She blames the Book and the Job Search(es) but the reality is that Crazy is prone to letting the fitness fall by the wayside because she'd much rather not pay attention to it. But so. Crazy has many fitness goals for the coming year, which she has explicitly outlined for herself, along with plans of action for achieving those goals. The bottom line is this: with no job search stuff to worry about this spring, with an excellent teaching schedule, and no plans for conferences until at least spring of 2009, Crazy can really devote 2008 to getting herself in tip-top (ish) shape and, ideally, staying in tip-top (ish) shape from that point forward. It's all about accepting the fact that I'm old (well, or at least not 23) and I have to eat well and exercise forever in order not to continue expanding.

Finances:

I'm in not horrific financial shape, but I've got a good amount of credit card debt. And it occurs to me that if I teach summer school this year (see above about excellent schedule in spring and no conference plans) that I can extricate myself from that. Which would mean being able to achieve the 14-year-old-girl resolution of actually having a savings account. Which means that I can start working toward the goal of actually buying something (a house? a condo? a luxury home for cats?) within the next five years. Because basically, it's been time for me to do that for a good while now, and I've just not cared enough about it to get on the plan. And so, as with the fitness resolutions, there is a very detailed plan of action that goes into effect tomorrow, which should, by January of 2009, see me as (except for student loan/car stuff) debt-free. Note to self: traveling to Europe 3 of the past four years and to MLA 4 of the past 4 years probably has something to do with my debt situation.

Fun:

It occurs to me that I've managed it so that I have no major work plans for the coming year. I'm going to be taking a much-needed break, gearing up for tenure, working on teaching and admin and service related duties, and that's it. This is also why there's room for the whole "fitness" goal. But with that being the case, I think that I need to focus on making my life more "fun" in the coming year. Now, as those of you I met will probably note (I'd hope), I'm a pretty naturally fun person. So it's ridiculous that in recent years I've limited my main fun activities to when I'm away from my "real" life. I mean, come on. I should be having more fun. I have a less detailed plan in place for this final "F-word" resolution, but the night is still young.

So those are my resolutions for 2008. I'll keep everybody posted on my progress (even though nobody will really care about my progress but me, but posting about it will keep me honest).

Happy 2008, everyone! (And champagne is lovely. I love champagne with a love that is pure and true.)