2010 and lack of resolutions

I’m at work and just treated myself (ok, that happens every day) to a chocolate chip cookie and a cup of coffee. Mmm.

The holidays were really nice. We went to Florida for a holiday… spent time with really good friends of ours. We stayed up most nights drinking beer and talking till gone 1-2pm. They just did their normal daily things, and included us. I ate soul food for the first time (it was fantastic!) up in West Palm Beach in Florida.
Then my husband and I spent a couple of days in South Beach Miami. That was ok. We stayed in the Art Deco district which was totally crazy. It’s the place for party-goers, if you love the nightlife. But we’re not. It wasn’t our scene, but at least we can say we saw South Beach. One of the days we were there we did a drive through the Keys. The water was beautiful. The Keys are relatively untouched and reminded me somewhat of Hawaii and Western Australian beaches. The other day we did a drive up through Alligator Alley in hope to see alligators! We didn’t, but it was a peaceful drive.

Now I’m back at work and happy to be in routine again. We have a super busy 6 months ahead of us. Between visits to New York and LA, my Mum and friends visiting. Weddings to attend. We’re going to Yosemite. All the in between time will be wonderfully “normal” also. I thrive on routine.

Taking one day off a week was the best things I ever did. I’m enjoying my work more, and have more time to read books, play music and even be able to contemplate craft projects. I just finished reading “The Book Thief” which was brilliant and devastating. I would have liked to seen the ending expanded somewhat. But all in all it was a 9.5 out of 10 for me! (big call I know). I just started reading “hickory dickory dock” by Agatha Christie. I like her stories, but the book is a little juvenile for my taste. Its something I could have read at 12 years old. Still I’m going to stick it out. The next book I want to read is one Daniel is currently reading “The Maltese Falcon”.

I started teaching myself guitar recently. I have some of the main chords down, but need to get the guitar tuned… I have to learn how to do that. A lot of it is having the time, with everything else to do…

I’m excited about 2010. I feel like I’m in a good place and am glad to say my homesickness has finally worn off. I love America, and I love living here. Its such a diverse country. You can travel a few hours and almost be in a totally different culture, yet are still in the same country. This last week 2 of my closest friends in California, Anna and Wendy, left our area… with their husbands and moved to New York and to the desert. I was very sad to see them go, and have a heavy heart now that my friend Anna is gone for a short while. We get each other. We’re both Aussies, and have developed a wonderful friendship in the last year and a half. We’ve gone though some difficult times together here, and we’ve laughed a lot. I think laughing our way through it, and paying each other out constantly kept us both sane. Our friendship is one of the things that makes me glad I came to the States. I have this feeling we’ll be close friends for a very long time. Building a strong friendship with someone doesn’t happen easily. Often it takes going through something. As lovely as Southern California is, for us, understanding and feeling comfortable in this culture took time. I feel like Anna helped me with that. She helped me get over the difficult period of homesickness. The Wednesday in the year. I’ll miss our jokes that’s for sure. But for the most part, my happiness for Anna overrides the feelings I have. Getting to experience a new city, then heading home. What a fantastic way to end this American experience!

I don’t really believe in New Years Resolutions, because I rarely stick to them. They are always to “lose weight”, “learn a language”, “do better with this and that”. There are things I’m constantly trying to work on personally. I’m on a tight budget this year, which is somewhat daunting yet exciting. I’m looking forward to finding cheap ways of doing everything! I literally don’t have money even for a $20 dress or a $5 vintage purse. If I find something… I have to absolutely love it to pieces. And it has to be ridiculously inexpensive. My “fun” budget for the year for clothing is… wait for it… $100. Crazy you say? Well. I have enough clothes to last me the next 2 decades. I feel overwhelmed when I look into my closet. So I’m looking forward to the challenge. I’m also not letting myself buy “products” eg makeup etc until I’ve totally run out of something. I gave my husband all my cards to hold onto, so if I’m feeling like some “retail therapy” or am in love with something… there’s no way I can get it.

That’s all folks. From the terrible blogger… :)