Merry Christmas everyone! I know there’s still a few days to go until the end of the year, but I’ve got such a busy few days coming up that I don’t know if I’ll have time to write. I’m also extremely unlikely to achieve any more, so I’m wrapping it up early!
Today my husband had to work unexpectedly (client needs) so I decided to book my son into daycare and have the day at home. That sounds relaxing, but in reality it was so I could spend the day cleaning. The house has been woefully neglected without a good clean in weeks (possibly months) now. I’ve been super productive, and it’s starting to feel a bit more organised and tidy again. I always feel so much happier and relaxed when there’s not any clutter laying around.
Right now I’m taking a break and sitting down for a little bit, but then shortly I’ll be up tackling it again. I think I’ve washed everything in the entire house there is to be washed. My living room looks like a laundry bomb went off in it!
Anyways, getting back to it, the list!
What I got done
I’m focusing on the positive, because….SPOILER ALERT….I didn’t finish the list this year. However I did get a lot more done than I expected! Halfway through the year I’d barely made a dint in it!
Cooking
- Bake something from scratch – I’ve made a few things this year, and next year I’m focusing even more on trying to cook in the kitchen more, part of my binge eating recovery
- Make a cocktail – it’s not a great story this one, but it was essentially something involving midori, lemonade, and something else random I found in the house. It wasn’t very good.
Family
- Do a new family activity we’ve not done before
- Go for a family bike ride
- Go geocaching with my son – I did this in January with Luca, and I learned quickly not to go geocaching with a 1yr old. It involves trekking through terrain a pram shouldn’t be taken. We didn’t find anything, but then later in the year I went searching with a friend of mine, T-shiz, and we found like 4 or 5 in one day.
- Get a family photo shoot done – do christmas photos count?
- Try 5 craft activities with my son – we did a ton of activities this year, and all of them messy. He loved it.
- Visit the zoo with my son – we ended up getting given annual passes to Australia Zoo by my in-laws, which was the best thing ever. The zoo is only 25mins from here, and have just added a water park this year. We went so many times just for a quick play in the water and back home again. The last time we went he didn’t care about the water and just wanted to see the animals! We’re definitely renewing our membership.
Health
- Drink 2L of water every day for a week
- Try to pause and use my senses to take in my surroundings more often – aka “be in the moment”
- Get a hearing check – glad I did this one, because it turns out I’ve got moderate to severe hearing loss in my left ear! Stay tuned for more on this in 2020, I’ve got another appointment with a specialist and then we’ll decide on the solution.
- Get a pap smear
- Start a skincare routine – thanks to my sister-in-law for providing advice on this one. I’ve added in some Hyalu serum and cleansing oil, and combined with drinking more water this year, my skin is looking much better. Still more improvement to go.
- Try a new fake tan – due to the overwhelming recommendations at the start of the year I tried out the Bondi Sands dark version, and really like it! I occasionally still use this, and I’m due a refill.
Hobby
- Do an escape room – thanks to friends and family I got to do this one for my birthday!
- Go see a movie by myself
- Go to a gold class movie – I had a date day with my husband and it was awesome! Later in the year they had a special to see Frozen 2, so I took my mum and son and we had a great little day out.
- Visit an air museum
- Watch all episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S
- Watch as many marvel movies in order as I can
- Stay in a hotel overnight by myself (Mum’s day off) – oh my god this was amazing, and totally what I needed. Now I’m nagging my friend that she needs to do the same.
House
- Decorate the house for Christmas with more than just a Christmas tree – we did so much better this year! We had a few different solar light displays set up out the front, inside we had a cool animated moose that sung carols, some lights hanging from the tv cabinet, and stockings hung up on the wall. I’m slowly infecting my husband with the christmas spirit!
- Make/get a display for my running medals and hang them proudly – I’m giving myself a half mark on this one. My husband 3D printed an awesome one for me, but my medals don’t fit, and the only way for it to be attached to the wall is to be screwed in, which he doesn’t want to do to our walls! So…..the medals remain in a big ball on my shelf
Physical Activity
- Participate in Clean Up Australia Day – this was super fun! I blogged about it when we did it, and I’m thinking about whether I can do it again in 2020!
- Run a half marathon – one of the highlights of my entire year.
- Swim laps
Relationship
- Give my husband a massage
- Have a day off with just my husband (baby in daycare or someone babysitting)
Shopping
- Buy new earrings – I embraced the festive spirit and bought christmas earrings this year!
- Get matching PJs – we didn’t go shopping exactly, but the hotel in Japan gave us all matching pjs!
- Try 3 new places to eat suggested by Yelp – we smashed this one out when we were in Japan, so many good places.
Social
- Have a barbecue
- Organise a mum’s night out with my mum’s group – this was amazing, and something we all needed. I think we’re going to have to plan for something like this again sometime soon.
- Volunteer for something 5 times – I helped out with Parkrun this year, and want to keep doing the same next year. Alas I just let my participation in Park Run drop right back, and I want to get back to it. My husband is finally enjoying it too, so it will be nice to plan to go for runs together.
Travel
- Visit somewhere I’ve never been before – Osaka, Japan! I still haven’t gotten to the point of publishing that video yet, but it was amazing, and cold, and so much fun
The wrap up
So there you have it! 35 out of 52, I’m pretty damn happy with that! This year hasn’t been my best in terms of life overall – I’ve had a lot of ups and downs this year, but I’m finishing it on a high note, and feeling very lucky and grateful.
I’m stupidly excited about next year’s list. So much so that I’m having to hold myself back from allowing myself to publish it and get cracking, because….it’s less than 7 days until the new year. I’m just looking for any excuse really.
Is it 2020 yet? I want to get started already!