Last year, I wasn't able to go anwhere/do anything for New Year's Eve due to "family obligations." Basically, someone made a bad choice and I had to clean up the mess. This year, I'm under no such obligations . . . except I'm just done getting over a sinus infection, my energy levels are pathetically low, and I didn't exactly make any great/fantastic plans.
I know, not the most auspicious start to yet another year that I swear is going to be better and different than last year. Still, in comparison to the first two weeks of last year, it'd be a major surprise if this year isn't better.
I'm in year two of the "new job", so I guess I can't technically call it "new" anymore. I stated five professional goals in my first year evaluation, and with the research I completed last week while everyone else was on vaca, I was able to make major progress on one of them. If I can get this one piece automated like I want, it should free up about two work hours of my time every week-- that's 104 additional work hours per year I can apply to accomplishing the other four remaining professional goals.
Of course, there's more to life than your vocation. There's the "living" part, and that's the part I haven't exactly been very good at in the past few years. Part of the problem was that my previous job demanded so much of my time, it was nearly impossible for me to have a life "outside" of it. People would call me before work hours, after work hours-- their expectations were just insane. They'd send an email to my Blackbery, and then call me ten minutes later demanding to know why I hadn't responded to their email. Fortunately, the climate at the new job is an improvement-- they understand the difference between email and instant messaging.
The problem is, now that I've reclaimed the time, what exactly do I do with it? I don't exactly have fantastic hobbies, and few of my interests are socializing-oriented. One or two of my friends have been talking about trying to fix me up with someone. They mean well, but they can't possibly understand why I might find that sort of talk insulting or offensive. I've spent/lost too much time and energy in my life trying to make other people happy. Having a significant other isn't guaranteed to improve the quality of my life, and it's more than likely to prevent some opportunities to do new things. (Example: I'm toying with the idea of learning how to ski-- but being "stuck with" someone who's unwilling to consider learning something new would completely demotivate me.)
The real kicker, though, is going to be the home renovation. I've tried to do piecemeal home improvement projects in the past by financing them with my tax refunds. The gas fireplace was a fiasco that went way over time and budget; but it did have one bright side. It taught me that this piecemeal nonsense would never get me anywhere, and that I should pursue a line of credit to finance the rest of the improvements in a more compressed time line.
So, now I've got the money to make it happen- I just need to know exactly what I want to accomplish.