New Year

For some people, no change that, for everyone New year starts on 1st Jan.  Not for me though.  For me, my New Year started on 1st Dec.  OK go on, ask me the obvious question - why?

2012 was a horrible year for me. 2013, despite the lows was much better.  2014, my friends, is MY year and 12 months of it is just not enough.  Also I moved to my new assignment at work today.  A new job, a new year and a fantastic me.  This is how I see it.  Surprisingly, and so unlike me, I have been in a very content space the past two months.  It is as if I have everything I need.  I have so much of stuff - clothes, shoes, makeup, bags (no, that does not make me stop from window shopping), I cook and eat such good food, DH & I - we are good with each other (and hopefully good for each other too!), my son, mom and brother are healthy and for once we have started accepting each other as we are (Not an easy thing I tell and it took us a long time to get here).

There is love, there is peace and above all there is Harmony.  Maybe that was missing before - HARMONY.  I mean, I wanted people to be this way and that way without ever looking at a middle ground, a half way through.  Happiness does exist there too.

I no longer feel poor (Sure I could do with a million dollar lottery win), I feel beautiful, healthy and wanted all the time.  Yes WANTED ALL THE TIME (DH deserves a lot of credit here).  Like relationships, feeling beautiful and healthy requires a lot of effort.  These days I look at myself in the mirror and am surprised at the pretty woman staring back at me.

I do not feel the need to blog.  This blog, I associate it with unhappiness, discontent and tears.  But today, this very second, I don't care.  Everything is perfect.  Perfect, not in a perfect way, but more like all the imperfections have a perfect fit.  Does that make any sense at all?

Totally off tangent now.  I had to stop my Japanese classes in November.  The weekly trips to SOAS was too much to squeeze in to an already busy schedule.  Rather unfortunate as I was really getting the hang of learning a foreign language.  Today at my new work place, I found out that they were giving Mandarin classes for a piddly fees.  And you bet your sweet ass I enrolled for it as soon as I saw the advert.  Classes begin in January and every Wednesdays, during lunch time I will attend these classes. When one door closes, another one opens - is all that I can say.

God / the universe is with me. Wait and watch me fly this year.

How was 2013 for you?  What are your plans for 2014?

Goals Update – 15th Jan

No point in making goals and resolutions if you are not going to track them.  So here goes the update.  Click here for my 2013 goals:

Health

1. With the exception of one day, I have exercised daily for the past 14 days.

2. I have covered 62.1 kms and that is 6.21% of my target – mainly by exercising on the elliptical.

3. Reduce red meat consumption – till date, have had just 2 kheema stuffed paratas and 2xsausages.

4. No sugar and no fizzy drinks – 1 can of coke and 1 can of 7-Up.  Well sweets that’s another story.  I stuffed myself with Indian sweets one day (just one day).

5. Take multi-vitamins and Omega 3 – DONE daily.

    I have lost 1.8 kgs and 5 inches in total since New Year.

Wealth

1. Save 60% of my salary every month – The Jan salary has not yet come through, so this one will be updated end of the month.

2. Track and record daily spending – SUCCESS

     Despite the holiday season, from the December salary I managed to save 47% of my salary - Son needed a smart phone, I had to pay the quarterly fees for my Japanese class etc. I will make a detailed expense update at the end of the month.

Experience

1. Be more serious about Japanese writing class – Even though I have my term break right now, I studied almost daily and am ready to start the new term on 18^th Jan.

2. Read one book per month – stretch to two books / month – I am in the middle of Malgudi Landscapes – The Best of R.K Narayan.  Will finish this in Jan.

3. Write my journal daily - SUCCESS

4. Cook at least 6 dishes per month – FAIL. I have cooked only one dish till now.  Made Dosas many times, but no other major cooking.  I have so much of left-over from New Year’s do.

5. Wake up between 4-5 am daily – FAIL.  My alarm is set for 4am but I usually end up getting out of bed by 7:00. This is something I have to work hard on this week.

6. Be strong, forgiving and thankful to God and pray – Pray = SUCCESS.  Have been reciting / singing? Mahisasuramardini every morning. Forgiving – though not a success can’t call it a failure either.  There is a healthy truce between DH and myself right now. (Can someone help correct my grammar here?  Is it DH and myself or DH and I?) Thankful to God – oh yes daily.....

     Touch wood - there is peace.

Home

1. Do one tough house work every week – First week I did so much of cleaning that I relaxed the second week. Completed the following:

·          Cleaned cooker hood

·          Cleaned Microwave (is that like a tough work, don’t know)

·          Defrost Freezer and cleaned it (after something like a year!)

·          Sorted out Hand Bag storage

·          Arranged my wardrobe

·          Filed all financial papers  

My days are so organized and I plan my to-do list for the next day.  Each and every second is well accounted for.  How can I ever go wrong with my goals now?

Goals for 2013

Something tells me that 2013 is going to be my year; it is going to bring me health, wealth, happiness and above all contentment.  I believe in this SO much that I can’t let the New Year go without making some goals for myself. 

Health

Objective: a) Eliminate my Cholesterol b) Reduce my weight by 10kgs

Methodology:

1. Exercise daily for 40 mins.  Start with 30-day Shred.
2. Cover 1000kms in exercise – rowing, cycling, elliptical or treadmill
3. Reduce red meat consumption
4. No sugar and no fizzy drinks
5. Take multi-vitamins and Omega 3
6. Be regular with daily routines – brush, facial and shower (I tend to skip on routines when I get busy!!)

Wealth

I have come to realise that money is a big motivating factor for me.  I am not going to shy away from saying this.  I LOVE money, but I stress here – I love money for the security it brings and not for the things I can buy with it.

Objective: a) Double my current savings by Dec 2013 b) No more frugal thinking

Methodology:

1. Save 60% of my salary every month
2. Track and record daily spending
3. Ban on make-up purchase in 2013
4. When I do have to buy something, I will buy the best that I can afford (this is in contrast to my current frugal thinking)
5. Don’t even think of buying a car – I don’t need one.

Experience

I am big on Korean & Japanese dramas and their cuisine.  In September I enrolled at SOAS for their part time course in Japanese.  As luck would have it, I am the best student in class-participation, but the worst performer in the class-test. 

I am also praying a lot, reciting slokas when at the oddest of times and I feel a lot calmer.  This year I intend to set aside time on a daily basis to pray / meditate / practise healing.

Objective: a) Visit one country in the Far East b) Have a sense of spiritual awareness c) Get back into doing things that I enjoyed as a teenager

Methodology:

1. Visit Japan in 2013
2. Be more serious about Japanese writing class
3. Read one book per month – stretch to two books / month
4. Write my journal daily
5. Cook at least 6 dishes per month
6. Wake up between 4-5 am daily
7. Be strong, forgiving and thankful to God – pray

Home

Objective: a) Make this house a home

Methodology:

1. Keep front & back garden neat and tidy.
2. Repair bathroom downstairs
3. Tidy under-stairs storage room
4. Tidy up back-garden fence
5. Paint all fences
6. Do one tough house work every week

And above all – LOVE MYSELF MORE

I know this blog has seen a lot of moans and complaints.  But I am not the one to just sit and cry.  I know I can just get up, dust my back and say let’s carry on.  From today this blog is taking a new turn – it’s going to be about my journey as I discover more about myself.  This blog will also be where I ensure I am on track with my goals and keep myself accountable.

To the few who are still reading my blog, I wish you all the very best for 2013.  Have you made any goals for 2013?  I would love to hear about it.

Another First - Couple Resolutions for New Year

I tell you - even before it has started 2010 is turning out to be a year of resolutions.  First it was me making a few and today DH and I sat together (which we quite rarely do) and made some couple resolutions.  I am not getting into the details, but here are the key points:

- Weekly Cooking - who would do what and when.
- Eating Out - Stop eating out locally and limit these to only when we get out of Ealing area.
- Entertainment - Atleast once a month go to a gallery / museum, booking reading, theatre etc
- Finance -Save a fixed amount before we decide to drain out our salaries every month
- Intimacy - I quote DH here - mood cultivation, ambiance creation, kinky dressing, oil massages etc
- Home - clear clutter, clean up Garden, Shed and Study rooms.

And now back to my resolutions - today I forgot to take my tablets and managed to drink only two glasses of water.  Hmmm....I guess I have the rest of the year to follow through.

A First - New Year Resolutions

OK let’s get done with the New Year’s resolution. Haven’t been much into resolutions anyway and I don’t think I should make any life changing plans now. I am just a bit old to think that life takes an unexpected great turn by the 1st of a year. Baby steps, that’s what I am good at and I’ll stick to it thanks.....


I know the below sounds pretty petty, but for me it’s an effort to achieve even some of these.

- Drink eight glasses of water daily (I just can’t get myself to remember this and I can go on for days without remembering to drink water. And no I do not take fizzy drinks)

- Stop reading women’s magazines – just a waste of my time. I get so many from my work place and really c’mon how many times am I going to read how to get a great orgasm!!

- Accompany DH on all the grocery shopping trips. I feel so bad that while my hubby goes around shopping for food items, I sit cosy at home. (And just for info – he does the cooking while I do the cleaning. Yes, he is the one to get the cleaning supplies as well)

- Limit eating chocolates to once a week. Today I had four bars of Milky Way (my favourite); this should give you an idea about my addiction to sweets. Oh by the way I am not overweight, just worried about getting some sugar related problems in old age.

- Take medicines morning and evening. I am hypothyroid and have to be on medication all my life. Again, I tend to forget to take my tablets daily.

- Once a week pamper myself – manicure, pedicure, oil my hair, apply mask and steam my face. I am so terrible at doing girly stuff by myself. Used to go to the salon once a week in Dubai. All that stopped when I came to the UK three years back; more so because of the horribly expensive rates at a decently good salon here.

- Update finances once a fortnight. Here I am just lazy. I am the financier at home and am bullish about jotting down each and every penny that we have spent. I collect all the receipts and often update my “excel file” just once a month.

- Go on ebay only when required. OK I confess I am an ebay addict. I can’t live without Google and Wikipedia – and ebay too is going that way.

- No more make-up purchase. I am well on my way out but it had almost become a second hobby – buying make-up. (Not that I ever use make-up. I am a cream and powder kind of person)

- Write three blog entries per week. This is really a no-brainer if you have been reading my blog. I am one of those “once a blue moon” blogger and it pisses me no end. I have so many things going on in my life and why can’t I just find the time to write about it.

- Read at least twelve books this year - I used to read so much during my college days and in my 20s. All that just dwindled down as I grew older. Borders just closed down last week and we managed to buy quite a few stuff from there. Because I am the impatient sort, I have already finished reading Lovely Bones, Gregory Peck’s biography and After River. With the New Year I shall start on Bitter Sweets by Roopa Farooki.

- During Summer – clear out as much as clutter as possible. No, not mine – all part of husband’s history.

- This is the toughest of the lot – Complete studying two units a week. If I ever find myself not able to sleep, all I have to do is start reading one of my modules. I swear it’s not that the modules are boring, just that I lack concentration. Maybe that’s another area I need to work on.

Ah well...lets see how many I can accomplish.