2012: Already kicking 2011's ASS

Within hours of 2012 beginning, I was getting laid.  I highly recommend it.  It was pretty awesome.

I spent January 1st mostly hungover and got nothing done.  On the 2nd, I packed up, drove Loki to my aunt and uncle's house, and then went to the airport.  I spent the week in Ft. Collins with one of my best friends, and it was a shitload of fun.  Now that I'm home, I've been pretty busy, too.  I was in the lab on Tuesday and today (and will be in the lab tomorrow as well); I unpacked and cleaned and did laundry and picked up Loki on the night I got home; I taught a science lesson to my mom's students; and I've seen my boy and made most of my weekend plans.  Phew!

But now it's time to think about what's going to go down this year.  Because shit, I'm bleeding money and my legs are all, "WAIT RUNNING ARE YOU SERIOUS."

So, here's what I need to get done.

1) Get my shit together to start the semester

This seems pretty basic, considering how quickly I got my shit together last semester.  But I need to figure out my schedule, which is tough when I might be switching classes (and I picked my teaching sections based on my current schedule).  I need to keep plenty of time to get to my rotation labs this semester, and I need to have time for PT.  I also need to get my calendar and inbox ready to fucking go, and organize my note-copying binder.

2) Running

I still need to go to PT, but I have the okay to start running on my own.  So why haven't I?  I could say it's because I was in Colorado, or because I'm busy, but I know it's not hard to find time for running.  Tonight was a bit of a question mark for most of the day, but judging from my brain deadness right now, and the shit I have to get done for lab meeting tomorrow, I think I'm going to have to wait till the weekend.

3) Insurance -- NO

I have to yell at Aetna for refusing to cover some of my physical therapy for stupid reasons.  I've been putting it off.  It's not good.

4) Fix my finances

I am not in financial trouble, but I have to reduce my spending and be smarter about my saving, or I am boned.  I now have something fun I want to save up for, plus I love buying clothing and shoes, but in order to do this, I need to make sure that I do the following things:

- Budget like a boss: If I don't plan out my budget, I can't stick to it.  Sounds obvious, but really.
- Eat out less, cook more: Another obvious one, but one that's more difficult to put into practice when you have trouble predicting last-minute meal invitations.  And it's difficult when you don't have room in your bag for a lunch bag.
- Stop letting food go to waste: I should think about methods to break this habit.  Maybe I can't go grocery shopping until everything I bought last time is gone?  This would require me to eat easily spoiled foods ASAP, and would also require me to keep a list of what foods I have (the neurotic side of me finds this incredibly appealing, while the lazy side of me is like, "WHY").  I'd have to point out the difference between something like sugar or flour or popcorn, things that last a long time and are not used that frequently.
- Change Comcast subscription to internet without digital cable.  I understand we need NESN (well, I don't need it anymore), but we do not need digital cable, and it's costing us $130 a month.  What.

And now, things I did last year (or last semester) that I want to continue to to:

1) Pick out clothes in the evening, shower/hair/make-up in the morning:

I finally started getting compliments in 2011 for how I dressed and how I did my hair and make-up.  At first, the compliments came in when I would go out clubbing, when I was TRYING to dress fashionably and have my hair and make-up look badass awesome.  Then, when I started grad school, it was a regular thing.  It made me feel much less stressed, knowing what I would wear when I woke up in the morning, and I feel great about myself.

2) Getting shit done before it's due and studying for tests:

This didn't really occur to me to do in college for some strange reason.  I would wait till the last minute to do any work, even though I was doing nothing except watching TV, dicking around online, and chatting with friends.  I didn't actually have something better to do than my work, but I acted like I did.  And when I studied, after spending the lectures half-asleep (or not going) and taking awful notes, I was under the impression that if I "went to class" (again, half-asleep or absent) and "took notes" (which were horrible), and I didn't ace the test after flipping through the textbook the night before, I must be bad at the material.  Yeah.  I'm glad I've broken this habit.

3) Taking care of my body:

It's not just that I had surgery in 2011.  It was that I had a problem, and I made damn well sure it got fixed.  I'm excited to be running again, which will help me make my body stronger.  I've been taking better care of my nails, hair, teeth, and skin as well.

4) Make new friends, but keep the old:

At least, to an extent.  I like keeping in touch with people, and I like making new friends as well.  I suppose this happens almost yearly, but I want to keep it up.

5) Keep my room clean(ish):

As many of my friends know, when my room gets messy, it's not just because I have some clothes on the floor, or I didn't make my bed, although both of those things are often true.  It means that I haven't cleaned Loki's cage in a while and there are seed hulls everywhere, and that empty food bowls/containers are on my bed, and empty bottles of soda and empty bags of chips are in my trash.  Yes.  But I've been better about it.  Maybe it was all the times I thought I might get laid (or all the times I did).  WELL THEN.

So, we'll see how 2012 goes.  I hope it's great.