New Year's Resolutions

I can only think of four this year. I should probably have more, but I think these four are doable, and will all improve my quality of life in the long-run. On a side note, I can't believe it's going to be 2009. This will be the last year of the 20-oughts. Unbelievable.

Resolutions:

1. Phase out my clients in New York City and work only in Westchester. This would make my life so much easier. Going into the city all the time is such a hassle. I wanted to live and work outside of the city and I've only accomplished one of the two. I'm pretty sure, at this point, that I'm going to return to a school in the fall anyway. I didn't love working in a school but I see the benefits over doing what I'm doing now. Ultimately, if I stay in this field long enough, I'd like to end up in academia. But that opens up a whole other set of headaches that I don't want to deal with at this point.

2. Get rugs and curtains for the apartment. This sounds dumb and easy, I know, but it's something I really want to get done. We've been here since August and still have neither.

3. Start at least 18 books this year. That's about one book every three weeks. The last few years I've been starting about 10 books a year but only finishing one or two. I'm also going to have to set a limit of three weeks on a book I've started. If I'm not well on my way to finishing it after three weeks then it's time to move on. Hopefully this strategy will increase my total number of books read for 2009.

4. Buy nothing on credit. I'd like to go one full calendar year without buying anything on credit. I'm pretty sure the last year I did that was 1999. I'd like to put those days of having to rely on credit to get me through a tight month behind me.

So that's it. Like I said, I should probably come up with more. I could do more things with my wife, and I should probably drink less and exercise more but those things are hard to quantify.