The end of the year is here. During the past two months I:
- celebrated Keith’s birthday in Martinborough
- ate Thanksgiving at C. & C.’s house with other members of my New Zealand family. So good! I had two helpings of turkey and two slices of pie for dessert. The evening ended with short blacks and port as the digestif
- joined a gym
And to briefly recap this year’s blogs I:
- broke a bone in January and pierced my ears in October with Amber
- travelled to Hawaii to see my parents, attended Mark and Jill’s wedding in Ireland, visited Sarah and John in London and backpacked my way through the South Island with Dan
- sold photographs at the New Zealand Affordable Art Show in Wellington. This was the first time I sold work to anonymous consumers
- modelled shirts for Webstock. This was the first time I modelled anything
This year has been better than average. I’ve snapped thousands of photos and some of them are worthy of the wall.
Work is good. Xero has grown so much since January 2009. During the past few months we’ve developed Xero Personal, a tool to help manage personal finances. Xero Personal makes me giddy.
At the start of each year I make a list of achievable goals for the next 12 months. The list reminds me to think about the future and throughout the year I endeavour to achieve each goal. Ordered by the level of difficulty, here is a rough guess at the start of my 2010 list:
- fire a gun. I’ve never fired a gun. Apparently an American who hasn’t fired a gun “should be shot”
- travel to a new continent. This will either be South America, Africa or Antarctica
- place first in a poker tournament. This is difficult as it depends the level of skill in the tournament
- publish a short story. This goal is old, and never marked as achieved. Finishing stories is difficult for me
- gain five kilograms. Fat chance, I hope
I rarely achieve an entire list. Gaining five kilograms will be impossible. But damn it I’ll try!
I hope you make goals and think about the future. Life is too short to fart around.
Thank you for rating our Thanksgiving Dinner! As Kiwi’s we don’t really know how to do it ‘properly’ and I really value your enthusiasm and praise for it and we’re glad to have you in our urban family.
And even someone like me has fired a gun so there’s hope for you in 2010.
no thank you for inviting me. It was so tasty… everything was perfect!
firing a gun seems a bit silly but everyone asks me if I’ve fired a gun since I grew up in America. I never wanted to until I left America… kind of funny.
I say… go for Africa… see a Lion in the wild… watch a giraffe run across the Serengeti.. a cheetah stalk its prey….you will never regret it
Come to South America for Juli and my wedding!!… Great to see you happy & really good post
@sheryl yes, Africa would be fun. I have a friend living there at the moment and if she’s there for another year I’ll do my best to see her.
@chris yes! if I buy a fare around the world and if the timing works out I’d love to go. I’m sure it will be beautiful. and just so you know I’ve read through half of Hobson House and will send some feedback when I finish. so far I’ve enjoyed it.
Get your skinny ass to Africa. I went on a mini-trip last night to Ruaha National Park in Tanzania. When my roommate went take a pee in the middle night, he had to quickly step back into the banda as there was a HUGE male elephant standing 10 ft. from our door. TUSKS AND ALL.
Come to Africa and you’ll find your short story.
Sounds great, but scary. I was watching a program about dangerous animals and they showed footage of an elephant tossing around an Indian man like a toy. If you’re still there next year I’ll come.
Shoot a gun? Have A Shot. Wanaka! Back to the South Island with you! OH I miss it. Do it! Then you can go across the street and visit the Toy & Transportation Museum (don’t ask) or the brewery. Yes, there is also a brewery in the same building as the Toy & Transpo museum. Hum…