grace and me: Bucket List 2012

I prefer not to make new years resolutions as I tend not to keep them much beyond mid-January, pay day at best. I instead like to make plans or committments of things I would like to do or achieve in the coming year. A bucket list lends itself to things you would like to do before you kick the bucket, and although I'm not planning on doing that in 2012, I do plan to try to live each day as if it's my last so it fits well.

1. Make each day count.

2. Give up my addiction to diet coke, or at least swap it for something healthier, cheaper and/or more readily available. E.g. tea. Tea, will come to me via other people, coke I have to forage for myself - at work I have to tackle two flights of stairs to get to the vending machine to buy a can of diet coke whereas tea will be brought to my desk by caring work colleagues with little more effort than the utterance of 'please' and 'thank you'...

3. Eat healthy balanced meals everyday and keep treats for special occasions. Sundays are not special occasions. Nor are our favourite TV shows that feature late at night when I get the panger hungs for some munchies like home popped popcorn or nachos and dips. Low GL diets work for both me and Matt the Husband, we just need to stick to it.

4. Get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. This years attempt has been paltry at best. I'm aiming for 10st 7lbs as that seems reasonable. I can worry about reaching my pre-marriage weight in 2013, ha ha!

5. Exercise five days a week. Whether that's being out with the dog, doing a spot of yoga, going for a swim or walking really fast and pretending I can jog. I'm going to do it. (This one worries me).

6. Read one book a month. I tried this one last year but post-natal depression took over this time last year and my reading pile is still on the bedside table.

7. Take Grace on her first overseas trip. This one's a cheat as I know this is going to happen, but I want to get a quick hit on the list to pep me up over the challenges in numbers 2, 4 and 5.

8. Go on family days out as often as we can. I could write a bucket list of things to do on this item alone.
Visit a Zoo. Probably Colchester or Banham Zoo near my folks place.
Visit the North Yorkshire coast. Whitby or Robin Hoods Bay tickle my fancy.
Visit The Deep aquariuam or something similar, maybe one in Scotland Sept 2012.
Visit Abraham Heights and enjoy lunch in Matlock in the Peak District.
Visit the Ingleton Falls Trail and hopefully get Grace to walk a fair portion of it.

9. Ditch texting family and pick up the phone instead. Our family has had it's fair share of highs and lows in 2011 and it's made me realise we don't talk often enough.

10. Let Matt the Husband have a say in the bucket list. Next Year. Maybe. :0)

So that's the plan. We'll see how it pans out. Me and Matt the Husband are watching a film this afternoon while Grace takes her last afternoon nap of 2011. We're having fish and chips for tea, with fruit crumble for pudding. Tonight once Grace has gone to bed, we're going to crack open the bottle or Glayva that Uncle Frank gifted us for Christmas, watch another film, and then see in the New Year with Jools Holland on the tele, with Daisy-woof in the middle on the sofa keeping us warm. Beautiful.

Happy New Year all!! x x x