Reflecting on my 19 Things Before 2019 | 20 in 2020?
“19 Things Before 2019” is one of my most visited posts by people coming from Google or other searches. I see its name so often in my stats and I realised I should really reflect on the things I aimed to do, because it’s apparent that I’m really not going to be able to do some of them.
“1. Get a sewing machine and sew my next Halloween costume (it’s a secret!) and finish that bag.”
Well, we did finish sewing the bag, but I won’t have the spare budget to get a sewing machine and make the costume I was planning to make. I also reckon I’ll be really tired at Halloween this year because our wedding is also about then. So I probably won’t be in much of a costume at all. I’d like to try it another year though.
“2. Finish putting money aside to pay off my overdraft.”
This one I almost did, but then we found out that having just 40 people at our wedding is going to cost 700 ENTIRE BRITISH POUNDS (down from original estimate of almost £800, though). So, now my savings are paying for our reception instead, and it will probably take me another year to get out of my overdraft. Bearing in mind I’ve also got to save for Eurovision.
“3. Use the year to get down to 140lbs/ 10 stone, which is the weight I was last thin at. Not the thinnest someone of my height could be, but definitely good.”
Well, I’ve definitely lost some weight, but I think losing so much is a bit ambitious, especially as the end of the year is in five months.
“4. Slim down enough to wear a nice flag dress for Eurovision.”
This I did!
“5. Leave the country.”
This I should do IN 2019, but not within 2018 unless some money and time falls into my lap.
“6. Get matching tattoo with my sister.”
This I just really don’t think I’ll have the time and money to do for maybe a couple more years.
“7. Knuckle down and clear out the spare room!”
This just didn’t happen. I don’t think it will happen until we move out and then external people can help us, because Will just does not want to sort through things and categorise them and dispose of necessary stuff, which I’m not capable of doing on my own.
“8. Get my eating disorder under control.”
I’ve been up and down on this but I like to think I’ve been slowly improving.
“9. Actually in-person-meet people I’ve met on apps.”
This is almost definitely not gonna happen.
“10. Have a routine bedtime.”
Well, I go to bed more often than I don’t, I think, but I still end up needing to nap in the daytime.
“11. Try cross-stitch.”
Haven’t done this yet.
“12. Make headway on my “To Read” Goodreads shelf instead of always getting distracted by something not on the list.”
Yeah I’m still not really doing that either.
“13. Learn to code again.”
I started this but my brain didn’t really cooperate.
“14. Cross off bucket list items (this one is kind of cheating because it’s so vague!)”
I have done one of these!
“15. Finish my current story (intended to have it all done in a month but then my brain went missing)”
Unfortunately my writing brain still hasn’t come back. I hope it will at some point.
“16. Go to Marwell Zoo”
We did this!
“17. Organise my house better (e.g. actually get a chest of drawers instead of throwing clothes in an ill-fitting cupboard)”
I feel like we’ve improved a bit, Will’s mum gave us a tall thin chest that we’ve now put underwear in, it won’t do t-shirts and trousers and so on unfortunately but hopefully we will sort that out one day.
“18. Get house things actually according to my aesthetic instead of just plain cheap things, otherwise I will only continue to own things that don’t match what I like.”
I’ve definitely made some headway here I think, not to mention the cushions Will’s mum gave us. We’ve tried to make sure the stuff on our wedding registry is of the colours and styles we like. (On another note, registry etiquette is a nightmare. You’re apparently meant to have 2-3 times the number of gifts as guests, in a variety of price ranges and levels of fanciness, as apparently older guests can be offended if they can’t buy you some huge thing, and so on. I just don’t want anyone to think we’re dicks for asking for stuff).
“19. Grow my hair long again, but look after it.”
I’ve been doing this! Slowly but surely. I also decided after writing my 19 Things Before 2019 post, that I was going to stop straightening my hair and let it go curly again. Letting it curl up impedes the length a bit because obviously it all contracts, so I think it will take longer to see results on that front. But technically, I’ve started.
So I feel like that’s only 4 to 6 of the 19 things I can claim to have actually done!! Or really be in any position to do.
So, here’s my revised list:
Things I want to get done by the end of 2020:
Using categories taken from a goal-creating book I saw online:
Relationships/ Romance/ Family:
- Marry Will this year.
- Update all my documents to reflect my married name.
- Possibly move into a big family house with Will’s mum, younger siblings, and many pets!
Health:
- Manage my calories in, calories out in a way that doesn’t make me hate myself and resort to old habits.
- Lose weight overall but be happy to maintain when I get to a healthy weight.
Finances:
- Get out of overdraft.
- Pay off all remaining debts.
- Start getting some real savings going.
Spiritual:
- Cease being Zera Yisrael and start converting formally into Judaism. When we finally have a car, or live with someone who does, I will need to make at least once-monthly trips to a synagogue in order to begin the conversion process (as I have been told via email thus far).
Career/ Successes/ Education:
- Continue to grow the charity at a rate we can cope with.
- Get a couple of background/ extra roles in a production and put the money away.
Lifestyle/ Recreational/ Travel/ Adventure:
- Go to the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in person! Or at least hang about in the Eurovision village if we can’t get tickets to the actual show (the ticketing system is apparently very balls).
- This trip should also accomplish travelling on a plane for the first time!
- Get some Israeli souvenirs.
- Hopefully actually see Brittany by then also.
- When we move into a big family house, or at least somewhere that we are going to stay for a long time, and we have a car, I want to apply for a shotgun certificate and have an actual proper, non-air-powered gun of my own, in my own gunsafe, with a key kept in a biometric keysafe etc. I want to quite regularly go clayshooting and maybe eventually bring birds home for the table (but I’ll probably need someone else to butcher them, because the idea of all their intestines and poop being inside them, squicks me out).
Contributions/ Charity:
- As above I want to grow the charity that we run, but I also want to donate as much as I can when I have the cash, there are a few things that are important to me.
Material items:
- My God, we need one of those countertop dishwashers. Washing up hurts and sucks, and when neither of us have done it, it makes the house smell. (Also I really hope we replace the PS3 by then so I can play old-timey Tomb Raider again)
- I really want us to have a car before I turn 30, because you really just need one for normal life things. Especially as we now live in the kind of place where there is only pavement on one side of the road. I really don’t want to be fancy with a car, I just want one of those old estate cars with a really long boot, for dogs and such.
- We need to get a puppy! As much as I hope Freya is with us for the longest possible time (and Joop, for that matter), I need to be realistic and start training her successor.
- I really want us to get an Oriental Shorthair as our first cat as soon as we can! I can’t believe I have almost lived 30 entire years of my life without having my own cat to dote on.
So that’s actually 21 Things Before 2020 (if I’ve counted right!) and I guess we’ll see how I do on those.
