New Year's resolutions

Normally about this time, I do a "year in review" but since 2013 sucked, there doesn't seem to be much point. For the entire year I was stuck in a desolate part of northern England, on a dead-end project that was supposed to take 6 months but is set to last 18 months, at least. I did take the opportunity to travel about England, but what I discovered is that most of England looks like...well, England!

My "big trips" were to California, Ireland, Israel and then back to California with my friend Lucy for my mom's 75 birthday. The last time I travelled with a friend was 1998, when I accidentally invited my neighbor on a cruise to see the Leonids meteor shower...from the Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco! Fortunately Lucy was great, and now we're talking about going to Russia and taking the Trans-Siberian Railway to China...in 2015.

In addition to my imminent visit to New Zealand, I think 2014 is finally the year I visit India. I would also like to take long weekends to Northern Ireland, Spain, Poland and Finland (to see the Northern Lights). A friend just moved to Geneva (and offered to teach me to ski!) so I will definitely visit there, preferably in winter! And of course I'll be back in California, probably in the autumn.

Greece, Turkey and Tunisia will have to wait another year. I had also planned, as soon as I got my British passport, to visit Cuba, but that will also have to wait.

Which brings me to fact that in May I'm finally eligible for British citizenship! I've waited 6 years for this, praying that the Queen would hold out. (Becoming a citizen involves swearing fealty to the monarch, and I would be much more comfortable doing that to the Queen than to Prince Charles!)

After the New Zealand trip, I have some hard decisions to make. My car has been slowly dying all year, no doubt hastened by my commuting 180 miles. I doubt it will pass it's next MOT (safety test) so I have a hard deadline of April 30. I don't want another cheap junker, so I need to do some research.

I may also have to move. All year I've been thinking it's ridiculous paying good rent when I'm spending most of my nights in a hotel, but I was too lazy to actually pack my stuff and move. Then in December I got a note from the landlord saying she was selling the flat, and of course I have no guarantee the new owners will let me stay. A few months ago I finally paid off the loan I had to take when I left Jess (since I left with literally nothing), and so have started saving a down payment, but credit is still tight and it's going to be a while before I can afford anything decent.

And of course, I need to change jobs. That's been a long time coming--I said I was going to leave as soon as I got my resident permit ("indefinite leave to remain") but that was 6 months ago, and the fact is I've just been too lazy to really look. That needs to change.

The last goal is to lose all the weight I put on in 2013 (much of it from my 180-mile commute). Since I was never home, I cancelled my gym membership, which obviously didn't help.

So to recap, my 2014 resolutions are: New car, new job, new home, new look, new horizons and new citizenship. Actually, to be honest, my goal is to simply avoid getting to the end of the year and thinking, "Well, that sucked."

Have a happy 2014!