2018 Resolutions - How Did I Do?

Wednesday, January 09, 2019

My resolutions for 2018 were mostly made up of Day Zero Project goals. Some of which don't sound very exciting but ticking things off my to-do list makes me happy, no matter how mundane they might seem.

My 2018 Resolutions

Most importantly I wanted to spend more time with my favourite people. I both failed and succeeded. Some people I saw a lot more of, others not nearly enough.

The Day Zero goals were as follows:

Put all posters / pictures / paintings I have into frames and get them on the walls!
Falling at the first hurdle, I don't think there was a single photo or print or painting hung. This will soon change when I start to put the finishing touches to our bedroom now that it's been redecorated.

Buy / make shelves for the kitchen, kitchen cupboard, bedroom, and bathroom
My Dad made a gap filling shelf unit for the kitchen but the other shelves are still on the list.

Read a book every month with that month in the title
Done. I started with The Two Faces of January by Patricia Highsmith and ended with December by Elizabeth H. Winthrop. I'm planning a review post soon.

Finish decorating the entrance hall
Done! It was the gloss work that needed to be finished and I just kept putting it off. I'm so relieved to have it done and off the to-do list. Now I need to finish it by finding and hanging a coat rack.

Decorate our bedroom in a gorgeous deep bluey green
I had the paint ready and waiting. Then changed my mind and spent ages choosing a different shade of green. But when I told Andy I was painting the bedroom green his face expressed the fact that he wasn't keen on the idea, so we agreed on a different colour and the redecoration was finally completed in November.

Decorate the downstairs toilet
Done. I didn't stray far from what we already had, I just refreshed the walls using a similar colour (creamy beige), stained the mirror frame as it had faded, and added a pot plant. I have a print that I want to hang but I want to get it professionally framed.


Buy a printers tray, hang it on a wall and fill it with mementos
Done. It's on the wall, and has a few more spaces filled but I don't see it being completely filled any time soon. I'm in no hurry, the idea is to fill it with memories over time. The latest addition is a small Christmas bear.

Spruce up the front door
Nope.

Kondo the kitchen
Nope.

Kondo the pantry
I made a start but failed to finish the job properly, and now I need to start all over again.

Kondo the cupboard under the stairs
I made a start early in the year but it still needs to be finished. The Marie Kondo method calls for the process to be started and finished in one day and I can see why, once started it's so easy to keep putting it off, for clutter to creep back in.


Sand and repaint the side entrance door
Done! After fitting a new door and painting it a delicious shade of green in 2017 I was gutted when the paint was scratched, so one day in the summer I sanded it down and repainted it. And yesterday I noticed another scratch...

See a psychic
Done.


Photograph the same landscape across 12 months and make it into a calendar
Done. I'll pop all the photos in a separate post. I don't know if I'll turn them into a calendar as I received two for Christmas and a third seems wasteful but it is lovely to have this record. I think I'll do it again this year with a different view.


Visit seven restaurants in seven days
Either for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, or even just for dessert. This is how I decided to celebrate my birthday. In reality I had two days of eating out and that was more than enough. I needed to pace myself. Maybe this year?


Read a book set in my hometown
Done. The book I chose was 22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson. My friend used to live on this road, so I know it well. It was really enjoyable to be able to picture the house and garden, and the town being described in the book.

Host afternoon tea
Nope.

Eat battered pizza, followed by battered Mars bar. Just once.
Nope. I mentioned this to Andy and he agreed, we just didn't make it happen.

In addition to these Day Zero goals I added the following;


A ban on buying books (with the exception of those needed for my reading challenge).
Fail! In January I spent 59p on a book for May (Bertie, May and Mrs Fish: Country Memories of Wartime by Xandra Bingley). I didn't even read it as it turned out I'd already purchased One Day in May by Catherine Alliott for the challenge back in December '17, but I'd completely forgotten that I'd done so.

In April I found three books in a series I've been reading; 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith. They were the next three in the sequence so I justified the purchase by telling myself it might be a while before I come across these books again. It doesn't take much to convince me to buy books.

As we got to the middle of the year the ban went out of the window completely. In total I purchased 36 books in 2018. I read 40, of these only 5 of them were books I purchased during the year, the others were already on my shelves. Clearly I need to buy less or read more.

Make the most of my weekends
I wanted to avoid the feeling of a weekend wasted and vowed that I would have a plan for the weekend in place by each Friday evening. It worked pretty well, although sometimes my plans weren't very exciting, it gave my weekends a focus. I now have a set of Weekend posts to look back on.

With Andy working almost every weekend throughout the year, and being self employed myself, the days of the week seem to blend into one and the weekends had lost all meaning. Doing this helped me to create a little more structure to my week.

As predicted I didn't do everything on the list but that's fine, there are plenty of other things I did do instead. It gives me a good start for my 2019 resolutions, which I'm currently pondering.

What do you have planned for the year ahead? I'm still pondering my resolutions...

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14 comments

  1. I think you've done really well, lots of things crossed off there. I love the idea of filling a printer's tray with mementos, how lovely.

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    1. I adore our printers tray. It belonged to my Mum's Husband's Dad, he was so pleased that we could find a use for it, so it feels extra special. It's such good fun finding little bits and pieces to fill it with (bit of a bugger to dust though!)
      xx

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  2. You did really well. I'm looking forward to your post on the books with months in the title.

    I don't know how many books I bought last year but I definitely have not read all the ones I bought. This year I plan to try and read some of the books I've owned for several years and never actually got round to reading!

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    1. I'm not particularly good at book reviews but I'll give it my best effort.

      I'm dreadful at buying books! I'm going to try a ban again this year but I doubt it'll stick!

      Good plan! I have got any that are several years old - yet! - I just want to have fewer are that lingering.

      xx

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  3. I think this is a lovely list and you have done well. To even go and back and review it is doing well!!! I am so impressed you managed to find books with months in the title. I think the only one with a month in the title I have read is Seven Days in May' which is an excellent book

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    1. Thank you.

      I've heard of Seven Days in May, but already had two books for that month :)

      xx

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  4. You did pretty well and certainly achieved plenty. It's impossible not to buy a book when it's caught your attention!
    I'm looking forward to seeing your 12 months of the view. Changing landscapes are amazing. xx

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    1. It's impossible not to buy books full stop!

      I'm putting together the landscape post today, I'm quite pleased with some of the photos.

      xx

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  5. I think you did rather well, Hazel. I'm not one for making New Year's resolutions, but last year we promised ourselves we would go away more, which we did, and which I'm very happy about. Love your printer's tray! We had one for ages, full of little bits and pieces. Indeed it's very difficult not to buy more books, even though my reading pile is never ending. I did go through my shelves and put aside a pile of books I was sure I would never read again. Then I let my friends choose the ones they liked at New Year's Eve. Oh, and I spotted quite a few books I have too in your reading pile. I still have to read Cloud Atlas. I think I started it twice already! xxx

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    1. Getting away more is such a good resolution. Being away from home, everyday life, even for a short while, is so restorative.
      I don't often keep books once Ive read them, only ones I simply can't bear to part with. I give mine to friends or donate to charity so they can be enjoyed by someone else. I'm going to read Cloud Atlas this year as part of my new reading challenge.
      Hope you have a fabulous year ahead Ann, with lots of reading and lots of getting away.
      xx

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  6. You did very well with the list, even though you didn't quite get them all!

    I'm on a book buying ban at the moment and I'm finding it very hard! I have bought one book this month, but it was a recipe book so doesn't count!! I'm on a tea buying ban too as both my tbr shelves and my tea cupboard have got out of control!

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    1. My tea collection is a bit daft too! I think I'm just going to stop buying anything full stop, that way I can't be tempted.
      xx

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  7. Hi I think you did extremely well! I never keep resolutions! I actually stopped making them. So you changed your mind about your bedroom paint color? What did you pick in the end? I am thinking of painting my dining room and living room this Spring and want to keep it very light but haven't looked at colors yet. I have a very hard time choosing a color. I have bought paint in the past and when I started painting, it wasn't the color I thought it would be. I actually think I will stick to a warm white color. I know, boring! But it will keep the rooms light and match everything. Hope you are feeling better and continue to heal. Arlene from NJ (US)

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    1. Thank you Arlene. I don't keep resolutions like 'go to the gym' or 'stop eating chocolate', bso my resolutions can start to resemble a to-do list. Which is fine, I love a list!
      We went for pink in the end, I might do a post one day... warm white is a lovely colour, our lounge and hall, stairs and landing are the same, it creates a nice backdrop, and everything looks so fresh.
      I am feeling better, thank you, healing continues. Time is a healer.
      Thanks for stopping by, it's nice to hear from you
      xx

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