While I'm wide awake

Here is the original for those types who turn on the director's commentary while watching DVDs.

Relationships

1. Make wise relationship decisions this year
Well, my relationship decisions for this year were as follows:

Winter and Spring in Tampa: I took myself completely off the market as I transitioned from a short but whirlwind relationship.

Summer at home: I burned a bridge and spent months trying to prevent myself from rebuilding it while busying myself with work and friends.

Fall and Winter in Madison: The bridge was rebuilt. And I was too exhausted and jaded from school and work to figure myself out enough to become someone worth dating.

So were my decisions wise or unwise? I guess it's a shade of gray. But it isn't exactly progress, is it? If I'm keeping myself accountable with these resolutions (which is the point), then I can't possibly give myself credit for this one.

2. Spend no more than a month in "No Man's Land"
A month? I don't know if I could say that I spent a day in No Man's Land this year. Which has its positives and negatives, really. All told an improvement though, I'd say.

3. Find myself a good MLC marriage track girl
I only spent a couple days this year visiting MLC, and I definitely did not spend those days actively searching for a wife. That's ok. This resolution is facetious, but I still maintain that I'm almost infinitely more likely to find someone there that I'm on the same page with than I am at UW.

Experiences

4. Half-facetious resolution that was lost on the cutting room floor.
Wasn't accomplished, wasn't attempted, wasn't serious, and didn't belong in the "Relationships" section before. Ha.

5. Go to at least one MLS game
(September 26)
I went to my first MLS game with my roommate and his girlfriend, as we watched Chicago tie Toronto 2-2 in a thriller. We had such a good time that we went down twice more (for playoff games), even appearing on Sportsillustrated.com as a result. Jordan and Heidi got season tickets for next year and I'm sure I'll join them for a number of those games. It's a passion now. Go Fire!

6. Go Clubbing
Regretfully, no. I think it's regretfully, at least. I do think that it would be an interesting experience.

7. Actually go to the beach.
(February 21)
I did, on several occasions. They were some of the many pleasant memories I have of my second semester at USF. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone in a week.

8. Remember to celebrate Stabby the Green Pepper Day
(April 10)
And to great fanfare! This will probably be a resolution next year too, after which it will just annually become second nature.

Personal Improvement/Achievement

9. Finish with a cumulative 3.9 GPA at USF
(~May 2)
A surprise 4.0 for the second semester ensured that I ended my time at South Florida with a 3.93 GPA. Good thing, too, because I could only dream of doing that well at Madison. It's a whole different world.

10. Learn to cook passably
I didn't really even attempt to do this. Oops.

11. Find a way to play soccer at least twice a month
(up until October)
I was doing so well with this one, but predictably it got totally derailed by the Wisconsin winter. I even had a fall/winter indoor league lined up, but I was way too busy with work to do much more than entertain that idea. However I played often during the summer and took every advantage of the Florida weather to go outside and kick around. A winless intramural season was tough, but then again I was one of like 3 people on that team that had even played soccer before.

12. Keep the Lord in my life
Although I fret about the other things on this list so much, at least I've still got the most important one.

13. Work and find enjoyment in it
I started working at the ol' Targs in July and it's been way more enjoyable than my first (fast food) job. Sure, it's not always a blast to stock tampons or fold clothes for hours on end, but I have definitely found enjoyment in a lot of it. Particularly when Shallow Blake goes to work.

14. Swear less
What is it about living on campus that makes it so easy to swear? Oh, probably that everyone around you does so constantly. Even so, I'm always careful about who can or can't hear it...mostly it's done in the confines of my dorm room. Knowing that anyone and everyone can see what you do on the internet, I maintain the "Al Michaels Standard of Verbal Decency" while I do my social networking.

15. Get a scholarship
I thought about giving myself this one, considering that I do have a fairly substantial corporate scholarship at the moment. However, I mentioned at the start of the year that I wanted to get a scholarship in addition to that one, which is not something that I accomplished or even tried to do. I guess there were just other pressing needs over the end of the summer.

So I accomplished 7 out of 15. That's just under half...

16. Accomplish at least half of my New Year's Resolutions (8 of 16)
...until now. I'll be back tomorrow.