Introduction Part 2: New Year's Resolution Goals

Okay, so for this second and equally important introduction to me and my blog, I would like to post my list of New Year’s Resolutions, which I created here in my living room on my laptop – the Tardis – at 3 o’clock in the morning watching The 40 Year Old Virgin. It is 3 o’clock in the morning now as well, and so it would appear that the first 4 months of the year have gone by without any change, although to be fair I am not watching The 40 Year Old Virgin – but I should probably note that I am watching Undeclared, a show starring Seth Rogen and created by Judd Apatow, creator of The 40 Year Old Virgin. Anyway, even though I know things haven’t changed a lot yet, I’m not abandoning my goals completely or at all for that matter.

That is one of the reasons I started this blog.

A major topic any potential readers can expect to see on this blog apart from my work on my magazine and other crafts, is the progress of my New Year’s Resolutions list. Think of it as a sadder version of Bridget Jones’s Diary, except without the luxury of shagging two different guys before the year’s out because this Bridget Jones is Love Shy.
I’ve learned that I need to be a little more realistic about what I can do and start small. So far, I think that is what I am going to do. Even though I will post my list of resolutions, I should make the following clear now:

1) I may be revising as I see fit given what I think I am capable of.
2) For the most part, I am not giving myself a time limit to complete the goals – even though I would love to complete them before the end of the year, I know that there are certain goals that are too large to accomplish so quickly, especially while trying to juggle other goals as well.
3) My primary concern is becoming more independent and healthier, so that I can ultimately be happy, take care of myself, and accomplish all other goals I wish to achieve. That said, I will be satisfied if I do not gain anymore weight but become more active, or if I manage to lose only 10-15 pounds by the end of the year, just as long as I am moving closer to my goal of independence.
I should write here also that, in addition to my goals for the year, I am giving myself goals for each day:

1) Wake up in the morning; go to bed at night and sleep through the night.
2) Eat a healthy breakfast after waking up.
3) After breakfast: brush teeth, wash face, wash armpits, apply deodorant, brush hair, and dress.
4) After washing and dressing, complete physiotherapy exercises for the day.
5) Take all medication at correct times.
6) Complete 10-15 minutes of aerobic exercise and increase by 5 minute increments when ready.
7) Attempt a chore or errand.
8) Brush teeth, wash face, and change into pyjamas before going to bed.

The above may seem very basic and childish to anyone who reads this, but you must remember that these small things are like milestones for someone with all of my health problems. I’ll leave you with a list of my goals for the rest of the year along with some my accomplishments so far, which I will try to do in every blog entry.

Today’s Accomplishment: Completed ½ of my daily physiotherapy exercises.
Did not consume any Coke today.
Cleaned out the litter box.
Brushed teeth and washed face.
Washed dishes.
Hobbies: Painted 3 boxes for my mom for her upcoming jewellery sale, and painted the surface of 1 plaque for an Alice In Wonderland crafts.

Random Thought: Blogging with no followers is like being shipwrecked, writing an SOS,putting it in a glass bottle, and casting it out to sea hoping somebody will come across it by accident.


New Year's Resolutions for 2010

1. Take good care of yourself.

 Brush your teeth every day.
 Wash your face every day.
 Try to shower 1-2 times / week.
 Exercise 3-4 days / week and work up to 7 days / week.
 Weekly Chart: record all medication, food, exercise, and important health information daily.
 Try NutriSystem more accurately; abstain from soft drinks; abstain from fast food and junk food.
 Use Nintendo Wii Balance Board and Dance Dance Revolution weekly.
 Make and keep regular doctor & acupuncture appointments.

2. Live life to the fullest, get out more, and learn to be more independent.

 Try a different cafe, restaurant, bar, or store every week.
 Get age of majority card. Apply in January.
 Take steps to get driver’s license.
 Take classes.
 Keep in touch with friends.

3. Remodel bedroom into library/study so that you have work space for writing or studying.

 Buy wall-hugger futon that is attractive & comfortable for sleeping, writing, and reading.
 Install lock on bedroom door.
 Buy stereo with CD player, alarm clock, radio, and tape player.
 Install a different lamp shade for bedroom light.
 Install a different blind, preferably a wooden or bamboo blind.
 Install medicine cabinet with a lock above light switch
 Buy cabinet/armoire for cosmetics & hair accessories or have one made to your own specifications
 Install adjustable shelves on walls to be used for books, stereo, CDs, sewing machine, computer ...
 Paint walls more appropriate colour and get carpet or wood floor.

4. Take care of your money / finances.

 Put cell phone bill on Visa.
 Pay Visa bill on time always.
 Do not spend money on unneeded things.

5. Keep things cleaner, neater, and more accessible.

 Do the litter box every other day.
 Keep bedroom clean: clothes hung & folded, laundry in the laundry room, etc ...
 Keep craft supplies & basement kitchen neat & clean – buy storage supplies if necessary.

6. Work hard and seriously on your writing career.

 Buy a bag for transporting laptop.
 Work on writing projects weekly if not daily.
 Get a change of scenery, and the take laptop to a library or coffee shop to write.
 Create and keep up websites for your work to recruit fans and display for people to see.
 Eventually purchase a drawing palette and Photoshop program for cartoon and comic work.
 Try to finish launch issue of magazine by the end of 2010.

7. Other important goals:

 Learn to play the drums so that you can be part of Matt’s band.
 Make mixed CDs and DVDs with covers and labels.
 Take breaks and pace yourself!
 Don’t be afraid to talk back to people who are being assholes. Pick your moments of course, but if someone
implies something rude about your body, remember that they most likely have issues about their body image, so
point that out and be just as rude back. Don’t be afraid to point out the flaws of others!

Introducing The Lonely Sock

Welcome Bloggers to my first blog entry, here at The Lonely Sock. My name is Lilly Briar and I’m an aspiring writer with several roadblocks in my life, the least of which is an acute case of writer’s block. I suppose the more major roadblocks would include Fibromyalgia, Clinical Depression, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and an older sister who I believe is an undiagnosed narcissist.

You might be wondering to yourself, “Why is this blog called The Lonely Sock?”

I don’t know.

I’d like to give you a good answer for that. It’s not because I often look like one when I am writing – wrapped in my long, red, fluffy housecoat which I usually wear when I’m not feeling good. No, I picked it mostly because I was going for a title that revealed something about my personality, but also revealed how I might be different than the next girl my age. And what’s something that soooo many girls have in common? Apparently they love shoes. I constantly hear women say that they have a “shoe fetish” and I read a bizarre fact that the average woman my age or older can have about 25-40 pairs of shoes. Well, not me! In fact, I detest shoe-shopping in every way and always have. I have a sock fetish, and by that I don’t mean some crazy sexual habit involving socks, just an average, everyday addiction to socks and not the boring white ones that come in packages!

(If you find this strange and are an owner of 25-40 pairs of shoes, I recommend buying some comfortable and colourful socks – you never know, they could give you the joy that the shoes give you, and since they are much less expensive, you could experience the joy of new foot-adornments on a more regular basis. Just a thought.)

Anyways, back to my blog title. Being a lover of non-white socks I often have my laundry returned to me with several of my socks lying solo without their mates, and since none of them are the same colour, it’s not like I can get away with introducing the newly-single socks to each other and trying to make them a new couple. Even if sparks flew, miscegenation of socks is something people seem to look down upon - not that I’m against it; I attempted inter-racial sock pairing in high school.

My point is, many of my socks end up lying somewhere feeling useless and like half of them is missing even though they are unique, creative, and should be out in the world doing what they were meant to do ... going places! I guess that’s why I call this blog The Lonely Sock, because that’s how I feel right now at this point in my life – like one of my lonely socks.

Man, something tells me I am totally going to regret this stupid sock analogy after I post this. Oh well. Maybe it will work. It’s not like anybody will be reading this anyway, right?