New Year, New Wife, New Goals

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!

So in 2008 my goals were pretty much narrowed down to:
1. Get Married
2. Have an Awesome Wedding.

Yes, well, not the loftiest of ambitions, but on the plus side, I did succeed at both of them. :-) But this year I need to accomplish a bit more. A wedding has the unfortunate effect of taking over one's life, and mine was no exception. I'm not even sure what I did last year between January and October! I know I read fewer books and watched fewer movies. I also know I stalked photographer blogs like there was no tomorrow. Um, yeah, that'll suck up your time, no doubt about it.

So my New Year goals (I don't like the word 'resolutions' are:

1. Get a new job.
I hate, hate, hate my job. I don't care if a bookshop sounds like a nice place to work; it's RETAIL, and I refuse to work in retail any longer. I'm sick of people treating me like an incompetent moron, and I'm sick of customers who are incompetent morons. I'm actually even sick of the ones who are nice, because I just can't stand serving people anymore. I constantly have to be perky, helpful and knowledgeable, and I just can't do it. It's like I'm giving them a piece of myself everytime they walk in the door.

2. Take at least a month off before starting alleged new job.
I really need some time to myself in which to do nothing except recover my sanity. I know I just HAD a holiday (Thailand, you might remember...), but I was so stressed from the wedding that it was impossible to regain my senses on a sightseeing holiday filled with so many new places, cultures, sights, sounds and so much darn beauty. I've taken to dissolving into tears at the least thing (and sometimes nothing) and I just feel so exhausted by everything. I need a break.

3. Buy a house.
Gleep. This is something Mr Ruby Slippers and I really want to do, but it's a huge, expensive deal, and I'm thoroughly afraid of it. But we're sick of renting and having to share our landlords' washing machine and being parked in by their endless stream of friends and family...and much, much more.

4.Take singing lessons.
Something I've been meaning to do for absolute years, but never felt like spending the money on. So screw it, this year I'm going to do it and sod the expense. I need to do something I love for myself. Plus it could possibly mean I could get some small-time singing gigs in hotel bars and so on, as a few people I know do.

5. Do a photography course.
Again, something entirely new for me, but I've developed such a keen interest in photography this year. What makes one photo good and another bad? What are they doing to make the photos look different and interesting? I really need to know this stuff!

6. Be happy within myself.
I'm not an unhappy person, really, but so many aspects of my life just make me so miserable, and I need to sort that out. I love Mr RS and we're forging ahead into married life so swimmingly, my parents are great, his parents are great, and they all support me. But I constantly feel that I'm too afraid to try anything new for fear of failing, and both this fear of failure and the fact that I never do try anything is making me very unhappy. Hence the singing and the photography. Something new that I'm interested in, and, in the case of the singing, that I already know I'm not too shabby at, will really help me to get GOING at them, and, hopefully, feel better about myself in the long run.

Phew. I think that's enough for one year, what do you think?