tying up loose ends

Before getting a little older on Thursday, I suppose it's time to wrap up a few loose ends... once again I find myself doing my 'yesterday' blog post 'tomorrow'... it's still Tuesday to me and will be until I go to bed in a few minutes. I get a bit reflective around birthdays... they're like another shot at new years resolutions, a chance to think about what I've been doing and to plan (and dream) ahead. Getting in the mood for this Annual Alice Audit, I'll give a couple of things in each category now...

Reflections on what has gone:
* I'm living in Toronto, something I've been looking forward to and planning for over a year. I was walking home from 'Little Italy' early this evening and enjoyed being surrounded by the Torontoness of it all as I walked home. I decided I wanted to move to Toronto for a year and now it has happened. I'm doing it. I'm a lucky girl.
* The resolution side of my life always ends up with a few standard items, mostly involving becoming more punctual, finding the man of my dreams, getting a bit more healthy, getting a bit more organised, and seeking more work-life balance. Yep, those same old same old things have graced resolution lists for most of my adult life, and now I like to think of them as the things I need to keep working on rather than things to taunt myself over. It turns out that these are the things I struggle with the most, and reflecting on them at birthdays (and new year) gives me a chance to check in with myself and encourage myself to keep working hard at them. This, I have found, is much funner (and much more productive) than beating myself up about them.
* We buried Grandad since my last birthday, and this will be the first birthday without him; the past couple of years when he was in Wellington I spent the morning of my birthday with him, hanging out and enjoying each others' company. He wouldn't remember it was my birthday while we were hanging out, but he'd crack the same joke every year whenever I reminded him.
Grandad: How old are you anyway?
Me: Grandad I'm X years old today.
Grandad: Well you look it!
At this point Grandad would split his sides laughing, and last year he cracked this joke while standing up and leaning on his walker and I was laughing but also keeping an eye out in case he lost his balance completely and tipped over. Talk about fall over laughing!

Hopes and dreams:
* The usual resolutions: that I continue to work on them, and that I continue to make peace with them.
* My first book, Once Were Pacific: Maori connections with Oceania will come out between now and my 2012 birthday! Wow! Thank you University of Minnesota Press I'm very excited!! I don't mind if people take issue with my arguments, as long as they engage with the issues.
* I hope that Matiu will continue to be the most fabulous and amazing nephew anyone could dream of having, and that there will be other children in my life (I'm not sure how, but somehow) too.

Right! On that note, I'm off to bed. Lots to dream about!