Because I’m a procrastinator, and didn’t previously have access to a personal writing space from work (ie. a place I can draft my entries during my “down-time” at work, which my firm will not be able to access / spy on), I have put off doing my annual retrospection until now.

However, now I have discovered a lovely online notepad from Helicoid, the Helipad!, and am working on this entry from work – whoo hoo! (albeit with a nasty headache)

So, 2009…

In terms of my 2009 resolutions, I have gloriously failed to achieve any of them.

Nonetheless, I have achieved (or accidentally stumbled across) some key milestones in life:
1) shagged (finally)
2) bought a little piece of England with the Boy

Part of me feels frustrated/ disappointed that I’ve done so few “wow” things or progressed so few of my “things to do before I die” compared to previous years – it seems, as years go by, that my life gets more boring, more static, and I do fewer exciting things – a result of becoming more conventional, fitting more into the norms, being weighed down by responsibilities. My only consolation, at least for 2009, is that, although I have done fewer exciting things, the things that I have done, are really big milestones in the context of one’s life (although not as big as having a baby!)

Other highlights of the year include:
– adopting Newton and Byron, my two lovely but at times extremely exasperating feline furballs
– visiting Madagascar! – finally doing some proper travelling in Africa, albeit Africa-for-beginners, and progressing my goal of “visiting every country in the world before I die” or that matter, we can add Japan to the list of countries visited)
– eating A LOT of very good food – although I didn’t hit 100 Michelin stars, I’ve done a good three-quarters or more of that number

In summary, I would say 2009 was a mixed bag. Low on number of goals achieved, high on life milestones achieved. Let’s hope 2010 will be a more productive year.

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