guess who's back, back again

After a year and a half respite, I have decided that it is time again to return to the blogging world again! This is by far the longest I have gone without posting, and more and more frequently over the last few months, I have been thinking that it is high time to get back into the groove, and what better a time than a brand new year? Albeit, I am a few days late, but today is my first day back to work, and the real world after two weeks off for Christmas! 

Now, since it's January, and this is one of my goals for the new year, I suppose I shall post the rest of my so-called "resolutions" in the spirit of the season.  

1. Eat breakfast & drink water

2. Be more flexible

3. Blog

4. Re-enamor myself with my job

5. Read more (NEW) books

Now, since it is not in my nature to state such facts and not elaborate upon them, so... here we go.  If there is one thing that I know, it is that the majority of my previous followers were apparently not so deterred by my longwindedness that they quit reading. 

EAT BREAKFAST and DRINK WATER - probably the simplest of my resolutions, I wish only to state that by eating breakfast, I mean real breakfast, however small, as long as it is not fast food. Typical Niki-breaky is a couple of raw unpeeled carrots (yum, yum) with the occasional handful of almonds and a gigantic coffee with honey, not sugar. 

BE MORE FLEXIBLE - in contrast to the previous, this is probably the most difficult to define of my resolutions, as I don't mean physically flexible (though that would be an added bonus, to be sure..) What I really mean is flexibility of the mind - I'm going to try to be less stuck in my ways, less assuming, less defensive.  

BLOG - I want it to be a habit again, not a forced act, not work, not an additional stress.  A creative outlet that is written for me, more so than it is written for the readers or my audience. I know its going to take a little time, and more than a little effort, but I think it will also be very rewarding.  As well, after much deliberation and changing of mind, I have decided to leave up my posts from the last six years, (how embarrassing) and maybe, just maybe, read them one day, and allow myself some personal reflection, however humbling and painful it may be. 

LOVE MY JOB -  or at least like it again? Sometime in the past year, I have really become disengaged.  I think I got bored, and at the same time had to deal with some family turmoil that really put me out of sorts. All I really wanted was to be back in my home town, close to the ones I love most.  It was rough, and I don't think I realized how rough until life settled into a nice little stalemate.  So here I am, dreading the impending semi-annual review that determines my bonus, and the opinion of my superiors over the next year.  I know that my work life suffered, and I wish that I had tried harder, done better, achieved more, and had a better outlook, but alas, it is too late.  Hindsight is 20/20. 

READ MORE (NEW) BOOKS -  so far off to a very good start with this one! I read 2.5 books, brand new to me, over the past week! Ahhh, a week of leisurely, lovely vacation in the north! Returning home, reading on my own couch alone without Jared for companionship didn't hold quite the same appeal. But the point of this, is that I really need to get out of the habit of rereading my old favorites, and into some new stories! I enjoy it once I get there, but its so hard to go out and buy something new when I could just peruse something that's within arms reach! 

So there you have it! Hopefully I'll keep this up and you can track my progress ;)