Am I making progress? Yes. Am I very tired? Very yes.
February has roughly 26 hours left in it before we March into March. If memory serves me correctly, lockdown began worldwide mostly by March 15, so we are approaching a full year of quarantine! What an interesting year it has been. My resolutions between now and then have been achieved, changed, put off and shut off, but my spirit has mostly stayed strong.
The desire is there, the energy to do them has waned. Let’s take a look!
- Redesigning the blog. Adding “Featured images” and “Read more” is second nature. I’ve made big CSS changes and updates to the layout, too! It’s still not exactly how I want it, but that will take time. Baby steps!
- Sharpen my Spanish. I have yet to watch “Narcos” at all. Or any of my memorized sitcoms with dubbing or subtitles. There’s still time. Aaron’s parents want to speak more Spanish too, so I might implement a “Spanish only” rule when I see them!
- Learn a new language. I haven’t learned any new languages, but I’ve been sharpening my HTML, CSS, and dabbling in Javascript! It’s a journey.
- Do Blogmas. I’m saying no, putting this one away, FOR NOW. If I get to December and I’m happy with my body and I have stronger job prospects, then yes, why not do blogmas? Writing is fun! <- Still believe it!
- Post consistently on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I’m still doing this! I haven’t missed a week/day yet. I’m here at 9 PM on a Saturday night, but I’m here! And I got this.
- Take care of my hair. I’m straightening, gently braiding, and doing a weekly (give or take, more like ten-day) hair mask to keep the volume and soft texture. So far, it’s going great!
- Read the books I didn’t read last year. I’m on book four! I hope that in March I can give a bit of information on what I’ve read so far.
- Moisturize with sunscreen every day. This is successfully part of my routine! I think I may have forgotten a day or two, but overall, this guy is habit now.
- Drink more water. I’ve had two dehydration headaches this month, but that’s NOT terrible. I’m definitely guzzling more in general, but I know I could be drinking more!
- Play chess once a week. I haven’t played chess once since December. I really want to learn, but that takes time, too! I also feel bad abandoning resolutions. Maybe I’ll focus on resolution seven, and when I do that I can pivot my focus back to chess. That’s a good way of looking at it, right? <- still on this!
- Finally Watch “The Crown,” “The Undoing,” “Little Fires Everywhere,” “The Undoing,” “The Haunting of Hill House,” and “The Haunting of Bly Manor.” I finished “The Haunting of Bly Manor” and I loved it JUST as much as “Hill House!” I hope they do another anthology together next year, too. I believe that’s on their schedule!
- Become a Master Listener on Audible and earn all Audible Badges. My most recent book is an Audible! This might happen if I try hard enough.
- Run a 30 minute 5K. I just checked — RunDisney hasn’t confirmed whether or not the Food and Wine 5k will be in person or not, but I have started Couch 2 5K! Holding my breath… and wheezing a lot. Running is hard.
- Actually use my camera. I’m not going anywhere, I’m not doing anything. My life is about to get outwardly boring. It kind of always was. My camera can stay locked up, without personal projects, for now. If all goes well in 2021, maybe I’ll break it out for an October trip to Disney… <- still at this point! Hopefully I can use it, but for now, it’s taking a backseat.
- Whiten my teeth. I have whitened my teeth with both strips and charcoal toothpaste! My dentist complimented my teeth! Whoever thought that “boring” would be a compliment?
- Write more. I haven’t been doing a whole lot of writing, but I did have a bit of a brain blast: throughout the pandemic, I had several ideas for episodes of “Black Mirror.” I jokingly told a friend that if I managed my time well enough and got enough inspiration, I could write an entire season of Black Mirror by 2022. I had another burst of inspiration this week, so while I haven’t written anything, I think that I just might try to make this joke a real thing. Who knows what the future holds?
That last bit is actually where I’m at mentally: I don’t know what the rest of 2021 has in store. I know that I’m enjoying what I’m doing now, even if I’m tired all the time. I feel like 2020 Mallory and 2021 Mallory are different people. Let me be clear: I am, and always have been, and always will be, AMAZING, but I feel like I’ve changed and grown in just two months. Now all I have to do is stay on track. Maybe 2022 Mallory is skinny and rich. Wouldn’t that be nice?