31.

This month's Real Simple (the only magazine I subscribe to these days--probably because it actually makes me feel capable of being a halfway decent housekeeper (and no, this is not a paid post. I pimp because I love)) had a neat suggestion for the new year: for each month, list 31 (or 30, or, er... 28, depending on the month) tasks, and assign each task it's own day. They needn't necessarily be chores or things that must be done; they can be fun and/or relaxing things, too (or even exclusively), like taking a nap or going to a museum you've been meaning to visit or buying a pretty knick-knack for the living room.

I'm liking this idea, although I'm not so sure about the scheduling a task per day bit. That would make me feel too pressured to stick to the schedule, and then I'd end up abandoning my list completely. I think I'd rather just make up a list of 31 things to pick from each day. Either way, this is right up there with the whole 15 minuts a day principle of getting things done.

Anyway. I'm not going to share my entire list (because I'm tired, and also because I haven't thought of a whole 31 things yet), but here's my top ten for January:

Must Do:


1. Finish my thank you cards. Finally.
   
   
2. Make a doctor's appointment. Also finally.
   
   
3. Make an appointment to get Fizzgigg's teeth cleaned. Also also finally.
   
   
4. Drag Matt to the bank and create a joint account under my new name. At last.
   
   
5. Shop for a second car. About friggin' time.
   
   Wanna Do:
   
   
6. Go on a date to a new (to us) restaurant.
   
   
7. Have Chinese take-out and a Firefly marathon.
   
   
8. Meet Tess for lunch.
   
   
9. Call people I haven't talked to in forever, like I was supposed to on Christmas day.
   
   
10. Cook and freeze a huge batch of Zone-friendly breakfast burritos.

I'm don't know yet what else is going on there, but I'm pretty sure it will include spending an entire day in bed like Matt and I did on Tuesday, snuggling and reading and napping and playing board games. That was awesome, and definitely worth repeating.

As you can see, I'm ready for the new year. I'm ready to have wedding plans and honeymoons and holidays out of the way to start fresh and get caught up on my life, remembering what it's like not to have the better part of an entire year consumed by planning for a single day. There's still aftermath to deal with--besides the thank you cards (which I'm still well within the bounds of etiquette not having sent them yet; according to the rules I have six months, and it's not quite been four) we also still have to put wedding announcements in the local papers and order prints of our wedding pictures. And there will be the moving, which we'll probably time to coincide with Matt's spring break (did I mention he's enrolled for the spring semester?), which leaves us two and a half months to go through our crap and get rid of anything we don't want to take with us. Expect eBay auctions.

...

That last thing's going on my list, too.