New Years meme 2008

Wayfarer Scientista tagged me for this, so here goes, though I guess it should have been posted before we switched to 2008. But who cares. It's my blog and I make the rules.

1. Will you be looking for a new job? Not looking, but I will start my first job as a faculty member this summer

2. Will you be looking for a new relationship? No, I'm happily married, but I'm hoping to meet new friends and make social life and relationships in general a higher priority.

3. New house? Yes, as I will be moving in summer.

4. What will you do differently in 08? I hope I will learn to accept my limitations and be satisfied when I do my best. I don't really believe I can change my obsessive-compulsive, perfectionist nature overnight, but I will be working on cutting myself some slack.

5. New Years resolution? I don't make New Years resolutions, but since finishing the PhD two years ago there seems to have been a kind of overarching theme or focus for each year. The first year was about finding my place academically, financially and socially. Getting settled in a new town, struggle with the newness of a foreign country, getting started on projects and paying off debts with newfound income. The second year was about reaching for goals and establishing a life and a routine. It was the year I got married, were able to save money for the first time since forever, began to feel at home in the new town, established friendships here and the year I landed my first faculty job. So now what? This year will bring more change than I am comfortable with right now and it will also bring an awful lot of work. I want it to be the year I accept that I don't want the career at the expense of my physical and mental health and find a way to deal with the workload that allows me to keep both.

6. What will you not be doing in 08? Umm, who knows? Anything might happen. Seriously, take on new administrative posts. The one I have now is more than enough.

7. Any trips planned? A trip to Italy with the husband in late spring, a family gathering in mid-summer, a conference in UK in March, maybe a work trip to Russia in February and two field trips to Russia in summer. On top of this I'm still contemplating blowing off all my overtime hours on a trip somewhere nice in spring before I quit my job here and the overtime hours will dissolve into thin air.

8. Wedding plans? Well no. I just got married last year and we are very happy, thank you very much.

9. Major thing on your calendar? Manuscript submission deadlines. They control my life in an unhealthy way.

10. What can’t you wait for? The husband to return home from the next few months overseas. In a shorter time frame: to go home and eat chocolates and watch the Gilmore Girls final season on DVD.

11. What would you like to see happen differently? A lot in the political debate. For starters I'd like journalists to get a basic grip on earth science if they want to participate in the climate change debate.

12. What about yourself will you be changing? My mind. Can I have another one? Seriously, I am quite happy in my own skin and don't really want to change anything.

13. What happened in 07 that you didn’t think would ever happen? I grew to like the town I live in, and I feel like I've come home when I return from trips.

14. Will you be nicer to the people you care about? Maybe. I don't think I am not-nice now, but stress tends to make me very introverted and unsocial, so some people might think that I'm not being nice to them. I'll try to improve. OK.

15. Will you dress differently this year than you did in 07? Not by choice, but I'm moving to a place that is quite a bit colder than where I am now, so I guess thermal underwear and woolen socks can't be avoided.

16. Will you start or quit drinking? No, I am quite content with my drinking level.

17. Will you better your relationship with your family? It's good and difficult at the same time and I doubt it will change much in 2008.

18. Will you do charity work? Probably not, though, I should.

19. Will you go to bars? Probably more than I do now because that is just something that happens more where we are moving.

20. Will you be nice to people you don’t know? I think I'm already nice enough to people I don't know.

21. Do you expect 08 to be a good year for you? Probably. I have high hopes and it looks promising.

22. How much did you change from this time last year till now? Not at all, but maybe a lot. I think I am more confident in my professional life but I don't think I changed much in my personal life.

23. Do you plan on having a child? Being a new faculty member is not ideal for getting pregnant, but I do wish for having kids in a not too distant future.

24. Will you still be friends with the same people you are friends with now? Hopefully. I have lost many friends in the past due to me letting the friendship slide when moving away. I am becoming more aware of the importance of taking care of the long-distance friendships.

25. Major lifestyle changes? I don't think so, although some people would call moving to our new location a major lifestyle change.

26. Will you move? Yes to a place where it's completely dark three months of the year and where everybody owns a snowmobile, which sounds extremely remote and strange but actually feels much more connected to the world than you would think.

27. What will you make sure doesn’t happen in 08 that happened in 07? Well, nothing really bad happened in 2007 that I absolutely must protect myself or anyone else from. My Russian colleague died, but although it is sad when people die, it's hard to prevent. Maybe less social tension on field work. It's unbelievably draining to be away like that when the group doesn't function.

28. What are your New Years Eve plans? We spent it at my brother's house with his fiancé and my two nephews. It was a last minute arrangement due to a change in travel plans, but it's been years since I celebrated New Years with my brother and it was lovely.

30. One wish for 08? Better and more consistent blogging habits. One can always try.