<p>I suppose I should start at the end.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em><strong>#10 write here every day (51)</strong></em></p>
<p><em>I&#39;m a creature of habit. It&#39;s easier for me to do something daily than to do it occasionally. I&#39;m not promising a daily masterpiece, but something will be here every day until 12/31/10. It&#39;s part of&#0160;<a href="http://www.everydaytreats.com/2010/10/how-to-be-mighty.html" target="_self">my commitment to consuming less and creating more</a>. Wish me luck.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>If there is one way to guarantee that you won&#39;t blog everyday, declaring that you will do it must be it. If you don&#39;t believe me, you should ask all those <a href="http://www.nablopomo.com/" target="_self">NaBloPoMo</a>&#0160;dropouts.&#0160;No, I didn&#39;t post everyday -- but I did post all of November (cheers!) and I did post every day during the darkest days of my year. I&#39;m so glad I posted in those grief-filled October days. Sometimes it feels like my father&#39;s passing never happened, and I am grateful that I can go back and read and relieve what I felt. Why do I want to be able to relieve those days?Maybe it validates my feelings? I don&#39;t know.</p>
<p>Now, while I haven&#39;t quite posted every day on the blog, <a href="http://www.everydaytreats.com/2010/11/one-line-a-day.html" target="_self">I started to keep diary</a>. I learned about the importance of leaving a record in <a href="http://www.everydaytreats.com/2010/10/paper-and-ink.html" target="_self">paper and ink</a>, and I&#39;ve done it every day since. It&#39;s a new habit I&#39;ve picked up, which I love. So I declare #10 a success.</p>
<p>Champagne all around!</p>
<p>Next!</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em><strong>#2 cut my hair short (39)&#0160;</strong>and&#0160;<strong>#3 donate my hair to locks of love (30)</strong></em></p>
<p><em>I hope to have&#0160;<a href="http://www.locksoflove.org/donate.html" target="_self">a pigtail that is long enough to donate</a>&#0160;by December. I&#39;ve already started<a href="http://www.aisledash.com/2008/04/19/want-long-hair-for-your-wedding-heres-how/" target="_self">taking biotin supplements&#0160;</a>to help me achieve that. As far as my &quot;short&quot; cut, I don&#39;t think I&#39;ll go pixie but<a href="http://www.everydaytreats.com/2010/08/hair-desire.html" target="_self">&#0160;this is still haunting my dreams</a>.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>My hair is longer than it&#39;s ever been, and I have an appointment on January 4. Did you know hairstylists need more than a few hours notice to cut your hair? CRAZY. I guess I&#39;ve been out of touch after not cutting my hair for so long, long enough that I think I&#39;ll be able to take 9 inches and still have my hair reach the middle of my neck, if not my shoulder blades.</p>
<p>How&#39;s this for irony? My hair has never been shinier or better behaved than it&#39;s been the last few weeks. I have strangers stopping me on the street, telling me that they wish they had hair that long and silky. Trust me, this kind of thing does not happen to me. I live in Boston -- people rarely admit to their vanity, it&#39;s a mortal sin here. (Thanks for nothing, Puritans!) So isn&#39;t that odd? I think it&#39;s the Universe&#39;s way of tempting me so I won&#39;t cut it -- but I&#39;m choosing to see it as a temptation I must overcome. (Thanks, Puritans!) Why shouldn&#39;t I share what comes so easily? I can&#39;t make a really sick person better, but I can grow hair. And if my hair will make it easier on them, off it goes.</p>
<p>(OK, I&#39;m scared. But it&#39;s going!)</p>
<p>Next,</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em><strong>#4 learn to parallel park (I know, I know) (44)</strong></em></p>
<p><em>I know it&#39;s shameful.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Done! I am by no means a parallel parking badass -- not at all -- but I am no longer afraid to do it. My mom, deserted streets and a couple of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMrO_-bsooQ" target="_self">you tube videos</a> were the secret. It was silly of me to put it off for so long.</p>
<p>Next!</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em><strong>#9 learn to sew (42)</strong></em></p>
<p><em>Between&#0160;<a href="http://www.sewweekly.com/" target="_self">Sew Weekly</a>&#0160;and&#0160;<a href="http://assets2.blogher.com/everything-i-ever-needed-know-about-style-i-learned-project-runway?wrap=beautyhacks-tags/fashion&amp;crumb=32951" target="_self">Project Runway</a>, I&#39;m a woman obsessed. I just want to be good enough to make something wearable on my own sewing machine.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Everything you need to know about my experience is <a href="http://www.everydaytreats.com/2010/12/a-short-one-about-my-300-throw-pillows.html" target="_self">here</a>, and the end result is <a href="http://www.everydaytreats.com/2010/12/life-list-update-the-throw-pillows-done.html" target="_self">here</a>. No, I haven&#39;t made a dress, but I made something. With help. Next, a simple dress! (Just don&#39;t make me go to JoAnn&#39;s fabric. Those ladies are mean.</p>
<p>And that, my friends, is the update. I made it just in time, phew!</p>
<p>While I didn&#39;t complete every task perfectly, having a time limit forced me to get over my procrastinating tendencies disguised as perfectionism and just get things done. Giving yourself a deadline works wonders for that. And all the things that happened after I set my goals (I was in a fantastic mood on 10/10/10 and then my world collapsed the very next day) taught me that we can plan as much as we want, but life will happen in its own messy way and do its best to give up and just let it be. But having a plan forces you to keep going.</p>
<p>Life is too short not to know what you want to do with it.</p>
<p>And with that, I leave you so I can get ready to celebrate the new year. Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a fantastic 2011!&#0160;</p>
