My Anti-Resolutions

2011 was, quite frankly, a shitty year. It sucked ass. And the sad part is, three out of the four quarters of the year were good. One might even say great.

We sent our Foster kids to live with their “Forever Mommy and Daddy”, welcomed two new girls into the family, and went camping in our home town (oh, how I miss Brooks) for the first time in three years. I had a wonderful third practicum, started volunteering at the women’s shelter, and then got hired at my local library - can you say dream job?

I watched and was disappointed in the last Harry Potter film, discovered True Blood, and through Charlaine Harris’s wonderful Sookie Stackhouse books, rediscovered my love of Vampire love stories. (Sorry, Twilight, but I'm not a teeny-bopper anymore, I just can't take you seriously). I hit the 300 mark for my published fan-fictions, and won 1^st Place for one of them through Energize W.I.P. Awards. I discovered the Hunger Games trilogy, and loved it all the way up until the end (die Peeta, die!!!).

All of these little things made 2011 good, but one action from Joshua, my adopted little shit of a brother, made the year a complete and utter catastrophe.

I’m not going to go off on a long rant about how he fucked us over (yes, there is harsh language in this post, sorry if it offends). I’m not going to rant and rage over the ridiculousness of the Foster Care system, or the inconsiderate, two-faced, vindictive assholes at Children’s Services. Nope, not this time ;)

It’s a new year, and I am going to do my best to move on. That being said, here are my anti-resolutions.

Why, you may ask, am I making anti-resolutions, as opposed to resolutions, which are the norm with the New Year tradition? The simple answer is that resolutions are just a flashy way of listing all the things you aren’t going to do. How many people honestly stick to their New Year’s Resolutions year-round? Not many. It’s kind of like dieting - it only works while you do it, but once you stop, you’re back to square one.

So, these are my 2012 anti-resolutions:

1) I will not let Josh’s cruel, sadistic actions stop me and my mother from enjoying life.

2) I will not use Facebook as free therapy, or a place to flaunt my drama for the world to see (I don’t normally do this anyway, but I thought I’d put this out there for certain people to consider - you know who you are, quit lying to yourself).

3) I will not let my dog go another three months without a bath (If you have a hairy dog, you know it’s not pleasant).

4) I will not let games like Solitaire and Mahjong distract me from finishing my novels (may have to implement aversion therapy to get this one to stick).

5) I will not let it bother me when my father calls me three days after my birthday and forgets how old I am. (Well, it might bother me, but I won’t let it ruin my night again.)

6) I will not go another year without paying off my late fees at the Red Deer Downtown Library (finally sent back my movies that were about 4 years overdue).

7) I will not pass up a work-free day to take my dog for a walk.

8) I will not spend half of my paycheck on movies (especially now that I can request most of them through the library).

9) I will not let my room get as messy as it currently is. (Spring cleaning a little early this year, I think.)

10) Finally, I will not snicker madly when I see ex-friends stuck in dead-end jobs that will slowly drive them insane (this will quite possibly be the hardest of my anti-resolutions … I’m a little vindictive myself.)

Will I stick to them? Hopefully. The point is? These aren’t just things that I’m going to try and stick to for one year, and then pat myself on the back when I’ve achieved them. These are changes that I want to make in my life for good, not just for now.

How about you?