So...second post regarding Resolutions and a new Five-Year Plan:

New Year Resolutions, 2018

(1) continue to rediscover self – a permanent goal. Lifelong!
(2) continue to tick the bucket list – another lifelong goal. Who could tick them all?

(3) maintain family, friends, and professional contacts – The extended family database was passed to a nephew and a cousin. Maintain my copy and contacts for our immediate family. Organize and make better use of professional contacts.

(4) continue to travel together, alone, and in groups to new places, for interests, for fun – as we have. No plans made; exploring options. Eventually to the UK, Europe, and parts of Canada we have yet to visit; more trips to BC; and back to Australia at some point. Over several years. Possibly Nashville in the future.

(5) dance and play - ukulele, classes and practice, and BalletFit - plus French – try Rosetta Stone again! Call Boleo (6 tango classes still to do.) Major goal: play ukulele well enough to play my own songs. Perform as often as possible. Accept all opportunities.

(6) repair body as well as possible through healthy diet, exercise, and with medical help – Continue GF, eat more vegetable-based diet, exercise more often (walk 30 minutes daily plus BalletFit weekly.) Continue monthly massage, pedicure, and physio exercises. Look after teeth and eyes. Follow up skin treatments.

(7) write one hour daily minimum: blog, tweets, fb, mail, email, stories, & songs – nope! See short term goals for social media first. Be more organized in terms of what I write and when. Submit more often to songwriting competitions and literary publications. 
(8) sort one hour daily minimum - be flexible! Office bins, photos, cupboards, clothes, etc.

(9) continue weight loss with healthy diet, less booze, more exercise. Do not stress about it!
10) budget and plan for me, us, family, and future – continue to transfer surplus funds to family expenses monthly. Continue to put $ aside monthly for projects (Wild Cat 2018). Keep books up to date, prep taxes a la Gold accountants for registered business and joint tax returns. Increase revenue from cds, royalties, music, writing, performances. 

Dancing Granddaughters

What greater joy for an arthritic old dancer grandmother than to have both granddaughters taking dance classes. One is thirteen, taking 5 classes a week, mostly ballet, way out on the west coast. I don't get to see her much but she reported today that she was so happy to be back in dance regardless of the aching legs she has after that first September class. How well do I remember that feeling - the agony of descending the stairs at school the morning after the first class, thighs afire. It is definitely good pain, though. You know you are alive and have once again connected with the ecstasy of dance. I can't wait to see the DVD of this years concert.

Closer to home, it was my great pleasure today to accompany granddaughter number 2 to her first modern dance class. I have enrolled her in Modern 1 at Canadian Children's Dance Theatre School so I know that the technique and teaching will be exemplary. It is the first indulgence of my retirement after going to TIFF on school days. I will come to town each Thursday to take her across town to the school and bring her home afterwards. The 30-40 minute trip each way will give us a chance to have a good visit. It was a bit of a gamble, since she wanted to take 'pop' dancing which I interpreted as the 'popping' done during hip hop. Too young for those classes. So I told her that Limon technique was very beautiful, with a lot of circular motion, fall and recover, suspend and release - kind of like a pendulum. Needn't have worried - she loved it and we had a good time on our travels. She will be ready to go back again next Thursday. I am so proud of my granddaughters and happy that we have dance in common.