2014 New Year Resolutions | 1st Year Blog Anniversary Post

One year ago, this day yesterday (late again) I posted my very first blog post – Sale at Poppat Jamal. Now about 140 posts later, I am still abysmally erratic (I’ve not posted in a week), I am woefully un-prepared for festivals and special occasions (no fruit cake post for Christmas, totally un-seasonal, random Kichadi instead - Yikes!), I haven’t hosted a single event/giveaway and I am terrible at networking. Not the makings of a successful blogger. But hey, I’ve really enjoyed this blogging thing and it has become my most favourite obsession.

2014 is going to be a lot better (hopefully, I don’t want to tempt fate) and that’s an open promise to all my readers. Here are my resolutions for 2014 on the blogging front and otherwise.

1.      Wake up early. This has been on my list every year. I remember my dad’s words right from my school days. “Seekaram Ezhundha thaan uzhupaduve”. Translated a little decently it means “If only you’d wake up a little early, you could become great”. If not great, I’ll at-least not be late. I am now late for Hasini’s school too and I don’t want to perpetuate my late-comer syndrome on my kids as well. And I’d be able to cook so much more.

2.     Blog more often. The keywords are “more often”. I don’t want to break my resolution the very first month. Ok, so let’s say 3 days a week, minimum. Readers, this is where you come in. Your comments, ideas for posts, recipe requests or even requests/ideas for posts on general topics will keep me on my feet. No requests to stop or decrease blog posts will be entertained though.

3.   Exercise every day. Must be on everybody's list. I am slowly becoming the typical fat Indian mom. I am already one. What’s alarming is I am settling into it. Plus I work at a computer all day. You know the typical IT employee’s figure - normal up till the waist and then balloons out like.. well, a balloon. The new Levis shapes, lifts and lengthens. Can it compress? I bet even Levis can’t make jeans for the Deksa-hipped moms (Deksa or Degchi is a traditional narrow necked, wide bottomed cookware). 30 minute walk every day, light dinner and no wolfing down leftover cakes and sweets.

4.      I am going to plan everything. Planning has never been my strong point but 2014 is going to be different. I am going to plan what I’ll be cooking for Diwali, Christmas, Aadi maasam, Eid and Holi (Food bloggers are the most secular kind, we celebrate everything. Just like Hallmark cards). I am going to grab that calendar and write up my menu for the next year. Fat chance that I’ll be able to implement it fully in my joint family. But hey, I can still plan. Sorry Jagan, Jan 22^nd Wednesday is Adai and Aviyal and there’s no changing that. Where are those dry fruits? I need to soak them for next year’s Christmas cake. I’ll have to inform Malar (our household help) though lest she throws it out thinking it’s some old rotten oorukkai (pickle). Look out for a spectacular array of dishes from all the Indian States in a blogging marathon the month of April 2014 and for the lunch-box series in May 2014. See, I’ve already been planning.

5.    Maintain a cleaner, clutter-free fridge and reduce waste. Our fridge is like an ancient museum – a chappathi dough ball from 2 weeks back, a kuzhambu from last week, yesterday’s rice, poriyals (vegetable dishes) of the last few days, a lone wilted cucumber not to mention a few hardened stone like idlis. Not anymore. Everybody’ll have to eat the same food, no dosai substitution. Or they’ll have to convince Steffi (our dog) to eat it. No wasting. If today it’s potato bonda, then tomorrow it’ll be masala dosai (with potato masala stuffing) or poori-potato masala. That’s where the planning comes in handy. See how it’s all interweaved. And yes, no eating out on a whim.

6.      Be more socially active. I say this half-heartedly because I know I am terrible at this. I rarely login to facebook, not even half as often as I blog, I had no idea about Whatsapp till a few weeks ago (I am still to use it) and the only texting abbreviation I know is LOL. But I am going to make an attempt.

7.      Look after myself. Take care of my hair and my feet, they’re in such a sorry state. I don’t know what happens to us moms when we become moms. We forget ourselves, don’t we? We’re the last priority. My handbag contains old medical bills, petrol bills, recipe notes, Hasini’s hair clips, kids’ spare panties, card reader, i-pod, a leaf-less cheque book and a whole lot of junk but not a hair-brush or even a lip-balm. A pedicure a month, weekly face-mask and a spa trip sometime. Neat’a irukaren!

8.      Start reading the newspaper. Shocking right! I don’t read the papers. Enter Hasini - I stopped reading papers, I’d still read the odd book. Enter Yuvi - I stopped reading books also. But I still buy books when I visit the bookstore. I need to read stuff other than cookbooks. I am going to have to finish off what I’ve bought before I get anything more – Kitchen Confidential and MahaBharata first.

9.     Organize, categorize and document everything. You can never overdo this. And save those stupid medical bills. I must have medical bills to cover the entire team’s medical bill quota but come tax month I won’t be able to find any. I was thinking of creating an excel data file that contains a virtual map of what is where but it’s easier said than done. It’s always easier to find a soft-copy of the birth certificate than search through all those files and drawers. Same principle.

10.   Spend more time with Jagan. He’s always complaining about how I spend more time with the oven than with him. But in reality, he’s worse. He got his new XUV a couple of days back. He goes around the car and checks inside the car before going off to sleep just short of kissing it goodnight. He reads the manual while going to sleep and when he does talk to me, he talks about his black cheetah. But he’ll be happy he figured in the top ten.

I’d love to hear your top resolutions for 2014.

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