Seeing in the new year...

Happy new year and good will to you all! I hope 2011 is a wonderful year for anyone who reads this. I have some major plans for this year - I hazard to say "resolutions", as I don't really believe in those (how often do people really do what they say in a New Years Resolution?), but these are a few of the things that I intend to do in the next year...

General Life

• Move back out of my parents - I moved home after living away at university for a few years due to a knee injury that required surgery. Now that I'm literally back on my feet, with a decent enough job and income, I can finally afford to move back out. Towards the end of January I'll be moving into a lovely apartment with my best mate (also called Chris).
• Build some self-esteem - the knee problem, and subsequent operations had meant that exercise was out of bounds and comfort eating often became the norm. I've already begun to eat healthily, but living in my own place will mean I'm able to cook meals more easily. I'm also moving to a different, larger town (a lot closer to work, shaving around an hour and a half off my travel time), with easier access to decently-priced gyms and swimming pools. Taking better care of myself and using the time saved by living in the town to do some exercise will mean that I lose the weight gained and generally feel better. 
• Get a social life - at the moment, I rarely get the chance to hang out with my good friends, or meet new people. I'm hoping to be able to do interesting things on my days off, meeting up with friends for drinks and good food, cinema, games nights and the like. I can't remember the last time I met a girl that I was genuinely interested in, so hopefully the change of location and the self-esteem building should facilitate that...

Wargames-wise

• Play more games - I say "more", but just playing a game a month would be superb. My games board is built and I have a decent amount of terrain and a massive amount of painted miniatures. I'm hoping to sort out games with my normal gaming partner, some Space Hulk with my new housemate (he's not a gamer, but the boardgame-esque format will interest him) and maybes the roleplaying nights with a wider group of friends. 
• Plan armies before painting begins - I've always been more of a modeller and painter than a gamer, so this is quite new to me. I can write an armylist, but it's one of my least favourite parts of the hobby. Despite this, I think setting targets of 250/500pts and then rewarding myself with something "special" would spur me on to get working my way through the lead and plastic mountain. 
• Sell what I don't need - I'm sure to have a good few boxes of stuff that I have no need for - they could go in a fund for the things that would come in handy.
• Painting - there are a couple of things I want to change here. Generally, I'm happy with my painting style. I do like it dark and gritty! It suits most of the genres I paint things for. As for the tools of the trade - I've recently come to the conclusion that I don't take enough care of my brushes. I do store them upright, but I often use my normal brushes to mix paint - not conducive to having a healthy brush. So last night, after the clock struck 12, I had a tidy out and threw away a bunch of older knackered brushes, washing out all of my remaining brushes properly. I used a mild detergent, but I'm going to invest in some brush soap and also some new brushes. 

Well, that's about it - feel free to make a comment if you have any suggestions!