Last Day as 28

It's the day before my birthday.  Still no formal plans.  There are two kid's birthday parties this weekend, which I may attend and then just pretend they are for me (certainly it's not a far cry to think I would have a bounce house if I were to throw my own soiree).

I spent the morning tie-dyeing with Mr A.  He claimed to have never done it before, but I find that hard to believe since he grew up in the 70s.  I created a "new" pair of socks for myself as a b-day present.  I had bought a white T-shirt on clearance at Target with the intention of turning it into a boat-load of psychedelic fun, but it turns out that I need a plain white T-shirt (I have very few "staples" in my wardrobe) so I ended up saving the party for my feet.

Now that I am a year older and half of 2011 is already behind me, I was reevaluating my "resolutions".  It's time to set some goals in order to make sure that I end 2011 with a bang and get a head start so my last year as an official "20-something" will be as productive as possible.  Here goes:

1. My reading goal for the year got sidetracked (ok, totally derailed, but I did finish The Kite Runner) so my new goal is to read Pride & Prejudice.  It's one of my trusted friends favorite books, and she is now a Master of all things written in English, so I'm enticed.  I've never read any Jane Austen.  
2. I'm working on finally writing that book I've been talking about writing for years and years.  And I would like to finish it before I turn 30.  For the next 6 months I want to focus on doing something that will contribute to its completion (<30min) everyday...ok...6 days out of the week.
3. 2 more road races before the end of the year.  Got the Kona Marathon coming up at the end of this month.  Maybe I'll run the one in Volcano in August or the Turkey Trot in Hilo?  Luckily, there's plenty to choose from.
4. I'm starting a new "dietary lifestyle change" (NOT A DIET) and I really want to stick with it for a few (4?) months.  I think/know that it would go a long way to clearing up some of the more annoying health issues I have (irregularity, acne, TMI)  The only problem is that it's an anti-candida diet and that means - no yeast, no gluten, no sugar, no fruit, no sweetener of any sort, no beer, etc.  Just looking at it sucks all the fun right out of eating.  I'm trying to let it challenge my culinary creativity but so far it's just made me feel cranky and/or guilty because I haven't been able to actually do it for 24 full hours.  You may see many more blog posts in the future about this. 
5. I want to actually use my reusable shopping bags with serious consistency.  And I want to incorporate reusable bags for my bulk items. 
6. Finish the blanket I began knitting for my mom last year.  

If I can do all or even some of these things before I ring in the new year, I think i will be stoked.  If the world ends in 2012 then I'm going to be super pissed I didn't put more on this list.