Where to now captain?

Two-thousand and ten was a great year.

I dropped back to 4 work days a week. I celebrated both parent’s sixtieths, my husband’s grandmothers ninetieth, my brother’s and one of my best friend’s thirtieths, two weddings and two engagements. We also held a number of weekend long festivities at LantanaLand and extend our family by three gorgeous cows and, a new love in my life, Tally-dog.

Somewhere along the way I managed to circumnavigate the country visiting, WA, Victoria, New South Wales, TERRIFIC TASSIE and various magical places around my home state, Queensland, including Curtis and Stradbroke Island. I got fairly fit and held my own through two seasons and a savagely demanding carnival with the mighty Loveslugs (our loved-up touch team). I published six scientific articles, gave four talks at conferences and personally project managed three studies and five staff.

Two-thousand and ten was a great year.

Now as I take the old calendar down and replace with a new, I wonder not what 2011 has install for me but what I have install for it. As I take hold of my ships wheel of will, I contemplate steering her onwards through five main fronts.

1. Home:

On the home front I want to take charge of the vege gardens. Late last year we moved the chooks away from the terrace in front of our house to a secure new Taj Mahal chook house down in the cow paddock. Left behind was a perfectly poo-enriched area crying out to be cleared up and transformed into a beautiful kitchen garden. It already holds an established mulberry, peach, bay and two clumps of banana trees. It faces north and is, like a good kitchen garden should be, positioned in front of the kitchen. I will make it my new and exciting project.

Also on the home front I look forward to continuing with the renovations we started last year. My husband, my neighbour (and master builder) and I spent four solid weekend in November-December demolishing and rebuilding our rather large front deck. We manage to transform the deck from a badly sloping, rotting, nail-popping, barely standing, hack to a straight, shiny, sturdy, steed just in time for a tapas party in honour of my husband’s birthday.

This year I will summon my muscles again and help replace the adjoining side deck, extend the deck roofline and attach a solar system, then move the downstairs furniture under the new roof, re-plaster and re-paint the water-damaged internal wall and replace the tired downstairs flooring. I imagine at this point our dosh will dry up. So unfortunately the husband and I will just have to dream of a new kitchen for next year.

2. Heart:

Steering my heart has come easily these last few years. It is no longer paralysed with fear and lies open to soak up the full goodness of human interaction. I will do my upmost best to keep it this way. To do this I understand I must keep the balance between work and play and time out and I must remain open to the full depth of experience that people and places offer.

My heart is at the centre of all things and the choices I make everyday affect it. So I will choose to nurture it… that is to cherish the things I love and discard the thing I don’t. In particular, I will continue to nurture my relationship with my husband and embrace new depths with him. If we fall pregnant it will be an experience to share together and if we don’t it will also be an experience to share together.

3. Hobbies:

In 2010 I discovered the secrets of my local valley through shared jogs with Tally. I’d like to extend our horizons this year… do a few more dog friendly camping trips… and wander a few more enchanting paths with woman’s best friend. Of course I am also keen to continue playing semi-decent touch, taking semi-decent photos and hob-knobbing with more than semi-decent people.

4. Hard yakka - otherwise known as work:

For the first few months of 2011 I have in fact set my stride to hard yakka. By the end of February I am aiming to have submitted not one but two national grants as lead investigator, which, for the uninitiated, is a pretty big deal. Previously I have successfully landed five major national grants as a chef investigator but never as The Lead. So in 2011, I will attempt to climb the next step on the career ladder.

Why two grants though? Well research is like a raging river. Not one of those nasty flooding one we’ve all seen lately, but rather one of those adventure ones that you race boats down. You move down the torrent with each new piece of evidence you and others contribute to it. This last year I have piloted an intervention to show it is feasible and, on another river, analysed secondary data to show there may be something to my hunch. I have shared these finding with my peers so we may all move forward and in doing so I have positioned myself near the front in readiness to lead the race. If I don’t lead both boats someone else will. And the simple crucks of it is… I want to.

After February it will be a waiting game, until December, to see if my grants were among the 25% that are successful. In the months between I suspect 2011 will be business as usual.

5. Holidays:

Holidays are a must, but where to captain? Europe in June 2011 came across my radar last year when I realised there would be a very decent conference in Greece that month and it will coincide nicely with the Touch World Cup in Scotland in which two of my best friends will be representing their country. However, if I steer the ship there I could potentially steer her into serious debt. If I don’t steer her there I may potentially not get to Europe for a long while with both my research travel allowance running out and the possibility of littlies in tow in 2012. The decision to go to Europe or not will be one made in time.

Closer to home, I am keen to return to Curtis Island again this year. Oh what HUGH fun we always have when we go there with friends and all for a sum total of ~$200 each for the week + a whole lot of shared love. I’m thinking September again. Can’t wait already.

Well that’s about it for the forward projections of 2011. Better get on with steering now so that in a year’s time, I can reflect and marvel that 2011 was a great year!