Three nights ago, my roommate greeted me with a new haircut and bottle of champagne.

"Are we getting married?" I asked.

After the obligatory eye-rolling, head-shaking, and hairdo compliments, she explained her brilliant idea: The Pre-New Year Party!

Basically, the past year had been so bad to both of us — illnesses, broken hearts, divorces, forced employment changes, career desolation, financial struggles, and the deaths of her childhood cat and my three-legged wonder dog — that we decided the New Year could not come fast enough. Literally.

Therefore, we were dragging it in a month early. December was no longer the last month of 2009, but pre-January of 2010.

Starting your New Year's renaissance actually makes a lot of sense. After a slew of indulgent holidays, it's only natural to repent and make plans for a healthier, slimmer, brighter future. Many New Year's resolutions involve unrealistic goals of weight loss, personal fame and financial gain. Unsurprisingly, many New Year's resolutions are completely forgotten by January 30th. By making your annual to-do list in December, you're getting a chance to cross off your list before the ball even drops. What a way to get a leg up on the New Year!

Here are a few items on my pre-January to-do list:

• Finish novel. The bane and comfort of my existence, the unfinished first draft. There's nothing else for it: it's time to put this career change to good use. Look out, publishing world; I await your form letters with acid reflux and outward aplomb.
• Recipes. I do not cook. I apply heat to food and eat it. While I still do not enjoy cooking, I really do not enjoy being lumped into the Sandra Lee set when I say most of my meals take less than three minutes to cook. I've eliminated takeout and microwave meals, the next step is actual, honest-to-goodness recipe-following.
• Detroit Marathon 2010. My last marathon did not go well. Granted, I was undertrained, overtired, and had already run it before, and the bloom was very much off the rose for running 26 miles on an October afternoon. This year, however, I aim to do it correctly, and perhaps even do it well.
• Europe scrapbook. In 2003, I studied abroad at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK. During a 3AM fire alarm, I met a fantastic bunch of girls and spent weekends visiting Paris, Dublin, and Edinburgh with them — perhaps the most exciting three months of my life. I have yet to compile the photo album.
• Learning languages. Not the sort that are useful, but the ones that have always eluded me, and therefore have made me feel lacking when others excelled: music and dance. If 2010 sees the dust shaken from my guitar and tap shoes, the year can be none other than a success. I am also brushing up on my sign language, cracking those French textbooks, and generally going for a certification in Ladies' Finishing School.

It's already shaping up to be a Happy New Year.

Sarah Smallwood is a freelance writer living and working in Ann Arbor. She is currently rewriting her first novel, keeps a daily blog at The Other Shoe and hosts a podcast at Stuff with Things. She can be reached at heybeedoo at gmail dot com.