to be done by July 1:

1. Make a list of 40 things I want to do before turning 40 – done
2. get in shape – 3 lbs from pre-pregnancy weight.
3. read 30 books in 2008 – read the 3 three I planned in June, putting me halfway to my yearly goal of 30.
4. catch up on my magazines – gave up on this goal and cancelled my magazine subscription.
5. think about buying a house – still thinking. also waiting for the seller to set their price.
6. drink 43 types of tea – done 4 years ago

1. Loose the weight – Go away, extra pounds! Run! Be free!lose 10 lbs. I maybe lost a couple of pounds.

2. Get more exercise – Get back to the gym – at least 2 times/week; cardio exercise – walk/bike/nustep, etc. – 5 times/week. I didn’t make it to the gym – rising gas prices made the 40+ mile round trip not such a good idea. I have been walking, though. YAY ME!

3. cycle 5000 miles in 200850 miles on the exercise bike. Since I didn’t make it to the gym, I didn’t even do one mile on the exercise bike.

4. Plant my gardenFinish planting after danger of frost; plant second crop of lettuce/spinach; mulch. The garden is looking good (if you can see past the weeds).

5. Fix up my house – clean, organize, repair, maintain, decorateThis is the big one: finish hanging sheers in LR; paint and finish walls in kitchen; work in yard at least 2 hours/week; straighten/clear back room; work in basement at least 1 hour/week. Didn’t do much on this, except for the yard work part. But that was a lot, so I’ll give myself a (little) break.

6. Scan all of my family photos and make a scrapbook of my lifeSpend at least 5 hours organizing and scanning pics. Got my 5 hours in, maybe more. Worked on sorting and got about 100 pictures scanned.

7. Find and carry out 43 adventures that Rose and Flirt can do together!!!Plan and carry out at least one adventure. We tried to plan an adventure, but Rosie’s work schedule prevented it. We’ll keep trying.

8. create a vision boardSpend at least 3 hours working on this. Hmmm…didn’t do much on this.

9. the Sisterhood of the Brazen HussyDo something that actually qualifies as _brazen (at least for me)._ I gave up. :-(

10. Write a letter to my kindergarten teacher DONE!!!

11. Shamelessly ask my 43 friends to help support and sponsor Segsy in the 2008 Take Steps for Crohn’s and Colitis Walk. Make donation and post 3 entries encouraging others to donate. DONE!!!

12. date Smarter Go on a date (if I can find someone smart enough to date me). HA!

13. Develop lasting organizational skills Post thoughts/ideas and progress (not really measurable, but it’s at least something. Even though I still need to make a post on this, it’s going pretty well. Not an A+, but maybe a B-. 4 years ago

Although I didn’t finish my entire top 10, I knocked off the most important 80% and finished a number of other goals unexpectedly (some big, long-term ones – like 43 loans through Kiva or going to our first drive-in).

I’m feeling as if a newfound dedication to exercise & accountable eating is helping a lot physically while a new family budget is improving our financial life. Socially/creatively things are swimming along too, so there seems to be a good balance of progress across all areas.

I’m hoping to make even more headway over the Summer. 4 years ago

I’ll call this a success. I didn’t get a ton done, but with a new baby just getting through the day is a major success! Overall, it was a great Spring, and I’m ready to move on and enjoy a wonderful Summer. 4 years ago

2. become a certified New Orleans tour guide Visited the Historic New Orleans Collection and Chalmette Battlefield.
3. donate a gallon of blood Done!
5. read 90 books in 2008 Up to 32 thanks to 3 weeks off between subbing and Teach Greater New Orleans.
9. develop a sensible disaster plan and survival kit I’m ready, all I need to do is buy a little more food and get a Louisiana driver’s license by August.
13. cook 10 delicious meals and post pictures My camera’s broken, so I opted to just post a list of some of my favorite meals and call this one done.
17. do 50 consecutive pushups No progress made here.
20. be an exceptional teacher Accepted into TGNO and applying for teaching jobs in the New Orleans area.
21. get caught up on reading back issues of Marathon and Beyond Completed through January/February 2008. Taking this one off my list because they serve as good bathroom reading and keep me motivated, so I don’t want to run out of issues to read.
34. exercise 300 times I need 212 more, will use gym at UNO once TGNO classes start 6/11.
36. visit every parish in Louisiana Gas prices have put this one on hold for awhile, but I have made it up to Baton Rouge twice and out to Lafayette for the International Festival at the end of April.
39. ride my bike as often as possible I bike up to church every Sunday and will keep doing that until the heat makes it unsafe. I also use my bike for shorter trips, such as down to the Quarter to go to a museum or to the Iron Rail library. With no A/C in my car, riding my bike is actually more comfortable than driving. 5 years ago

yes it’s still spring in Alaska.

to be done by July 1:

1. Make a list of 40 things I want to do before turning 40 – no new progress
2. get in shape – 5 lbs down, 5 to go.
3. read 30 books in 2008 – read an additional 1 book (somewhat disappointed by this) leaving three to go.
4. practice mindful consumption – no new progress
5. read all of Kurt Vonnegut’s novels – no progress
6. promote scientific literacy / catch up on my magazines – uh, i have half of one magazine read…see book goal above. my reading time is pretty scarce it seems.
7. think about buying a house – I’ve identified two promising prospects in Fairbanks, but not ruling out rentals yet.
8. drink 43 types of tea – up to 38.
9. go 24 hours with no internet – doing this pretty well.
10. Keep a clean ship – finally established some routines I can stick with. some days i do better than others. 5 years ago

a. Call loan lady again, fill out form, and send it off (they were closed for Memorial Day)
b. Make a plan for getting a restaurant job(Here’s the plan: Go fill out applications at 1:00, turn in applications and do interviews from 2 until 3, or Thursday if necassary)
c. Submit application for UTA admission, ask Kim about using a check
d. Wash the sheets, make the bed in the guest room, tidy the bedroom and the office, put away my clothes, wash a few loads.
e. Borrow money from Mom and buy more meds

Become a musician

• Practice “I Got a Woman” for an hour (I practiced for half an hour: I’ll try to squeeze in another half hour tomorrow)
• Do thirty minutes of singing exercises

Make beautiful martial art

• Workout for an hour and fifteen minutes
  
  • Work on the yard for a half-hour with KimIt actually took three hours.
  • Do handstands for twenty minutes, meditate for fifteen minutes, and do fifteen forms (three hours is plenty of exercise. I’ll do this routine tomorrow)

• Help Kim around the house
• Make five deposits into our marriage’s emotional bank accountI rubbed her feet, helped in the yard for three hours, cleaned up the bedroom some, and went to eat with her.
• Call Latifah
• Call Munir

4. USE MY GIFTS of intelligence and curiosity to serve others

Become a polymath

• Spend twenty minutes getting an overview of nueroscience. What do I want to study in grad school? What do I want to study over the next six months? 5 years ago

a. Call loan lady, fill out form, and send it off
b. Print out tax return
c. Pay Sprint
d. Pay ADS
e. Call Kenny
f. Work on my website (a. draw a flowchart of the site b. sketch some layout ideas)
g. Call the Solana healthclub

Become a musician

• Do ten minutes of vocal exercises on SUNDAY and MONDAY
• Practice for two hours

Make beautiful martial art

• Workout for an hour and fifteen minutes each day
  
  • SUNDAY: walk two slow miles with Kim, practice handstands, do upper-body weights and bodyweight exercises, meditate
  • MONDAY: walk two miles in thirty-five minutes
• Plan the next week of training
• Get a phone number for Brother Sharief

• Go hang out with my family for a few hours on SUNDAY and MONDAY
• Text Hanan
• Call Danny
• Do something REALLY NICE for Kim

4. USE MY GIFTS of intelligence and curiosity to serve others

Become a polymath

• Spend an hour reading about philosophy
• Read two Wiki articles on computers
• Spend an hour getting an overview of psychology. What do I want to study in grad school? What do I want to study over the next six months? 5 years ago

Take the Spring Goal Challenge – Print goals, write up plans, print for book. (check)

Be a good mother – look into local toddler group, keep up with library, walks, parks, etc.

Find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it every day for a year – Keep up with daily entries

Go out on “date nights” with my spouse on a regular basis – Anniversary (check), get out alone more

Keep in better touch with friends and family – Entry. Plan BBQ, another clothing swap, bowling, etc. Keep making plans for visits

Clean/Declutter (Maintain gumption) – Come up with a daily plan to get ahead

Deal with this – Plan something for anniversary of death, do something on list, open coroner’s report, start sorting boxes, contemplate spot for ashes

Do my taxes – DONE!

Hone my curves – Keep up with morning workouts, walks, yoga, family sports, curb the sweets

Relax – Entry re. exercise, mindset, walks, yoga

Read a book a month in 2008 – update with recent/current reading

Write Haiku on Fridays – Keep up with weekly entries

Fund 43 loans through Kiva.com – goal: Finish 43 by anniversary on site

Donate platelets – Make appointment for June

10,000,000 / Free rice team – Aim for 10,000 weekly

Control my temper – entry, goalpost?

Fix my camera – Find paperwork (check), call (check), take in to shop

Post more pictures to flickr – Upload at least 3 days per month, update to current month

Display my photos in a public place – Look into printing, framing, matting, old laptop into digital display? Ask M about borrowing mat cutter again.

Self publish on lulu.com – Make plans for photo/haiku book, meet with S about potential art grant

Potty train my son – Make up a new chart/plans for more regular use, ask more?

Practice Yoga – Keep up yoga at least 2-3x weekly

Take my cat to the vet – appointment & ride

See the Cure live – Double check with Norm about babysitting

See a movie in a drive-in – Maybe this week?

Go to the aquarium – Go!

Fingerpaint – Do it!

Go bowling – Go!

Knit a Dr. Who scarf – A winter project

Get a picture published by Jones Soda – Heard from staff, write back to see if they received photo release

Watch VHS tapes and get rid of them – Set aside a day to pull them all out, start sorting again, toss 10 min

Help Sister Golden Hair’s Journal travel the world – (waiting for journal)

Catch a West Coast train – (waiting for plans to gel)

Get a laptop – DONE!

Get my driver’s license – on hold

Marry the love of my life – start looking at ring design, plans

Buy a house – pick up buyer’s guide from brother

$ – work on budget, apt with financial adviser? 5 years ago

a. Ask Dad about Latifah staying over here
b. Help Kim clean the house (help clean the carpets, clean the guest room, clean the bathroom)
c. Swap chains on bicycles

Become a musician

• Do ten minutes of vocal exercises
• Listen to all three Ray Charles songs

Make beautiful martial art

• Workout for an hour and fifteen
• Ride bicycle twelve miles
• Meditate for a half hour

• Text Munir
• Call Latifah
• Text Hanan

4. USE MY GIFTS of intelligence and curiosity to serve others

Become a polymath

• Spend an hour reading about philosophy

4. DO GOOD work

Rock the concierge position

• Write two apples (Don and someone else)
• Catch someone doing something good – tell them about it

Follow my strengths-plan

• Read two Wikipedia articles
• Take two iLearn quizzes
• Learn the specs for the white macbooks
  (I tried really hard to do these things, but I couldn’t concentrate for long enough. I ‘ll have to figure out another approach.) 5 years ago

a. Call JPS
b. Print out my tax return
c. Wash the dishes
d. Fold the clothes and put them away
e. Label my file folders

Become a musician

• Do ten minutes of vocal exercises
• Read two chapters of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music Theory
• Practice I Got a Woman for an hour

Make beautiful martial art

• Workout for two hours
• Do fifteen forms
• Practice handstands for five minutes
• Walk/run 2 miles in 20 minutes
• Do thirty minutes of yoga
• Meditate for half an hour

• Call Munir
• Call Latifah
• Give Kim another massage

Become a great teacher

• Tell Kim about applying to UTA
• Look over the degree requirements for philosophy and psychology

Become a polymath

• Spend an hour reading about one topic
• Make a quick list of books/topics5 years ago

goals and to do lists for now. Maybe in fall… 5 years ago

Progress on The Spring Ten:

• Spring clean – DONE!

• Write a letter – DONE!

• Do my taxes

• Donate blood – DONE!

• Sort baby clothes – DONE!

• Knit – DONE!

• Fly a kite – DONE!

• Get an external hard drive – DONE!

• Post more pictures to flickr

• Take my cat to the vet
  
  

Since my last post I managed to knock three more off my ten (and a few other random things), but I feel like I’ve been treading water with a big clock tied around my neck lately. I want to somehow free up the goal flow and jump into it wholeheartedly.

Today I printed out my entire list (I love that feature) on bright green paper and stuck it in a new journal that I’m going to use as a butterfly net for my various goals. I’m working on a progress plan for each goal that I’ll print & add (and post here) as well.

At least that’s the current plan… 5 years ago

This month, I want to finish the following goals:

• Renovate Our Lawn . We have been working on this for the last month or so. We really need to finish up the re-seeding process this month before the weather gets too hot. We are on track with this. Now we just need to keep our fingers crossed that the weather stays reasonably cool through June!

• Enter Our Checking Account Into Quicken . I am working on getting February 2008 transactions into Quicken now. My goal is to get the Quicken entried up-to-date by the end of the month.

• Learn Fair Isle Knitting . I love the look of Fair Isle sweaters, bags, all kinds of things! But I am intimidated by the process of using several yarns at the same time. I joined an online dishcloth knitting group, and this month they offered a dishcloth pattern to learn Fair Isle Knitting. This looks like the perfect project to learn this technique!

Goals to Make progress on:

• Lose 25 Pounds My original goal was to lose 25 pounds by September 30. So far I have lost four pounds. 21 pounds to go in five months. Goal is to lost a total of ten pounds by the end of May.

• Read 50 Books in 2008. On track with this goal so far….want to read at least four more books in May.

• Collect the Fifty American State Quarters . Doing good here. I need to find just two quarters which are currently in circulation, which are New Mexico and Ohio. 5 years ago

As I’m late, I’m listing only those I actually want to finish in the next month and a half.

• Have an Amazing Garden
• Re-learn how to Ride a Bike
• Go through all my classroom books & gear and deal with it
• Have GA’s chair reupholstered
• Plan GG’s 40th birthday 5 years ago

How Did I Do THis Month?

Goals to Finish:
Knit a Sweater Finish the sweater I am knitting for Dylan. Finshed This one
What’s in Your Bag? . I want to finish this one this month. Gave Up for Now

Goals to Make Progress On:

Lose 25 Pounds. Goal is to lose at least 5 pounds by 4/30/2008. Only Lost 4 pounds
Read 50 Books in 2008 . So far I have read 13 books, and I hope to read at least four more during April. On Target Here, I read four books
Do a 23 Fling Boogie At Least Once Per Week . I’m going to keep on working on this, and perhaps by the end of Spring I will have the junk I am tackling out of the way! Success Here too, did this every week
Weight Train Three Times a Week.
I feel this is essential to help with losing the 25 pounds. Didn’t Make it THree TImes a week, but did start Body Pump Classes
Be Part of a Team That Donates 10,000,000 Grains of Rice through freerice.com. My Goal for April is to donate at least 15,000 new grains of rice. Played some, but didn’t get time to do 15,000 grains
Collect the Fifty American State Quarters . There are now 46 of the 50 state quarters in circulation, and New Mexico is scheduled to be issued in April. The ones I need to get are: Ohio, Missouri, and New Mexico. (I can’t really control when I find these, since I don’t want to buy the quarters, just wanted to note my status !)I found Missouri quarter5 years ago

to be done by July 1:

1. Invest – done
2. Make a list of 40 things I want to do before turning 40 – halfway done
3. get in shape – ugh
4. read 30 books in 2008 – read 2 of the 6 promised so far. nixing the list idea.
5. practice discardia / practice mindful consumption – changed up my goals a bit and got rid of a bunch of baby clothes
6. read all of Kurt Vonnegut’s novels – um…I read a short story by him?
7. promote scientific literacy / catch up on my magazines – still working on it
8. think about buying a house – going back to thinking about it
9. drink 43 types of tea – stalled at 35.
10. go 24 hours with no internet – doing this pretty well.
11. Buy nothing for one month – done.
12. Keep a clean ship – still working on those routines
13. finish putting together baby’s first photo album – done
14. create music playlists for baby – done 5 years ago

1. Loose the weight – Go away, extra pounds! Run! Be free! – Lose 10 lbs

2. Get more exercise – Get back to the gym – at least 2 times/week; cardio exercise – walk/bike/nustep, etc. – 5 times/week

3. cycle 5000 miles in 2008 50 miles on the exercise bike

4. Plant my garden finish planting after danger of frost; plant second crop of lettuce/spinach; mulch

5. Fix up my house – clean, organize, repair, maintain, decorate This is the big one: finish hanging sheers in LR; paint and finish walls in kitchen; work in yard at least 2 hours/week; straighten/clear back room; work in basement at least 1 hour/week

6. Scan all of my family photos and make a scrapbook of my life Spend at least 5 hours organizing and scanning pics

7. Find and carry out 43 adventures that Rose and Flirt can do together!!! Plan and carry out at least one adventure

8. create a vision board Spend at least 3 hours working on this

9. the Sisterhood of the Brazen Hussy Do something that actually qualifies as brazen (at least for me)

10. Write a letter to my kindergarten teacher – Mail the letter!

11. Shamelessly ask my 43 friends to help support and sponsor Segsy in the 2008 Take Steps for Crohn’s and Colitis Walk. Make donation and post 3 entries encouraging others to donate

12. date Smarter Go on a date (if I can find someone smart enough to date me)

13. Develop lasting organizational skills Post thoughts/ideas and progress (not really measurable, but it’s at least something. 5 years ago

Things I want to finish by the middle of June:

1. Finish editing my CD
2. Clean out all of my email
3. Document LAST SUMMER’S trip
4. Do my physical therapy every day for 43 days
5. Convert my dissertation to pdf
6. Take kayaking classes
7. Start my bibliography
8. Spend a day with my legs up the wall
9. Deposit my oral history tapes in the Southern Folklife Collection
10. Read The Waning of the Middle Ages
11. Call Simon
12. Do the hardest step in the goal: reconcile
13. Clean my office
14. Develop a five-year career plan
15. Don’t eat sweets for 43 days
16. Teach the cat to use the kitty door

The others will be ongoing, I guess. 5 years ago

What do you want to accomplish between May 1 and June 13?

Make a list of the goals you are plan to actively work on in May and the first half of June by April 30th.

Forty-three days later, everyone taking the challenge will self assess their efforts by answering the following questions.

Did you accomplish your short range goals?
Did you make progress toward your long-term goals?
Did you comply with your ongoing goals?
How hard did you work on your goals?
Are you satisfied with your effort?
The team will decide who was top performer. The winner gets much praise and wonderful prizes yet to be determined…and a lot done.

I realize I can’t really compete with other members of the team this way, but it at least gives me the same amount of time, and it really isn’t about competition anyway :). 5 years ago

Seems like a good method to get things done and I need to get things doen fast and good! I need to stop whining and putting off and do it! 5 years ago

but I appreciate Abi Saafir posting the original challenge. It gives me something concrete to shoot for. 5 years ago

Original Spring Challenge ‘07

Here’s the original entry on the Spring Challenge. I copied it here.

What do you want to accomplish between April 18 and May 31?

Make a list of the goals you are plan to actively work on in the second half of April and May by April 18th.

Forty-three days later, everyone taking the challenge will self assess their efforts by answering the following questions.

1. Did you accomplish your short range goals?
   
2. Did you make progress toward your long-term goals?
   
3. Did you comply with your ongoing goals?
   
4. How hard did you work on your goals?
   
5. Are you satisfied with your effort?

The team will decide who was top performer. The winner gets much praise and wonderful prizes yet to be determined…and a lot done.

Saafir’s Spring Challenge ‘08

Goals to Complete

a. Get another job waiting tables
b. Apply for full-time Genius and Concierge
c. Come up with a plan to fix my finances and take the first three steps
d. Finish the enrollment process at UTA
e. Get on with JPS

Ongoing goals

Long-term goals

Become a musician

• Learn to sing well
• Learn music theory
• Learn to play the guitar
• Start a badass funk/soul/dance band
• Learn to easily distinguish jazz drummers
  

Make beautiful martial art

• Learn to dance well
• Earn my black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do
• Master yoga
• Learn how to wrestle and box
• Work out a personal philosophy for my martial arts practice

Become a great teacher

• Finish my undergraduate degree
• Get into a good grad school and finish a program in neuroscience and psychology
• Get a job as a teaching professor

Become a polymath

• Master five topics well enough to teach them at the college level
• Visit one-hundred museums
• Read hundreds of works of literature, poetry, and philosophy
• Read the entire Bible
• Read more novels
• Master computers: use them to make beautiful art

• Stay happily married for fifty years
• Contribute to moral progress
• Be someone’s best friend
• Learn how to give a woman orgasms
• Scan all of my family photos and put them on Flickr
• Create a beautiful home with my family and fill it with plants, pets, music, and art 5 years ago

I just noticed we’re a month into Spring so I figured it’s a good time to check-in and see how much progress I’ve been making. Here’s my original list with some updates:

TO COMPLETE:

• Find at least one thing everday that makes me happy. According to my calculations I’ll be finishing this goal on April 2nd. I’ve loved this goal so I’ll likely continue to post to it. I also think I’ll add the Three things everyday that made me happy goal since so many of my favorite people post there.

Update: I did indeed complete this goal and add the three happy things goal. I love having a goal that helps me focus on the positives of each and every day.

• Enjoy my pregnancy. Baby is due on May 13th so this will be a monumental goal to mark as complete. I have about seven more weeks to savor this pregnancy, and I plan to make the most of it with a pregnancy massage and pre-delivery pedicure. I’ll also be finishing up some baby-related shopping and working on our Bradley Method exercises.

Update: I continue to enjoy the few remaining days and weeks of my pregnancy. I thoroughly enjoyed my pregnancy massage and hope to get my pedicure in this weekend. I’m uncomfortable most of the time, but I’m also savoring being pregnant.

• Help Audrey stay in her room the entire night. Who knows how long it will take to achieve this, but I’m hoping for a relatively smooth and easy transition.

Update: Not a lot of progress to report here. She’s stayed in her bed until after 5:00 am a handful of times, but for the most part she’s still joining us anywhere from midnight on. I know the trick is making ourselves wake up enough to take her back to her room, but so far that just hasn’t been happening.

• List 43 Things I Want to do in 2008. The goal of actually making the list has been completed for a long time, but these are the sub items I plan to tick off over the course of the Spring.
• Have a med-free birth
• Buy a new fridge
• Update our Life Insurance
• Set-up a Roth IRA for Eric
• Eat a ton of Sushi after the baby comes
• Take a Spring Constitution Trail photo
• Go to Brookfield Zoo
• Expand our recycling efforts

Update: I can’t check any of these off yet! I’ll get there, though.

I also hope to make a big dent of progress into most of my other goals like Taking an Alpahbet of Photos and Learning 3 New Facts.

Update: I’m adding to these two goals in particular here and there. 5 years ago

Mid-April progress report:

• Spring clean – I’m carrying on diligently with this one.

• Write a letter – DONE!

• Do my taxes – groan. We’re gathering our papers and trying to find some toddler-free time.

• Donate blood – DONE!

• Sort baby clothes – DONE!

• Knit – DONE!

• Fly a kite – kite poised, waiting on a good day.

• Get an external hard drive – ordered, arrived with problems, returned, waiting for better model.

• Post more pictures to flickr – trying to sort through the mass.

• Take my cat to the vet – trying to arrange an appointment & ride.

Things are chugging along with other specific and ongoing goals as well. One thing in particular I’m really pleased about is developing a daily exercise habit & getting out a lot more, seeing people. There are several long-term goals I’m edging closer to completing too.

At the end of this month I’ll top up my 10 here again, keeping any that I haven’t managed on top. I’m hoping by Monday it’ll start feeling like spring here again, kicking my motivation up a notch. 5 years ago

This month, I’d like to get going on…

1. apartment/moving plans… Unless something goes horribly, horribly wrong, I should accomplish all of these this spring. It’s just a waiting game right now.

2. knitting… I’m currently making squares for a blanket for charity. Today I mailed off a bunch of hats and washcloths to various places—20 items in all! I’m working my way through a gallon ziploc bag of yarn for this current project.

3. Français… I packed up all of my books during the decluttering, but today I finally splurged on a Nintendo DS, so I can play my French vocabulary game. I haven’t fired it up yet, so I’ll let you [or at least, the francophones among you] know how it goes.

4. Read some of the books I own. I feel like I haven’t done a whole lot towards this, but today when I was cleaning around the house, I straightened up my book queue and realised that it was taking up much less space. There are a little more than a dozen books, graphic novels and plays sitting there, which is pretty cool. I’m currently half-way through “Reading Lolita in Tehran”, which I’d like to finish this weekend…

I’ve thought on and off about taking up a creative goal, but I’ve never quite formulated it… Any ideas? I’d like to spend one night a week doing stuff for me. I guess I need to spend some time thinking about what my goal for it really is… 5 years ago

• Knit a Sweater Finish the sweater I am knitting for Dylan.

• What’s in Your Bag? . I want to finish this one this month.

Goals to Make Progress On:

• Lose 25 Pounds. Goal is to lose at least 5 pounds by 4/30/2008.

• Read 50 Books in 2008 . So far I have read 13 books, and I hope to read at least four more during April.

• Do a 23 Fling Boogie At Least Once Per Week . I’m going to keep on working on this, and perhaps by the end of Spring I will have the junk I am tackling out of the way!

• Weight Train Three Times a Week.
  I feel this is essential to help with losing the 25 pounds.

• Be Part of a Team That Donates 10,000,000 Grains of Rice through freerice.com. My Goal for April is to donate at least 15,000 new grains of rice.

• Collect the Fifty American State Quarters . There are now 46 of the 50 state quarters in circulation, and New Mexico is scheduled to be issued in April. The ones I need to get are: Ohio, Missouri, and New Mexico. (I can’t really control when I find these, since I don’t want to buy the quarters, just wanted to note my status !) 5 years ago

Finish 10 (preferably the following):

Spring clean
Write a letter
Do my taxes
Donate blood
Sort baby clothes
Knit (will check off when I finish this current scarf)
Fly a kite
Get an external hard drive
Post more pictures to flickr
Take my cat to the vet

I want to keep up with my weekly/monthly/ongoing goals as well, with an extra focus on decluttering my body, head & living space.

I’ll also try to update as many goals as possible, even if they’ve been festering invisibly on the backburner, I should at least touch base with them.

Since my final winter challenge post, I’ve checked off:

• Go to the dentist

• Read “A New Earth”

• Make someone cry out of happiness

• Renew my Flicker Pro account

• turn off the lights for 1 hour at 8pm on March 29 for Earth Hour!5 years ago

1. Invest – or decide what else to do. the recent slump in stocks has had me feeling skittish about this one again.
2. Make a list of 40 things I want to do before turning 40 – formerly make a five year plan
3. get in shape – or make some progress at least. DH and I have been discussing possible dietary changes for the good of the whole family. I need to make my exercise a part of my daily routine though. right now it’s pretty haphazard-doitwhenifeellikeit.
4. read 30 books in 2008 – including at least 6 more by July. I’ll need to list these to make sure I get to it.
5. practice discardia – including revamping my 43 things and merging this goal with my flylady goal
6. read all of Kurt Vonnegut’s novels – reading at least 1 by July
7. promote scientific literacy – eh I’m laying off the activism for a bit and instead will concentrate on reading through the backlog of New Scientist mags I’ve accumulated. I should be able to finish that by July too.
8. think about buying a house – or rather stop thinking about buying a house and instead think more about how to improve and appreciate my current house while saving up a bigger down payment.
9. drink 43 types of tea – so close but so far. I should be able to finish this. I intend to start drinking tea daily for its health benefits regardless.
10. go 24 hours with no internet – to be done once a week on Sundays starting in April, until at least July. then I’ll mark it as done.
11. Buy nothing for one month – April.
12. FlyLady: Complete Beginners’ BabySteps – hopefully will have these down by July. doing well but sort of scattered about how I do it currently.
13. finish putting together baby’s first photo album – and start organizing second
14. create music playlists for baby 5 years ago

2. become a certified New Orleans tour guide Read 2 more books on New Orleans history.
3. donate a gallon of blood Donate by the end of March and then again by the end of May.
5. read 90 books in 2008 Currently at 12 for the year, goal is another 10 by the end of May.
9. develop a sensible disaster plan and survival kit To be completed by June 1st, the first day of my first full hurricane season in New Orleans.
13. cook 10 delicious meals and post pictures I’ve cooked the meals, I just need to post the pictures.
17. do 50 consecutive pushups I’m at 24 right now, will do 3×10 pushups each morning to improve that number.
20. be an exceptional teacher Apply for elementary teaching jobs in New Orleans. Interview for TGNO in special education on May 2nd, will know if I got in by 2 weeks after that.
21. get caught up on reading back issues of Marathon and Beyond 3 to go, getting more motivated to get back to distance running with each article I read.
34. exercise 300 times Biking counts, will try to run 4 times weekly. At 245 to go on 3/24, goal is 200 to go by the end of May.
36. visit every parish in Louisiana Baton Rouge roadtrip last week of March, Lafayette roadtrip asap.
39. ride my bike as often as possible With the cost of gas these days, this one is easy. 5 years ago