And here's the last of the list -- how I did overall. I missed 21 items on the list.
In the grand scheme of things, that's not too bad. Especially, I may add, in a year that began with a lot of noise and mess, then moved on to one temporary relocation, nine weeks of using an outhouse, twelve weeks of working two jobs, two yard sales, a cross-country wedding reception, and roughly 570 hours spent in the car driving 14,630 miles prior to my job switch.
Did y'all have lists or resolutions? How did you do?
1-52: Read a book a week. Note what I've read on this site so I don't stand there in the library, wondering, Does this seem so familiar because I read it, or because I read reviews of it?
53-65: Complete at least one fixer-upper project around the house per month.
66-78: Pitch 2 editors on freelance ideas monthly. -- For six months this year, I was cranking out a couple thousand words a day for different employers, and the idea of asking people to let me write more made me want to cry. However, that doesn't excuse the other six months.
79-83: Run a 5K every 3 months. -- Oh, this started off so well with the Q1 5K around Lake Merritt. Then things got nutso with work and the house and the lifeguarding class, and in Q3, I actually worked a road race where some of the non-running people were so thoroughly unpleasant, it put me off 5Ks. And in Q4, I learned that my beloved Run to the Far Side was no more. Fie on you, road racing! I got one out of four here.
84-86: Swim 100 miles by my birthday; swim another 100 miles by my wedding anniversary; swim another 100 miles by Christmas. -- Every year, I make some resolution that's totally disconnected from reality, and this was the 2006 entrant. On the plus side: I'm now swimming anywhere between 4-7 miles each week, so I'll do somewhere between 200-350 next year,
87: Give up sugar and dessert-y things for Lent. Again.
88-100: Make one modest donation to a different nonprofit each month.
101: When Web surfing, do so with some focus and not because it's fun to see what fresh trainwrecks are out there. -- This actually worked this year! I am shocked too.
102: Do not, under any circumstances, walk out of a grocery store or airport newsstand with a copy of In Style, Real Simple, Us or any other magazine that purports to be entertainment but is really just a tasty little prelude to brain damage. -- Oh, I might as well give in and admit it: I like flipping through US when getting pedicures. I went Real Simple-free and In Style-free, but holy cow, does viewing, "Celebrities -- They're Just Like Us!" distract me from how much exfoliation tickles. Also, the salon I go to loves it when I leave them the magazine afterward.
103: Decorate the house for Christmas -- inside AND outside.
104: Find a local volunteer commitment that lets me meet more people in Alameda. -- I sort of did this one: I got a seasonal job with the parks & rec department, and that went a long way toward getting more involved in civic life. However, it was not volunteer, so back on the list for 2007.
105: Get the cats microchipped. -- The vet refused to do the procedure on Zito when boarding him in February, saying, "The cat's already traumatized enough being here." Zito is a big, fat faker, and he wil be chipped in 2007. Oh, yes, he will.
106: Quit resolving to take a CPR/first aid course and the lifeguarding course -- and just do it already.
I was inspired by your #102 last year, and it followed me all through 2006. I only succumbed to the Real Simple November issue, which was so not worth it and allowed me to renew my resolve. Even an airport newsstand grab, I'd try to go for the news mag or the Thoughtful Lofty Literate one (Atlantic, New Yorker, etc). (Disclosure, though -- I also have a "no rules at the salon" policy. Whatever pablum they're serving up, I'm taking!)
Thanks for sharing your resolutions and lists. It doesn't seem to be something people really care to track. You know, there'll be loads of resolution blog posts next week... but so few people will then follow up next year and admit, "Yeah, I biffed that one... but this one worked..." and so on. So, lots of initial energy but little follow-through. Which is too bad because I really like seeing how other people do the personal growth thing.
Posted by: Tracy | 2006.12.30 at 12:58
I made my list for 2006 but hit too few of the items. I need to take the full tally and prepare for next year's list.
Starting off 2006 unemployed, I had lofty goals, but then becoming employed screwed me for some of them as well when I started working long hours. The thing that disappoints me most is that I didn't get to the house things. The thing I'm most proud of is that I finally found a rug that I love for my family room, even if the arrival of it on my Discover card is hurting me in the post-Christmas bill arrival department. Oh--and I'm still going to water aerobics after more than two years. That is the longest I have ever consistently participated in any sort of organized physical activity! Has it made me thin? Nope. But I love doing it and I love the women in the class. It's totally worth going because moving is better than not moving and I know I'm stronger for going.
Better luck to me for 107 in 2007!
Posted by: Mary | 2006.12.30 at 15:12
#105 - "already traumatized enough"? Oh please. Wimpy cats. I've had all of my ferrets done with the very same big needle and rice-grain-sized chip. That's a two-pound pet, mind you, and none of them even fliched. March right into that vet and demand your chips! (Of course, I'm picking on your silly vet, not you.)
Posted by: Roger | 2006.12.30 at 15:45
I did alright with my personal goals last year -- my financial situation is better now than it was in January 2006, I got some much-needed furniture items for our apartment, I feel like I've made some progress at work (though it wasn't in the way I'd imagined I'd be doing it) and I improved my eating habits, joined a gym and lost some weight. So, not so bad.
But I got knocked on my ass by several things this fall, so my financial and fitness progress has stalled. (Work, somehow, has improved.) And I never did get as much reading done as I wanted to.
This year I'll be making a 107 in 2007 list, because I like the idea of having smaller goals that I have to pay regular attention to. It'll focus on getting my spending, eating and exercising back on track, picking a cause and making small-but-regular donations towards it, completing one apartment-improvement project a month, throwing myself into a new role at work with an eye towards expanding it and reading for pleasure more often.
Posted by: drunken monkey | 2006.12.30 at 17:48
Thom's been bothering me to make goals for the New Year. I guess I'm just not ready yet. Though, of course, there are things that I've been thinking of trying to do this year. A lot of it just has to do with fitting things in around my new job -- getting into an exercise rhythm, figuring out how to take more lunches to work. We both want to do some entertaining this year -- get more people over for dinner. The last six months have just been about Thom and I reconnecting, sorting through detritus and getting settled into new jobs and routines. We've let some of our friendships languish while we've been so inwardly focused. A part of this outward focus is to do some charity work. I was really inspired by your monthly charitable donations and we will be doing something like that this year. Toward the end of last year I finally put together a financial spreadsheet which in itself was a huge goal accomplished and included a line item for a monthly cash donation.
Oh, and I really need to buy some new shoes! There's a goal.
Posted by: Amanda | 2006.12.31 at 08:21
We had Tie microchipped at the Humane Society for something like five dollars and it was over in a flash. No trauma at all.
Posted by: Lauren | 2006.12.31 at 16:16