2017 -> 2018

2017 in review - here were my goals:

1. Life: lose weight.  (Weight on 12/31 was 150.2.)  Fail.  Heavier.
2. Life: work out regularly.  Fail.
3. Life: eat "better".  Fail.
4. Work: make a presentation.  Done.
5. Work: write an article.  No.
6. Adulting: focus on conscientious spending.  (I don't think every month can be green, but how about 9 out of 12?  And the year green, definitely.)  I'm feeling meh about this but we did actually pull this off.  Barely, but 9 out of 12 were in the green and we did end the year up.  Baaaaaaarely up.  Which is why I'm meh.  But up.
7. Adulting: file things every weekend so it doesn't get out of control.  Fail.
8. Fun: improve the garden again!  Fail.
9. Fun: go on vacation to... somewhere.  Total mega epic fail.  (F you, Hurricane Harvey.)
10. Fun: take photos!  Meh, a little.
11. Fun: stained glass (damnit).  Nope.
12: Fun: camping weekends.  At least 2.  Yes, actually!
13. Fun: read stuff. ;-)  Epic yes.  Lots and lots of the reading.
14. Fun: complete Texas 6-Pack brew run series.  No... I think I did 3 of them?

Here's the thing about 2017: it sucked.  It totally sucked.  It epically sucked.  Sucked big time.  There was a ton of work stuff.  There was some life stuff.  There was Hurricane asshole Harvey.  There was depression, weight gain, general malaise.  It was just a really bad year all the way around.

There were some good things.  I took some pretty pictures.  I had some good days.  I have a wonderful kid.  We did some fun little mini-trips.  I am trying to find those lights in the darkness, but the truth is I'll probably remember this year as a year I'd rather not remember.

So, moving on, what do I want out of 2018?

Is difficult for me to even bend my thoughts into something that looks like goals... so how about just what I want to do.  These aren't goals.  These are just things I want to do.
I want to start exercising again.
I want to start eating more cleanly.
I have had some health issues... I want to get those under control.
I have had some mental health issues... I want to get those out of crisis mode.
I have two really nice vacations planned and I want to go and enjoy myself and take beautiful pictures and feel filled up with peace and joy.
I want to continue working on the money thing.  Last year was good - we need to build on that and get a little savings cushion so I quit feeling like the next hurricane might blow us out of the water.

Essentially, I want 2018 to be the year in which I become healthier and happier - mentally and physically.  Things aren't ever going to be perfect, but I'd like to get back to a place where I'm a little more capable of rolling with the punches.  I am ready.  I am willing to put in the work.  I know it will be hard, but I'm tired of this place that I'm in.  So I'm bringing it in 2018.  Let's do this thing.

Late Goal Update

This is late because I was only just getting back from vacation on the 1st!

1. Work: make at least one presentation. DONE.

2. Work: write an article.  Working on it.

3. Work: leave the old job as best as I can and rock the new one.  Old job departure is this week!

4. Workout: Train for something in a focused way.  No, I'm even farther from the wagon with all the traveling I've been doing.

5. Workout: Get at least one not-in-Texas race.  Florida totally didn't happen.  This may not happen this year.

6. Workout: Do a triathlon. I am still scheduled for the Tri Aggieland next weekend BUT I got very very (very very) sick on July 4th.  I lost 11 pounds in just a few days and I am still feeling very weak and run down.  I will see how I improve this week but there is a possibility that I will DNS this.  If it were a 5K it would be one thing, but a full sprint tri in Texas heat on almost no training and a week after a serious illness.... it may not be the greatest idea.

7. Workout: Get my butt back in the pool regularly.  Not this month, and given that I think I'll lose my pool membership when I leave the job, probably not this year.

8. Workout: Go climbing. Not yet.  Maybe this is something I could look at after the new job starts.

9.  Life: Lose 20 pounds.  Weight on January 2 it was 152.6.  Weight on June 1 was 147.2.  Full disclosure: weight on the first day back from vacation was 152.6.  I was upset but not surprised.  However I hit 142 during the sickness and weight this morning was 145.  It may be possible that I can try to come back from this illness at a lower weight.  I will try.

10. Life: Focus on conscientious spending.  Red.  But this was a known issue with the trip.  This month will be red too, given that I will not be working for half of it.  But August everything should change for the better.

11. Life: Improve the garden. Not this month, being gone.  We have been getting a TON of peppers, though, including bell peppers which I'm really excited about!  The lettuce and spinach have unfortunately burned up, but I'll look at a fall planting.  It looks like the carrots and beets are about ready - need to do another planting of that too.

12. Life: Go camping.  YES!  Stephen F Austin SP in March, Martin Dies Jr SP in April, Choke Canyon SP in May.  We didn't camp on our vacation but we did do several hikes including Bluebonnet Nature Center in Baton Rouge, and Orlando Wetlands Park and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Florida.
13. Life: Read or listen to at least 2 books per month.  Only one official due to travel.  Lots of dirty secrets.

14. Life: Have an epic Disney vacation.  YES!!  EPIC!!!

15. Life: Make stained glass things. Not yet.
16. Life: Take fabulous pictures with the awesome new camera.  Yes!  Got more great shots on vacation ranging from (lots of) birds to alligators to sunsets to beach landscapes.  I am really pleased with a good number of the shots I got and I continue to feel like I'm growing!

Goal Update

1. Work: make at least one presentation. DONE.

2. Work: write an article.  Working on it.

3. Work: **another midstream change** Leave the old job as best as I can and rock the new one.

4. Workout: Train for something in a focused way.  No, I've fallen off the wagon this month.  I haven't turned into a total sloth, but I've definitely been wandering around directionless.

5. Workout: Get at least one not-in-Texas race.  Not yet.  Looking at you, Florida.  In June.  Hot.

6. Workout: Do a triathlon. I am still scheduled for the Tri Aggieland in July.  I will plan on being better prepared for that!

7. Workout: Get my butt back in the pool regularly.  Not this month.

8. Workout: Go climbing. Not yet.

9.  Life: Lose 20 pounds.  Weight on January 2 it was 152.6.  Weight on May 1 was 148.4.  Weight this morning was 147.2.  I did have a week this month in the 146's (before my conference, sigh), so pleased with the downward trend.  Next month I have vacation AND conferencing, so it will be tough.  I need to try to make smart choices but I also want to enjoy myself and give myself a little pass.  

10. Life: Focus on conscientious spending.  Red.  Ugh.  Water heater went out and apparently my child's teeth are a freaking hole-riddled mess.  On the plus side, the mortgage companies managed to track down the lost payment (that had cleared, punks).  And in August I'll be starting a job that should make green MUCH more achievable.  

11. Life: Improve the garden. Everything is growing nicely but nothing new happened due to all the rain.

12. Life: Go camping.  YES!  Stephen F Austin SP in March, Martin Dies Jr SP in April.  Brazos Bend got cancelled due to the Tax Day Flooding, so we went to Choke Canyon SP in May and it was lovely!
13. Life: Read or listen to at least 2 books per month.  Hit it right on the nose with only 2 official books this month.  The dirty little secret level is pretty epic, though.  I need to find a better way to track those.

14. Life: Have an epic Disney vacation.  Not yet, but it is paid for now!

15. Life: Make stained glass things. Not yet.
16. Life: Take fabulous pictures with the awesome new camera.  Yes!  Got more great shots in Choke Canyon with a rented 200-500 and a rented 105 macro lens.  Lens rental is COOL!!  Also got a few neat shots around the neighborhood and in Austin.  I've been shooting weekly at the very least and I feel like I'm growing, which is all a girl can ask for.

Goal Update

1. Work: make at least one presentation. DONE.

2. Work: write an article.  Working on it.

3. Work: get involved in "the community".  Not yet.

4. Workout: Train for something in a focused way.  I got back on my bike this month and also managed to both swim and run in preparation for the tri.  Not quite what I'm looking for yet, but progress.

5. Workout: Get at least one not-in-Texas race.  Not yet.  Looking at you, Florida.  In June.  Hot.

6. Workout: Do a triathlon.  Well, I was scheduled for the CB&I, but it got cancelled.  I am still scheduled for the Tri Aggieland in July.  I will plan on being better prepared for that!

7. Workout: Get my butt back in the pool regularly.  Sorta.

8. Workout: Go climbing. Not yet.

9.  Life: Lose 20 pounds.  Weight on January 2 it was 152.6.  Weight on Mar 30 was 149.4.  Weight on May 1 was 148.4.  I know I should be pleased because it is trending down, but it is tough because I got as low as 146.6 before I went to my conference.  I'm going to hit it hard again in May (after my birthday), because I feel like that loss is right there for the taking.

10. Life: Focus on conscientious spending.  GREEN, bitches.  Thanks to a little help from our tax return, which I used to pay off 2 debts so hopefully it'll be easier to be green in the coming months too!

11. Life: Improve the garden. Everything is growing nicely but nothing new happened due to all the rain.
*** I've decided to combine the camping goals into 1 and make them more generic.  And I'll go ahead and slap a reading goal in the new #13 since I'm tracking that anyways.***

12. Life: Go camping.  YES!  Stephen F Austin SP in March, Martin Dies Jr SP in April, scheduled for Brazos Bend SP in May!
13. Life: Read or listen to at least 2 books per month.  Hit it right on the nose with only 2 official books this month.  We'll just bypass the 13 dirty little secrets.

14. Life: Have an epic Disney vacation.  Not yet, but it is paid for now!

15. Life: Make stained glass things. Not yet.
16. Life: Take fabulous pictures with the awesome new camera.  Yes!  Got some beautiful photos that I'm really proud of in BBNP, and also had fun shooting in Martin Dies Jr SP!

Goal Update

I am going to be out of town on the first, so I'm writing this up a few days early.

1. Work: make at least one presentation. DONE.

2. Work: write an article.  Working on it.

3. Work: get involved in "the community".  Not yet.

4. Workout: Train for something in a focused way.  Not yet.  But I've continued with P90X3, plus managed to get myself both back on the road for a run about once a week, and back into the pool once a week.

5. Workout: Get at least one not-in-Texas race.  Not yet.  Looking at you, Florida.  In June.  Hot.

6. Workout: Do a triathlon.  Signed up for the CB&I and also the Tri Aggieland.

7. Workout: Get my butt back in the pool regularly.  At least once a week, yes.

8. Workout: Go climbing. Not yet.

9.  Life: Lose 20 pounds.  Weight on January 2 it was 152.6.  Weight on Mar 1 was 151.4.  Weight on Mar 30 was 149.4.  I've seen some real progress this month and I am pleased.  I was *particularly* pleased that I didn't gain any back on the wedding weekend!  

10. Life: Focus on conscientious spending.  It is tight but I'm pretty freaking sure we will still be in the green at the end of this month.  Preeeeeetty sure.

11. Life: Improve the garden. Got 5 half wine barrels from a friend that I want to plant tomatoes in.  Hopefully when I'm back in town next week.

12. Life: Go camping in Brazos Bend State Park. Not yet.  Maybe mid April?

13. Life: Go camping in Huntsville State Park. Not yet. But we did go camping in Stephen F Austin State Park and it was awesome!

14. Life: Have an epic Disney vacation.  Not yet, but I'm paying it down.

15. Life: Make stained glass things. Not yet, but I finally started talking about it again with Preston.
16. Life: Take fabulous pictures with the awesome new camera.  Yes!  Got some more fab pics this month and right now at this very moment I'm at a workshop in Big Bend where I GUARANTEE you I'm getting more!

Not a goal, but I read or listened to 6 (official) books in February!  I also read 6 romances that I didn't track on Goodreads, for a total of 12. ;-)

THE AQUARIUM HAS FISH!!!  6 of them.  3 lemon yellow cichlids and 3 frontosa.  I LOVE THEM!

2016 Goals

Heh, do you think I can continue the theme and come up with 16 goals for 2016?  Let's see....

1. Work: make at least one presentation.

2. Work: write an article.

3. Work: get involved in "the community".

4. Workout: Train for something in a focused way.

5. Workout: Get at least one not-in-Texas race.

6. Workout: Do a triathlon.

7. Workout: Get my butt back in the pool regularly.

8. Workout: Go climbing. 

9.  Life: Lose 20 pounds.

10. Life: Focus on conscientious spending.  I'm going to define it better this year.  What I mean is that I want to finish each month in the green.  HOWEVER, I already know that that won't be possible every month, for example June when I already know P is going to miss several weeks of work, so the ultimate goal is to end the YEAR in the green.

11. Life: Improve the garden.

12. Life: Go camping in Brazos Bend State Park.

13. Life: Go camping in Huntsville State Park.

14. Life: Have an epic Disney vacation.

15. Life: Make stained glass things.
16. Life: Take fabulous pictures with the awesome new camera.

I may have been slightly cheating with splitting the camping into two parts.  I considered a reading goal - I read 52 books in 2015, which is a nice round number of one per week!  But I read because I enjoy it, and I don't want to fall prey to selecting books for length/easiness of reading rather than just because I want to read them.  So no goals there.  Although maybe I should set a goal to begin doing better reviews of books, since looking back on last year I already can't remember why I rated some things the way I did!

Anyways, there they are, and I'm excited to get going!  Onward!!

Goal Review

This is always fun for me.  Here were my goals for 2015, and how I did.

1. Leave my old job as well as I can.  DONE.

2. Enjoy my month off.  Totally done.

3. Get lots done during month off also!  Yup!

4. Rock out the new job.  I'm gonna go with yes on this one too.

5. Complete the BP MS150 in April.  In its shortened state, but yup!

6. Do a triathlon!  Yes, two, actually, and a relay!

7. Train for and complete the 8 mile Turkey Trot. (Eg. Running, not walking.)  Sorta on this one.  I thought I would be in Dallas for Thanksgiving last year in January, but we ended up in Austin, downgrading the 8 mile to a 5 mile.  I did complete it, but I definitely didn't train like I should, nor did I run the entire thing.  So meh.

8. Start a garden.  Yes!  Built two boxes.  Apparently we are very talented at peppers and terrible at tomatoes.  We did eat some broccoli that we harvested just the other day and it was FABULOUS.  Goal for next year is two more boxes and more variety of plants.  Oh and not to suck at tomatoes because I lurve me some tomatoes.  Would also really like some carrots and onions...

9. Start a family game night on Thursdays.  Did I successfully start a thing?  No.  We did play a few times and we did enjoy it.  The problem might actually be Thursday... maybe I could try for a different day....

10. Focus on conscientious spending.  Well, this one travels on a sine wave and we ended the year on a spending spree as always.  You'll see this one pop up again in next year's goals.

11. Lose 20 pounds.  Total fail.  I really struggled with the job transition more than I thought I would.  This one will also make an appearance next year.

12. Cook more, better at home.  We did actually improve at this.  I've gotten better at planning meals and estimating the correct amount of stuff to buy to not have tons of waste.  I would like to continue this moving into next year.

13. Go climbing.  Yup, twice!  Even had Z's birthday party at the climbing place!

14. Take Zoë camping for the first time!  YES!  And success!  Would definitely like to plan more trips, perhaps locally at the various state parks in the area.

15. Make stained glass things.  Nope, fail.  But I brought this up with Preston again the other day and we both got excited, so this might make a reappearance next year as well.

That's 10 success stories, 3 partials, and only 2 fails.  I'm gonna a call a WIN for 2015!

Target Acquired for "Getting Faster"

This just popped up on my running radar this week on National Run Day.  Someone posted in the HARRA Facebook a discount code for the Run One in Houston.

I'm so in!

My goodness I wish we had had this a few years back when I was fast!  I bet that I could have gone sub-8 in a one mile race back in 2008 when I set my 5K PR.  Arg, that would have been so awesome!!

Well it isn't 2008, but I've been aching to add back in a little speed.  I'm forgoing the long stuff for the foreseeable future.  I could see myself getting back up to 10K for the winter, and the 8 mile Turkey Trot for Thanksgiving, but that is ALL.  I will not succumb to the temptation to go longer.  I will NOT!!!   The last time I was going for speed, getting to about 6 miles was helpful, so that'll be the goal this time too.

So this morning I went out and did a one mile "time trial", just to see where I am.  9:50.  But I negative split it!  I have 3 months to improve.  I definitely want to go sub-9.  I think I can do it if I really focus on this and don't get hurt.  And I think it'll be good for me.

Let the training begin!

Birthday Progress Report

15 goals for 2015:

1. Leave my old job as well as I can.  Check!

2. Enjoy my month off.  Check!

3. Get lots done during month off also!  Check!

4. Rock out the new job.  Working it!

5. Complete the BP MS150 in April.  DONE, y'all.

6. Do a triathlon!  ALSO DONE!!  (Although this wasn't in April, so perhaps I should wait til next month's report?)

7. Train for and complete the 8 mile Turkey Trot. (Eg. Running, not walking.)  Time to start running with a vengeance again.

8. Start a garden.  Check!

9. Start a family game night on Thursdays.  Have done a few, need to make a habit.

10. Focus on consciencous spending. I'm really doing a pretty good job here.  Need to work on family now.

11. Lose 20 pounds.  Half a pound is better than no pounds.  Weight is 149.2.  Ahem.  Last month didn't go well.

12. Cook more, better at home.  Trying.  Really going to make a concerted effort with the food in May.

13. Go climbing.  Not yet. 

14. Take Zoë camping for the first time!  Check!

15. Make stained glass things.  Have most of the tools, still need to get set up.

 

This is really coming along!!

The Reality of the Thing

I suffer from post-major-event slumps.  Pretty much always.

I have various ways to combat this, usually involving signing up for something else shortly after the major event in hopes that I won't slump out of sheer panic.

Well.  There is panic.  I'll tell you that.

I finished the MS150 on Sunday massively dehydrated.  I weighed 2.5 pounds less than Sunday morning on Monday morning, and that was after I had done quite a bit of re-hydrating.  And I felt ROUGH.  So Monday was, and was always planned to be, a recovery day.  But I didn't anticipate how bad off I'd be.  I went to the grocery store on Monday and then needed a nap because it exhausted me.  It was that severe.

Couple that with my other body issue which began on Tuesday, and Tuesday's planned recovery swim didn't happen.  Which led to a Wednesday lie-in.  And then Thursday... it really wasn't until Thursday night that I finally felt back to almost normal.

So this morning I finally, FINALLY, dragged myself out of bed for Yoga.  Yoga is NOT a triathlon.  And now I'm freaking out because I have to travel again for work this coming week and as always when I travel I can expect to struggle with exercising.

Ok, so the mop-up panic (but also trying to be realistic) plan is this:
Saturday: open water swim
Sunday: run or bike or bike/run
Monday: P90X in hotel room
Tuesday: skip
Wednesday: skip, but if I could do something when I get back home if I get back early enough, a run would be great
Thursday: bike morning, swim afternoon
Friday: off
Saturday: tri (TRY!)

I think this is doable and will ease my panic.  I will not have lost all my fitness in the past 2 weeks.  I need to remember that.  I just need to reassure myself that I can get through this thing.  I can definitely do the swim.  No problem.  The bike is so much way shorter than the MS.  I can definitely do the bike.  The run is the scary bit, and come on, I can totally walk if I need to.  I can do this.  It may be rough, but I can do it.

After the tri, the goal is back into a steady training plan (no more work trips til July!), and, AND back to calorie counting because the super long weekend hunger-making workouts should be over.

Monthly Progress Report

15 goals for 2015:

1. Leave my old job as well as I can.  Check!

2. Enjoy my month off.  Check!

3. Get lots done during month off also!  Check!

4. Rock out the new job.  Working it!

5. Complete the BP MS150 in April.  In training.

6. Do a triathlon!  In training.

7. Train for and complete the 8 mile Turkey Trot. (Eg. Running, not walking.)  After MS 150 and Tri.

8. Start a garden.  Check!

9. Start a family game night on Thursdays.  Have done a few, need to make a habit.

10. Focus on consciencous spending. I'm really doing a pretty good job here.  Need to work on family now.

11. Lose 20 pounds.  Half a pound is better than no pounds.  Weight is 147.6.  Stopped tracking calories when started the new job.   Probably need to start again.  Also need to do fewer coffee/lunches out with people now that I'm not so new any more.  Think I could actually be dropping weight if I was just a bit less indulgent.  But it is tough with the ridiculously long rides every weekend.  The proof is in the dropping, it is just happening a bit slower than I'd like, and I'm really going to have to watch the eating once I'm done with the MS150.

12. Cook more, better at home.  Working it.

13. Go climbing.  Not yet. 

14. Take Zoë camping for the first time!  Check!

15. Make stained glass things.  Have most of the tools, still need to get set up.

Review: The Plan for Unemployment

Now that Unemployment (WINNING!) is over, I thought I should revisit and see how we did.  Here we go:

Project 1: Repainting the master suite.  As of my last writing, the only thing left was the water closet.  The only thing remaining is STILL the water closet.  (Something tells me we may have a mustard yellow water closet for a loooooong time....)

Project 2: Build a square foot garden.  2 boxes are built with soil in place.  2 more have boards cut and just need to be built.  Raking was accomplished and did serve as the bottom layer of the two existing boxes.  I am very pleased with this, honestly, given how crappy the weather has been.

Project 3: Painting kitchen cabinets.  I had estimated a week for this.  I am an IDIOT.  Woooooow.  I think when all is said and done, it ended up being more like 4 weeks of 4-6 hour days.  I used Americana Décor Chalky Finish Paint, and I ran into every issue in the book.  First, I discovered that it took me about 2 hours to paint out an entire 8 oz container, so I tended to work in 2 hour increments.  Second, one container will cover about 7 cabinet doors.  Third, it takes THREE coats to really get a nice finish.  Fourth, no one vendor has enough of this paint to accomplish an entire kitchen, so I went all over the freaking place buying all that everybody had.  I used Home Depot, Amazon, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby.  I found that when the paint was old, it really freaking sucked, and there was no way to tell from the container if you were getting nice fresh paint, or old crappy paint, so that was massively disappointing.  The older stuff is way gloopy and no amount of stirring, shaking, etc, was able to fix it, so some of my cabinets have a new and unexpected texture.  I'm trying to just get over it.  It is part of the charm, right?  RIGHT!!???  With the bitching out of the way, I'm really thrilled with the final look of my cabinets, and cannot recommend it highly enough if you have time and want a new look for any set of cabinets.  I think I did the whole kitchen for $500 - about $200 of that in paint, and $300 in new hardware.  Great way to redo a kitchen on the cheap!  (Now I just need new countertops and backsplash....)
Minor Project 1: Hanging work quilts. Done.

Minor Project 2: Setting up fish tank.  Got stymied by ordering new plastic thingies for the glass top.  Ordered wrong size, right size is backordered, yadda yadda yadda.  Will make an attempt to pick this back up shortly.
Minor Project 3: Getting stuff off floor in office.  Made serious progress.  Not entirely done but it is waaaaaay better.  This involved closet re-org and a better use of that space.

Minor Project 4: Distributing contents of boxes.  That really should have been a major one.  I did a little of this, but yeah... lots to go.

Minor Project 5: General clean and de-clutter.  Did manage the kitchen before starting to paint the cabinets.  Really need to find a way to KEEP it that way, which is the true struggle in life.

Minor Project 6: Box for AD light.  Fail, but have the wood cut.
All in all, I'm very pleased with how I spent my time off!  I was able to stay busy but I did also take a vacation and a few days here and there to be lazy.  Nice balance of productive and rest, and most importantly, for me, the mindless manual labor of painting was soothing to my rather battered (from the last job) soul.

Monthly Progress Report

15 goals for 2015:

1. Leave my old job as well as I can.  Check!

2. Enjoy my month off.  In progress.

3. Get lots done during month off also!  In progress.

4. Rock out the new job.  Coming up!

5. Complete the BP MS150 in April.  In training.

6. Do a triathlon!  In training.

7. Train for and complete the 8 mile Turkey Trot. (Eg. Running, not walking.)  After MS 150 and Tri.

8. Start a garden.  Planned for this month!

9. Start a family game night on Thursdays.  Have done a few, need to make a habit.

10. Focus on consciencous spending. Trying... trying.

11. Lose 20 pounds.  Half a pound is better than no pounds.  Weight is 149.4.  Downloaded  a calorie tracker app and am redoubling efforts now that vacation is over.

12. Cook more, better at home.  Made good progress in January at better meal planning to both reduce spending but also reduce waste and reduce the necessity for eating out.  Need to keep it up and also want to mess with the crockpot this month.

13. Go climbing.  Not yet, unless you count Big Bend! 

14. Take Zoë camping for the first time!  Check!

15. Make stained glass things.  Have most of the tools, need to get set up while I'm on this break.

WINNING!: the plan for Unemployment

We moved into this house over a year ago now, and there is a nice stack of things that I've been wanting to do, but have never had time.

Project 1: as you know, is to repaint the master suite.  We are at probably 95% completion on this now - the only thing outstanding is the Water Closet.

Project 2: build a square foot garden, and then actually clean up my yard, using all the leaves as the base layer before the soil.  I tend to think the buildout will be easy, 1, maaaaybe 2 days.  But the raking, oh the raking.  I'm allowing a week for this one.  (Might need only 4 days, but that extra day can go towards the Water Closet.)

Project 3: paint out the kitchen cabinets.  After we got wood floors put in and carried them through the house, the kitchen is a monotone of wood.  Lots and lots of wood.  The cabinets are oak with very dated hardware.  Some months back I took a class on chalk paint, and since it doesn't require sanding, I'm thinking it will be perfect for the cabinets.  Plus I think it gives a nice distressed look that breaks up the concept of just solid shiny white that white cabinets can become.  So that is project 3: paint and new hardware.  I'm guesstimating a week on this one too.

Those are the 3 major, and I will not commit to any more.  But there are a number of minor projects, some which I've already started or completed, which I'd like to mention.

First was hanging my work quilts in the guest bedroom.  They look lovely!  I need to post a picture.

Second is getting the fish tank set up.  We carried it outside the other weekend and got it all cleaned up.  I removed all the rocks and gave them a nice rinsing and got them back in the tank.  We've bought a new filter, and we are almost ready for water, except we need one little part to come in first.  The plastic hinges for the lid had cracked so we need new ones, but the fish store had the wrong size.  I won't fill the tank until I'm sure we can close it because I'd be too worried about the cats.  I am so excited to have a fish tank again!  I can hardly wait!!

Third is getting everything off the floor in the office.  I'm not sure if I'll do that or if I'll stand over P with a whip, but it is a goal.

Fourth is distributing the contents of ALL remaining boxes that are IN the house and not in a storage-type position (i.e. in a closet or in the attic).  I feel that if I can get this done while I'm on break, then I could slowly start working through the garage, one box at a time, without cluttering up the house again.

Fifth is a general clean and de-clutter.  ESPECIALLY the kitchen, where the bar seems to be a magnet for all the things that don't have homes.

Oh and one more!  Sixth would be to build a little box stand for the Aunt Dollie light that I'd like to put in the guest room.  It is a tension lamp and our ceilings are too high to install it, but I think that is an easy fix.

This is a lot, I know that.  I've had several people tell me they were surprised at how much I've accomplished so far.  I think for me right now it is important to keep busy, but it is also important to know that I'm not just working straight through every day.  I'm kind of moseying through the mornings, being relaxed about getting Z to school and eating, then working a bit, then taking a nice long break for lunch, then working til P gets home.  Then sometimes I stop, sometimes I make him help me.  But either way, there is a good amount of downtime, but at the end of the day I still feel like I got something done, so it works!

Happy New Year!

I've clearly been gone a long time. Suffice to say that life has gotten in the way. But things are changing, y'all!

15 goals for 2015:

1. Leave my old job as well as I can.

2. Enjoy my month off.

3. Get lots done during month off also!

4. Rock out the new job.

5. Complete the BP MS150 in April.

6. Do a triathlon!

7. Train for and complete the 8 mile Turkey Trot. (Eg. Running, not walking.)

8. Start a garden.

9. Start a family game night on Thursdays.

10. Focus on consciencous spending.

11. Lose 20 pounds.

12. Cook more, better at home.

13. Go climbing.

14. Take Zoë camping for the first time!

15. Make stained glass things.

I know this is a mixed bag of good goals, but I am right on the edge where I can see things are going to finally get better for me, and I am SO ready! I want to take the opportunity of the new job to form lasting habits for a better life. There are so many things that I want to do, from better parenting to better health to more creativity to better living. I think these goals cover it all.

I ran! And made a crazy goal.

Twice to be precise.

I ran last Tuesday afternoon.  I left work early, I hadn't exercised, and I just... wanted to.  So I grabbed my handy C25K app and set it on week 5 day 1 - that's warm-up, 5 min run, 3 min walk, rinse, repeat 3 times.

It went well!  And I was so happy.  I was hoping that with all of the P90X3 and Booty Barre and Boot Camp, etc, that I wouldn't need to start from Day 1.  And I didn't!

Then my Friday Booty Barre class got cancelled.  I was all dressed out and ready to go, so I ran again.  On Tuesday I felt like I didn't need the full 3 minute walk break.  And I've been experimenting with RunKeeper, and noticed that it gives you an update every 5 minutes.  So I decided to use that to my advantage and run 4/walk 1, queuing off the app. I managed a full 5K in 7 repetitions.  And though I was getting quite tired, I really felt like I could have kept up that pattern for a while longer. 

So I was very pleased with that run as well!

I have 2 5Ks scheduled in April.  One as a part of my annual conference for work, and one that was originally scheduled back in January that got moved.  It is good to know that I will survive!  I'm going to try to get in at least 2 runs a week between now and then, so that maybe I can do more than survive.

I think my goals, longer term... this year is Thanksgiving in Dallas.  So I will be at 8 miles by November.  In a really cool perfect world, I'd really really like to be at 10 miles by October so I can run 10 for Texas.  But I will not push for that if I have issues.  I do not want to go over 10 miles this year.  I want to stay at 8-10 and focus on complete running and maybe a bit of speed over shorter distances.  Because....

I want to run the Texas Independence Relay next year.

Eeep!  I said it.

The longest legs of the relay are just under 7 miles, so my goal is to get solid again in the short distances, then as it approaches, run some doubles so I can get the legs used to being tired.

I've actually coerced convinced, I think, 4 people already in joining my craziness.  Any other interested crazies awesome runners?

Goals for 2014

Working out:
I want to have fun again.  I've got myself a Groupon for 10 Booty Barre classes.  Heh.  And then I got one for 10 Pole Dancing classes.  Double Heh heh.  Plus there is a brand new rock climbing place that just opened RIGHT by my house, so I'm hoping to begin partaking of that on a semi-regular basis with P.  I do want to run.  I've signed up for the Heatherington Fun Run again.  And I'd like to run the Turkey Trot in Dallas. But I'm open beyond that.  I want to do something on most days, but I want to enjoy myself.  I'd like to swim more when summer rolls around.  And they have Zumba classes at the neighborhood center - think I might try that.  Oooooo and they've been having boot camp and spin classes at the park on Saturday mornings.... might be in for that when it warms up a teensy.

Houses:
Ok, here's the meat of it: I haven't moved all of our stuff from the old house because I want to redo the floors in the new hourse first.  So I want the floors done by hopefully end of January.  Stuff out of old house by end of February.  This is more complicated than it seems - I want to purge so I'm vascilating between not moving the stuff I'm done with and doing a garage sale, or if I'm in a hurry hiring movers and moving it to one room in new house where I can go through it...  Need to do a little work on old house, too - would also like that done by end of Feburary so the sucker can go on the market in March.  I want to get it sold THIS YEAR.  I want to keep the rental house rented. I want to keep the new house both clean AND organized.  I am trying and will continue to try to make a daily effort to go through the house and pick things up so that it never gets out of control the way the old house did.  After all of that is done, then I want to get the storage unit emptied out and off the books.

Reading:
I have been looking forward to reading for myself for a long time.  I don't have any specific goals other than to read whatever strikes my fancy.  I do want to always be reading something.  And I think I'm probably going to pick audiobooks back up too.

Work:
I want to get the remainder of the migration loose ends tied up during the first quarter.  I am going to have a retirement and a maternity leave (not mine) this year, so I need to prep for that.  I am a little nervous about it all, but the goal is to keep my head, keep plugging away, and to stop taking the stress of work home with me.

Kid:
I want to be present in each moment with my Kid.  I want to find fun things to do with her that give her new and different experiences.  I want to basically work to be a better mom, not let my annoyance overtake me (although I do realize I will fail, and that is ok, and that needs to be ok).

These are all specifics, but I think the broad goal here is to just keep living my life moving actively forward.  Trying to live for me, focus on me, while also being there for my job and my family.  I believe you only get one life to live, and I don't want to waste it on doldrums, minutiae, unhappiness.

I Think I'm Back

Something about the new year always makes me want to blog.  That whole introspective, retrospective thing that I do makes me want to get it all down on paper.

Of course, that is even easier since I haven't been blogging, I know I'm not re-stating myself. :-P

2013's resolution was to find happiness.  Did I succeed?  No.  No, not really.  I'm still just as confused as I was before.  And I wouldn't say I exist in a state of more happiness.  What I would say is that I tried to live more for myself.  Which is something that can be really difficult for new moms to do.  And I think I succeeded in that.  I also tried to take care of some of the stuff that was definitely making me unhappy, and I think I had some success there too.  So while I might not be seeing rainbows and butterflies everywhere, I do think I'm more... stable?  content?  than I was before.

But I have also let some things slide.  So here is the mega update, and then tomorrow I'll post my goals for the new year.

On working out:
It was a tough year for me.  For the first 4 months of the year, when I was living at AD house, I was afraid to run outside, but I was a good girl and did a lot of P90X, and then when I'd be at home I couldn't run outside because of the Z, so I biked a lot on the trainer.  I did run/walk the Heatherington Fun Run with Grasshopper, and that was one of only two races I completed this year, the other being the Stallion Stampede 5K, which I should really do a report on some time.... I was signed up for the Thundercloud Sub Turkey Trot 5 miler in Austin, but I was sidelined by a really really bad bout of bronchitis in mid October that I am only just now feeling almost completely over (except a pulled muscle from all the coughing that persists in my left side near the bottom of my rib cage).  That did turn into the Kid's first Tot Trot, though!  And she did great!

On home life:
We bought a new house.  It seems kind of crazy based on everything that has been going on, but there is this part of me that thinks it may be just what we need.  It is essentially the same size, but one story, newer, and in much better condition.  It is less than a mile from the old house, and even closer to my parents.  It all happened very quickly - my dad was out for a walk one day and called me thinking we might be interested.  We went and looked and I actually thought P was going to nix it, but he didn't.  So the next weekend we went and looked at a few comps and decided to make an offer!  We've been in it about 5 weeks now, and tomorrow's post I'll outline some to-dos.  (Some = A LOT.)  But I'm proud of us because I feel like we are getting accomplished every single day, and that is muuuuuuch preferable to me than the stagnation I was feeling in the old place.

On the Kid:
She's 3 now.  She started reading (i.e. sounding words out, not just memorizing) just after her 3rd birthday.  She is active and precocious and beautiful and frustrating. :-)  She loves to draw and color and play dress up and sing and dance.  She loves her kitties (of which there are 4 (FOUR!) now).  Her best friend's name is Scarlett.  They were born on the same day, so we did a joint birthday party at the Children's Museum and they had a blast!  She also did swimming lessons this summer and I was so proud of how hard she worked and how quickly she was learning.  Her hair is almost to her waist, still very thin and soft and curly at the ends.  Not as red as mine, but I'm still calling it red.  She is practicing really hard now at hopping on one foot.

On AD house:
We did finally rent it out the second half of the year.  Those tenants are gone (we knew they were short term), but we have a lease signed and ready to go that starts tomorrow!  We managed to get all of the floors redone, 2 new window units in, and today is the last day of work for repainting and sheetrock repair.  We think this new tenant (friend of P's family) will hopefully be a 6 monther, at least.

On books:
My committee is winding down.  This year we had to have all books ready by early December.  So I must say I'm enjoying some VERY light reading of stuff that I want to read for the first time in 2 years!

On work:
This year was the hell that I expected it to be.  We are finally up and running on the new system (since July) but I am still working to convert all of our old processes over.  But I can finally, finally see the silver lining.

By the numbers:
1.5 million records migrated to the new system
411 miles biked
91 miles run
38 books read
8 trips (Salt Lake, Cleveland, Austin, Fredericksburg, Big Bend, Dallas, Ft Worth, Galveston)
5 kittens rescued
3 houses
Still only 1 Kid. :-P

Ok, that's where I've been.  More tomorrow on where I'm trying to go!

Another Month Gone

February goals:
Exercise goal: continue with the P90X, the biking, the core, and add running back in when I can.
Book goal: finish Fallen Angels and Killing Moon.  Plus AT LEAST 2 more for the committee.
Financial goal: on hold right now until things even out with me and P.
House goal: get shower fixed at house, get AD's house the rest of the way cleaned out.

February goal review:
Exercise: did pretty well here, but fell down for that week I got sick.  But I'm back up and going, so I'll call that a win.
Books:  Done, Done, plus THREE other books read!  WINNING!!!  Book reviews in next post.
Finances: not hard to hold on!
Houses: Nope.

March goals:
Exercise goal: continue with the P90X, the biking, the core, and and running when I can.
Book goal: finish Something Red.  Plus AT LEAST 3 more for the committee.
Financial goal: TAXES
House goal: Get AD's house the rest of the way cleaned out.

February Goals

January goals:
January's athletic goal is P90X oriented.  I want to do 6 days a week, every other day P90X and the days in between core work plus some sort of aerobic cross training.  So going off the P90X recommended order, here:

1: Chest & Back

2: Core 1/XT

3: Plyometrics

4: Core 2/XT

5: Yoga X

6: Core 3/XT

7: Rest

8: Arms & Shoulders

9: Core 1/XT

10: Legs and Back

11: Core 2/XT

12: Kenpo

13: Core 3/XT

14: Rest

Rinse, repeat.

Book goal: let's go with 4 again.  I've got 2 Kindle library books checked out (Goodbye for Now and Fallen Angels), so those HAVE to get done.  And I really need to finally finish Killing Moon.  And I've already started Something Red.  So those 4, and all are related to my committee, btw.  More would be better, too!

Financial goal: Pay off Edward.

House goal: work on AD's - maids.


January goal review:
Exercise: Well, I did a lot of P90X, but it ended up not being in the pattern I originally set up due to the seperation and house situation.  I am very pleased with what I did do, though.

Books:  Well, I only read 2 books.  I'm honestly disappointed in myself.  I did get more than halfway into two others, though.  I'm going to be up the creek if I don't pick this up though.  Reviews to follow.

Financial goal: DONE!

House goal: scheduled for today, YAY!!!!

February goals:
Exercise goal: continue with the P90X, the biking, the core, and add running back in when I can.
Book goal: finish Fallen Angels and Killing Moon.  Plus AT LEAST 2 more for the committee.
Financial goal: on hold right now until things even out with me and P.
House goal: get shower fixed at house, get AD's house the rest of the way cleaned out.