Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the third day of the month is "Direction."
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Last year my quarterly goals ended up being mostly the same throughout the year and that worked for me, so I think I'm going to stick to something similar this year. I'll check in every quarter and have the ability to switch things up if they don't work for me. Let's dig in.
Area I: Reading
1) Read all the books that I own that I haven't yet read. I don't buy many books for myself, but I think these are all books people have given to me, so if someone cares enough about me to get me a book, I should take the time to read it.
Rise of the Warrior Cop by Radley Balko
A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White
Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch
2) Read at least one non-fiction book a month
3) Finish reading all the Women's Prize for Fiction winners
4) Keep going through the Top Books by Women, according to r/fantasy
5) Keep my spreadsheet up to date by not waiting any longer than 48 hours after I finish a book to update it
Area II: Connection
1) Send snail mail to D/M/K every month plus at least one other "just because" piece of mail to a random person I know
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| I will admit that I laughed really hard at the "All-Porpoise Card" label. |
2) Post to my blog every day
3) Text T/T/D/M every week
Area III: Post-pandemic reentry (I am not doing well with this. I'm freaking out about everyone's coughs and sniffles and I need to get a grip.)
1) Say yes to invitations to things, regardless of whether or not I want to go.
2) Do at least one thing every week that is outside of my household, the public library, or the grocery store.
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| Izzy (lab) and Lucas (poodle-ish) are very good dogs who I visited recently. I left my house and went to someone else's! |
3) Leave the state of Wisconsin at least twice. (Trips to Iowa don't count unless we're going there and we don't see any of my in-laws.)
Area IV: Health
1) Do formal exercise sessions of 30 minutes or more 80% of the days of the year. That would be 292 days. Last year I did 291 days, so this is ambitious, but doable!
2) Drink eight ounces of water before I eat anything in between meals.
3) Inspired by Lisa, go outside at least 23 minutes a day. This should be easy with the dog and all, but I'm going to track it and see how I do.
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| Saw this in a bathroom on a college campus. What do you think these even means? |
Area V: House
1) Paint the garage
2) Marie Kondo my closets
3) Go through every tote in the house and declutter
Area VI: Hannah
1) Take her to the dog park at least once a month
2) Teach her at least three new tricks from the dog training book I have. (I have a lot of thoughts on this book and basically I think the tricks are cute, but the training methods are sometimes not in alignment with how we train. Also, the book relies heavily on the assumption that dogs will put anything in their mouths and it's just a weird thing to assume and not true of H at all. Anyway, I'm going to give it the old college try.)
3) Work on Hannah's big fears: men and things with wheels. (This is not really measurable, but I'm going to start by figuring out how far away/close she can be to her triggers and try to move her very slowly towards them.)
4) Track her walking. (I stopped paying for the app I was using to do this a couple of months ago, but it's still working for me, so I'll keep using it and tracking our walks until the app stops working for me.)
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To see what Bestest Friend has to say about the theme of the day, go visit her at Too Legit to Quit.
i just talked about pandemic re-entry in my last comment, but one more thing- I CANNOT BELIEVE how many people are walking around in public sneezing and coughing. My daughter said kids were coming to school sick, and even a couple teachers came to school sick during finals last month. Seriously? I would have thought that would still be frowned upon.
ReplyDeleteI'll be interested to hear how you like Lord of the Rings! I read it in high school and wan't that into it (although I did read the whole trilogy) but I really didn't like fantasy back then. Maybe I should re-read it. I'll wait and see what you have to say.
My husband gave me the boxed set of The Hobbit and LOTR in 2020 for Christmas. I read The Hobbit in 2021 and I did not care for it. LOL. I can see why it's important and foundational, but I thought it was kind of boring. So I've been putting off reading LOTR and last year I had the excuse that I was trying to read mostly female authors, but I don't have that excuse this year, so here we go. I'll give it a good faith effort.
DeleteGreat goals!! And I'm with you on the pandemic reentry...I'm still relatively cautious and I can't believe how many people are walking around knowing they have Covid and still being in public! That's just awful. I somehow got through another year of not getting it so I hope to keep my streak up!
ReplyDeleteYep. We haven't had COVID yet and I'm not excited to be sick any time soon. People just walking around sick without even bothering to wear a mask are really upsetting to me. *sigh* Oh, well. I guess it's inevitable I'll get it and I need to deal with that reality.
DeleteI don't make specific goals, per se. I like to say that I am on a Continuous Journey Of Self-Improvement. My two biggest Guides are 1) If it takes less than a minute, just do it; 2) Kindness is my default.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I always know what I Should Be Doing, and I try hard to Do That Thing. You are much more methodical and quantifying than I am.
Kudos for all the progress you've made post-pandemic. That's not easy. And keep us posted with Hannah's progress learning to become less fearful of men and wheels.
If I don't make goals, I will just sit on the couch with my cat and read, so I need to be more specific. If I could count on myself to focus on my own Continuous Journey of Self-Improvement, I would, but I am innately lazy and unmotivated, so I need more structure. Good on you for not needing it!
DeleteThese are great! And that card is too cute.
ReplyDeleteI have also made it a "goal" (I put that in quotes because I haven't made it an official goal) to reach out to specific people monthly and others quarterly. A single text will do, but I want to keep the lines of communication open with people I love/care about but don't see often. I knew I didn't need to do it monthly with some people (for example, a former lab mate of mine from university that I haven't seen in years), but other people...it would be great to do it every month (for example, my oldest nieces).
I may also re-read the LOTR trilogy. I've read it through twice and loved it...but I also didn't have kids, so wonder if I'll be able to carve out enough time to stay on top of it. I find, especially with fantasy books like that with a lot of layers, it needs to be read relatively continuously - I can't leave it for weeks at a time or I lose the flow of the plot. Time will tell. I'm currently reading Jane Eyre which was another of my proposed books for 2023.
I have DNFed Jane Eyre so many times in my life. I feel like I *should* read it because it's a foundational piece of romantic literature, but it's just too much. I haven't really given LOTR a chance, but The Hobbit didn't impress me, so I need to just dive in with an open mind and hope it will be better than I think it will be!
DeleteJane Eyre is my favorite book ever, but the Husband hated it. He said he really didn't like being in Jane's head so much. Honestly, when i re-read it, I skip the first third and always just start where Jane and Mr. Rochester meet - which is the good bits to my mind.. I realize that Mr. Rochester is kind of a problematic hero to modern standards, but I kind of like a grumpy man with secrets.
DeleteThat bathroom sign! What on EARTH can that mean? I both do and kind of don't want to know.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I asked my husband and he thinks it has something to do with colostomy bags and people who need to empty them. So it's probably not a "funny" sign and I kind of feel bad for taking a photo of it.
DeleteOh. Well, of course that's an important thing to have, but I would never have expected it on a college campus. Shows what I know.
DeleteYou have amazing goals!! I have no doubt that you will succeed. I also laughed out loud at The All Porpoise Card!
ReplyDeletePLEASE FIND OUT WHAT THE BATHROOM SIGN MEANS.
Right? The All Porpoise Card is brilliant! Thank you, Hallmark, for having a sense of humor about your products.
DeleteLike I told ccr above, I think the sign has to do with people who need to empty colostomy bags. It's probably a good thing that none of us could decode this sign because it probably means we're in good health!
LOVE the idea of sending snail mail-- I am also going to do this. If you take away my office, the grocery store, and the library, I also go nowhere-- solidarity :)
ReplyDeleteI'm honestly struggling right now to figure out what that adventure is going to be this week, so I can see this is a goal that's going to weigh on me heavily this year.
DeleteThese are all really great goals! I have a few of the "connection" variety and I think I might start sending more snail mail!
ReplyDeleteMore snail mail is always a lovely thing to get!
DeleteThat sign is really disturbing! I love all your goals. They sound reasonable and like they will have a positive impact on your life. One of my aspirations this year is to get outside daily... but then on days like today when it is pouring, and I realize I don't have appropriate clothing for wearing in the rain, I don't know what to do??? Just go get soaked?
ReplyDeleteI guess we get proper clothing for all the types of weather? I have a raincoat and rainboots for days like today when it's cold and rainy. I walked the dog for 14 minutes this morning and 8 minutes this afternoon, so I'm already up to 22 minutes. I can do this! You can, too!
DeleteWow, that sign is something else! That is really just so odd and specific!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are joining me for 23 in '23. I bet you'll accomplish it fairly easily thanks to Miss Hannah! It's going to be tricky some days but I figure I can do some walks in downtown Minneapolis instead of skyway walks on days that I'm in the office. It's the days I'm in the office during the winter that are the trickiest since I'm gone for so many hours and it's dark when we leave and get home!
One thing I'm focusing on in 2023 is connection - I want to be better at checking in with people via text.
Yes, I added my sister to the list of people I need to check in with once a week. She was in the hospital last month and I didn't even know until my mom told me the next week! I'm obviously not as on top of things as I thought I was with my connection goals!
DeleteUgh, the pandemic re-entry is so hard... I am still someone who is masking everywhere inside but not many people do and since I caught Covid last year still abiding to my protocol, I am a little freaked out too by rising case rates and other infections going around. Sigh. This will be an ongoing challenge for me.
ReplyDeleteI love your list. I haven't set down to make concrete plans, but will do so soon.
Ugh. Why does it have to be so hard? Am I going to be masking forever? It's such a conundrum for me!
DeleteGreat list! Very well balanced and so many good ones!!
ReplyDeleteOooh ooh!! (Raises hand!!) I know the sign question. Nerdy nurse here. So if someone needs to use a foley catheter (an indwelling catheter up the who-who into the bladder), it normally drains into a larger urine bag that hangs on the side of the bed (in the hospital, for example.) But obviously if they need a catheter longer term and need to go out and about, we can't expect them to carry a big pee bag around in public! lol. So there is a smaller "leg bag" which straps to their thigh with elastic straps, allowing it to be hidden under some baggy pants. If they would need to empty it, it just has a clamp that they undo and would pour it into the toilet, a container, or, down a drain! I can't say I have EVER seen a designated place for those to be emptied in public, though! So I'm honestly curious if this was in like a medical building, or.... ?
It was in the business school building on campus. I suspect there is or was a student who needs it. It's one of two family restrooms on the main floor of the building. I was in the family restroom because I needed to change clothes (and it was a Friday, so no one was on campus and I promise there was no line for it) and I was utterly befuddled by this sign.
DeleteThis is a great list of goals. That card was hilarious ... so thank-you.
ReplyDeleteI loved LOTR, I think I've read it twice, once when I was a teenager and then again when I was maybe in my thirties, but it is very different to modern writing I think. Much more detail. I don't think you should judge by the Hobbit, the LOTR trilogy is much better, more adult and in depth.
Re-entry is certainly hard. I know I kind of wanted to go back to not being sick after having a string a colds after we were let out of our lockdowns. I think it is probably easier to re-enter in summer when it is easier to do things outside. That way you can be outside while you get used to being with people. That being said I caught COVID from a friend and we were outside the whole time. Admittedly we ran 4 park runs together over the afternoon, took a number a selfies and then ate dinner next to each other so not exactly socially distanced and together for four or five hours with some heavy breathing. I really don't want to catch it again but I want to do things too. I would still mask on public transport, in crowded shops or when I go to the gallery. If there is an outdoor dining option I choose that, easier for us because we are in summer here. I've had four doses of vaccine (with the last being the bivalent) so crossing my fingers that the vaccinations plus infection counts for some kind of immunity.
We have thought after each of our boosters that we would be psychologically prepared to reenter society. We have been wrong each time, including the most recent vaccine, which was the bivalent one in early December. I don't know. I'm trying hard to reach out of my comfort zone!
DeleteThis is a great list of goals! I love your connection goals. I nearly made a goal of "send one text to a friend every day" but my list was getting to long. Maybe it will be a secret goal I have for myself because I need to get better about reaching out and checking in with friends. Sometimes I worry that they don't want to hear from me, and I know that's just silly!
ReplyDeleteI read through your comments so now I know what that sign means. I've never seen something like that, but like you said to a commenter above, may we be grateful we are in good health and don't need to worry about things like that!
My secret goal is to put lotion on after a shower. I'm probably only batting 50%, but since I don't track it, I have no accountability!
DeleteI see Kae answered your question about the floor flush, and I'm in full agreement. There was a building on the U of Iowa campus (the psych building if I remember correctly...) that used to be part of the hospital. When they renovated, they didn't change everything about the building. Too expensive, I suspect. Anyway - it was hilarious, because there were random floor drains, and tiled walls, where you would not expect them.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, pandemic response... I commented on your other long-ago post about it but I'm there with you in solidarity. But, I don't feel the need to change right now. I'm sorry it's so hard for you. :(
Yes, I asked my husband to look around and he said that in three campus buildings there were these drains in three family restrooms, so I wonder if there is a student or faculty member who needs them. Or maybe it's just to be ADA compliant these days? I don't know!
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