This post is so long. Feel free to skip to the tl;dr at the bottom.
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Area I: Professional
1. Do a networking event on campus at least once a month
1. Do a networking event on campus at least once a month
October: Easily done with workshops and a book club.
November: Easily done, especially collaborating with other units on a new software rollout.
December: Yes! There were lots of holiday social gatherings on campus I went to.
2. Maintain fifteen or fewer emails in my work inbox
October: Yes, I went through on 10/30 and it was below 15 emails. Everything else was moved to proper folders.
November: Yes, I went through it right before Thanksgiving and it was down to 13.
December: Yes, I had 14 when I left the office on 12/30.
3. Take off one mental health day for myself as a do nothing day during the quarter
Well, I took off a random Wednesday in November, but I still had a couple of appointments and ran a bunch of errands. Er, 50% credit? I did take off December 23, 26, and 27 and I was suuuuper lazy on the 27th, so does that count? Egads.
4. Do at least one "professional development" activity a month - a webinar, lecture, etc. - this might be hard in December, but let's just go with it
October: I attended a webinar and went to a lecture on campus.
November: Ooops. I forgot this was a goal.
December: Another month when I just ignored this.
Area II: Pets
1. Continue to track the number of times I walk Hannah, as well as the length of the walks
1. Continue to track the number of times I walk Hannah, as well as the length of the walks
October:
Better than August and September. We went just over an average of 2 miles a day (63.87 miles total).
November: We did much better here. We were at about 2.59 miles a day - Hannah really does enjoy the cooler weather and the fireworks seem to have stopped.
December: We were okay here. Our average was about 2.44 miles a day - there were a couple of days below one mile, though - Hannah wasn't feeling well one day and it was cold and rainy on a day when Hannah just refused.
October: 2/4 weeks
November: 1/4 weeks - Eeks.
December: 4/4 - weeks - We rebounded for December and her nails are looking pretty good.
3. Weigh Zelda at least once every two weeks to keep an eye on her weight
October: We did do this on 10/12 and 10/20. She did get her treatment in late October, though, so now we can't really weigh her because she's radioactive. I made this goal when her original appointment wasn't until January.
November: N/A
December: N/A
4. Do the prep work for Zelda to be ready for her big treatment in January - N/A. She unexpectedly got that treatment in October.
Area III: Health
1. Formal exercise of at least 30 minutes or more on 80% of days
1. Formal exercise of at least 30 minutes or more on 80% of days
October:18/31 (58%) days of working out for 30 minutes or more - COVID fucked this up majorly.
November: 21/30 (70%) - Blech.
December: 26/31 (83.9%) - Got back on track in December.
2. Meditate at least three days a week
October: 14 times. I did it.
November: 14 times. I did it again!
December: 12 times. Yes!
3. Go outside for at least 24 minutes a day
October: 29/31 days (93.5%) - I missed a couple of days when I had COVID.
November: 30/30 days
December: 31/31 days
Area IV: Reading
1. Read at least one non-fiction book a month
1. Read at least one non-fiction book a month
December: All the Beauty in the World and Rental Person Who Does Nothing
2. Read at least one book I already own this quarter
I read The Memory Palace (I received an ARC) and The Color Purple in October. In November, I read Revolutions and Wrapped in Ink.
3. Keep my reading spreadsheet up to date
October: Done.
November: Done.
December: Yes!
4. Read at least one book every month to complete the top fantasy books by women authors list
October: Nope. I'm also doing this relatively late in November and realize I don't have anything on tap for November, either.
November: I snuck in The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo right at the end of the month.
Area V: Fun stuff
1. Hem my husband's pants
1. Hem my husband's pants
October: Nope
November: Nope
December: LOLOL. You know the answer, don't you?
2. Go out of Wisconsin at least once (trips to Michigan and Iowa don't count unless I don't see family)
October: I never even left Wisconsin.
November: Nope, just a trip to Iowa.
December: Nope, just to Michigan and Iowa. *sigh*
3. Track number of pieces of snail mail sent
October: Three postcards, fourteen Halloween cards, a thank you note, and one more letter for a total of nineteen pieces of snail mail
November: Three birthday cards, thirteen postcards, eleven Thanksgiving Day cards, and a bill for a total of twenty-eight pieces of mail
December: Christmas cards (I sent 92, but a couple of have been returned and I need to figure out what to do with those), two birthday cards, one bill payment for a total of ninety-five pieces of mail - Canadian folks the USPS still isn't accepting mail to Canada and as soon as they update this policy, I'll send your cards out!
4. Do at least one thing outside of my work, household, grocery store, or public library every week
October: I did until the last week of October when I got COVID. I'm counting it as good.
November: Two weeks. Eh. I was not really supposed to go out for the first couple of weeks when I was still testing positive for COVID.
December: Three weeks. Ha.
5. Continue tracking expenses
October: What I Spent
November: What I Spent
December: I'll do this sometime in the next week or two.
Q4 Fun Stuff
6. Not necessarily "fun," but work on increasing the percentage I'm putting into savings.
6. Not necessarily "fun," but work on increasing the percentage I'm putting into savings.
October: Nope
November: Not a tiny bit.
December: I didn't even consider it.
7. I have three photos from my mom's house that I'd like to deal with - originally I had "get framed and displayed," but I honestly don't know if I want to do that for complicated personal reasons - I guess I just want to make a decision about this and then act on that decision even if the decision is "put the photos in a photo album"
October: I look at the photos every day. Does that count?
November: I actually found some frames I want and put them on my Christmas wish list. If they don't get purchased for me for Christmas, I will buy them myself.
December: I did not get those frames for Christmas. I'll need to buy them soon.
8. Send mail to two people at least once a month outside of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas cards.
October: Done
November: Done
December: Done
9. Go to a new-to-me museum
October: Nope
November: Nope
December: No
10. Go tot a new-to-me fitness class. This is a bit of a stretch goal for me because I'll probably have to leave my town to do this, but let's give it a shot.
October: Nope
November: Nope
December: Nope
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2024 Cumulative Goals
Area I: Professional
1. Create and implement a system for onboarding online students by the end of the year ✔
Yes! I onboard students now and it has been very effective. My name was even mentioned in a survey of our online students in a question asking about what has been most helpful for them. Woot woot!
2. Have lunch and/or coffee with someone on campus at least once a month ✔
3. Do a quick refresher course on Excel ✔
I did a course in February and March.
4. Maintain fifteen or fewer emails in my work inbox - the rest must be filed appropriately ✔
I'm quite satisfied with my performance in my professional goals this year.
Area II: Pets
1. Continue to track the number of times I walk Hannah, as well as the length of the walks ✔
Hannah and I did 887 walks this year for a total of 859 miles.
2. Grooming of some sort for Hannah every week (bath, nails, etc.) ≈
On average we did something every week, but like one month we'd trim nails or brush her nine times and then in September and November only once. Both Dr. BB and I are trying to implement Nail Trim Sundays, so hopefully we'll be more consistent in the future.
3. At least one brief training session for Hannah each day ✖
I think one of my 2025 goals should be to just enjoy my girls instead of trying to figure out how to make them perfect.
Area III: Health
1. Formal exercise of at least 30 minutes or more on 80% of days ✖
279/365 (76.4%) - So close and yet so far.
2. Meditate at least three days a week ✔
I'm going to say that I met the spirit of this.
3. Go outside for at least 24 minutes a day ✔
353/365 (96.7%) - I'm going to give myself credit for this.
So close to being great.
Area IV: Reading
1. Read at least one non-fiction book a month ✔
I smashed this. I have 26 non-fiction books and 3 memoirs on my list for the year.
2. Read at least one book I already own every quarter ✔
I read six books I own this year (!) and an ARC I was given.
3. Keep my reading spreadsheet up to date ✔
4. Read at least one book every month to complete the top fantasy books by women authors list ≈
I read ten, which isn't quite to goal, but it's still a nice list to go to when I need a diversion.
I'm happy with this!
Area V: Fun stuff
1. Finish the dress I'm currently sewing and complete at least one more clothing project ✖
2. Take at least two sewing classes ✖
3. Go out of Wisconsin at least three times (trips to Iowa don't count unless we go and don't visit any in-laws) ✖
4. Track number of pieces of snail mail sent ✔
5. Learn to play chess ✖
6. Do at least one thing outside of my work, household, grocery store, or public library every week
7. Go back to tracking expenses ✔
Q1 Fun Stuff
8. Photograph the cows ✔
9. Get both pairs of my Mephisto sandals resoled ✔
Q2 Fun Stuff
8. Figure out the earbud situation. ✔
I have some Google Pixels. I don't love them, but they're fine.
9. Not necessarily "fun," but I need to figure out my finances ASAP. ✔
10. I have three photos from my mom's house that I'd like to get framed and display in my office.✖
Q3 Fun Stuff
8. Go on a weekend adventure with my husband ✔
Well, we went on a one-night adventure! I'm going to give myself credit for that. I think it was in the spirit of the assignment.
9. Visit at least one of the following museums in the quarter. ✖
Wisconsin Historical Museum
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art
Milwaukee Public Museum
Charles Allis Art Museum
Grohmann Museum
Milwaukee Art Museum
National Mustard Museum
10. Clean up my RSS feed. Add three new-to-me blogs to follow. ≈
I just did a blog roll and I use that now! I am hesitant to add new blogs to follow, though, because, to be honest, I am struggling to keep up with my current bloggy friends!
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I'm happy with some of the my progress, but there's still work to bed one. Stay tuned for 2025 goals!
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What is something on your to-do list for this weekend?
Wow I think you did a tremendously amazing job on your goals. So much achievement.
ReplyDeleteI think gold stars to you.
And the few things that didnt get done just weren't a priority.
I am also struggling with keeping up the blogs I want to read. I usually start a new Favorites list every year and then a check-out list of blog i want to read but may not be able to. My goal is to read the favorites all and then check the others.
Right now I am still catching up on November posts... So much for doing it. Sigh.
Looking forward to your goals list for 2025.
If I'm more than a couple of weeks behind in blogs, I just sort of give up and start with the newer posts again. Maybe that makes me a bad bloggy friend, but it also helps me maintain my sanity.
DeleteThanks for the PSA on Canada mail. I was going to mail my Canada cards today, and it never occurred to me to check on whether they were taking mail or not. I would have just dropped the cards in a mailbox. Now that I know better, I will...check the USPS website first.
ReplyDeleteI have ambitions to write about goals but also I've been slammed by work for the past few weeks and my head isn't in the right place. What you said about finding new blogs - yes I'm always open to it but also yes there have been too many days when I've had to be in "lurker" mode and don't have the time to leave comments. Sigh.
I was surprised to see that USPS hadn't updated their policy about Canada yet. I hope they let me send my cards soon - I think my husband is annoyed that they're just sitting on our table.
DeleteI DO want to find new blogs because I love bringing people into the community, but it's hard sometimes to do that work - it's so time intensive because each blog has a backstory and you have to get to know people. *sigh* Oh, well. I should make time.
Your tracking is such #goals - so impressive! This weekend, I have to get my holiday cards out if they’re every going to go (sigh) and have committed to cleaning out my home office for an hour.
ReplyDeleteI've been out of town for a few days and I'm curious about how many holiday cards I'll have gotten while I was gone. I think a lot of folks are sending cards out late.
DeleteSigh, the mail. At least it's moving again!
ReplyDeleteMy to-do list this weekend is pretty minimal. I have lunch with friends today and I'm hoping to watch When Harry Met Sally. I usually do this right before New Year's but it just didn't work out this year.
Yes, the mail is moving and soon (SOON) you'll get all your cards from the US and feel the holiday love in January!
DeleteVery impressive.
ReplyDeleteMy #1 goal for this year is to train my newly-retired husband. This transition is more difficult than I thought. Sigh.
It can be so hard! I can't imagine if both of us were home all the time. We'd be stepping on each other's toes like crazy! My FIL's wife said that they essentially spend their mornings apart - he plays pickleball and she goes to an entirely different gym - so that helps her to keep her "alone time" that she was used to.
DeleteWell let's see. Like Lindsay, I'm still working on my, ahem, holiday cards. I also have to clean my house, which has become a huge pit of despair.
ReplyDeleteNice job on your goals- you reached a good percentage of them. If you completed 100% of your goals then I would have said you didn't set them high enough. Onward!
I'm seeing a lot of green checks, so YAY Engie!
ReplyDeleteOur Winter semester begins on MONDAY, so I'll be making sure I'm ready to go.
On the home front, I hope I get to help to take the tree down (it's a two-person job).
Aaarg and humbug to COVID. My parents got it the day before Christmas. My mom is clear, but my dad is still testing positive. Considering that you had it, you did an AMAZING job with your goals!
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot of Christmas cards getting sent out.
ReplyDeleteI did get your postcard this week so I'm very happy <3
I love Mephisto shoes. They are the best. I did not know that you sew, or that you are trying to learn to sew. That is a heck of a lot of walks with Hannah. I don't really do annual goals, but I do hope to finish the first draft of my book this year. I'm close to the end now (at least I think so), so I believe this is manageable. Maybe I can wrap it up by midyear.
ReplyDeleteUgh we have to unpack from vacation-- bah humbug. Yay you-- you crushed those goals for the most part, and I like Jenny's frame
ReplyDelete