Health
1) Spend 1000 hours outside. ≈
January: 34 hours, 10 minutes (I suspected it would be tough going in the winter, but this is more than an hour a day, so it's not terrible)
February: 37 hours, 45 minutes (winter is tough)
March: 53 hours, 19 minutes (I missed an entire day of tracking somewhere along the line in March, but things are getting better as the weather gets slightly better)
Total: 125 hours and 14 minutes
2) Do something in the yard every week. In the winter, that might literally be just filling the bird feeders, but something. ✔
January: Yep. It was either shoveling or fiddling with the feeders, but I did it.
February: Yes. Same deal with either shoveling or filling feeders, but that's something, right?
March: Yes. Mostly it was filling bird feeders, but we started dealing with brush on one day. The compost isn't open yet, but when it opens, this will increase.
3) Do at least five yoga poses a day. ✔
January: 31/31 - I did it! I have a series of poses I do after my shower right before I go upstairs to bed. It's a nice little habit.
February: 28/28 - Yes!
March: 26/30 - Not bad considering I was dealing with a painful kidney stone for some of the month that kept me sidelined.
Total: 84/89 (95.5%)
4) Go to a new-to-me fitness class. ✔
January: No.
February: I went to a Zumba class I'd never been to! I did it! It was great fun, to be honest.
March: No. I did go to Zumba again.
5) Drink 20 ounces of water a day. ✔
January: 25/31 (80.6%) - Honestly, just tracking it every day made me more aware. It's easier to do this at work than at home. Most of the times I didn't do it were weekend days.
February: 24/28 (85.7%) - I really do a better job when I leave the house. Interesting to note.
March: 28/30 (93.3%) - Trending up!
Total: 77/89 (86.5%)
6) Exercise for 30 minutes at least 80% of days. ✔
January: 25/31 (80.6%) - Nailed it, even though I was out of town for several days at the beginning of the month.
February: 23/28 (82.1%) of days - Woot!
March: 24/31 (77.4%) of days - I took off three days when I was dealing with a kidney stone and it derailed the month.
Total: 72/90 (80%)
7) Only eat dessert Thursday - Saturday (or special occasions like holidays and birthdays). No, just making it through Tuesday at work does not count as a special occasion. ✖
January: 6/31 (19.4%) - Ha ha ha! There is so much candy at work. Even though I have healthy snacks in my office, I just can't help but reach for a Payday. *sigh* I need to work on this.
February: 5/28 (17.9%) - I need help.
March: 3/30 (10%) -lololol
Connection
1) Message my accountability buddy every day and M/T/T at least once a week. ≈
January:
Accountability buddy: 22/31 (71%)
M/T/T: I missed one person one week (91.7%)
February:
Accountability buddy: 14/28 (50%) - My buddy started a new job and she's reallly busy and I sometimes feel like I'm pestering her instead of helping.
M/T/T: I missed on person one week (91.7%)
March:
Accountability buddy: 1/30 (3.3%) - I did reach out on the last day of March and we both vowed to do better in April
M/T/T: 100% !
2) Do two Cool Blogger Book Club sessions. ✔
We did The Blue Castle in February!
3) Send at least one fun piece of snail mail every month. Track snail mail. ✔
January: Egads! Nothing fun. I sent five birthday cards, a bill, a condolence, and a get well card. Nothing just so someone gets snail mail!
February: Nineteen Valentine's Day cards and three birthday cards.
March: Twenty-two St. Patrick's Day cards, a couple of birthday cards, and one package (gift)
Adulting
1) Figure out a will or whatever. I really should have this done.✖
January: I didn't even think about it. Are you surprised?
February: LOLOLOL. No.
March: You know the answer to this, don't you?
2) Order new checks. ≈
January: I thought about it when I was writing checks for birthday cards, but didn't do anything about it. I added it to my to-do list.
February: Okay, I have about a dozen left. I think this can be put off for another three or four months. I did think about it, but I don't want to order them before I absolutely have to.
March: I still have enough, so I haven't ordered yet. Maybe I should before tariffs increase the prices on literally everything.
3) Limit my clothes buying to the following: two new dresses/season, new mary janes, anything that was on my Christmas wish list that I did not get, necessary bras/underwear/workout gear/replacement leggings or tights (one-to-one replacements on those). ✔
January: I purchased nothing!
February: No clothes purchased.
March: I purchased some underwear.
Home
1) Paint the porch and garage. ✖
January: I mean, no. It's freezing cold.
February: Still too cold.
March: Now it's too cold AND rainy.
2) Hem the stupid pants. ✖
January: The stupid pants remain hanging in the doorway unhemmed.
January: The stupid pants remain hanging in the doorway unhemmed.
February: My husband has removed the pants from the doorway and now I don't even think about them until I check these goals.
March: I don't even know where the pants are.
3) Consult an architect/contractor for our bathroom remodel. We got an extra bit of cash over Christmas and we've had increasing problems with the upstairs bathroom, so this needs to be a priority for us. ✖
January: Hmm...I should have done some research on this.
February: I am terrible about this kind of stuff. No progress.
March: Honestly, what were we thinking? Can you imagine what the prices on lumber will be if we start this project?
4) Clean and organize my closet and dresser and keep them that way. ✖
January: *sigh* I did not.
February: *sigh* Once again, I did not.
March: This might be like the "organize the totes under the beds" goal that never happened.
Fun
1) Learn three new hairstyles: French braid, an elegant low knot, and something else TBD. ✖
January: I forgot this was even a goal. Good thing I check these monthly.
February: Nothing.
March: Nada.
2) Have one day a quarter where I take off work with no plans. ✔
January: I took off the 14th and proceeded to catch up on life chores in the house and running errands. Not quite in the spirit of the thing, but I felt like I gave it the old college try.
February: Not a single day off.
March: I took two days off during Spring Break and one of them was a completely fun day.
3) Watch at least one makeup tutorial every quarter. ✖
January: Not yet.
February: Oh, wow. I need to get on this. March is going to be busy.
March: Oh, man. Why haven't I done this? It's easy AND fun.
4) Go on a girls trip. ✖
January: No, but I did start to plant ideas in Bestest Friend's mind that we should do something this summer.
February: No.
March: No.
5) Go to at least four new-to-me museums. ✔
January: Ha ha. No.
February: Not a one.
March: I went to an art museum in Madison with Anne! I went to a natural history museum in Milwaukee with my husband!
6) Once a month dates with my husband. ✖
January: Oh, boy. I really need to do better about this.
February: Sheesh. Maybe I need to tell him I want to do this?
March: The museum thing was a date!
7) Actually train Hannah at least three times a week. ✖
January: Just one training session short this month. Woot woot!
February: One training session short again this month. Not too bad.
March: Five training sessions short this month. Poor Hannah.
8) Read big books over 500 pages at least once a month. ✔
January: Gone With the Wind was my first big book. 5/5 - it's perfect. (I mean, obviously it's not perfect - it's quite problematic, but that didn't stop me from devouring it.)
February: I'm stalled on an audiobook. Hopefully I'll finish it in March.
March: I finished The Bee Sting on audiobook and read Here Be Dragons.
9) Make six new-to-me cookie recipes. ✖
January: I just made chocolate chip cookies. Look, they're ALWAYS GOOD.
February: Chocolate chip cookies AGAIN. I'm not bragging, but people honestly request that I bring these cookies, so I always end up making them
March: I made chocolate chip cookies again. lololol
10) Do a 30-day project each month. TBD what that will be. ≈
January: In January, I did a monthlong improve your posture challenge and I did the exercises for 28/31 (90.3%) days. I feel pretty good about it. ✔
February: In February, I wanted to do 4-5 minutes of core exercises a day. I did it for 14/28 (50%) of days, which is better than 0%, but I'll have to revisit this later in the year. ≈
March: In March, I vowed not to eat candy or baked goods. I managed this on 27/30 (90%) of days. What did I do for sweets, you ask? I had these toffee cashews that I convinced myself were neither candy or baked goods and I had dried mango. ≈
On those three days when I cheated I had a vegan cookie when I was at a lecture on plant-based eating (I ate half of the cookie - it was barely edible, if I'm being honest); delicious kringle at work (#noregrets); and I made chocolate chips cookies on the 31st for my husband to take to his book club and had some (#alsonoregrets).
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Well, I'm drinking more water, but I'm not stopping the sugar habit. If you set goals, how are your goals going? If you don't set goals, which one of these goals is something that you would never have to set because you're a better adult than I am?
I'm going to make a push for you to get the wills done. It wasn't something that I was enthusiastic about going into, but the peace of mind afterwards was incredible. We did ours with a family law attorney who was highly recommended, and it was pretty cheap. It's a nice thing to put a green check mark by.
ReplyDeleteI don't really set goals at this level, because it ends up becoming a chore list. However, a few months ago I wrote a post on how I would spend million dollars if it dropped into my lap, and it ended up becoming a "what I want to do with my life" list, so kind of a goal list. I wrote that I planned to do all of the things anyway, just not at that budget level. A few months later I find that I'm chipping away at those things (planning trips, getting more training for Doggo), and it feels good.
I agree that doing a will is important. *sigh* But it involves tracking down a lawyer and answering a lot of hard questions. We'll see. I need to get my husband on board that it should be a priority.
DeleteIt DOES become a chore list, but I need that in my life!
Hey, no one's perfect. You definitely nailed a lot of your goals, and for the rest- the year is still young. I didn't make a formal list of goals like this, but one of my reading goals is to read one long book a month. Gone With the Wind is on the list!
ReplyDeleteGone With the Wind is sooo worth it. It doesn't read like a long book, imo.
DeleteAren't birthday cards fun? I think they are! You should check that one off your list.
ReplyDeleteYoga club!!! But Engie, I don't think I knew about your kidney stone. You poor thing! How painful!
When you posted about 1000 hours of outside time I thought YES I am going to do that too. Did I? No. I have no idea how much time I have spent outside thus far. But it must be a decent amount, because Rex walks alone are usually 75-90 minutes, plus garden, plus I spent a whole week outside in Mexico...but I didn't track it so I don't know.
Yeah, I don't think I'm going to get to 1000 hours, but I'm having fun tracking it. It's a bit ambitious for my lifestyle.
DeleteMaybe your threshhold of What A Date Is is set too high. My husband counts almost every outing we do together as A Date if we: A) end up at a carwash because he knows I adore that; B) stop for ice cream even if it's just pints to take home; B) get anything at all to eat; C) do something new to either him or me, no matter what it is; or D) have any fun at all. According to him, we go on Dates ALL THE TIME.
ReplyDeleteI feel like your Pants Hemming section is the foundation for a really good comedy routine. For heaven's sake, send them to me and I'll hem them. You can pay me in chocolate chip cookies.
Nance, I love your framing of dates. I think we're this way too. Scratch that--even your standards are too high for us. We do the same things (hike, hot tub, yoga) and every chance to sneak those in feels awesome and on days we get to do all of those are a trifecta of delight. It's not so much that we're cheap (though that too, probably) but our schedules are difficult right now.
DeleteEngie, You have so many green checks on your list, so I'll focus on that and cheer you on! Go, Engie, Go!
And you're in Nicole's daily yoga club now--isn't it lovely when a good habit tweak really takes?!?
DeleteI think my threshold (why isn't it threshhold? - it's a compound of thresh and hold, right?) for a date is that we go somewhere other than the grocery store or work together. That's actually pretty rare! We did do things with his family when they were in town and we did go to a couple friends' house, so maybe you're right and I should start counting those things as dates. I refuse to do the "at home" date because we spend so much time at home together!
DeleteI think I have been doing daily yoga for a long time - I just didn't consciously think of it that way. I frequently just throw myself on the ground for a child's pose at work when I'm stressed!
Be careful what you ask for, Nance! I might just send you those pants!
DeleteThank you for pointing out my spelling error. I usually catch it, but this time, not. My brain puts it right up there with the word withhold, another (legal) double-h word.
DeleteActually, it's not a compound of thresh and hold. It's a modernization of the Old English word(s) þrescold, þærscwold, þerxold, meaning "door-sill, point of entering," that has undergone several transformations along time.
Birthday cards are fun! Few people send them anymore, so I think you get bonus gold stars for that.
ReplyDeleteAnd chocolate chip cookies are never the wrong answer. At a bake sale this weekend, I gave my kids money to pick something out, and they got chocolate chip cookies. (My husband was disappointed - why buy something I bake? ). And oh my goodness, they were AMAZING - chocolate chunks, the best blend of chewy and cakey and firm. I wish I hadn't also got the blah pseudo-chocolate crinkles and bought all the plates of the chocolate chip.
And my recent goals have all died after a few good weeks. I'm eating way too much toast in the evenings when I should just stay out of the kitchen, I didn't make the program I wanted to go to last week, and I'm swearing like a sailor. We can give ourselves a little grace and start over in the new month.
I'm not really beating myself up over the cookie thing, but I think I need to come up with a plan for what the new ones will be.
DeleteLet's see: a peanut butter cookie (those ones with the Hershey kisses in them), a lemon cookie, snickerdoodles (I don't really like snickerdoodle), butter cookies, snowball cookies, thumbprints (with the jam!), white chocolate macadamia nut. Hmmm...turns out that I like a lot of cookies.
One year my husband and I actually had a swear jar and it did help us to stop swearing so much! And at the end of the year, we donated the money. It was fun.
Like Nance my husband and I call just about everything a date. But our favourite "dates" are our weekly at-home dates that we typically have Friday, Saturday, and/or Sunday evening when he's not travelling. We feed the kids separated and then eat supper and watch a show together. It is one of my favourite things we do in our marriage and I look forward to at-home date night(s) every week.
ReplyDeleteGet the will done. It's NOT that hard, it's NOT that expensive, and it is so, so important.
I don't have set goals for 2025 so I'm doing great. I had some fun ideas and I've crossed some of those off my list, but I refuse to call them goals!
I received your St. Patrick's card late last week. Thank you so much!
At-home dates do NOT count in my world. We both need to LEAVE THE HOUSE occasionally.
DeleteI am loving that the Canadians got those cards WEEKS after I sent them. Duly noted. Cards that need to get there by a certain date must be sent out a month early!
I do not set goals like this. I keep a list of things to do and I do my best to get to those things, but those are more chores (which some of your things ie 'get a will' align with). I admit that at first glance I read eat only dessert Thurs-Sun . . . I interpreted that as you would ONLY eat dessert and no other food from any other food group on those days and I was like HUH? I workout every morning and I drink tons of water and I try to stay on top of housework (first thing to be ignored), but the thing I'd do from your list without needing to set a goal for it . . . probably #6 working out but also I think Coach and I do manage to go on a date at least once a month. This does not come naturally, because we're used to being busy and trying to save money, etc. but the girls go to therapy every Friday and DCFS drives them and we try to do something together then. The stress of adopting the girls/incorporating them into our family sort of demands we take a break and connect. Italy might count for the next three months, because it was like a long date. Even when Mini was there - pure joy and fun dinners and drinks and laughter. Much needed.
ReplyDeleteBTW - the 'it was barely edible if I'm being honest' made me laugh so much. I think I've eaten that same vegan cookie. ;)
I admire people who get up and work out EVERY DAY like that's an okay think to do in the morning. I can barely get the dog out of the house.
DeleteEveryone thinks their vegan cookies are the best. And, look, I've had some really good vegan cookies, but the majority of them are not in the really good category!
OMG, AM I COMMENTING ON A BLOGGER BLOG USING MY IPAD???? THIS NEVER HAPPENS! I’m SO EXCITED! I had to download Google Docs for something which required me signing in which never works when I try to sign in via blogger, but HERE I AM! OMG.
ReplyDeleteDeep breath. I think you’ve done really well on so many of your goals! I know you don’t really count your walks with Hannah as exercise (or do you?) But I really think they count. If they are exercise for her, they are exercise for you. One little change and you’re at 100%. Unless you don’t WANT to count your walks because then you might be less likely to do your other stuff?
We go for dates once a week, because we go to dinner on Friday nights. Is it a date if our daughter is with us? No? That’s OK, she never goes with us because she works from home on Fridays and doesn’t want to do hair/makeup/get dressed on days when she doesn’t have to. I love her, but I enjoy our time just the two of us, so it’s a win win.
Maybe you can’t find the pants because Dr. BB took them to the dry cleaner to be hemmed, which should have happened MONTHS (years?) ago.
I don't count my walks with Hannah as exercise because a lot of the time we're barely moving. I shouldn't even call them walks. They're meanders or moseys or stick chews. I am outside in the fresh air and nature and that's all to the good, but my heart rate does not get up most of the time. Once every couple of weeks Hannah will get a wild hair that she wants to run and we might jog for a block or two, but that's suuuuper rare.
DeleteI don't think people understand where we live. There is no dry cleaner in our town, let alone one that does minor repairs. There's a tailor in the next town over. There's gotta be a cleaner in Madison, but that's FAR AWAY. I should just hem the pants. And I will. Probably. Maybe. Someday.
I'm amazed by the details you keep about what you're doing— or not doing. I have general vague ideas of things I might like to do, but you are someone with a plan. Kudos. Whatever works, eh? I would politely nudge you to make sure to get your wills done. That we've done, but as for date nights... spontaneity is our friend.
ReplyDeleteIf I don't make a plan and hold myself accountable, I will literally do nothing except read books and tell my cat she's pretty. I am always surprised when people can by in life without regular check-ins about how the day has gone.
DeleteI think the denominator in your sweets challenge is too big, so it's understating your success rate - the denominator should = the non-Thur through Sat days of the month! But I did giggle a bit at your success rate. Hey, we all have our vises! I have been eating too many sweets, too. (By the way, did you know my nickname in college was the Denominator? I shared that that was the name of my mathlete team and it became my nickname.)
ReplyDeleteI'm working on an update of my 25 for '25 goals. I'm doing pretty well so far!
You are right about the denominator. It should be changed. But the truth is that the fraction is going to be close to zero every day because every day I give in. LOL.
DeleteYes! I can't wait to read your update.
When my doctor told me that the average woman should shoot for 64 oz of water every day, I thought Holy hell, how am I going to accomplish that? I ended up downloading the My Water Reminder app and let me tell you - I get that 64 oz down just about every day in an attempt to thwart the annoying reminders, so it's annoying but it works.
ReplyDeleteThere's no way I'm getting 64 ounces of straight water a day. I get well over 100 ounces of liquids a day (herbal tea, Gatorade, water), but no. I'm not playing about 64 ounces of tap water. NGS takes herself out of that game!
DeleteI love that you have no idea where the pants are!
ReplyDeleteThis was such a fun post!
I'm mostly drinking enough water, and if I had other goals, they are long forgotten.
Maybe next quarter I'll just take this strategy. I just don't remember what my goals are! Who knows how they're going? That would be fun. (No, it wouldn't. It would stress me out.)
Delete"2) Have one day a quarter where I take off work with no plans. "
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought this said "with no pants" and I thought, "Well, it's because you didn't hem them..."
"9) Make six new-to-me cookie recipes. "
Maybe this goal should be "make chocolate chip cookies." Because you're killing it on that front!
I don't really set goals, but we did order window shades, which had been on the to do list for two years, so that's going to be my box checked for a long long long long time to come.
If the goal is to make chocolate chip cookies, I am really rocking it, aren't I?
DeleteI think I wrote about this on your blog, but we need to get new shades or something for our guest room! Maybe that should be a Q2 goal.
My favorite here is the pants. Where are they and why won't they just hem themselves. One day you are going to put them on and go to work and realize that you are wearing the non-hemmed pants! I feel like you did really well on the top half of the goals!
ReplyDeleteDr. BB made the pants disappear. He knew I was not excited about the project. LOL.
DeleteYou are KILLING IT. 22 St. Patrick's cards? the poor abandoned pants can just deal. I do yoga stretches every night before bed no matter what because if I don't I'm in even more pain than I would be if I didn't do them - I have tried to parse this sentence a dozen times and I'm still not sure it's right. I am sending snail mail, slowly. I still keep forgetting I have a piano and that I want to start playing again.
ReplyDeleteI made a dumb goal of sending a postcard every day in April and what has happened so far in April is that every two or three days I send a bunch out. Who has time to sit down and write snail mail every day? Not me. Who did I think I was when I made that my goal?
DeleteIf we had a piano, I would never play it. My husband does play guitar every day. That's something.
You have a long list of goals, so I am impressed with everthing you've been able to keep up with! Some goals are just there to be moved along until the right time hits!
ReplyDeleteSome goals are just sitting on a list and I forget about them until I check my goal list every month. Ha! I have to make more progress on these things!
DeleteEngie, is it bad that some of your updates made me giggle? Specifically about the pants saga (WHERE DID THEY GO?!?!!) and the sweets. I think you are doing well with your goals and I really wish I could come over to help you with some of the organizing tasks. MY FAVORITE THING. You can pay me in Zelda snuggles.
ReplyDeleteMy goals are going okay. Some are easier to do than others - like, WHY have I not finished Suits yet?? It's just a TV show!
I think Dr. BB put the pants in his closet. I should ask him if he wants me to hem them. They're a lightweight pant, so he might want them since it's going to get warmer soon. (Please let it get warmer soon.)
DeleteImagine if you and Elisabeth came to my house. This place would get whipped into shape and I could just sit here and stare in amazement.
Why haven't I watched a makeup tutorial video? Sometimes the heart just wants to read a book instead!
I really need to work on more date nights with my wife. We got into a pretty good habit when we lived in Rapid City, but alas, not so much these days.
ReplyDeleteI was just talking with my student worker and he went to a Bucks game last night because the tickets were really cheap and I realized that there are a lot of things we COULD do for these date nights. I just need to be a bit more creative!
DeleteLoving a goal check in.
ReplyDeleteAnd I feel you on the sugar thing. Things were going well (with the one exception I gave myself for my uncles birthday) and then I got a fever and all i was craving was an orange popsicle. The husband was nice and bought me 20 popsicles. I can not not eat them. Sigh. At least no cake and chocolate – but I am invited for cake and coffee later today. Sigh.
I am so addicted to sugar. Oh, well. It's really my own vice, so I'll take it!
DeleteI vote you own the sugar thing and just let it go. But that's just me. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso! I met with a lawyer - very small town, but on top of things - in Cambridge so let me know if you want his name. I am getting my will (AKA, "Donate or dump it all, no one will want it") and Powers of Attorney in order. Oh, and also my "What to do with my earthly remains" instructions. Which are also, essentially, Donate everything possible then dump. (Yes, I have a rather cynical attitude about these things, but honestly? No spouse, no kids...)
I am dying to know where the pants are. You must find them. Withhold cookies (hey, there's a double-h in withhold, but not threshold? English is so WEIRD...) until you get the intel from Dr. BB.
The problem is that the sugar thing is a problem for other reasons. LOL. But I'm an addict. *sigh*
Delete