The lesson I've learned this year re: goals is that I was naive, ambitious, and foolhardy in January when I set them. What a fool I was.
Also, I know I'm just now posting Q3 goals and we're more than halfway through October, but this is the slack I've decided to cut myself.
Health
1) Spend 1000 hours outside.≈
July: 52 hours, 4 minutes
August: 55 hours, 2 minutes
September: 52 hours, 44 minutes
2) Do something in the yard every week. ✔
July: Sure, sure. I mean, the yard does look like a jungle, but at least the birds are fed, right?
August: Same, same. The birds are fed.
September: Well, the birds have food.
3) Do at least five yoga poses a day. ✔
July: 30/31 days - I'm counting this as a win.
August: 30/31 days - I'm really counting this as a win.
September: 30/30 days
4) Go to a new-to-me fitness class.
Accomplished in Q1.
5) Drink 20 ounces of water a day. ✔
July: 31/31 days
August: 31/31 days
September: 30/30 days
6) Exercise for 30 minutes at least 80% of days. ≈
July: 23/31 (74.2%)
August: 18/21 (85.7%) - I did just take out the first 10 days of August or my stats would have been decimated. I've decided that this is an okay move.
September: 23/30 days (76.7%)
7) Only eat dessert Thursday - Saturday (or special occasions like holidays and birthdays). ✖
July: I actually tracked this! I had ice cream four times in July and cake once. This is a success for me. Three of these were on Mondays and two were on Sundays, so technically I failed this, but it seems like a win.
August: LOLOLOL. Bad habits were resumed.
September: I didn't eat a dessert on only twelve days of the month.
Added in July: ≈
Do PT exercises twice a day. I am having some issues with my bad leg and have been doing PT.
July: Average of 2.3 times a day (starting on the 15th - the first day of PT)
August: Average 1.4 times a day (I mean, better than 0, right?)
September: Average 0.64 times a day - When I can't walk when I'm 60, we'll know why.
Connection
1) Message my accountability buddy every day and M/T/T at least once a week. ≈
July: 100%.
August: 100%.
September: I was 67% with my accountability buddy and 100% with T&T.
2) Do two Cool Blogger Book Club sessions.
Did one session in Q1. Will do another in Q4.
3) Send at least one fun piece of snail mail every month. Track snail mail. ✔
July: I sent two birthday cards, four postcards from Seattle, and hand-delivered one card.
August: I sent twenty-two postcards from California, one birthday card, a bill, and I hand-delivered a thank you note.
September: A few thank you notes, a couple of condolence cards, a donation, a graduation present, and a congratulations card for a total of eight pieces of mail.
Adulting
1) Figure out a will or whatever. ✖
July: Lol. Of course not.
August: I think you all know the answer.
September: LOLOLOL.
2) Order new checks.
Completed in Q2.
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). ✔
July: I didn't buy any clothing. I did get a permanent bracelet when I was with Bestest Friend in Seattle, so you decide if that counts.
August: No clothes were purchased.
September: I mean, I did buy clothes, but I think it's in the spirit of the exceptions I made for this. New mary janes, new dresses for the season, and a pair of leggings.
Home
1) Paint the porch and garage. ✖
July: LOL for days.
July: LOL for days.
August: Nope.
September: *sigh*
2) Hem the stupid pants. ✖
Someone dealt with this in Q2.
3) Consult an architect/contractor for our bathroom remodel. ✖
July: LOL for days.
August: When did I think I'd have time for this?
September: We really do need to do t his.
4) Clean and organize my closet and dresser and keep them that way. ✖
July: LOL for days.
August: See above goal for this one, too.
September: I have no defense.
Fun
1) Learn three new hairstyles: French braid, an elegant low knot, and something else TBD. ✖
July: No progress. I'm considering cutting my hair back to a bob, so this may not stay on the list for long.
August: I'm lucky I even washed my hair once in a while.
September: Not at all.
2) Have one day a quarter where I take off work with no plans. ✖
July: No.
August: I mean, I took lots of days off.
September: As if that's a possibility right now.
3) Watch at least one makeup tutorial every quarter. ✖
July: No progress made.
August: I better get to this in September.
September: Maybe next quarter I'll do this to get ready for holiday events.
4) Go on a girls trip. ✔
July: YES!! Bestest Friend and I went to Seattle!
5) Go to at least four new-to-me museums. ✔
Completed in Q2, but I'm going to keep tracking if I go to museums.
July: No.
August: J and I went to the de Young Museum while I was in California.
September: TJC and I went to the museum at the Wisconsin Capitol.
6) Once a month dates with my husband. ≈
July: We went to a local bar together to say goodbye to a colleague who moved away.
August: We went to a wedding in early August.
September: Absolutely not.
7) Actually train Hannah at least three times a week. ✖
July: Apparently I trained Hannah once. Poor neglected dog.
August: Apparently I only trained her once in August, too.
September: Absolutely not. Poor neglected Hannah.
8) Read big books over 500 pages ≈
July: An American Tragedy
August: Feed
September: No, but I'm currently reading TWO big books and I'll make up for it over the next month.
9) Make six new-to-me cookie recipes. ≈
July: No progress made. I'm hoping that once cooler weather sets in, I'll make more progress on this goal.
August: I made these brown butter sugar cookies. They were good and went over well with my husband and my book club.
September: I made ricciarelli. I am not sure I'd make these again because they were fiddly and require ingredients I don't usually have on hand, including almond flour and an orange.
10) Do a 30-day project each month. ≈
July: My project was no candy. In June I ate a ton of candy (particularly at work, where we were doing orientation and candy was free flowing), so my goal was to STOP eating hundreds of calories of candy of day. I didn't eat any candy in July, so I was 31/31 on this. As stated above, I had cake once and ice cream four times in July, but no candy.
August: I just didn't do one this month.
September: I did a photo a day project and did it on all 30 days.
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When did you last make cookies? What kind were they?
Oh my sweet friend. I am sending you the biggest virtual hug. I don't think you were a naive fool and in fact I WANT YOU TO TAKE IT BACK. Because how could you know what the universe was going to throw at you? You couldn't possibly. Also I think you HAVE accomplished a lot of your goals - I see a lot of checkmarks here. Bathroom remodel, painting, reorganizing the closet...those are all things that can wait for a quieter time in your life. You're getting all the things done that you can! I feel like you're being way too hard on yourself and I'm here to wrap you up in a virtual cardigan of love and feed you another dessert (of all the things, dessert is glorious, so I support your consumption of them. You can cut back - if you want to - at a time in your life where things are not so awful and stressful). xo
ReplyDeleteAs usual, totally didn't answer the prompt question. I can't remember when I last made cookies but I'm going to guess August? I really don't know, it's been a while. But cookie season is almost upon us.
DeleteThis was a very kind response, Nicole. I know that this is a for right now problem, but I am frustrated with myself that I can't seem to get back on track. You're right, though, perhaps I should stop being so hard on myself and not feel too bad when I reach for a cookie!
DeleteAnd cookies season is HERE. It's been downright cold her for the last few days and I need to (consults blog record) make THREE new types of cookies before the end of the year.
Goals impress me. I just wander about through life.
ReplyDeleteIf I wandered through life, I'd never get anything done except pet my cat and read books!
DeleteI am going to be back on the cookie-making train now that I've replaced my stove/oven! That shitful thing burned every single baked good I tried to make; it would not keep a steady temp. I tried everything, and yes, I had it serviced to no avail. Sam now has my old one at his house, and it's good enough for frozen pizzas and pizza rolls.
ReplyDeleteYour goal progress is still formidable, in my opinion. Both of you are working! You have two pets who have needed you much and who you care for attentively. You have a lot going on. THE PANTS ARE GETTING HEMMED WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?!
YES!! Make cookies Nance! We should all be making cookies!
DeleteThe pants were hemmed! It took a village, but it got done!
I'm coming to your defense! You did well on all the important goals of keeping yourself healthy. When the year started, you had no idea what was in store for you. That's the problem I have with making yearly goals. This is a time to cut yourself some slack and know you're doing your best.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember the last time I made cookies.... but cookie season is coming up!
I know I should cut myself some slack and some of these goals were a reach, but some seem very doable. I just need to put my foot on the gas and do them!
DeleteThe only cookies I've made in 2025 was the cookie cake we made for Paul's birthday in March. I do not like having sweets in the house so I rarely make things... But I want to experiment with some sugar cookie recipes to see if I can find something that I can roll out/cut into shapes for our holiday cookie decorating get together. So I should really get on that because December is just around the corner. So thank you for the prompt to do something. Experimenting w/ sugar cookie recipes is also on my 25 for '25 list so I'd like to cross it off!
ReplyDeleteIf you find a good GF sugar cookie you can cut into shapes, I'd be here for it. I made some brown butter sugar cookies that were delicious, but I just used a glass to make them all circles.
DeleteEngie I would like to volunteer a slight revision of the first sentence of this post. I am pretty sure it should read "confident, ambitious, and optimistic" instead of "naive, ambitious, and foolhardy." I would recommend deleting the second sentence entirely.
ReplyDeleteYou are doing great. Really, truly great. You have a lot of mental and emotional demands on your time, more so than you could have anticipated, and you are keeping up with a LOT of important things. Your snail mail record, for one thing, is stellar. And you are kicking ass at moving your body, stimulating your mind, and connecting with people in various areas of your life. That's on top of working and blogging regularly and caring for Hannah and Zelda and being a good friend... and also on top of a TON of *atypical* strain on your time and heart! You are doing important things. I understand wanting to achieve all the goals you set, and I also hope that you are able to move some that didn't fit into this year into future years, or set them aside entirely, and give 2025 Engie a hug for doing so much more than surviving a really tough year. xxoo
Ha! I really was a fool, though, or at least delusional. I somehow thought things with my mom would be different. I don't know.
DeleteThank you for the kind words. I'm going to try to get at least one of the "harder" things on the list done. Surely it's not that hard to find a simple will template and get that done? I can make some phone calls to people to talk about a reno, even if it's not scheduled until 2027, right? We'll see.
The will stuff -- yes, I think that is doable. The reno stuff -- well, if you figure it out, let me know how because my husband and I promised each other when we bought this house that we would renovate the master bathroom and we have contacted NO ONE. I think I asked around for contractor suggestions back in 2023 and now have no idea where I put them. It's such a big, daunting project! I can't even follow through on choosing an electrician to do some electrical work! How am I going to get someone to redo our entire bathroom?! Ahem. Clearly I have some feelings about this, and hopefully it is a much simpler process on your end, but if you ever want to commiserate I am here.
DeleteOnline wills? Absolutely doable. We have done it with NOLO and some other system in the past. Our goal for 2025 is to set up a trust so our daughter doesn’t have to go through probate when the time comes. We did that online too, but haven’t done the final step to transfer the title of our home, and now my husband is thinking he wants to just hire someone to advise us.
DeleteMy aunt (uncle’s ex-wife) died recently, and they finally found a will, and it was pretty basic, she likely did it online. Totally valid, no problems. Still have to go through probate, which is time consuming and expensive, because while she had a trust, the house was not in it. Just like us.
I have a super super easy low knot hack-- remind me Sunday
ReplyDeleteNoted. Do I need to bring stuff?
DeleteI’m going to chime in with everyone else and say to cut yourself some slack. You set a lot of goals for a regular year, and it’s fine to keep track of them, but give yourself the grace you would give anyone else.
ReplyDeleteCookies? I don’t bake much. I think the last time I baked was last December.
Yay to museums and girl trips and tasty desserts.
You don't bake much? That's a bit surprising to me!
DeleteMy Ted is pre—diabetic so won’t eat anything I might bake. Even with fake sugar, he doesn’t want the carbs. Also he has trouble stopping at one, so abstaining is better for him that moderation. My daughter is in remission from an eating disorder, which means (in our case) that she will sometimes eat dessert out in the world, but seldom at home. So that leaves me alone to eat any baked goods, and I don’t have any local friends (they have all moved away) and I don’t go into an office. So I don’t bake. I was never a big baker to begin with, though. I’m more of an ‘open a bag of chips’ kind of gal.
DeleteI do enjoy cooking though!
Huh. I really like to bake. I like cooking less. I think it's interesting how people fall into these lines. Cooking is so much more useful a thing to want to do!
DeleteI'll always root for you to achieve your goals, but at least in failure your commentary gets a laugh.
ReplyDeleteIf grabbing a handful of Nilla Wafers counts, then yesterday!
If you can't find humor in your failures, life is going to be too hard!
DeleteYou are doing great. Look at all the things you've done. I am not a dog owner, but do dogs need to continue to be trained after they are trained? Please excuse my cluelessness. Your reading alone is impressive and you work a full time job and take a ba-zillion dog walks, and you're doing yoga. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI made chocolate chip cookies a few weeks ago for our tailgate and I also at the last minute made GF lemon cookies. They are so tasty, but the lemon zest part and putting the dough in the fridge sort of sucks. I like to do something and knock it out, but pausing to let dough chill, ugh - don't slow my progress slow recipes.
I track nothing in my life. I workout daily. I eat. I make food and grocery shop for the family. I read a miniscule amount and I write chapters for my book whenever I can, but that means I ignore a lot of housework. I do some other stuff, but my house is pretty messy and I'd do just about anything to have a social life. Maybe one day?
Yes, friend, dogs need constant training. You know how if you don't do something for a long time you get rusty? That happens with dogs, too, except it's much faster. By the time I get around to doing more obedience with Hannah, we'll basically have to start from scratch. But she does have the background, so she'll pick it up quickly (I hope).
DeleteI put almost all of my GF cookie dough in the fridge/freezer. I make the dough the night before and then just bake as needed.
I love these goal posts (pun intended!) - particularly the commentary when not completed, it sounds like it inner monologue about incomplete goals. I still think it's very impressive!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad my commentary is amusing to everyone! I'm just trying to be completely honest.
Delete