Checking in with 2013 Goals and Resolution

Today, with the weather firmly established as summer-like (again going into the 90’s), it seems like a good time to check in with those goals I had set back in January.  To see if I am on track, and also to see if I need to modify some!

Wellness 

See the positive in every situation, or to follow the advise of  a fellow blogger, play the Glad Game; Don’t fret over or complain about issues; either act to change it or accept it; Procrastinate less, or to put it positively, use my time productively; Chronicle the good from the year by keeping a jar of good things that occur during 2013

Yeah I still need to work on these!  I did start keeping a  jar of good things that occur during 2013, but I haven’t put anything in it in quite a while.  Not that good things haven’t happened, I just haven’t been keeping up with recording them.  Perhaps I can add things to the jar retroactively?

Arts & Entertainment

See all of the movies nominated for the best picture Academy Awards (and see the new Star Trek movie); See some plays; Go to some concerts; Take more photos during the year

I’m on track with this one!  I’ve seen a bunch of the Academy Award films — Les Miserables, Zero Dark Thirty, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, AND Star Trek.  Wow, this is more movies than I’ve seen in a year since high school!

I have a bunch of plays lined up that I am planning on seeing this summer.

I’ve seen Southside Johnny at The Music Hall and The Rat Pack is Back (I’m not sure if that counts as a concert to a play)

I have fallen behind in the take photos category.  I even keep my little camera in my purse, but I never quite get around to snapping pictures.  I use my phone camera, but again, not too often.  Well, the year is young!  I better start taking some or my Christmas card will be photo-less this year!

Travel & Recreation

Go skiing; Go Ice Skating; Take a family trip (even if it is only a weekend)

I did manage to go skiing with my daughter, son and daughter-in-law so that qualifies for skiing and a family trip.  I would have liked to do more skiing and taken a longer trip, but we have to start somewhere!  And I would like to add in a trip with friends to the goals.

As for ice skating, they are talking of building an outdoor skating rink at Strawery Banke in Portsmouth!  I am very excited and if the weather is nice and cold in December, I should be achieve to make this resolution this year!

Fitness

Practice yoga at least twice a week, preferably 10 times a month; Be able to sit with my legs at a 90 degree angle and touch my chest to the floor or to put it in yoga terms, Upavistha Konasana; Run a 5k in under 24 minutes and/or a 10k in under 50 minutes; Do 20 push ups at once (full push ups!)

Let’s see I was on track with yoga in Jan, Feb fell off a bit.  Then I had a nasty cold and cough and hardly went at all in March and April (couldn’t disturb the class with my constant hacking), but May was right on track — 10 times last month!  All in all, I managed to average about  6 classes per month.

I have been doing a lot of stretching, and working on pushups, but I am no where near my goals yet.

As for running, I have had to scale it back quite a bit as my Achilles tendon has been acting up, and so I haven’t done any speed work yet.  We’ll see about those race times!

Money & Finances

Increase savings 10% over last year; Turn off lights when leaving a room; Turn off water when not in use (brushing teeth, washing dishes)

I’m doing really good with these goals!

Personal Organization

Update all my personal addresses and phone numbers into one master list; Sync all my personal and business calendars to one electronic calendar; Redo my passwords

Haven’t gotten to any of these yet…

My Blogs

Consistently blog 2-3 times per week on personal blog; and 2-3 times per month on my professional blog; Expand the topics of my blogs; Increase visits to my blogs.

I’ve done been keeping up with this blog, and visits have been increasing (thank you!)  I have been a bit slow with my professional blog  (all about marketing and social media).  While I haven’t been posting a lot, I have gotten a lot of “new user registrations”.  These seem to come from odd email addresses and so I don’t know if they are real or some sort of spam.  Any ideas?

Education

Learn how to make a website

Nope, I haven’t done this yet.  But I did download a tutorial on coding.  Now I just have to go through it.

And a few of my favorite resolutions from last year that I carried forward to this year:

Deepen 1-2 friendships; Make 1 new friend; Get together with girl friends at least once a month; visit family monthly; write 52 letters in 52 weeks.

Well my letter writing is off this year, but I am at least writing some letters.  I have indeed gotten together with my friends each month, and as a result I believe I am deepening some friendships.  I don’t think I’ve made a new friend (yet), and I have managed to visit family almost once a month.  So I’m on track with these goals.

All in all, it’s been a good year in terms of these objectives I set forth back in December.  However, as you can see, there are definitely some areas that need attention in the remainder of the year!

2013 Resolutions!

It’s that time of year again, time for New Year’s Resolutions!  I know it is January 4th already, but I like to take a few days to really think about the past year, and to set my goals for the upcoming year.

I really enjoy making resolutions.  I find that reviewing them throughout the year serves to keep me on track.  And since I’ve been blogging and posting the resolutions publicly, I have done a much better job keeping them!  So here’s to a great 2013!!

At first I was writing these haphazardly, jotting down everything that came to mind.  Then read a fellow blogger’s resolutions and I like the way she categorized hers so as imitation is the greatest form of flattery, I am going to categorize mine this year too!

Wellness

• See the positive in every situation, or to follow the advise of  a fellow blogger, play the Glad Game
• Don’t fret over or complain about issues; either act to change it or accept it
• Procrastinate less, or to put it positively, use my time productively
• Chronicle the good from the year by keeping a jar of good things that occur during 2013

Arts & Entertainment

• See all of the movies nominated for the best picture Academy Awards (and see the new Star Trek movie)
• See some plays
• Go to some concerts
• Take more photos during the year

Travel & Recreation

• Go skiing
• Go Ice Skating
• Take a family trip (even if it is only a weekend)

Fitness

• Practice yoga at least twice a week, preferably 10 times a month.
• Be able to sit with my legs at a 90 degree angle and touch my chest to the floor or to put it in yoga terms, Upavistha Konasana
• Run a 5k in under 24 minutes and/or a 10k in under 50 minutes
• Do 20 push ups at once (full push ups!)

Money & Finances

• Increase savings 10% over last year
• Turn off lights when leaving a room
• Turn off water when not in use (brushing teeth, washing dishes)

Personal Organization

• Update all my personal addresses and phone numbers into one master list
• Sync all my personal and business calendars to one electronic calendar
• Redo my passwords

My Blogs

• Consistently blog 2-3 times per week on personal blog,
• and 2-3 times per month on my professional blog
• Expand the topics of my blogs
• Increase visits to my blogs

Education

• Learn how to make a website

And I am going to carry forward a few of my favorite resolutions from next year:

• Deepen 1-2 friendships
• Make 1 new friend
• Write 52 letters in 52 weeks
• Get together with girl friends at least once a month
• Visit family monthly

Neglecting Blog, but Staying on Track

I’m not going to start with, I’ve been neglecting my blog…..

Although I have been neglecting my blog!

However I have been running and eating well and visiting friends!

These were three of my New Year’s Resolutions, and I am very pleased with my progress on them this year. One of my goals was to visit with at least 2 girlfriend each month. As August winds down I am happy to report that this week I spent a wonderful afternoon with two dear friends, Jeannette and Cathy; and today I saw my old friend Wendy (I can say that as she is younger than me!) We spent the day together laughing, talking, having lunch, drinking some tea and talking some more! Did you know that they make English Afternoon Tea? It was very good!

As for running, I ran a 10k last Thursday night in Rye. While it wasn’t a PR as those days are loooong gone, I was very happy with my run. It was my very best 10k time since I’ve been running again. I even finished #10 in my age group–yeah me! One more 5 miler coming up in early September than nothing but training for the Seacoast Half Marathon in November!

And lastly, my goal for the year was to eat healthy and lose those last 5-8 pounds that have been lingering. Well I went from eating well, to eating VERY well. I haven’t been eating processes foods, desserts or added sugars, dairy or meat. I’ve been making a fruit and vegetable juice 5-6 times a week, eating mostly vegan fare, and I feel physically (and mentally) healthy and strong. As a matter of fact, my running has improved greatly on this new meal plan, and I lost those 8 pounds rather easily! I will be posting more in the future on the benefits of a plant based diet, stay tuned…..

A Look Back at 2011

I saw this questionnaire on my cousin’s blog. She fills out this questionnaire every year, and as it looks like just the type of thing I like to do at the end of each year, I thought I’d give it a try. Feel free to add your own comments reflecting on your year.

What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before? How about we rephrase this a bit and say, “What you did you do in 2011 that you haven’t done in over 10 years?” – I ran the Seacoast Half Marathon. Actually, this was the first time I’d ever run this particular half marathon. My last half marathon was the Covered Bridges Half Marathon in Quechee, Vermont in 2000. I also ran the Saunders 10k which I’d never run before.

Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I kept a lot of them! I wrote a blog post on my achievements! I will definitely make more for next year. As a matter of fact, I plan on making the big annual resolutions and then smaller monthly ones to keep me motivated. I did this in November, I made a resolution to remember to take my vitamins and it worked. I now remember them almost every day.

Did anyone close to you give birth? My cousin’s son Christopher and Christopher’s wife Meagan had a beautiful baby boy, Marc.

Did anyone close to you die? No.

What countries did you visit? No foreign countries this year, but I did travel to New Jersey to visit my Dad and other family; to Providence twice; to D.C to see Wicked; to Virginia a few times to visit with my kids, and as a bonus, I got to see Wendy, Barb and Bruce, Peggy and Rick, and Brenda; and of course I traveled to the neighboring states of Maine and Massachusetts frequently.

What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? I wanted to ski and I wanted to take a trip with Kelsey and Taylor. I already have a ski trip planned with Kelsey, so I’ m partially there.

What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory? 11/11/11 because it was so cool, and I remember 7/7/77 when my mother woke me up and said, “It’s 7/7/77, this day won’t come again for 100 years!” (At the time I didn’t think it was very interesting).

What was your biggest achievement of the year? I started running again, and completed the Seacoast Race Series and the Seacoast Half Marathon.

What was your biggest failure? I didn’t win an account that I pitched with a colleague which we really should have won!

Did you suffer illness or injury? No! I was nice and healthy in 2011. I did trip while running and scraped up my knee and elbow, but I healed.

What was the best thing you bought? Toyota Prius – 50 miles to the gallon, baby!

Whose behavior merited celebration? Taylor for getting engaged to Nora, and Kelsey for getting a professional job in her field of public relations and working hard all year.

Where did most of your money go? Mortgage payments, dinners out, and Christmas presents

What did you get really, really, really excited about? Taylor and Nora getting engaged

What song will always remind you of 2011? “Born this Way” by Lady Gaga and “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele (as performed by Hayley Reinhardt on American Idol)

Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder? — Equally as happy
Thinner or fatter? — A bit thinner, certainly healthier
Richer or poorer? — Richer as I saved a good amount of money, but poorer in that my retirement funds keep losing money.

What do you wish you’d done more of? Seeing my kids—I can always do more of this. Skiing–I didn’t get out at all in 2011 or the previous two years, but I have a trip planned for January with Kelsey so I’ll get both things accomplished.

What do you wish you’d done less of? Grumbling about the world situation, the economy and politicians!

How will you be (or did you) spend Christmas? I had a great Christmas. Even before the actual Holiday, I totally enjoyed December this year. I went to Kennebunkport for their annual Christmas Prelude. It was wonderful. Shopping in the local boutiques that were all decorated for Christmas, complete with cider and cookies; listening to Christmas Carols being sung in the town square (yes, real Christmas Carols); hot cocoa and the lighting of the tree! The tree is all decorated with lobster buoys. It really ushered in the spirit of Christmas. The following weekend, I was at Strawbery Bank in Portsmouth for the Christmas Stroll. We got a tour of the colonial houses, had some homemade chicken pot pie in the old William Pitt Tavern, and listened to some folk music at the Cider Shed. There were people were dressed in colonial costume, carolers and even Santa Clause was walking around.
For the actual holiday, I went to New Jersey to visit dad and my relatives. Kelsey came up from Virginia. (Taylor didn’t join us, but he was with me for Thanksgiving so I did get to spend holiday time with him and Nora). We spent Christmas Eve as we traditionally do, with my cousins Michael and Sally, Carolyn, John and Maureen and their kids, and Sally’s family. We ate the traditional 7 fish dinner (although I think we had 8 fishes this year), exchanged gifts, drank wine and cordials, and had a wonderful time. Afterwards, Kelsey, my father and I went back to his house and exchanged gifts under the tree. Christmas Day we went to Ellen Jane and Vin’s house as we do each year. Again, we had a wonderful time with them, their son, Michael and my cousins Vincent and Lola. Lola made a beautiful vegan entrée which she, Vincent and Kelsey totally enjoyed. Kelsey shared some with me, and it was delicious. The rest of us omnivores enjoyed the pasta, meatballs, filet mignon, ham, and all the fixings’! Aside from a small scare where we briefly lost Duncan (Kelsey’s adorable dog), the day was perfect!

Did you fall in love in 2011? Let’s assume this question is really asking, “How is your love life?” to which I will answer – good.

Who were your best friends? My best friends don’t change, so I’m going to change this question to: “Did you make a new friend this year and/or get closer to an acquaintance?” I made a new friend, Sarah. We met in our running group and we ran training runs and numerous races together this summer and fall, including the Seacoast Half Marathon. I also deepened a friendship with Jen who I met in 2010 during Leadership Seacoast.

What thing did you do that was meaningful to others? I think the others would have to answer this one, but I’ll give it a try. I helped a friend get on an exercise program, and I think I motivated them to exercise and eat healthier. I gave Taylor my mother’s diamond to have set into a ring for Nora. I think this was very meaningful for both of them. I know it was for me. I didn’t do much volunteer work this year. I think I’m still burnt out from my years of helping out with the PTA, sports teams, church related activities, the women’s training program, and others!

What was your favorite TV program? Parenthood, So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol, CSI: Miami

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Oh let’s phrase this differently, “Have any of your relationships worsened over the past year?” No

What was the best book you read? Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand –a must read, A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, and I am rereading the first 4 books of The Song of Fire and Ice Series (A Game of Thrones) by George R.R. Martin so I can enjoy the new book, “A Dance with Dragons”. I’m also listening to the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss another excellent fantasy epic.

What was your greatest musical discovery? I really didn’t have a musical discovery, but I did see Lindsey Buckingham in Portsmouth at The Music Hall and Southside Johnny at the Hampton Casino Ballroom.

What did you want and get? I wanted and I got myself a new, fuel efficient car (Prius), a new smartphone (Droid), and an I-pad. I also got everything on my Christmas list!

What did you want and not get? The one resolution I made and didn’t achieve was taking a family trip, but I did meet the kids in DC and took them to see Wicked, if they weren’t living just outside of DC, this would have counted as a trip! And of course, I wanted my investments to rise and they DID NOT.

What was your favorite film of this year? As I don’t watch too many movies, this is hard to say, I did enjoy the final installment of Harry Potter, TRON, Black Swan (was that this year?), and Water for Elephants. I am looking forward to seeing The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, I Bought a Zoo, and when it comes out, The Hobbit..

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I went out to dinner at a wonderful Italian Restaurant in Portsmouth, Ristorante Massimo with a special friend for my 52nd birthday

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A booming economy (or at least one with a pulse!), and a rise in the stock market

What kept you sane? Running, yoga, reading and spending the spring and summer on the water
Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I really don’t have much use for celebrities, but I was impressed by Steven Tyler on American Idol, and I was touched by the passing of Steve Jobs.

What political issue stirred you the most? The economy and the mess in the Arab countries and the Middle East

Who did you miss? My family when I’m away from them, and my mother

Who was the best new person you met this year? I met a new business colleague, Shelley Fajans and we worked together on a project for a new client; and new yogis Bjorn and Jody Turnquist, owners of 3 Bridges Yoga – a wonderful new yoga studio in Portsmouth.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011: Live in the Present Moment, and To Thine Own Self Be True

Quote that sums up your year: “What goes around comes around”