August Goals: How I Did

I made several goals for myself for the remaining weeks of summer and they kept me happily busy.  I think I did pretty well, and I also have a long list of fall goals that I will share this week.

Habit and Goal Tracking

I made a simple chart in my notebook that I can check off daily.  The most important items on that list are the daily calcium and iron supplements.



Pictures

I ordered prints from our beach trip and put them in our photo album.  I even have some in frames.


Fitness

I bought my FitBit last Friday.  It has been fun to see exactly how long those dog walks really are! I wish I had had one of these when we went to London last year.

Reading

Not only did I read a novel by Ann Patchett (The Patron Saint of Liars), I also read a book about writing that was by Ann Patchett (The Getaway Car).

 

I am slow in updating my Goodreads, however. 

And I have re-memorized some of the Robert Frost poems I had to memorize when I was in school.  It's all good.

Blogging

My posting was uneven.  I posted for five days in a row and then I ran out of ideas!  I am working on setting up a long-term schedule.  I also need to space out my posting.  

I did link up in a few places in August, and that was fun.

August was a success in terms of the new goals.  Some of these goals overlapped with my goals for the year.  My cooking goal--one new recipe per month--didn't happen in August.

I'll be back later in the week with the Fall Goals.

Goals: Throwing Down the Gauntlet

I established some personal goals to work on this year and I have posting monthly updates, but I decided that I want to tweak my goals.

Habit and Goal Tracking

As Anne from Modern Mrs. Darcy has said so well, you get what you measure.  I am making a checklist to keep track of the quantifiable goals for this month.  My hope is that some of my checklist items will become automatic over time.  In the meantime, looking over a string of checkmarks should keep me motivated.



Pictures

I took over 300 pictures while we were away last week!  Now comes the challenge of wading through them all in order to choose some prints to put into frames.


Fitness

This is a big one for me this month.  While we were away, I downloaded a free pedometer app so I could track how much beach walking I did.  The phone app definitely has its limitations, so I am researching FitBit and Jawbone Up to decide what will best meet my needs and my budget.  Until then, my goal is to walk for at least 30 minutes daily.  I am also going to (try) to give blood again this month.

Reading

This month I want to read one book about the craft of writing.  I also want to read another Ann Patchett novel.  I am now on Goodreads, where I will post my monthly Twitterature-link-up reviews.

Also in the reading department, I am going to memorize at least one poem.  I stole this bright idea from the book Surprised by Oxford.  My head is full of information and tidbits--why not cram some Shakespeare and Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson in there too?

Blogging

I am looking to jump-start the conversation here, and that will require a regular presence.  I am going to post at least three times a week here.  I will also find at least one new place to link-up this month.  

Goals Update: July 2013

I am on a leisurely mid-summer pace with the goals right now.

Fitness: We froze our family membership to the gym for the summer, so dog-walking has been the only exercise for me lately.  I am thinking about getting a Jawbone or a Fitbit so I can track how many steps I'm taking each day.  I'm pretty sure my number is lower than I'd like!  

My new favorite afternoon snack--yogurt and nutella (or a nutella-like spread).

In keeping with my reduced/untracked activity, I have also reduced my dessert intake. I am getting to the age where dessert needs to be an occasional treat and not the next thing after dinner.  My kids usually ask "what's for dessert?" as they are sitting down to dinner, and I find it to be maddening!  We are trying to lead by example on this one.  We aren't completely banning it, but now they can have one cookie after lunch instead of two or three.  I have also starting buying pre-packaged things like Klondike bars instead of bringing home a half-gallon (or whatever it actually is now) of ice cream because portion control is much easier that way.

Foods:  I tried three new recipes in July.  Two were from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook: Zucchini with Almond Pesto and Roast Chicken with Potatoes.  I also tried a recipe for short ribs that I found online.  We really liked the zucchini, but I'll have to try a few more recipes from the library's copy of Smitten Kitchen before I commit to buying it.

 Pictures:  I ordered prints and put them in our photo album.  More importantly, I ordered doubles and gave them to the kids so they can put them up in their own rooms.  They love having the pictures.  My goal for August is to actually take some pictures that might be frame-worthy.  Some of the pictures on our walls could stand to be updated.

We still have another month of summer, so it is time for us to get serious about chasing fireflies and eating dinner outdoors.  

Goals Update from June

I know I'm a broken record, but I can't believe another month has already finished!

As you scroll through the post, you can see that I am taking pictures...I just haven't had any printed out in a while.  There's a summer project for me!

Fitness:  Not happening at the gym, at least for the summer.  I am going to be content with walking the dog around the neighborhood for now.

 Reading/blurbing:  still going strong.  Will post the blurbs around the 15th.

New Recipes:  Totally nailed this one.  Here's what we tried new:
Chicken Francaise (epicurious): the restaurant favorite, just as good at home
Yogurt Marinated Grilled Chicken (Dinner A Love Story): going into the rotation.  Actually just going to start putting yogurt on everything because it's so tasty, but I digress.

 Fried chicken with Spicy Raspberry Honey (Good Housekeeping): I don't usually love raspberries, but this spicy honey was the bomb.
Ice Box Cake (Good Housekeeping): it's a dessert, but it was so pretty!  Definitely too big for just us.  It's a showstopper for a party, though.

 Strawberry and Arugula Salad with Manchego Fricos (Better Homes and Gardens): pretty good, but I really didn't have enough balsamic to really get the full effect.  Will probably make again.
Grilled Romaine Salad with Tomato & Corn Tumble (Better Homes and Gardens): summer on a plate.  Definitely making again.

 Some of our Summer Goals include going to the beach frequently, reading as much as I possibly can, and having a picnic dinner.

 I haven't decided whether I am going to enter this year's Grange Fair.  The booklet came in the mail last week.

 I have two shawls I'm working on.  One I started last year; the other I started last month.  I hope to have them finished by the time the weather turns. Although it would also be nice to have at least one of them to fend off chill of overzealous air conditioners.  Slow and steady is the motto for the knitting.

Enjoy the Fourth of July this week!  Happy Summer!

2013 Goals: The May Update

Oh, those goals!  There's always room for improvement.

Fitness:  Gym attendance was about where it has been, although I'm adjusting my attitude about trying new machines in the fitness center.  The elliptical may be my favorite way to get sweaty, but it's not the only way. Now that the Saturday morning activities are starting to wind down, I'd like to go to the Saturday morning yoga class at least once during June.  I think I'm also going to add a longer morning walk with the dog once the kids are out of school.

Crafty:  I really didn't have a craft-related goal for this year.  Crafting came to a screaming halt once Honey joined our family, but I miss the process of making.  This month I am making a costume dress for Caroline.  Keep your fingers crossed for me, because I may have bitten off a little more than I can chew. And because creative activities have a way of spawning other activities, I also have a quilt in mind to make, and we are considering fabric for curtains in our freshly-painted sunroom.

Reading:  Still reading, still blurbing.  I'll share my latest reads here mid-month.  Last month I did add a new page at the top of the blog where I am listing all the titles I've read so far.

Cooking:  Last month I had one of those weeks where every meal was from a magazine.  The kids do not love it when I do that--they can only go so many nights before they're looking for something more kid-menu-like.  It's feast or famine around here!  Here are the recipes:  Pan-roasted chicken with carrots and almonds (from Bon Appetit--this one is going into the rotation), Minted Chicken with Asparagus, Shrimp tacos with lime slaw, and sizzling steak with lime basil sauce.  The two chicken dishes were the winners.  The shrimp tacos needed something else to flesh them out, and the steak dish was okay.

We have two and half more weeks of school left.  At this point, it's mostly field trips and field days.  The kids have just about lost focus on academics.  I have ordered up several books for summer reading for the kids.  I'll share that in my next reading post.

April-ish Goals Update

April marked the start of baseball season.  We only have one child who plays baseball, but it is enough to throw the whole schedule off kilter.  Fortunately, some of the kids' other activities are winding down for the year, so life from 4-9pm is becoming slightly more manageable.

Cooking: Try One New Recipe per Month.  This was a big fail.  Most of April's dinners were about making something that could be eaten by part of the family at 4:30 and again by the rest of the family at 8:45.  It wasn't pretty.  But I am trying harder in May.

 Last weekend I sat down with the latest issues of my magazines, and I pulled out four new recipes to try this week, so I'm feeling all Mission Accomplished for May.

Fitness/Health: Go to the Gym Regularly.  I am having two issues with this goal: not getting to do what I want to when I'm at the gym and just getting there in the first place.

 When the kids were little, I'd drop them in the kiddie care at the gym and go about my business.  Now, the girls have taken the orientation classes and they can use the fitness center (i.e. treadmills, bikes, equipment) with me.  Bobby can't take the orientation until he is ten.  Sometimes, we sign the kids in at the pool and let them swim while Rob and I work out in the fitness center.

These plans don't always go smoothly.  The pool might be closed for lessons, or there's not a class for the younger kids to go to, or (and this one is the worst for me) the fitness center is so full that there's not enough equipment for us all to use.  The last few times I have gone in, all the elliptical machines have been taken.  I am going to have to rethink my workouts.

As for just getting there in the first place, I am resorting to the old trick of scheduling.  I have written it into my calendar.  Going at four o'clock is the perfect time because the kids have had enough time to get home and have a snack, and we're back home with plenty of time to get homework done before dinner.

At Home: Print pictures, put them in albums.  Nothing like a trip to Disney to get me motivated to print pictures!  I even printed pictures from last summer's beach trip.  Now they are all in this photo album.  

I'd like to raise the stakes, though.  Our most recent albums have all been of trips and vacations, which is fantastic, but there aren't any candid, not on vacation pictures in the books.  I'm going to charge the batteries and bring the camera out of hiding this month.