Goals Update 7

1. Finish my degree/get a job. I'm doing better with my lighter load of classes at least. I've also applied at a number of places, and I have a list of places to get through by next week. Hopefully something there pans out, and soon.

2. Continue my education. I'm still going to apply to schools for admission next spring, I think. I don't see any reason why I couldn't transfer and start taking classes regardless of whether I've finished an associates degree or not. At the very least I'll apply to the school where my mother works, as I wouldn't even have to pay an application fee.

3. Finish my Nano novel. Been working on both of them a bit lately. I'm hoping to get back into word wars to get even more work done. (Chris, I'm looking at you!)

4. Nano 2008. Still not worried about this, though the more I work on my older novels the more I feel like doing a sequel to one of them.

5. Play the flute and piano. Emailed my mom about the keyboard but haven't had an answer. I only got to it a couple of days ago so I'm sure she'll get back to me soon. Played my flute a bit more. I really need to get new music.

6. Write every day. I'm still doing fairly well with writing, though I think I'm going to try and make a habit of doing it at a certain time. I think I'll stick with it more that way, just like I've stuck with the workouts as long as I do them just before lunch. I just need to figure out a time that works.

7. Update this blog, etc. Obviously I haven't updated this, though I think I'm still close to my once a week goal regardless. Started the daily pages again too. I want to keep up with those if I can and get back to my journal.

8. Let other people read my writing. If I keep the pace I've had, I should have parts of both of my novels fixed up enough to let other people read. Possibly in the next month, or even sooner.

9. Exercise 3 days a week. Still easily doing 3-4 days. Going to aim for 4-5 days from now on. Once I get used to that I'll start adding some extra time to each workout. I'm also going to have to come up with new types of workouts so I don't get bored. Thankfully the weather is getting better so I'll be able to get into hiking and biking again, and then swimming once summer starts.

10. Read 104 books. This one is no issue. Hell, at the rate I'm going I'll finish double that by the end of the year.

11. Take some trips. Right now I'm only worrying about Otakon. Once I get a job and save for that, I'll try and fit in a few other trips. Still hoping to get to Philly sometime over the summer, but we'll see. I wouldn't mind getting to see a few other friends as well, but I'm not sure that any of them live close enough for that to be feasible.

12. Learn Japanese. I've been slacking on this the last couple of weeks. I need to get back to it while it's still fairly fresh in my mind, so I'll get back into the podcasts over the weekend.

13. Physical therapy for my hand. I can force my finger to bend completely, which is more than I've been able to do since I broke it. Getting better bending it on its own as well. I've been working on writing normally (with my finger actually bent instead of the funny way I learned to write right after I got the cast off) along with the regular therapy, which has seemed to help.

14. Time management. Still improving here, now that I'm not so busy. I would like to get a lot better with this though. To be honest, I think I'm doing better because I have to work around when I can take the car out to look for jobs, and not because I'm actually getting better at organizing myself. >_>

15. Start buying less stuff, and finish what I have lying around the house. I've been doing well with this. I've finished up quite a lot of half finished books and series that I've had sitting around for months. I've actually been spending free time doing these things instead of aimlessly surfing the Internet, and it's made a big difference.

16. Do a book review for Jade's blog. Okay, so I lied about having one done for this time. I'm going to try and get two or three out of the way this weekend if I'm not busy. Then I won't have to worry about it again for about awhile.

17. Learn Photoshop. I fiddled with this for a few hours the other night. I didn't make anything very good, but I managed to figure out some of the effects I could use, and how to do some basic functions. I found a site with a lot of tutorials that should help as well.

I actually have another goal or two I was going to add, but I don't think I will at this point. This damn list keeps getting longer and longer, and I'm not crossing anything off. At some point, I'm going to overhaul the list and take some goals off. Some of the things I've made habit enough that I don't really need this list to remind me, like updating this or working out. Others I can actually accomplish, like getting a job, getting in school applications, and doing those book reviews. Once I get rid of aat least some of what's on here now, I may consider adding new goals.