Goals update 9

Wow, I haven't updated my blog in a month. Time for a goals update, and then I'll try and get something up about my vacation soon!

1. Read 75 of my own books that I've never read before. I'm taking this goal off the list. All of the stuff I've borrowed from people has built up again, so I want to work on getting through those things. I would probably be able to either complete this goal or get all of the borrowed stuff done, but there's probably no way I'll get through both. I'll still keep track and see how far I get on my own books though.

2. Watch all of the movies I own and have never watched. I watched two this weekend, so I'm making a bit of progress. I don't see any problems completing this goal - I have plenty of time yet and I'm steadily getting through them.

3. Complete 12 video games. Actually playing games on my flights didn't happen. Damn Aer Lingus and their awesome in flight entertainment! I really need to pick up the pace on this one. I have half a dozen games that I'm a few hours from completing so I want to just finish them. I'm going to start playing an hour or so a day until I've made some real progress on this goal. I can hopefully finish 2-3 games for the next update.

4. Travel. Ireland was amazing - expect a blog about that sometime this week. Philly is coming up again soon as well, provided I can actually afford going. Not sure if Ohiopyle is going to happen but maybe over my birthday weekend I can get some people to go. Also, not sure that this really counts as "traveling" but the Renaissance Fair is back in Pittsburgh this year so we're going to hit that the weekend before Philly.

5. Continue to learn Japanese. Still keeping up with the progress I've made, but that's about it. I'm going to rework my budget a bit and see if it would be possible to pick up the Rosetta Stone software in the next few months.

6. Finish one of my Nano novels. I've made next to no progress on these, as I haven't even been writing much. I'm going to get back to them this week.

7. Write every day. I took probably two weeks off around the time of my vacation. I've written a few times since I got back, and I think I'm going to start writing for a bit as soon as I get home everyday, just to get used to it again.

8. Let other people read my writing. Still no progress here.

9. Clean out my stuff, and get organized. I'm pretty much finished on this. My closets need organized somehow so I can find everything, and I want to re-organize my bookshelves. The only other thing I need to get organized would be my filing cabinet, and then I'm done.

10. New wardrobe. My closets are cleaned out, if not organized, and I have a much better idea of what I really need. I picked up some capris and shirts before I left for vacation, and I have a list of a few other things I want to get. For the next update I'm just going to work on filling out that list. I won't have the money to buy anything as my next paycheck is going to be short and I have to pay off my trip!

11. Exercise 5 hours per week. I failed on this the past week since I've been home, and I definitely need to get back to it this week. Before Ireland I did alright though, and I certainly got plenty of exercise in Ireland with all of the hiking and climbing cliffs.

12. Save money, and learn to manage my money wisely. I spent a lot in Ireland, but at the same time I think I only spent half of what I'd budgeted for it. I'll have to wait for the credit card bill to be sure, since I'm not sure with the conversion from Euro plus the international charge fees. I should be able to pay that off immediately without being totally broke, and then I can work on adding to savings again...just in time to start thinking about Philly, birthday presents, and Christmas. I'm also looking to rent a house fairly soon so I want to start putting a lot of money away for that.

13. Eat healthy. I need to get back into this - I backslid a lot during my vacation and since I got back. I have been doing better the last two or three days but I need to get back to consistently eating less food and healthier snacks. I also need to cut out the caffeine again, as I got back into drinking a lot of that on vacation and my first exhausting week back at work.

14. Photography. I have nearly 2,000 photos to organize from my trip. I played around a lot with different camera settings and angles, and also experimented a bit with the filters I had. I think I got some great shots, and others will be great once I fix a couple of little issues. So the next step with this goal is to work on the editing aspect. For the next update I'm going to try out different types of software - what came with my camera as well as a few others. I'm going to decide which I want to really learn to use so that I can get started.

15. Make more time for myself - one hour per day. This has gone well, but I need to actually shut off my phone so I don't keep getting interrupted. I'm going to try leaving it off after work for the next copule of weeks. I'll get home, do whatever I need to (exercise, eat, etc) and then spend an hour just relaxing. THEN I will turn my phone and computer back on. Not sure whether that will work - it might be easier to take time for myself later in the evening, like the hour before I go to sleep - but I'll give it a shot. Eventually I'll figure out what system works best for me and then I can stick with it.

16. Finished all of the borrowed things I have. I think this was a goal of mine last year for a while, and I got through a lot of stuff, but it's built up again. Jen keeps giving me books, Christian keeps giving me DVDs, and they pile up because I've been worried about getting through my own stuff for the last 7 months. So for a few months I'm going to concentrate on the borrowed stuff again. I have probably 20 books to read and a LOT of shows to watch. For the next update I'm going to go try and watch 1-2 shows a night and read 2-3 of the borrowed books I have, in addition to hopefully getting through some of my own things. I really need to find a balance between the two...or else stop borrowing stuff (I'm looking at you Chris - not taking anything from your house this trip!!!!)

I had an incredibly busy July but I didn't do too badly on my goals. I'll hopefully be able to cut a couple off the list soon, and I have one or two more that I may add in the next few updates, but we'll see how it goes. I may start posting on here more regularly as well - definitely will post at least once about my trip, and I have a few other ideas I'm kicking around. But now it's time for bed, work in the morning. Shame I have to actually go to work to get the paycheck part....