Tuesday, December 30, 2008

2008 Goals Revisited

Every year I set some goals I'd like to achieve over the course of the next 12 months. Last year, in an attempt to be more measurable with my goals, I made them more specific, complete with deadlines. Let's see how I did...

Personal Goals:
1. I will lose 20 pounds by the summer. (I'd like to lose 30-35 by the end of the year.)

Okay, THAT didn't happen. I lost 7 pounds by late February, but once I fell into The Trap, they came right back on. Thankfully I've maintained a fairly even weight this year instead of gaining.

2. I will play my guitar for 30 minutes each week.

This happened maybe the first two weeks of the year, and once more much later in the year. I even moved my guitar case into the living room so I'd see it and get back to playing. Didn't happen. I guess I need to move it back to my closet now.

3. I will read at least 4 books each month.

This might have happened up until fall. I did read a lot, and I was even keeping track of them on a list for a while. Then I got busy with other things... Still, reading is one of my favorite pastimes and it's easy for me to pick up a book and lose myself.

4. I will complete the SWIM self-study program by April 11.

Yes! I completed the self-study program. I can't remember the date, but I did finish reading all 16 books and their summaries, as well as the four required service projects.

5. I will host a game night with friends at least twice this year. (Billy and I love to play games, and many evenings we'll play a game after the boys go to bed, but there are some games we have that need more than 2 players.)

This didn't happen at all. Life got busy in March and didn't slow down until July. After that, I just didn't think about it. Well, I did think about it every once and a while, but not in time to plan anything.

6. I will scrapbook at least once a month. (Either paper or digital.)

That only happened in December when I was working on the scrapbooks for my parents and my in-laws. I worked on those things for three days!

Business Goals:
7. I will promote to Future Director in my business by May 31. (That would be 2 years to the date since I held my first show.)

I didn't even get a recruit, and you need two to become a Future Director. I'm not strong in this area and need to work on it a lot more.

8. I will promote to Director by December 31.

Well, since I didn't make it to Future Director, I definitely didn't promote to Director.

9. I will book a minimum of 3 shows each month. (They can be catalog shows or cooking shows.)

I only held 19 shows this year to last year's 24. The busyness from March through July kept me from booking many cooking shows. Thankfully I had enough catalog shows going on to keep me afloat until I could get back to "normal".

Of my nine goals for the year, only one was achieved. I'm just glad I did that one!

Now it's time to start thinking of some goals for 2009. A few will remain the same; others will change. I'll post my new list in a day or so.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Yeah, I know...

... it's been a while since I last posted anything. Things got extremely busy between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but now that we're on the downside of busyness for a while, I hope to resume regular posting.

So, what's happened in between? Let's see...

The boys stayed with Billy's parents for a week after Thanksgiving. I spent my free time that week getting my hair cut, taking a wire-wrapping class, and shopping. We got almost all of our Christmas shopping done that week! It was nice to be able to get out during the week and shop, avoiding all the weekenders. And it was nice to get it all done at once, without having to run out here and there and pick up a little at a time.

The wire-wrapping class I took has opened up a whole new world of jewelry-making for me! I'm now able to confidently make earrings, as well as decorative silver bookmarks and more intricate-looking jewelry than just beads strung on a wire. Every female on my Christmas list got jewelry of some sort! And I'm seriously considering selling some of what I make. (Billy told me I need to do that to help support my bead habit.) Lindsay told me about an online site (Etsy.com) where people can sell handmade things, and Billy and I have been checking it out to see if it's something we both might like to do. I've also been talking with a friend of mine who used to have her own jewelry business about the ins and outs of getting started. And I'm currently reading You Can Make Money from Your Hobby for more ideas/inspiration. I enjoy my Pampered Chef business, but my passion right now is making beautiful pieces of jewelry from all the gorgeous beads I find.

Jacob had oral surgery: three white fillings in permanent teeth, 5 silver caps on baby teeth, and one tooth pulled. He was hilarious before surgery, after they gave him his "giggle juice" to help him relax. It's like drinkable laughing gas. Immediately after surgery, he was a bear. He was confused coming out of the anesthesia and he was crying that all his teeth hurt. The nurses managed to get some pain meds into him and he quieted down pretty quickly. While they were doing that, another nurse was helping me out. Just one look at his bloody mouth and I got all weak. I took off my coat, sat down in a nearby chair, and leaned over with my head between my knees. The nurse grabbed a Gatorade (gross!) out of the refrigerator and told me to drink as much as I could as fast as I could. I did and almost immediately started feeling better. They had me get in the bed with Jacob, then they rolled us back to his room to finish his recovery. Not much later, he was released to go home. We ate lots of soup, yogurt, pudding, and mashed potatoes. Oh, and milkshakes! Now he's back to normal. He thinks he still can't eat certain things, but it's just in his mind. Soon he'll have an orthodontic spacer put in.

We left for our Christmas travels on Christmas Eve morning. The first party was the family gathering at Billy's parents' house. It was a full house, as usual, though there were some missing. It was a lot of fun, and I ate entirely too much food. In fact, the last piece of candy I started eating, I had to put down because I felt so miserable. After everyone left, the boys opened their gifts, played a little, then went to bed. The next morning, they went through their Santa gifts, carefully examining each item before moving on to the next one. After breakfast, we got busy getting repacked and loading up to head to my aunt's house for Christmas lunch. After that and an afternoon visit with everyone, we moved on to my parents' house. After getting unloaded and visiting a bit more, we exchanged gifts and played with our "toys". Friday was a lazy morning, then Mama and Lindsay and I did a little shopping in the afternoon. Jennifer, Robert, and Seth came over that evening and we visited and played games and snacked on leftovers. Saturday morning, we loaded everything back up and headed home.

Today was our ideal Christmas day. We all slept in, then spent the day at home, playing with the boys' new toys and watching WALL-E. After all the rush, we needed a day to stay in and do whatever we wanted. It was very relaxing.

Tomorrow Billy goes back to work, and I have to take Jacob in for a dental check-up. Then we'll do a little shopping to get ready for our New Year's Day gathering with friends. We'll get back into our normal routine slowly, then be back in full swing next Monday.