May Goals.

I haven't set goals since February and I'm not crazy enough to look back at them now.  March was unpredictable. April was survival mode. May is going to be survival mode too but I have to jump back in at some point. 

flower-planting is a goal this month too. our neighbor said the last people who lived here chopped down the most beautiful lilac bush. this year, for the first time, it's started to come back. 

1.  Do the May calendar for The Balanced Life. I'm committing to a full month of pilates before jumping back into any kind of cardio. I haven't done regular pilates since...oh-em-gee, maybe last May? I'm super excited to watch pilates work its magic in the post-partum months. I'll add in cardio workouts soon enough, but it feels good to know I have the confidence in the tried and true workouts I love and don't need to push myself into sweating to feel progress. 

2. Begin and follow through on a full month of Bible reading, going along with this plan. 

3. Read the two books that I have started but not been patient enough to sit down and finish. 

I have a lot of other random tasks on my plate for the month...packing up my classroom, cutting the grass, planting flowers, making a vet appointment, sorting through boxes in the garage and barn...

So I'm going to say if I can do #s 1 and 2 up there, I am going to reward myself with some book purchases. I very rarely buy books. Almost never, in fact. But, since my library is so bad that I've actually complained, I am going to be willing to spend a bit of money on books. I've always found it absolutely pointless to buy stacks of books you just have to store (and move around) when libraries offer them for F-R-E-E. But when I can't get an ebook I want to read for a least 6 months, I have to just throw in the towel. 

Again, I'm just kind of posting these for public accountability. Some days right now, honestly, my only goal is to make sure I have dinner made.

Any goals for May? 

February Goals 2022

More snow than MO usually sees, I'm told. 

Let's review January's goals:

I was supposed to read and finish a book.  I finished THREE books. I will recap in a quarterly book report. Quarters are more manageable than months this year, I think. 

I was supposed to go through baby boxes. I did this. We have a few pieces of equipment to set up still and there's a few things we can't find, but I did go through the boxes. I sent off some baby boy clothes to my brother, got the rest of Wells' clothes ready to donate, we moved the dresser to the baby's room, and  Wells still doesn't have a bed or dresser (he's still in the toddler bed version of the crib) so this baby will be in a bassinet until we get him a bed. 

I was supposed to use my planner to track. I did for some time and then I got sick with a cold/cough/sinus infection/alpha-beta-charlie variant/whatever you want to call it and I just gave up on that. I'm trying to get back at it. But I am using my planner to do some long-range notes and goals too. 

New goals for February: 

1. Drop off bags at the thrift store. I have so much baby stuff and there's an actual Good Samaritan donation center here, instead of just a Goodwill/Salvation Army where they make a profit. I would rather the baby things go to someone in need. 

2. Cardboard recycling. Like in Colorado, we don't have recycling that comes to the house, so we need to flatten and store all of our Amazon boxes cardboard until we have enough to take it somewhere. I want to get it all dropped off this month. I think it's been since November that I last went there. 

3. Read and finish two or three books. My library wait list books are still 6 months out (for ebooks) so that's a joke. I actually emailed the library saying how terrible they were at getting books in peoples' hands (the JOB of a library) and I never got a response. Shocking. 

But I have two BOTMs coming my way this week and I have an ARC that I just finished. And I think I have two audiobooks I need to get to...So this goal is technically on the way to being met.

4. Use my planner to track. We're going to try this again, hopefully without the sick days. 

Any goals for February? We're already, thankfully, a week in. 

This week also includes a lot of little goals like prepping Wells' valentines and my valentines for school, keeping up with school (which is laughable at this point after 3 snow days), and making some phone calls. I'm tired already.

January Goals 2022

Remember when we used to goal-set each month? Few, very few, still do this online it seems because something about spring 2020 made people stop trying. Truly, there was no reason to set aside every personal goal, but we did it anyway. For me, personally, it was the "two moves in two years" that did it. It's easy to stop caring when you're never settled. 

But, it's the perfect time to start anew...

My coat that doesn't quite fit and these sneakers are like 5 years old. I have new ones coming for my birthday but who knows if I'll love them enough to keep them. I've had terrible luck with sneakers in the last few years. 

1. Read a book. Nope. FINISH a book. I've started and I've read multiple books since September. I've only finished one and that's...humiliating (is humiliating the right word? I think it is). 

2. Go through baby boxes. I need to sort what I will use for the new baby vs. what I need to get rid of. This really entails dragging boxes out of the barn, setting/sorting them in the current guest room and start prepping it to become a nursery. My SIL told me that the 2nd trimester is what is recommended for the nursery prep (and that's exactly what I did last time, btw). Now, at almost 30 weeks, I'm not terrified or anything (is terrified the right word? I think it is). Along with this: Wells needs a new dresser and a bed. I can't promise I'll make those happen this month, though. We need to hang my new mirror and we also need to move a dresser and maybe a toy box around. 

3. Use my planner to track: yoga, Pilates, water, and walking. Those are the big things I need to focus on right now. I "practiced" over Christmas break, making sure I got 10-15 minutes of yoga in each day, I walked every other day or so, and I did Pilates for strength training. I really need to shoot for 60 oz+ of water a day. It hasn't been going great in that department. 

That's kind of it. If I can accomplish the first two and keep up with the third, I'll be set up for a better February. Fingers crossed. 

What are your goals for January???

Is anyone doing actual NY Resolutions? I really got out of practice with it all a few years ago. I will say that 2022 should be the first year since 2016 that we won't move or buy a house. So maybe I have a fighting chance? I need ideas.