My Year 2009!
It has been a long, but mostly good, year. I'm going to grade myself here... and maybe set some goals for next year.
Art/Craft: C
I haven't made a lot of stuff this year. I haven't finished a painting this year. Last year I did a couple! I want to actually be able to paint my sister a painting as a gift. I have not done a lot of sewing. I started a couple sewing projects, did not finish them, I am dragging my feet. I played a little music this year, but failed to finish several of the tasks that I set out for myself. I haven't practiced in months. I've been thinking about writing, without doing it. This doesn't really count, but at least I have been buying/receiving art from friends lately, and been listening to new music.
Goals: Well, I should be realistic about my artistic goals for next year. It's going to be a draining year for me, since I am hopefully going to making a push on my thesis. So all my thinking and writing efforts will be going there, most likely. I'd like to set out the goal of doing a few paintings, since they are stop and start things.
Budget: B-
Ugh, not great. I am not broke, but I have been spending my money. OK, I am a grad student, so I don't make a lot. Not being in debt and not going there is good enough. In general I have spent money on things I like and not on crap, so that's good. I've spent a lot of money on vacations, I've blown a lot on Xmas gifts, but I have been dining at home a lot, which is cheap. I haven't done too much personal shopping.
Goals: Well, after my next vacation, it is time to clamp down on the spending. I always say I should track my spending... maybe I will try to do that next year.
Friends: B-
I haven't been a particularly social person this year. I should be paying more attention to my friends' lives and concerns, seeing them more, keeping up better. I have at least been friendly with my labmates, and not a total ghost. Part of it is that I live far away from other people with Ross, so being at home is easy/relaxing/fun.
Goals: I suspect that this will continue in the following year. I have been good about keeping dates with my friends, at least. My goal will be to continue to not flake.
Family: A-
OK, I have been pretty good. I reconnected with Uncle O over the summer, and I have been calling him now and then. I am even sending him a Christmas package. I have been pretty good about calling my parents. I should be sending more cards and the like to my grandmothers, but at least I have been doing it at all! I would like to see my sister more, but part of that is that she has been so busy.
Goals: Get on a more regular mail schedule for my relatives. Let me just say that I don't feel an obligation, but I would like to stay close with my family. I like them. Heck, I love them. I enjoy spending time with my relatives, and I want to let them know more.
Health/Fitness: A+
This has been a good year for me health- and fitness-wise. I have lost 20 pounds, and am in significantly better shape than at the beginning of the year. I have gone from struggling through a cardio workout to breezing through it. It's been mostly swimming. I weigh about what I did when I started grad school. I even had to buy new jeans so my pants don't fall down. Eating better has certainly helped too. I don't eat perfectly but I think I average 6 home cooked dinners a week, and with me that means veggies, so, healthy. Eating a decent breakfast. Downside, the swimming is killing my skin, and now that's it's winter, I will have to do more about it. Additionally, I have been flossing every day. That's pretty awesome. I got both the seasonal and H1N1 flu shots. I sleep enough. It hasn't been a perfect year, but I give myself high marks for effort.
Goals: Lose a little more weight, stick with exercising. More teeth cleanings. Work on being good to my skin more.
Homelife: A-
Me and Ross's apartment has been pretty clean. No disasters this year yet. I always want to go home. I managed to get several boxes of stuff sorted and thrown away. We eat at home a lot, and keep our kitchen pretty clean. We had one get together.
Goal: Throw out more stuff! Get Ross to do the same, he's accumulating slowly but surely. Invite more people over to dinner, it's pretty much just my sister most of the time. More parties/informal get together events. Make Ross get the fish tank a little more stocked.
Organization: B+
Didn't miss paying a bill for anything this year. I have payed attention to my Google calendar on the whole. My mother gave me a week planner, but I don't think I will be using that in favor of my internet scheduling, so if you want one, let me know. It's about 5 by 8 inches, and has a week across two pages, with hourly time slots. So it would be useful. While Google Calendar has worked pretty well for day stuff, my ToDo lists do drop off the face of the earth from time to time. Sometimes they have done well for me, especially in "do all this in one day" scenarios. Making ToDo's for Ross has helped a little for him. My most effective innovation in organization this year has been the adoption of a packing list for most trips. I do them digitally so I can re-use and borrow from old ones. They do help! Also, got Flickr. Been updating.
Goal: No associated goal, really. Keep it up, try to do better with ToDo lists, keep my Flickr going.
Travel: A-
Went a lot of places!
Goals: I didn't leave the country this year. That's going to happen this year pretty rapidly. I did not go to any National Parks. I particularly want to see Yellowstone. I think I could make that happen this summer. So, Yellowstone is my goal for this year.
Work/School: B
Work has been going well overall. I did work pretty hard in good spurts. I took a class in the spring which did kill my productivity, but I got an A in the class. My summer was a little fallow. This last semester has been going pretty well. I've been working on papers for more than one project. Trash Track has been exciting, but frustrating at times.
Goals: Focus more. Create clearer daily goals for myself in an attempt to increase productivity. Dally less in the morning.
Well, overall, I give myself a decent grade for 2009. I don't have particularly high hopes for 2010, since it should be thesis time for me and that will eclipse a lot of my other goals. Happy New Year!!!
Art/Craft: C
I haven't made a lot of stuff this year. I haven't finished a painting this year. Last year I did a couple! I want to actually be able to paint my sister a painting as a gift. I have not done a lot of sewing. I started a couple sewing projects, did not finish them, I am dragging my feet. I played a little music this year, but failed to finish several of the tasks that I set out for myself. I haven't practiced in months. I've been thinking about writing, without doing it. This doesn't really count, but at least I have been buying/receiving art from friends lately, and been listening to new music.
Goals: Well, I should be realistic about my artistic goals for next year. It's going to be a draining year for me, since I am hopefully going to making a push on my thesis. So all my thinking and writing efforts will be going there, most likely. I'd like to set out the goal of doing a few paintings, since they are stop and start things.
Budget: B-
Ugh, not great. I am not broke, but I have been spending my money. OK, I am a grad student, so I don't make a lot. Not being in debt and not going there is good enough. In general I have spent money on things I like and not on crap, so that's good. I've spent a lot of money on vacations, I've blown a lot on Xmas gifts, but I have been dining at home a lot, which is cheap. I haven't done too much personal shopping.
Goals: Well, after my next vacation, it is time to clamp down on the spending. I always say I should track my spending... maybe I will try to do that next year.
Friends: B-
I haven't been a particularly social person this year. I should be paying more attention to my friends' lives and concerns, seeing them more, keeping up better. I have at least been friendly with my labmates, and not a total ghost. Part of it is that I live far away from other people with Ross, so being at home is easy/relaxing/fun.
Goals: I suspect that this will continue in the following year. I have been good about keeping dates with my friends, at least. My goal will be to continue to not flake.
Family: A-
OK, I have been pretty good. I reconnected with Uncle O over the summer, and I have been calling him now and then. I am even sending him a Christmas package. I have been pretty good about calling my parents. I should be sending more cards and the like to my grandmothers, but at least I have been doing it at all! I would like to see my sister more, but part of that is that she has been so busy.
Goals: Get on a more regular mail schedule for my relatives. Let me just say that I don't feel an obligation, but I would like to stay close with my family. I like them. Heck, I love them. I enjoy spending time with my relatives, and I want to let them know more.
Health/Fitness: A+
This has been a good year for me health- and fitness-wise. I have lost 20 pounds, and am in significantly better shape than at the beginning of the year. I have gone from struggling through a cardio workout to breezing through it. It's been mostly swimming. I weigh about what I did when I started grad school. I even had to buy new jeans so my pants don't fall down. Eating better has certainly helped too. I don't eat perfectly but I think I average 6 home cooked dinners a week, and with me that means veggies, so, healthy. Eating a decent breakfast. Downside, the swimming is killing my skin, and now that's it's winter, I will have to do more about it. Additionally, I have been flossing every day. That's pretty awesome. I got both the seasonal and H1N1 flu shots. I sleep enough. It hasn't been a perfect year, but I give myself high marks for effort.
Goals: Lose a little more weight, stick with exercising. More teeth cleanings. Work on being good to my skin more.
Homelife: A-
Me and Ross's apartment has been pretty clean. No disasters this year yet. I always want to go home. I managed to get several boxes of stuff sorted and thrown away. We eat at home a lot, and keep our kitchen pretty clean. We had one get together.
Goal: Throw out more stuff! Get Ross to do the same, he's accumulating slowly but surely. Invite more people over to dinner, it's pretty much just my sister most of the time. More parties/informal get together events. Make Ross get the fish tank a little more stocked.
Organization: B+
Didn't miss paying a bill for anything this year. I have payed attention to my Google calendar on the whole. My mother gave me a week planner, but I don't think I will be using that in favor of my internet scheduling, so if you want one, let me know. It's about 5 by 8 inches, and has a week across two pages, with hourly time slots. So it would be useful. While Google Calendar has worked pretty well for day stuff, my ToDo lists do drop off the face of the earth from time to time. Sometimes they have done well for me, especially in "do all this in one day" scenarios. Making ToDo's for Ross has helped a little for him. My most effective innovation in organization this year has been the adoption of a packing list for most trips. I do them digitally so I can re-use and borrow from old ones. They do help! Also, got Flickr. Been updating.
Goal: No associated goal, really. Keep it up, try to do better with ToDo lists, keep my Flickr going.
Travel: A-
Went a lot of places!
- Florida: Went in January, did the theme parks in Orlando and diving in the Keys, including staying at Jules Underwater Hotel, which is a sort of once in a lifetime SCUBA experience. Swam with manatees, swam with dolphins.
- Erie, PA on business... I took a lot of business trips this year. My undergrad assistant and I took a few trips to visit Eriez. I fell through the ice on Lake Erie, and we went to an indoor water park, which was actually quite fun.
- Hawaii: I went to Waikiki on business, too. Twist my arm, right? I took a side stop in Maui with mom to visit Uncle O, and stayed with him. We ate healthy food and planted some trees. In general, awesome.
- Rochester, NY: I also took a business trip to Rochester to give an invited talk at Xerox... Cool!
- Manhattan and Brooklyn, two trips: I had one trip early in the year, staying with the Knutsons and RSR, for Miranda's birthday. We karaoked for that. It was also Mike of Ohio's birthday, we went to dinner and saw The Little Mermaid on Broadway! I also helped picked out a new washer and dryer. Vio and I went to New York to visit in the summer too. We were there to hang with the Knutsons, but it was a tough time for them so we stayed out of their hair for a portion of the time just going to museums and the like.
- Seattle and SF: In October I went on a business trip to Seattle with Trash Track. They kept us busy but I did get to see Sulu and Peter, and force them to dine at the Space Needle. I got a few days at home in San Francisco on that trip, too. Did the Platinum Tour at the California Academy of Sciences with my dad. Took several trips to Connecticut to visit Ross's family, of course, including Thanksgiving, and one trip out to Gate Island.
- San Francisco for the Holidays: I did two holiday trips, one over spring break time, and one just recently for the Xmas stuff.
Goals: I didn't leave the country this year. That's going to happen this year pretty rapidly. I did not go to any National Parks. I particularly want to see Yellowstone. I think I could make that happen this summer. So, Yellowstone is my goal for this year.
Work/School: B
Work has been going well overall. I did work pretty hard in good spurts. I took a class in the spring which did kill my productivity, but I got an A in the class. My summer was a little fallow. This last semester has been going pretty well. I've been working on papers for more than one project. Trash Track has been exciting, but frustrating at times.
Goals: Focus more. Create clearer daily goals for myself in an attempt to increase productivity. Dally less in the morning.
Well, overall, I give myself a decent grade for 2009. I don't have particularly high hopes for 2010, since it should be thesis time for me and that will eclipse a lot of my other goals. Happy New Year!!!