25 Things: The Year in Review

Yesterday continued to be the most wonderful birthday in the world even after breakfast. I finished draft 4 of the book, got a massage, had a great bath, and went to The Melting Pot for dinner with Spousal Unit, where he showed that he really does listen when I talk about things, even if I feel stupid for wanting jewelry for my birthday (because it's so not me).

A blue opal necklace! (October's birthstone)

Anyway, that's not what I came here to talk about. I came to talk about my 25 things that I did in the last year (or tried to do). Lately, I've been trying to cut myself some slack, because things have been rough and my standards are always so high that they're asking me, "Dude, where are all the snacks?!" So I will go easy on myself when interpreting whether something was accomplished or not.


1. Take a creative class - painting, writing, etc. - I'm counting this even though the "class" I took was free - I still created a pendant for myself.

2. Bake something extra-difficult. Then make other people eat it. Because I'm evil. - This was Kaelin's pigs-in-mud birthday cake.

3. Get a bike - if not for myself, for Spousal Unit. - Well ... we have a bike. It just isn't in working order. Still, goal accomplished.

4. Volunteer somewhere - like a children's museum or an animal shelter. - Did not happen. Sad face.

5. Take Spousal Unit to Mall of America, as he's never been there. - Also did not happen. It was a crazy-busy summer.

6. Read a book about quantum physics. - Nope.

7. Finish the end of the novel, by the end of the year, so that I have a complete draft to rip to pieces, rearrange, and rewrite. - Done. Like, forever ago.

8. Check off steps 1 through 6 of my revision checklist. (Not as big a goal as it seems - I'm already halfway toward most of them.) - Done.

9. Write at least 200 words a day for the novel, starting November 1. I'm totally serious about this thing. - I didn't achieve this every day (nor in November), but some days I wrote more, and I got into a good habit of working on the novel every day. I'm pleased.

10. At least prepare a letter and the first chapter to go out to a publisher. - Done. I am awesome.

11. Get a kitty. - Two kitties acquired. Level up.

12. Go to Germany again. Or somewhere else awesome - I'm not picky. - Nope, nope, nope. Travel seems to be my main barrier here.

13. Mod Podge/paint a bookshelf. - Done. It's ugly, but it's done.

14. Go to Aztalan with Spousal Unit. - Did it.

15. Knit socks for myself. - I knit one ... but in the spirit of being good to myself, I'm going to give myself 3/4 of a point for good intentions.

16. Save a predetermined amount of money. - Done.

17. Visit three Madison museums - the first on my list is the Mustard Museum. - Did it. Went to the Mustard Museum, the historical museum, and the Chazen (even though we were only there to hear music, I think it still counts).

18. Finish all of the quilt squares and sew them together. (This doesn't mean finishing it, as it will still need a border.) - Yep.

19. Continue to exercise regularly. - Nope. Running is on hold, and I'm trying to get into a yoga routine, but it's slow going.

20. Reach a point where I do not expect to experience physical pain on a daily basis. I've given PT a shot; next up is massage and a chiropractor. - Pain isn't daily anymore! It's still more frequent than I'd like, but this is progress.

21. Continue to see the shrink. - The shrinkage has gone well.

22. Get my tattoo. This includes figuring out exactly where I want it, and how much of it I want to get at once. - Hasn't happened yet. It's on the way soon.

23. Go to a concert. I don't care what kind - indie, jazz, classical, Irish - but it has to be live, and it has to be more than just one person making musical noise in a room I happen to inhabit. I miss live music. - I went to two concerts this year, Shen Yun and The National!

24. Try to make music of my own again - as in, practice and become somewhat proficient again. I will pick between mandolin, piano, and flute. - Did not happen, and I think I'm saddest about this one. Music is great.

25. Research hunting, and possibly go hunting - I'm thinking turkeys, or maybe fishing. More on this idea to come - if nothing else, I want to go to an archery range. - Nope as far as the hunting stuff. But I don't think I wanted to do this. It was an interesting idea, but as I had no true interest, that's fine. I should have hit up the archery range, though.

Overall, I achieved 16 and 3/4 of my goals, comparable to the previous year, when I achieved 17 of them. That's great, but one year I'd really like to have a passing grade on this. Maybe I'll continue the process of being easy on myself and set some gentler goals for the next year.

Or maybe I'll do like I always have and push myself to boldly go, even when it's difficult.