Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Another list bites the dust

It is the moment I have not been waiting for, revisiting last year’s resolutions and grading the results. The bad news is I didn’t receive a passing grade. The good news is I don’t get left back and still get to graduate into 2008 and now have a whole year to improve these scores.

1. I will control my personal spending which means no new camera equipment over $500 and no longer having to steal money from savings to pay off my credit card bill (after March… Weddings are expensive, especially when they are your sister’s)
  • F : While camera equipment purchases were kept at a minimum credit card bills were not kept at a minimum.
2. I will run 1 mile a day, 5 days a week. I can do more then one mile, but I can do no less.
  • D+ : I accomplished this goal from 1/1/2007 – 4/2/2007, lost weight and felt great. Unfortunately I came down with a nasty cold, got out of the routine and never picked it up again. This same pattern is one I haven’t broken from in the past 5 years where my workout routine is thrown off by a bad cold and never picked up again.
3. I will take the GMAT this year.
  • F : I purchased the study guide and it’s still in plastic. The root of this issue is the lack of desire to go back to school. I know to avoid the proverbial glass ceiling I need to get my MBA but honestly; I think it is nothing more then a bunch of letters and a waste of time and money.
4. I will finish the Northshore Inline Marathon under 2 hours.
  • D : Although my finishing time of 2:28:52 was my worst time ever, the race was the most difficult and mathematically I improved tremendously against the field. If conditions were better I truly believe I would have broken the 2 hour mark.
5. I will drink 8 glasses of water a day.
  • C : I am ashamed not to get an A on this resolution. Such an easy thing to do with such amazing benefits and I was unable to accomplish this goal on a regular basis. I did so poorly one month that I got a kidney infection.
6. I will get back down to a size 14 and fill my closet up with 14s rather then with 12s and 10s I never stay in.
  • F- : Is an F-minus a real grade? I actually accomplished this goal prior to Thanksgiving and in celebrating the accomplishment gained every pound and then some between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
7. I will floss at least 4 days a week (everyday has never happened and been on the list for 10 years)
  • B : I gave up on flossing regularly and instead purchased one of those electric toothbrushes with the built in flosser so technically I’m flossing twice a day!
8. I will upload all my photos to the internet within 2 weeks of taking them and catch up on all the photos on my computer from 2004.
  • B : Even with a new computer loaded with Microsoft Vista, the most useless operating system ever launched, giving me major issues with all of my photo software I was still able to keep up with loading my photos onto Kodak Gallery (nee Ofoto) within 2 weeks. I experienced a few delays in the summer or I would have given myself an A.
9. I will finish at least 4 large scrapbooks and 4 small scrapbooks.
  • F : No excuses, I did not scrapbook the entire year.
10. I will apply sunscreen to my face every morning and use all the pretty scrubs and lotions to look and feel better rather then have them go bad in my cabinets.
  • A : Every morning without fail.
11. I will call a different friend every week and actually talk with them rather then just email.
  • F : I am a terrible, awful, horrible friend. I wish I had the time and energy at the end of the day to call friends. I am always concerned that a call is going to take 3 hours and I just don’t have that time.
12. I will read 2 books a month.
  • F : The more time I have in an airplane, the more I read. Without regular airplane time I need to find a way to get reading back into the schedule.
13. I will brush the dogs once a week.
  • D : The dogs hate being brushed and therefore I hate doing it. To make up for their lack of brushing they are getting groomed more frequently.
14. I will write on my blog at least 3times a week.
  • A : At least I did something right!
With how miserably I failed at my 2007 resolution list I will be approaching my 2008 list a little differently. Stay tuned…


7 comments:

LousyCook said...

It is possible to floss daily. I do it.

I used to floss twice a day actually. Once I went to the dentist for a cleaning and the hygienist asked me how many times a week I flossed, to which I replied "fourteen."

She then (somewhat surprised) said "you floss twice a day?"

And I said "No, I just wait until Sunday and then floss 14 times in a row."

Anonymous said...

Making a resolution? Grade: A+
Sticking to them? Grade A (you get better than 90%, at least!)
Admitting publically what you want to change in your life? Priceless.

My resolution this year? To talk (saying "No" and "hot" does not count)

Unknown said...

I think your problem is that your resolutions are too quantifiable. Be more vague, and then you can take liberties with the grading. For example, instead of saying "I will make fun of other people's shoes no more than twice a week," I would say, "I will try to stop being such a bitch." At that point, whether I made it or not becomes pretty much a judgement call, so I give myself an A and everybody wins. Except the people with the ugly shoes.

Vagablonde Bombchelle said...

Kira- I should have you talk to my co-workers and health coach! I truly believe vagueness is the key to accomplishing goals but they insist that these quantitative goals are necessary to achieve great things. As you can see with my 2008 list I have taken a tactic that I think you could too embrace; find goals that are both good for you and enjoyable (well, besides the lose weight thing).

Vagablonde Bombchelle said...

Lousy Cook: I think I would do much better with the floss 14 times consecutively, much easier to remember once a week and then count to 14. I am trying to develop a much better evening routine to include items beyond brushing my teeth (like washing my face, flossing, using night cream, stretching my quads and calves). "They" say it takes 21 days to make a routine habit... we'll see.

Vagablonde Bombchelle said...

Diane- I look forward to helping you with your resolution. I've been known to use words bigger then "No" and "Hot" (unless I'm at a singles bar and really drunk).

Anonymous said...

Hey - I don't remember "hot" or "no" from Filthy McNasty's.... but then I also don't remember how to get there.....

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