Eleven in '11 Update

So, how's my "Eleven in '11" going so far???  Or my "Thirteen in '11", if you prefer...

Let's see...

1. Paint my bathroom - I've been wanting to do this since shortly after I moved. I have yet to decide on a color, but I would like to commit to doing this this year.

No progress on this as of yet...but I do have a color swatch sitting in my bathroom...I'm trying to decide if it's a good color or not...I'm leaning towards "no".

2. Have professional pics made of me & Dylan - When I was generating this list in my head, this was on the list. However, I've already taken strides to have this completed! My sister introduced me via Facebook to a photographer friend of hers. I fell in love with her pictures and in January she was offering FREE sessions. How can I pass that up? So, we are having pics done NEXT SATURDAY! I'm beyond excited!

Well, this hasn't happened yet.  The lady who is to do the pictures has been sick! :(  But, we are hopefully going to have this taken care of in a couple of weeks!

3. Watch Casablanca, The Godfather & Cool Hand Luke - I have been intending to watch all three of three movies for a while...and actually have The Godfather & Cool Hand Luke on my DVR. So, I'm well on my way!

Even with a lazy snow day, I have not watched any of these movies yet.  But, hey...I've got 11 and 1/2 months left, right???

4. Take a trip with Dylan, somewhere - I'm hoping to repeat my September Caswell trip with my BFF's as we did last year...but I would like to take him somewhere...just us. I've already been thinking on one trip in my mind...just don't know if I'll have the $$ to do it this year! :)

Still in the hopeful planning stage...

5. Go to Boone - I didn't make it to Boone AT ALL in 2010...despite being very homesick at one point. So I WILL make a trip to Boone...once it warms up, because Boone is in the mountains. :)

Since Boone had blizzard like conditions last week (Appalachian State actually gave the students a "snow" day...which is unheard of), it's gonna be a while before this happens!

6. Begin a running/exercise program - I started Couch 2 5K this fall, but my greatest fears were not having time and the fact that it would soon be getting dark earlier - and our local park would be closing earlier. And that's exactly what happened. So, I'm hoping to get something started - something I will stick with.

No progress... *sigh*

7. Make better eating choices - I know that I need to make better choices with my eating. I can't continue eating like I do now and expect to remain healthy.

Again...no progress....this is depressing.  I still have Christmas candy in the house...need to finish eating that get rid of that.

8. Read my Bible at least Monday-Friday - This is one of those things that I do for a while, then fall off. I allow a lot of things to get in the way of spending time reading my Bible. I want to spend less time on the computer and watching TV and invest more time in reading my Bible.

Not doing this...yet

9. Along with reading my Bible, I want to have a quiet time DAILY - Another thing that I have a hard time keeping up with - especially on Saturday's & Sunday's.

Need to work on this, too...

10. Be more diligent in watching my finances - I hate paying bills and doing my checkbook. So I tend to put it off. I usually have a good idea of what's available...but by keeping up with this better, I think this will help me to be better at spending my money and planning ahead.

I *think* I'm doing OK with this...of course, I remembered today that my vehicle property tax is due at the end of this month...so, I might not be doing as well as I had hoped.

11. Spend less time on Facebook, Blogger & Twitter while at work - I have a tendency to just "jump on" real quick anytime I need to do something on the internet that IS work related...and then I forget what I was doing for work. It has become a bad habit and I want to be a more focused employee!

HAHAHAHAHA!  Yeah right...

In all seriousness, I've always found that a decrease in my workload usually results in an increase in time spent on these websites.  I'm not saying that justifies it...but I think I do put my actual work first.

Still, I'd like to see myself looking for more productive ways to spend my time at work when the workload decreases.

And what about the extra two items that were inadvertantly left off??

Run a 5K - once I start my running and/or exercising program, I'll be more likely to achieve this goal for this year.

Go through the receipts/bills/statements/paperwork that needs to be filed/purged  - I actually did work on this A LOT today and have a huge bag of garbage and a huge stack of papers that need to be shredded or burned!  This really makes me happy!

So, I don't plan to do these updates often...maybe once a month just to see where I'm at.  I know I'm only a couple of weeks into the new year...so I'm not feeling defeated yet on the items that I haven't made progress on!  But, as I see every year...the months tend to fly by...so I need to get moving! :)

How I Roll

Have I ever mentioned that I write most of my posts in my head?  I roll things around...think about what I can post next...write posts while I'm driving or cleaning the house or whatever.  It works well.  Well, except when I finally put pen to paper (or fingers to keys, as the case may be) and realize just how bad my post is in print.  In my head, it's funny or gripping or truly thought provoking.  But when the words finally hit the screen, they just come out looking like "blah, blah, blah".  And inevitably I just open a new page and read someone else's awesome post on how they are being stalked by a magazine.  Magazines never stalk me.

The other problem with writing in my head and not on paper (or computer screen) is that sometimes I forget what was supposed to go in the post.  Like my Eleven in '11 post the other day...do you know how long it took me to write it?  I seriously had to edit because I kept referring to "yesterday", meaning New Years Eve and I FINALLY finished the post on Sunday - January 2.  And why did it take me TWO days to come up with ELEVEN things I wanted to do in 2011???  Because I couldn't remember them all.  Which means, that some of those items weren't on the original list that I wrote in my head. 

Like the fact that I want to run a 5K in 2011.  I EVEN REFERRED TO BEGINNING A RUNNING PROGRAM and still didn't remember that one of my 11 things was supposed to be "run a 5K".  OR the fact that I want to go through all of the receipts that I have in my closet, on TOP of the filing cabinet and throw away what doesn't need to be kept and file away the statements/receipts that do need to be kept.  Because I seriously have Wal-Mart receipts from 2+ years ago.  And not the Wal-Mart receipt for a small appliance that I bought there...no, I'm talking receipts for groceries, gas receipts, restaurant receipts...basically anything I purchased.  I discovered this the other day when I was trying to find the receipt for my laptop that is not working right. 

I am not going to back and edit my Eleven in '11.  It's just so frustrating that I come up with these awesome posts in my head...but then they don't ever translate like I want to my blog.

So, I guess now I have Thirteen in '11...which doesn't have the same ring as Eleven in '11...but whatever.

And, I also thought I heard the garbage trucks again this morning at 6am...but I stayed in bed this time and didn't go wake up Dylan to take the garbage to the street.  Because I'm an awesome Mom like that.  And because he would've been right again...because the garbage didn't actually run until 7ish, like it's supposed to.  If you're not sure what I'm referring to...click here.

Yup, this is how I roll in the blog world.

Eleven in '11

Well, after a very whiney post on New Year's Eve, things quickly turned around.  As the day went on I realized that my pink eye was not nearly as bad as the case I had a couple of weeks ago.  So, I decided to proceed with my day as originally planned!  We got the Christmas decorations put away, I went to play with the niece & nephew and brought in the new year with good friends and a lot of laughter! :)  The only thing I didn't get done was my 2010 recap...which I've decided to forego.  I will tell you that my favorite 2010 memory was our family beach trip to Kure Beach.  The very close second is my September beach trip to Fort Caswell.  Do you see a trend??? ;)

Anyway, I've decided in 2011 to be a little more goal oriented.  I guess that's a resolution...but I'm not calling it that!  But I'm not too terribly ambitious with this task...which may be good for a potential success! So, I decided to come up with "Eleven in '11".  These are eleven things that I would like to accomplish in 2011.

1.  Paint my bathroom - I've been wanting to do this since shortly after I moved.  I have yet to decide on a color, but I would like to commit to doing this this year.

2.  Have professional pics made of me & Dylan - When I was generating this list in my head, this was on the list.  However, I've already taken strides to have this completed!  My sister introduced me via Facebook to a photographer friend of hers.  I fell in love with her pictures and in January she was offering FREE sessions.  How can I pass that up?  So, we are having pics done NEXT SATURDAY!  I'm beyond excited!

3.  Watch Casablanca, The Godfather & Cool Hand Luke - I have been intending to watch all three of three movies for a while...and actually have The Godfather & Cool Hand Luke on my DVR.  So, I'm well on my way!

4.  Take a trip with Dylan, somewhere - I'm hoping to repeat my September Caswell trip with my BFF's as we did last year...but I would like to take him somewhere...just us.  I've already been thinking on one trip in my mind...just don't know if I'll have the $$ to do it this year! :)

5.  Go to Boone - I didn't make it to Boone AT ALL in 2010...despite being very homesick at one point.  So I WILL make a trip to Boone...once it warms up, because Boone is in the mountains. :)

6.  Begin a running/exercise program - I started Couch 2 5K this fall, but my greatest fears were not having  time and the fact that it would soon be getting dark earlier - and our local park would be closing earlier.  And that's exactly what happened.  So, I'm hoping to get something started - something I will stick with.

7.  Make better eating choices - I know that I need to make better choices with my eating.  I can't continue eating like I do now and expect to remain healthy.

8.  Read my Bible at least Monday-Friday - This is one of those things that I do for a while, then fall off.  I allow a lot of things to get in the way of spending time reading my Bible.  I want to spend less time on the computer and watching TV and invest more time in reading my Bible.

9.  Along with reading my Bible, I want to have a quiet time DAILY - Another thing that I have a hard time keeping up with - especially on Saturday's & Sunday's. 

10.  Be more diligent in watching my finances - I hate paying bills and doing my checkbook.  So I tend to put it off.  I usually have a good idea of what's available...but by keeping up with this better, I think this will help me to be better at spending my money and planning ahead.

11.  Spend less time on Facebook, Blogger & Twitter while at work - I have a tendency to just "jump on" real quick anytime I need to do something on the internet that IS work related...and then I forget what I was doing for work.  It has become a bad habit and I want to be a more focused employee!

I'm thankful this year for a new beginning and am actually looking forward to 2011 and what it has to bring for me, my friends & my family! :)

Happy New Year!