Resolution report

Well, two days into 2010 I do not yet have six-pack abs. Nor do I yet have laser vision or the ability to fly unassisted. Luckily, I still have 363 days in which to make these new year's resolutions happen.

Last year, I didn't make any resolutions. I only made a non-resolution: no international travel in 2009. And I am pleased to report that in fact, I did not leave the country this last year. I also made a non-goal in late 2008. Again I am happy to report that I have not run any marathons since making that non-goal. So I am 2 for 2 so far. With that success rate, I decided to dream big this year. Hence the abs, laser vision, and ability to fly. I can't wait to report back on those.

While we're looking at goals, let's check out my 100 long term goals and see how things are going. These 100 things to do before I die were originally posted here, last September.

1. Clean the bathroom.

I am happy to report that the bathroom has, in fact, been cleaned several times since September. But dang. It still needs cleaning.

5. Hang curtains in the living room.
6. Hang curtains over the French doors in the kitchen.

Done and done, ordered around the time I bought the living room rug. But did not arrive until November-ish due to [insert long boring story]... But finally done.

7. Live a year in Australia.

Um... Not done. (Just to remind you of how exciting and exotic the un-done goals also are.)

10. Make applesauce.
11. Can applesauce.

Done and done. With all our apples this year, we canned about 35 quarts of applesauce. So far, we haven't opened a single one of those bottles, because we are still eating apples from the two coolers plus a wagon full of apples in the garage. They have gone soft, and some a little wrinkly, but they taste really great. Did you know that red delicious apples actually have flavor if you store them for a while? I didn't either.

15. Plant a Bramley apple tree.
    

Not done, but Tim found a place to order Bramley apple trees in the US. He has placed an order. We can't wait until 2015 when we actually get some fruit! Then our applesauce will be so good that we will actually start consuming it, rather than just letting it decorate the shelves under the stairs.

19. Obtain a piano so I can play the piano again. I've been holding out, hoping that my parents would let me take the one they never use. But I've about given up on my parents.

I had to give up on my parents and get my own. Which is a pity. I was over at my parents' house this evening, and their beautiful grand is out of tune, and sounds a little tinny in the high notes. Tsk tsk tsk. Mom, you should have let me have it and care for it.

20. Appreciate my parents more.

Obviously still work in progress.

21. Organize the wood pile in the back yard.

Well I haven't done this, but after we fixed our fireplace fan Tim spent some time hauling wood a little closer to the house. We've burned through some of it. Burning counts as organizing for both wood piles and, eventually, my parents' garage.

22. Grind my own wheat.
23. Bake my own bread with my own ground wheat.

I haven't actually done this either, but my mom ground some wheat for me, and I have on at least two occasions substituted a cup of her freshly ground wheat flour for white in the bread machine. And it has turned out very nicely.

24. Paint the living room.

Done.

25. Get my grant funded.

Would be way cool if that were done, but at least I wrote and submitted the dang thing.

26. Vacuum the living room rug. The new one.
    

Totally done. And still needs doing.

28. Play more with my son. Unstructured play.

This morning, I read in a womens' magazine a suggestion to set a timer for one hour, and to play whatever your kids want to play for that time. If it's torture, the timer gives you a way out. What a good idea! But I think I may need to start with a half hour, because I know what my child will choose, and I don't think I can cram my body into that cardboard box for the full hour.

29. Publish a novel. Before I lose interest.
    

Shh! Don't tell -- I have written most of a draft. But it is still many rewritings away from share-able.

30. Publish more research papers. Before I lose interest.
    

Well, at least one more has been accepted since September. But I also did spend an entire December break without writing any more, as resolved in November.

32. Get my bike fixed.
33. Ride my bike to work.
34. In the snow.

This one is sweet. Tim actually took my bike in to be fixed for my birthday, soon after the original post was written. And then I rode it into work. And then two days later it had a flat tire. And then Tim took it in to be fixed again. And since then it has worked beautifully, right up until that day in December when I rode it to work in the snow and nearly killed myself.

37. Make my students laugh.
38. During the logarithmic differentiation lecture. (Good luck, eh?)
    

Well, they did laugh. For example, they laughed unexpectedly and uproariously that one time when I told them that although the answer was ugly, it had a sweet spirit. That was not during the logarithmic differentiation lecture, however, so I guess this one has to stay on the list.

46. Make my primary children laugh.

This one was easier. It could be done simply by calling them all by silly names, for example. Good thing I finished, as I am no longer going to be in the primary.

47. Read nonfiction. Work-related nonfiction counts.
48. Take the family to Shakespeare.

I kind of cheated by putting these two on the list, because I knew I'd be able to check them off easily. I can't get away without reading for work, and I already had purchased tickets to a family showing of The Tempest at the time of the original post. I strongly recommend putting goals you are sure to finish on your to do list. Makes you feel productive.

49. Purchase a loveseat.

Done. Thank you, Ikea.

58. Spend a winter weekend in Arizona.

Done. Thank you, HJ and Chickadeedee.

61. Walk often.
62. Go a week without using the car.
    
63. Support public transportation.

I do walk often, and I have definitely supported public transportation in the last three months, although maybe not with actual money since we're pretty isolated from public transit here. I am not sure if we went a whole week without the car. With my bike fixed, I went many weeks without driving it to work, but we still use it for grocery shopping and library visits, which happen about weekly.

64. Get a haircut.

I finally trimmed my own hair to my shoulders. It is still long enough for a ponytail, but not quite as ratty looking. I consider myself very brave.

70. Finish drying all those #*!@%$ plums.

Finished the plums in September. We are still eating plum fruit leather, but unlike the applesauce, it is going quickly. If our plum tree ever again produces as much fruit as it did this year, I would like to make even more fruit leather, because our stash won't last through January.

72. Reorganize my office.
73. And get new office furniture.
74. No matter how many people I have to call. Call them.
    

I submitted a work order for furniture on August 19th. It will finally be delivered on Tuesday. Wow. That's efficiency for you.

77. Submitted by That one kid's dad: List 23 more things.

Not done.

Wow. Are you still reading? I am amazed at your stamina. Here is a new one you may appreciate:

78. Write shorter blog posts.