One of the reasons I started this journal was to declare my goals and track my progress toward them. I did pretty well with that for the first two years, but for the goal year ended March 31, 2005 (I still write like an accountant sometimes, don’t I?) I pretty much sucked in a bad way. I haven’t even done a check-in since last November, and the one before that was in June. I figure there’s no reason to remind myself and everyone else on a regular basis of what I’m not getting done. But I want to get things done, and I did better when I was checking more often, so here I am, starting with a review of last year’s goals.

1. I weigh no more than 150 pounds and feel fit, strong, and healthy.

Well, no, actually, I don’t. Maybe my counterpart in bizarro world achieved these things, because I sure didn’t. I’m closest on the healthy part–I feel well most of the time, but not particularly strong and certainly not fit. And I’m not even going to discuss my weight right now.

2. I have read at least two books (or 500 pages) each month on average.

This is true. Not counting audios, which I don’t for the purposes of this goal, I read 24 books in the last year. Since one of them was Michener’s Alaska, which went on and on, I think that counts as better than barely squeaking by.

3. I have completed at least 9 quilts in the past year.

Oh, so close. I did eight: Circus Baby, Jerbet Quilt, Magical Mushrooms. Ark Quilt II, Cartoon Baby,ABC Spin, Alaska Quilt, and Jen’s Quilt. I did work on the ninth one, but I didn’t quite get it finished in time to count for 2004-2005.

4. I live in a clean and organized home.

As I did last year, I achieved the first part of this goal by paying Maria to come clean every other week. When she’s in vacation, like she is today, I revert back to ignoring the dirt for the most part. As far as organized, I didn’t do that well. I kept up with the magazines for a few months, but I’ve started to build up a clippings backlog again. I didn’t catch up in the photo album, but I did get all of 2002 and most of 2003 done, so I’m not as far behind as I was this time last year. There are still too many boxes of my stuff in the basement.

And now the forward-looking of our program. On March 31, 2006, the items in bold below will be true statements:

1. I weigh no more than 150 pounds and feel fit, strong, and healthy.

Yep, same as last year. If at first you don’t succeed … I had Mr. Karen take yet another set of before pictures a couple weeks ago. I intend for them to be the last set of before pictures ever. When I get to goal weight this time, I’m planning to splurge on a pair of custom-tailored pants, which I will wear 22 hours a day, if necessary, to remind myself to take maintenance seriously.

2. I’ve seen at least three live performances in the past year.

This is another way to feed my head. Now that I’m back in the habit of reading something other than magazines, I want to return to the theater. I have fond memories of having series tickets to plays when I was in school and going into Chicago to see shows with my mom when I was growing up. Lately, all I’ve seen is Cirque and Blue Man and Kansas shows. They’re good, but I want to see other things, too.

3. I have completed at least 9 quilts in the past year.

Another carry over. Do I really need a quilting goal? It’s not like I’m going to stop playing with fabric any time soon, goal or no goal. But I need at least one thing on the list that’s really fun and really easy, and this is it. I’d like at least two of this year’s quilts to be for the guild’s charity project, since I’ve been a member for two years and haven’t made any for them yet.

4. All my boxes in the basement fit on the shelves.

This is a lot more specific than I’ve gotten with the house goals in the past, but I want to set the bar low enough that I can get over it. I’m not going to ignore the magazine clippings and photo albums, but I’m not going to try to focus on them and the basement and painting all the bedrooms and so on all at the same time. I suppose I should add the caveat that I’m not going to fit my stuff on the shelves by taking Mr. Karen’s stuff off, either.

Okay. There you have it. A new goal year begun, and only 6 days behind schedule. I hope that’s not a bad sign. I refuse to believe that’s a bad sign.