I was very tempted to skip doing a check-in this month, what with it being halfway into the next month already and not having much good news to report for October anyway, but in the interests of keeping myself from getting even farther off track here I am. Since I didn’t set any specific goals in my last check-in, there weren’t any I failed to meet, but compared to what I had been doing in prior months, October was a slack-fest.

1. Weigh less and move more.

Definitely not, on both counts. I was stressed out about the mortgage process, and when I’m stressed, I eat even more than usual. Messed up, I know, but eating provides a lot of comfort to me in the short term. I didn’t gain a ton of weight as a result, though I sure didn’t lose any either. I made it to the gym only four times; lifting only 9 elephant equivalents in comparison to September’s 18.4. I chose sleep over the gym the week before we went out to Idaho because I was so very tired (another side effect of stress is not being able to shut my brain off at night). I did better with running than with the gym, getting out seven times, including the trail race.

2. Keep less and organize more.

I cannot think of one thing I did in this area. Not good.

3. Surf less and contribute more.

I did do some things here: completed and uploaded two projects for Distributed Proofreaders and proofed/formatted a page a day, on average, as well as adding 117 memorials and 164 pictures to Find a Grave.

Targets for November:

Since I’ve spent the first half of the month mostly just trying to get enough sleep to keep my immune system in shape to fend off the flu germs that are making their way around the office, and the schedule-disrupting Thanksgiving holiday looms ahead, I’m predicting November will be even more pitiful than October was when it comes to making progress toward my goals. Setting some mini-goals for the rest of the month might just keep it from being a complete loss.

1) Gym 4 times.
2) Run or bike or other aerobic exercise 5 times.
3) Fitter and/or free weights 2 times.
4) File condo paperwork.
5) Finish 1 DP project, proof/format a page a day, and add one memorial or photo a day.