Mid-Year Evaluation of 2009 Goals

Well, my 2009 resolutions have all gone to shit. Well, most of them, anyways. What started out strong, faltered by March. Isn't that what they say happens to most people? You take off with this running start, going full-steam ahead, sure that you're going to finish the race, only to fall flat on your face when you're struggling for your breath and your still have 2 laps to go?

So it's now June 2009..... half-way through the year, and time to take a hard look at just what I have (and have not accomplished). Time to evaluate if the goals I started out with are the same things I need to be thinking about for the remaining 6 months of the year.

The goals I set for myself in 2009 were:

• Set up automatic savings (10%) for me and for Kwabena (5%): Well, I was pretty successful at this initially....until other expenses and desires surfaced. I think it all started with some concert tickets that I shelled out a few hundred dollars for. (Although, let me just say, it was WORTH going to see Coldplay last month! And The Fray's concert is in less than 2 weeks!!). Regardless, what I found happening is that I would stick these purchases on my credit card, and then when payday rolled around, I would cancel the automatic deposit just to ensure I had enough money to pay off the credit card. What a cruel, vicious cycle this is. First of all, it took away from my automatic savings. Secondly, putting anything on the credit card started a cycle of charging items, which was also another goal of mine (i.e. not to charge....).

• Eliminiate credit card use, and use cash only. I was rocking this one early on.....It really kept me honest. If I went into a store and couldn't afford more than what was in my wallet, then I compromised on what I would actually buy. Now I am back into the habit of just putting whatever in my basket, and paying either with cash, or with credit card or bank card. NOT GOOD. I hate this type of spending. It makes me feel out of control of my money. Starting this week, however, it's back to cash. I really need to once again learn how to live comfortably off of the cash I have in my wallet for 2 weeks until payday.

• Create a long-term debt reduction plan: Again, something that faltered because of using credit cards and giving in to temptation; I wasn't able to create much extra money to even pay down any debts (or rather, prevent new ones from cropping up!).

• Pay off my car: Yep....add this one to the list of things there were going soooo well in the beginning, but again, because of things that came up, and using my credit card, I ended up not having that extra $300 a month to pay extra on my car. If I were to get back on track, I believe it I paid $320 a month extra at this point, I could possibly still get it paid off by December. However, due to some extra things that have come up (will explain further down), I don't even think that will be possible to come up with the extra cash.

• Re-adjust 403(b) holdings to put 30% into bonds and 70% into stocks. I decided that I like a little risk ;). So I'm leaving 100% of my money in stocks right now. Besides, considering that stocks are down, why move that money out of stocks when they're low? Then it only solidifies that there will be no way to recoup those loses.

• Create will, durable power of attorney, and other estate planning documents by April 2009. Um.....okay.....what's the hold up here? It's already June 2009, and I'm 2 months overdue to fulfill this goal. Better get 'ta crackin'.....

• Kiss Kwasi at least once a day. I have totally failed at this one. To be honest, I'm just not that interested in kissing. I've got this weird freakist thing where his mouth and my mouth have to be totally clean, and if there's even a hint of nastiness or food, fugetaboutit. Will a peck suffice??

• Go out to dinner or dancing with Kwasi, alone, at least once per month. I haven't fulfilled this one, either. But I do have to say that we've been doing more family activities, and that's been just as cool and bonding! Just this past weekend, we went to see a Nascar race (read about our experience here) in Dover, Delaware. And the weekend before was Memorial Day, and we went to a couple cookouts. And the weekend before that we went to the Andrews Air Force Bast Air Show (our first time), which was awesome. All that family time is unusal for us! So it's been feeling pretty good. I still say that we should do some "just he and I" dates, because honestly, we don't do that anymore.

• Take a photography class. I think I decided that I will skip the photography class and just get some books. But looking at it now, I think the better experience will be joining a new class and meeting new people, and learning face-to-face. Yes, it will be more expensive, but more thrilling. I will look into it.....

• Sign up for swim classes with Kwabena. Well, I did this! Okay, before you get too excited, I signed up, but if you recall in my previous bullets, all the activities we've been doing on the weekends?? Yeah--those activities totally hogged our weekends, so out of the 6 swim sessions he was supposed to have, we only attended 2! What a waste of money......I also signed him up for a gym class, that introduces 2-5 year olds to sports. The first 2 classes we attended. Again, weekend activities crowded our schedule, and we only made 2 of the 6 classes. That was $80 down the drain.....

• Take a CPR class. Oh, I forgot about this one! I forgot that I was supposed to do this. Better get started looking a class.

• Read at least one book every 2 months. I have totally kicked ass on this one!! I have done even better than one book every 2 months. I probably have cranked out 1 book per month. I get a lot of reading time on the shuttle. I also do Books on CD. Sometimes I will be reading a book during times away from the car, and listening to one in the car on the way to work. I find that when I surround myself with stories of other people's lives and problems, it gives me an outlet into another world. I have always felt this way about reading. The books I read also give me different perspectives on life that I haven't considered before.

• Take a class on how to start a business. Haven't done this, either. In fact, I haven't done much sewing at all in the last couple months. After I made those carriers for the local arts & crafts store (which all 6 have been sitting there for a while now....), I had no desire to make them. I wasn't marketing or trying to pull in orders. I think I also became distracted by life. Time to get back on that track. I think I'll pull the carriers from the arts & crafts store, and put them online, maybe Etsy. It might be more successful because I can lower the price. That arts & crafts store takes 35% commission! Marking up your products are the only way to make a profit, but the markup kills people's interest.

• Approach at least two businesses re: selling my carriers. As I said previously, I have my carriers at a local arts & crafts store. They aren't selling :( I think I may try a new strategy.

• Develop a marketing plan. Haven't bothered with this yet.

• Manage my sugar intake. My last labs were the same: 6% A1C. Not bad. But not good. Still slightly abnormal. And I know I hadn't been making an effort in the previous 3 months prior to having the latest labs done. However, I am now on Week 2 of healthy eating. I haven't had any junk food, sugar, cookies, cakes, etc. Oops--I lie. I got an ice cream from Dairy Queen this weekend, but it was a small one, whereas in the past, I would have gotten a large ;) Anyhow, I'm still aiming for an A1C of 5.5%!

• Obtain weight of 150 lbs. Well........funny about this one, really. At the start of the year, I was 158, and I believe I got down to 152 pounds during these last 6 months. But guess what? I'm pregnant! I'm now 12 weeks along, and have put on about 7 pounds. My starting weight was 154, so I'm now at 161. I do feel a little more uncomfortable this time around with the big belly. After being heavy and getting slim again, I have a new appreciation of being slim. Getting big again is a little worrisome. Thus the reason for the controlled sugar and junk food. But, considering that I'm on the same weight gain track that I was with Kwabena...I'm just scared that I'll gain 60 lbs again. It took 9 months to get that extra weight off after he was born. I just don't want to have to do that again. The bright side is that at least I have proven to myself it can be done. But still........ If I can keep junk food cravings on the low, then I will hopefully keep my weight gain no more than 30 lbs, or 35 at the most. We shall see! I guess that is my new goal for this year: Keep my pregnancy weight gain to no more than 35 pounds.

• Do cardio 3x per week and Weight training 2x per week. I had been doing very good with this prior to pregnancy. So, I guess you can say I achieved this :) Now that I am pregnant, I need to maintain this. I'll admit it feels a little uncomfortable being in the gym while I'm growing larger and larger. I felt healthy, in great shape, and then to have people see me getting bigger (albeit for a good cause), it still feels like I'm losing my "sexiness." So, I guess I will still go to the gym occasionally, but try to focus on walking, and lifting light weights at home. The main thing is that I want to keep up my program so that when I deliver, I can jump right back into my usual routine of push-ups, sit-ups, etc. (And just when I was up to 25 boy push-ups, I had to stop!)

• Evaluate at least 3 certification programs. I really haven't focused on this at all. Sometimes I wonder what in the hell I am doing, career-wise. Just collecting a paycheck? Probably. But, it is what feels comfortable right now. I will evaluate this later.

So there you have it--where I stand as of June 3, 2009. Definitely have to rein in the spending, and get back to using cash only (which kept me sooo honest).