Time to review what I accomplished on my goal/to-do list for 2017! It was certainly a crazy year, so much different than the year before for both John and I. Here I sit on New Year’s Eve wondering where the heck the year went, probably like a lot of people.
This was the plan for 2017
- Read 25 books. Nope. I read 12. I ended up just so tired at night that I wasn’t doing a lot of reading near bedtime, which is when I normally like to read.
- Be more of an activist for the environment. I am still so, so, so concerned about the direction our country is taking in terms of the environment. I can’t even tell you. I did participate in a climate change march. I bring my own water bottle to counter service eateries so as not to buy bottled water. John has started asking for no straws in drinks when we go to a table service restaurant, which I need to remember to do as well. Plus, I have been working on my pollinator garden. I saw more bees and butterflies this year, and with our water feature added, there are even frogs! I had my garden certified as a wildlife habitat since I meet all of the requirements. It’s small, but if we all did just a little, it adds up.
- Build something. I didn’t really build anything like I had planned, which was a piece of furniture. So much of my time was swallowed by the businesses. However, I did paint and recover a chair and did more with the garden beds.
- Get back to a structured lifting program. This was a big fail. I exercised a lot with walking and biking, but no lifting program. I do have to say that I am regularly lifting heavy boxes with the biz, so there is some functional fitness. Budget kept me from joining a gym.
- Grow the businesses. Slogging away at this. I spent a lot of this year laying the groundwork and some of that is bearing fruit now and I’m set up for some good things in 2018.
- Do more meal planning. Not really. We plan some meals, but not like I had planned. John prepares a lot of our dinners, which is nice. He is the pizza man for pizza Fridays 😀 . We did get the Instant Pot, which is going to play a bigger part in meals. It sure makes cooking quinoa, oats, rice and such pretty easy and makes for good bulk cooking.
All in all, 2017 was both what I expected and completely not. I bit off not more than I can chew, but certainly I had a very full plate. I’ve chosen my word for 2018 and I need to set up some goals for the year.
have a safe and happy New Year!
Happy new year! My daughter brought up to me not asking for straws at restaurants, so now we both try to remember to do that. Every little bit helps.
It does. Straws are one of those things you forget about how wasteful they are. It’s hard to remember, though.
I would be interested in learning more about how got certified as a wildlife habitat? Having a pollinator garden sounds interesting too. From the end of February through mid December I grow roses here in Orlando, Florida. I also started growing cherry tomatoes in above ground containers so I do see some friendly bees around during the growing seasons.
It’s really a self certification. There is a list of items than you need to have on your property and then you can be eligible to get a certificate. https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife/Certify
Well, it looks to me like you did pretty well in 2017, its better to aim at the bulls-eye and come close than it is to aim at nothing and hit what you’re aiming at!
I love your environmental activist goal. That’s an excellent one! I used to volunteer a lot and I am really hoping that I can do that with Logan when he’s a little bit older. Doing beach clean ups with SOLV (a group in Oregon) is a good one!
You had a lot going on Lori & you done good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! xoxoxo
I think you did a commendable job on your goals, Lori – especially considering how much changed up in your life this past year! I agree with you that if we all can do a little to help the environment it will add up to good things for the planet. I get so much use out of my coffee go-cup and my water/iced-coffee go cup, it makes me feel like I’m contributing at least a tiny bit. Now if I could only get the folks at the office to stop using plastic cups at the water cooler 🙁
Here’s to a great 2018!
You had a big year with the business, and it’s OK if other stuff didn’t quite materialize. I’m impressed with how much you did!
I have hard plastic straws that I use at home, but not gonna lie, I love straws and will get them when I get a drink at a restaurant. Sigh.
Considering what a weird year you had with both your jobs and everything else, I think you did pretty well on your goals for this year.
Mealplanning is my absolute time saver during the week. I plan it on Saturday, then order groceries on Monday, pick them up Wednesday after work and go to the market on Saturday for veggies, meat, chicken, cheese and fish. Saves me a lot of time not to think about what to eat every day and during the actual shopping.