2009 Goals Update

As you may be aware, I wrestled with "New Year's Resolutions" but set some goals for 2009, all of which would be marked improvement (at least in quantity) over 2008. http://listimosa.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-years-resolutions.html

In short, my goals were as follows:

• To watch five (5) films in the movie theater.
• To read six (6) books.
• To shoot 1,000 exposures of photography for artistic purposes (excepting snapshots).
• To run 750 miles.
• To publish two (2) articles.
• To double my per-month savings as compared to 2008.

Work has been very busy in 2009, so my time has been limited. I think more regular hours may be coming soon. I still have some work to do but am pleased with the results on these so far. Some things fell to the side though -- we still have not mailed our holiday letter.

I watched two (2) films to give us Saturday night plans, which we almost never had during our marathon training. Having watched Slumdog Millionaire in 2008, we have two (2) more Best Picture nominees to see. When I was much younger, I would watch four (4) or all five (5) nominees almost every year.

I have read nothing of leisure so far. This one might be the most difficult for me to accomplish, especially since I got out of the habit, having read zero (0) books cover-to-cover in 2008. I think David Sedaris's most recent book will be my first try. I've been saving it. I'll be able to read it quickly but I won't want to finish it.

I have shot more than two hundred (200) exposures already and think that this one will be easy. A recent trip to D.C. and some photography assignments that have spurred further creativity have helped.

Keeping up with the running since our marathon, we have had a long run every Sunday along the lakefront despite the temperatures. With a second run most weeks, I have covered seventy-seven (77) miles as of today, with the longest run so far being fourteen (14) miles. I'll need to pick it up and run more than twice per week to hit my goal, but I think that the the effort has been pretty good given my schedule and the weather.

I have not written any articles but I have actively been trying to come up with a topic for the first one. I will be giving a presentation for work later this year and might develop an article topic out of that.

I met the savings goal for January, but our property tax will be due soon (and we do not escrow), and I suspect that we will owe some federal taxes in April.

I hope your resolutions and goals are going even better.