Mid Year Check-In

Here we are with half the year over already. The older I get, the faster time flies. It feels like months are flying by as days.  My attempts to slow time have not been successful as of yet, though I'm gonna keep trying.

Around work everyone is readying for the new fiscal year. This includes updating goals and finishing reviews.  I figured since I don't have a work review to write, that perhaps I should check in on my annual goals. 

Let's have a look - shall we?

2013 Goals
1. Read more!
This I've done. We are in week 28 and I've read 25 books.  I'm on target to ready 45 to 50 books this year.  Some, I'll admit, at what I call "squishy" books - fast reads. Others have taken some time to digest.  For the second half of the year I'd like to add some personal growth or project management books.

2. Scrapbooking
My goal was to control my purchasing of scrapbook supplies.  In an attempt to "use what I have" I decided I was going to "stage" all my photos and then scrapbook them when I had time.  This meant taking a photo theme - say my birthday - finding the paper and embellishments that go with it and putting them all together for a future day of actually putting the page together. 

I've hit a bit of a wall with getting new kitties.  They are a bit too curious for the scrapbook room so in order for me to be in there I have to lock them in another room - which seems unfair. So I've not spent as much time in the scrapbook room as I would like.  That being said, they are older now and I've allowed them time in the scrapbook room. Once the initial curiosity wore off they were fine.  Though they found stuff to chew on that I wasn't happy about.

As for purchasing scrapbooking supplies. I think my real hobby is that I like to buy scrapbooking stuff.  I've done just okay with this goal and really need to focus on NOT buying.

3. Photography
This year so far I've gone out shooting just two times. Once with the PhotoGods to Georgetown and once with Meg-A-Roonie to Pike's Place Market.  I have, however, done a lot of shooting with the new kitties.  They're just so darn cute and wiggly.  I have a list of a couple of places I'd like to shoot still this year and really need to just get them scheduled so I do it.

4. Finances
Oh boy. I don't even want to discuss this one.  I've been saving through my 401K and what not. And have started a mutual fund. So that's good.  Still need to get the credit cards down and still need to save my 3 months worth of salary.  I'm about to be without a job again and really REALLY wish I had done this. I need to remember what this feels like to be without a job and worried about finances.  It's not a great feeling and I think if I tap into that I can push myself to save.  I've even been playing these little mind games with myself like, "If I get job XYZ I promise, PROMISE to save the 3 months."  Unfortunately I didn't get job XYZ, but I still think I can fill in "XYZ" with "ANY" and be in the same place.

5. Health
This is a good one. I'm back on WW and am really starting to think about what I'm eating.  I've found some interesting things out about my food nature and plan on writing about them later.  My specific goal was about jogging - or wogging as I like to call it - but that has been sorta derailed. My wogging partner broke her ankle and since she stopped, apparently I stopped. I need to just start all over and dig deep for that motivation.

6. Blog more.
Um...not sure if this is going well or not. I have a list of things I want to spend some time to write about and subsequently blog about, I just haven't sat down and worked on them.  So...watch this space.

There. My annual review is done. I'd give myself a 3 out of 5 cuz there is certainly room for improvement. But I've done something, and I think that always counts.