We are 50 days into 2017

Can you believe it??? It has been an absolutely hilariously hectic year so far. My goal is to get as much of the crazy out of the way early in the year, and to relax & coast for the rest of the year. That's how that works, right? ;-)

A special thanks to Sam for keeping us all in check & reminding us that the year is 50 days "old"!

A quick look back at my original 2017 goals post reveals the following optimistic goals for the year. Commentary & progress now added.


1) Financial - Figure out our housing situation, and get it all resolved (i.e. moved, job changes as needed) before school starts. - well, this one is mostly resolved, but some of the details are still a bit work in progress, as we finalize our move. But, lots of work has happened on this one. This has, in fact, sucked up the majority of our time in 2017 so far!

• Decide what to do with our Seattle house. Contingent upon location. - we have decided to sell, and provided notice to our existing tenants. Their lease ends in May (first of June), so our goal is to have the house sold by September. 
• Move! - I'm about 1/2 way through the packing, but we are still waiting on a final move date. TBD based on getting renters into this house, and the home repairs/updates we're doing. 
• Build/follow a 2017 "interim budget" (until I leave my job) & a 2017 "post-job budget", after.- This will now be a "post move/new house" budget, and then in September, hopefully a "no rental house" budget. I've mostly finalized the first, but haven't started the second. 
• Inventory & track our various stockpiles, so we reduce waste & minimize what we need to move. - Yes, I've been tracking our stockpiles & reducing purchases in anticipation of our move.
• Every month, come up with a new way to reduce what we need on an ongoing basis. Examples I've kicked around: find an alternative to all of the ziplock bags/plastic wraps we use for kid lunches. Put a container in the shower to save water for the yard. Collect rain in buckets. Create a compost bucket for the kitchen, so it's easy to compost food scraps. All of these are meant to be permanent changes, so not focused on one time savings. - Yes, in January I started using newspapers for cleaning mirrors. In February, I've been walking or riding my bike on errands. I have also been using newspaper for packing - why have I been recycling all of this time? 

2) Family - Spend more time together as a family! - we've done okay with this overall, but have been pretty busy for sure. 

• Do a minimum of one fun activity/month with the kids. This can be family puzzle night, cooking dinner together, board games, going out somewhere, etc.  - We've done well at making dinner together & playing many games of Uno. :-) 
• Be more present with the kids & M - play games, minimize computer time, exercise together, etc. - We're doing okay. I try & turn errands into opportunities for bike rides, which helps a bit. 
• Have two dates with M per month (one lunch, one evening)  - We've had a total of three dates so far this year, and plan to spend tomorrow together for a few hours while the kids are at a camp. 

3) Fitness/health - Lose 20 pounds, bringing my weight to 133. This may sound familiar, as it's also a carryover goal from last year! - So this is once again the area where I'm struggling. 

• Make running a consistent part of my life. Build & follow a training plan. - No. 
• Eat five servings of fruit & vegetables (combined) per day - I'm more in the range of 3/day.
• Complete 10,000 minutes of cardio - I'm at 10% of the goal, with nearly 14% of the year elapsed. January & February are never very strong months, due to the weather & daylight savings. 
• Complete 50 strength workouts. - I'm at 20% of the goal, so trending on pace/slightly above. Woohoo!
• Complete 50 stretching workouts. Make yoga a consistent part of my life. - I'm only at 5% of my goal, so way behind. 

4) Work/career - Improve my work life balance. - This goal is changing a bit to finding a lower stress job overall, regardless of career impact. I'd like to find a job where I'm learning a new hard skill, but within my larger company so I can retain my compensation package. 

• Keep better perspective at work/reduce stress (until I leave) - This has been hard, overall. We are in the middle of a full team restructure. The end goal, if I stay on my current team, will be positive, but the process has been challenging.
• Determine an end date for my job. - I'm currently applying for a new job, which will hopefully be less stress. It will definitely be little/no international travel, and no managing people in four time zones. Also, no operational on call work, with would be a huge improvement from where I'm at now. 
• Take time off from my job. - I plan to take a week off between roles? ;-) 

5) Personal/creative - Spend more time on myself/creative pursuits. - I've actually done "okay" with this. I've loved getting into baking more. It's definitely a peaceful pursuit for myself. 

• Learn a new skill. I'm thinking of learning a new language, but would be fine with anything: sewing, knitting, expanding my baking, etc. - I've been baking yeast rolls regularly now, and also tried two new cookie recipes, and a few additional new Persian recipes. 
• Make time for my friends. Do something social at least once per month. - I'm doing okay with this. Mostly finding time to hike & chat with a friend. I'd like to add in another activity. A potluck, a card/game night, something. Our new house has more space, so hopefully I can make this happen.
• Volunteer a minimum of 1x/month. - Yes! I've volunteered 2x so far, and volunteered to host a party for our school auction, which is pretty far outside of my comfort zone. 

All in all, things are going pretty well. . . . except for that pesky fitness. When I'm working out regularly, I'm taking care of myself. My own self care has fallen pretty far down the line of priorities while we've struggled with other significant activities this year. If I had to summarize what needs to change, I'd describe it as: greatly reduced treats/general stress eating, and greatly increased fitness. I'd like to sign up for a 5K, so I have a bit of momentum to start training for.

That's it for me! What about you? How are you doing with your yearly goals? Anything you are knocking out of the park? Or, anything you want to double down & refocus on??