The year went pretty well where my goals were concerned. I completed more than I thought I would. I did not complete many of my travel goals, but I did get to travel more than expected. I did get to spend two weeks in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia (one week each). I am going to paste and copy the goals I made in early 2023 and comment on my 2023 progress in another print color.
Home Repair Goals ~
1) Replace the Roof ~ This is a very necessary repair. We hope to have it accomplished in the next month or two. We are getting quotes over the next week. Yes, we have a new roof!
2) Buy an Electric Fireplace and Finish Brickwork ~ My last project in the rec room is to complete the fireplace area and hopefully get that room warmer in the winter. It can get down into the 50's in there. Well, I did buy an electric fireplace at the thrift store and it works great. However, we had extensive plumbing work done this year and the pipes ended up coming down the outside of the wall. I am not sure what the future of that corner of our home is right now...so I did not paint the wall. Here is what it currently looks like.
3) Replace Bathroom Floor ~ The boys' bathroom has peeled up tile floor in one area and damage to the subfloor. I am hoping to get that repaired and the floor replaced this year. We might add in a new sink cabinet at the same time. We are booked to have a complete bathroom renovation in January. There were more problems and it just seemed better to gut the whole thing and truly be done. We have been waiting our turn to have the work done by a small business for some months now.
4) Paint One Wall of the Laundry Room ~ Okay, painting the laundry and basement walls has been on my list for two years now. So now I am making the task really small this year and saying I will only paint one wall. Hopefully, the momentum will kick in and I will get more walls done. This ended up being my son's "rent project" for December. He had a little help from my husband and me.
Self-Care Goals ~
5) Walk 800 Miles ~ I came within 20 miles of this goal last year. Maybe, I will pass it this year. Yes, I am right at 800 miles right now with a few more days to the year.
6) Read 23 Books ~ I read 18 books last year, and I have a little bit more time for reading currently, so I am hoping that I can read 23. I read 25 books this year!! A post on the books will follow soon.
7) Stretch and Strength rotation ~ I did manage to touch my toes pretty consistently last year. However, I noticed it can easily be lost, so I hope to continue maintenance and start working on holding on to my strength. The body stops just doing it automatically after the 40's. I have stayed pretty consistent with this goal.
8) Widen My Friend Group ~ My friend group is smaller and narrower than I wish it to be. I think the issue is that, as we transition away from homeschooling, some of our connections have been lost. Also, we have experienced many years of isolation due to raising such a special needs family that took us out of having time for or fitting in with lots of different social groups. Also, our special needs support group isn't the greatest fit. I am going to hang on to some of the people from it, but I am tired of the drama and not completely fitting in because I've been told a few times that "your family functions too well under the strain of raising special needs kids/adults" (comments such as this reveal some jealousy). I maintained current friendships and grew one much stronger with a monthly mom tea outing. I also made a new friend toward the end of the year with another nanny. We have gone out to lunch a few times now and communicate through text. I hope to grow that friendship more in the coming year.
9) Have a Game Night Party ~ This is a carryover from last year. I really want to have a fun game night and play the Victorian cobweb game and Saran Wrap Ball game. Also, a gingerbread house contest would be fun. Perhaps a 12th day of Christmas party? I am thinking about how to fit this in and with whom to share this fun experience. This one did not work out. I am keeping in my thoughts for the future. However, I did incorporate the plastic wrap ball game into family events, such as family birthday parties.
10) Catch Up on All My Blog Books ~ I think I am 4 or 5 years behind in my blog books. I plan to take some of my earnings from my nanny job and catch up these books. I use these as our family photo albums. Nope, maybe next year. The extensive plumbing we had done this year was very demanding with our money.
11) Organize Loose Photos ~ We still have boxes of photos from my childhood through the present day that really need to be organized and hopefully stored/displayed in a way that they can be enjoyed. Nope, didn't happen.
12) Cook My Way Through Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader ~ I tried to do this when the kids were young, but there were too many food allergies. Most of those issues have resolved now, so I am going to give it a go. This is a cookbook that complements the Mitford series. I highly recommend the book series if you like gentle Christian fiction. I started this project and decided to quit. All of the recipes felt like gateway foods to diabetes or a heart attack! I passed the book onto the used book store.
Global Citizen Goals ~
13) Reduce 365 Things From Our Home ~ I accomplished this goal and then some last year. I am going to continue to reduce more, but attempt to do it in a more ecological way. Unfortunately, giving to Goodwill often means the stuff ends up in a landfill, even if they are just overstocked on a perfectly usable item. I plan to donate more carefully. Also, this does not include the constant rule of one thing in and one thing out rule, which has been in place for years in our home. Yes, I just slid in with 366 things.
14) Drastically reduce plastic bags in our home ~ I hope to get down to having almost no plastic bags coming into the house. This is going to take some serious practice. We are also using compostable trash bags as well as reusable food storage bags, such as Ziploc Endurables. We made a vast improvement in reducing plastic. The worst area right now is grocery pick up from Target. I only do it a few times a month...but that still translates into five or six bags a month.
15) 52 Acts of Kindness ~ I heard someone say recently, "If everyone was just 10% kinder, imagine how pleasant our world would be." Now there is a motto to live by. I will be keeping a count of my bigger acts of kindness...beyond holding a door for someone or other moments of politeness. I am just bad at recording this. I dropped recording the goal in June, but had made it to twenty-seven.
16) Chemical-Free Household ~ I am not likely to get to 100 percent, but I am trying to transition us to use as many environmentally and family-safe products as possible. We mostly use Tru Earth and Method as well as homemade vinegar products. We only still have bleach (for occasional use), Clorox wipes (hope to start using the organic ones), Bartenders Friend cleanser (the stuff is miraculous) and carpet cleaner.
Travel Goals ~
17) See a New State ~ Arkansas, Michigan and Iowa are actually the closest. Also, we missed Vermont and Rhode Island on the last New England tour. (I have been to RI but others in my family have not.) Nope, not this year.
18) Go Somewhere by Train ~ Yep, this was on the list last year. Maybe this year. Yes, we did two trips by train. We went on a round trip to Universal Studios in Florida, and Rebekah and I took the train from Philadelphia back to Washington, D.C. this summer.
19) Visit a National Park or Site ~ Our country has so much to offer. We have seen some amazing things in the last few years. I (alone) got to visit the U.S. Naval Academy, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
20) See a New to Us City ~ This shouldn't be too hard a goal to obtain. Rebekah, David and I spent one lovely day in Louisville, Kentucky.
21) Take a Weekend Trip to Roanoke, Virginia ~ Rebekah is interested in their ballet company, and Roanoke is supposed to be similar to our own city (mountains, small city, liberal, artsy and four seasons of weather). We would like to check it out for her...and maybe even ourselves someday. Nope, this ballet company is no longer on her current list, so it fell by the wayside this year. Still hope to get there someday.
22) Visit Another Country ~ Hey, a girl can dream and we really didn't think we would get to NYC for Christmas at the beginning of 2022, but we made it at the end of that year! Canada would be the most likely place to go or a cruise to the Bahamas. Dreams... Not in 2023...but stay tuned. We have big plans in April of 2024.
Family Goal ~
23) Weekly Family Game or Movie Night ~ This has been a goal that we have successfully accomplished for a few years now, but it gets harder and harder as the kids' lives expand. I find it extremely beneficial to all of us, so I will continue to try to keep it a mandatory activity. We have done better at movie nights. Game nights are much more infrequent.
Blessings, Dawn
