2010 Goals: February Progress

I set specific goals for 2010 so here's an update on February progress.

1. I read 12 books this month, raising my yearly total to 21. I'm a little ahead of where I thought I would be, particularly because February is a short month. I went to the library used book sale, which is hit or miss, and totally hit. So I've got big stack of books just waiting for me.

2. My writing group planned a meeting in February that was pushed back because one of our members is off to a writer's retreat, and we will reschedule for later in the spring. Which gives me more time read Stephen King's On Writing, which I found on my bookshelves but have not read yet. Since last month, I've started and stopped writing a few times. I'm not committed to any one project or idea right now. Which gives me lots of room to explore, but for now, those random ramblings haven't developed into anything.

3. Submit... This I still have not done yet.

4. Blog regularly — this I am doing. This is my 28th post of the month, which means I am more on my way toward my goal of 200 blog posts this year. I have been a blogging fool this month. I'm tickled when someone tells me they read my blog, or when they tell me someone else reads it.

5. This month I participated in a 3.6 mile walk to raise awareness and money for treatment for eating disorders. It was an important cause, not too far from where I live, cheap ($10), and started at 11am, so it was pretty warm outside, a February success! So I'm halfway to my goal already! I'm also thinking about putting a walking team together for Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, June 5, 2010. If you're interested, email me or leave me a note in the comments.

6. This month I ate vegetarian 87% of the time, which is below my goal of 90%. I did expand my cooking repertoire by making Indian Samosa Casserole twice. The second time I threw in half a can of chick peas for additional protein and it was very good. My Heart's Desire enjoyed this also. He made a yogurt/garlic/dill sauce and sliced cucumbers to go with it, the perfect accompaniment!

I also made Pasta Yum, which is the Hurry Up Alfredo recipe my mom shared with me, modified with only 1 tsp of mustard and broccoli and sun-dried tomatoes added in. The recipe is so strange, while I was making it I wondered if my mom was punking me. It ended up tasting incredibly good! The sauce doesn't taste like alfredo but it is so yummy! My mom promised I would not have to order a pizza after making this dinner (polenta, I'm looking at you) and she was right! My Heart's Desire worked really late that night and had his lunch leftovers for dinner at his office so he didn't try it. When I make Pasta Yum next time, he can't watch.

7. This month the only new thing I did was try the Thai Eggplant at my favorite Thai restaurant, instead of ordering one of my two favorites, Pad Thai or Chicken Panang. It was the first time I'd ordered anything different and I've been going there for years. Also, this month was the Snowpocalypse! which shut down the city and made doing anything almost impossible. Hours and hours of snow shoveling was new to me, as was the subsequent backache.

8. Seeing friends. This month I did not see friends very much and did not meet my goal of seeing friends at least once a week. Two of the weekends I was snowed in and unable to leave the house without a snow shovel. My Heart's Desire and I had also planned to babysit the cutest twins in the universe, but everyone in their house had a bug so we wisely stayed away.

9. Fun with My Heart's Desire was pretty low-profile this month. We did have several evenings of movies, popcorn (+ junior mints in mine, of course), and a roaring fire. He recently mentioned that DC has girls roller derby (three home teams, who knew?) so maybe we'll round up some people and witness a bout.

10. Photo taken of My Heart's Desire and I? Nope.

11. Bonus! It's All Relative. My dad and stepmom were in town for a day and we got to hang out. It was great to see them! Everyone in my immediate family lives 2,000 - 3,000 miles away, which means I don't get to see them very often. It also means that's very special when we do get to spend time together.