2012 Goals: January Update

January has been a great getting started month.  I like having concrete goals so that I know how I'm doing.  I am feeling more like myself more and more.

Writing
1) I did not do a submissions mailing this month. That will have to happen in February or March.
2) My goals was to blog at least three times a week.  With 9 posts this month, I'm short.  The more I blog, the more I have to blog about. If there's anything you want me to blog about, just let me know in the comments.

Healthy
3) I did log all my workouts and found my thoughts shifting from, "I don't have time to do a full workout so I'll wait" to "Even a short workout is good stuff" and that helped change my mindset from not having enough time to workout to fitting in workouts when I can.  I've been a little discouraged about how slow I am.  This is kind of silly, but to remind myself that I have fitness achievements to be proud of, when I need a boost I wear my sneakers that have the tag from when I participated in the Philadelphia Half Marathon.

I prefer to workout in the morning but have been taking opportunities for workouts wherever I find them. I went for walks, outside and on the treadmill, did Yoga, and strength training (free weights and resistance bands).  My goal for the month was 20 workouts and I logged in 16.  I woke up with a cold over the weekend so I wasn't able to get in the last 4.  Still, I feel good about getting in 16.  In December I probably worked out 10 times.

Romance
4) My Heart's Desire and I did go on a date.  It takes a lot more effort, energy, and planning to go on dates since Babyface was born.  We did hire a sitter and went out on a Saturday afternoon.  Yes, afternoon.  I get up so early with Babyface that an evening out wouldn't be fun.  My Heart's Desire and I had a leisurely late lunch at his favorite restaurant and it was really nice.  We could have eaten anywhere and I would have been happy.  Unless Babyface is sleeping, it's hard for My Heart's Desire and I to sit down together and share meals. 

Community Service
5) I am collecting food to make a donation.  We went to Costco and got some peanut butter, tuna fish, pasta, and other good stuff.  Now all I have to do is put it together and drop it off.

Parenting
6) I am continuing to take parenting classes.  Our small group has been together since September and it's been wonderful to connect as mothers and to see all of the babies (all of them were born in June and July) grow together.  The teacher is an expert in infant movement and really encourages us to let babies learn in their own way and in their own time.  It's really helped me not stress out about milestones. 

The American Heiress

Daisy Goodwin's The American Heiress can be summed up in one word: meh. This book could have been good, but wasn't. It was impossible to care about the spoiled title character.  I was more interested in her maid's romance but that story was told in unsatisfying fits and starts.  When I was in a MFA program, we were often encouraged to tell a story from another point of view.  Those exercises are included (a chapter by the heiress' hat maker) to the story's detriment.  Why did I keep reading?  Good writing. 

Pasta Yum

I was talking to a friend about easy weeknight dinners, and Pasta Yum immediately came to mind. It’s so good and really fast to make. My mom gave me the recipe, which my brother shared from Vegan Yum Yum. Though the ingredients are strange, together it is amazing.  Just don't let anyone watch you make it.

The sauce does not keep well, so there's no making a batch and using a little here or there. While this will produce leftovers, they're not as good as fresh. So if you're making it for two people, I'd halve the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 box pasta (I like fusilli or rigatoni, but whatever you have is fine)

½ - 1 bag of frozen broccoli

A handful of sun-dried tomatoes (if you don't have any, it's fine without)

1 cup soymilk (I use plain)
1/3 cup cashews
¼ cup nutritional yeast (buy in bulk section at hippie store or Whole Foods, since you need so little)
3 T low-sodium tamari or soy sauce
2 T margarine (or butter, if not making vegan)
1 heaping T tahini
1 T lemon juice
1 t mustard
½ t paprika
1 pinch nutmeg
2-4 cloves of garlic (I use jars of crushed garlic or the tube of pureed)

Directions:

Put the water on to boil and gather all of the ingredients.

While pasta cooks according to instructions on box, put everything from soy milk - garlic into the blender and blend.

When the pasta is almost done, toss in the frozen broccoli. If you're crazy about broccoli like I am, toss in the whole bag, otherwise half a bag is fine.

Drain pasta and broccoli, and toss the sun-dried tomatoes in the colander so they get warmed too.

Put the pasta, broccoli and sun-dried tomatoes back in pot, stir in sauce from blender, and serve immediately.
 

Today I am grateful for sleep, a working furnace, cuddles with Babyface, my slow cooker, old family recipes, a gift card for a lovely massage, listening to a great book where the narrator has an Irish accent, teaching a dad-to-be how to change a diaper and taking the mystery out of it, and that My Heart's Desire came home with cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake.

Baby, it's cold outside

One of my first quarter goals is to workout 20 times a month.  I keep track on a spreadsheet and am doing well so far. The best time for me to workout is in the morning, when Babyface is still sleeping.  However, not only is it dark outside (we're talking an hour and a half before sunrise), it's also cold.  Despite the mild winter we've been having, it's still way too cold to go out in the early am darkness.  So I've been doing DVDs, Yoga, and using the treadmill. 

I'm considering psyching myself up to train for a 5K in the spring, though am so slow right now I really might beat my personal slowest time of coming in second to last.  I'm also trying to remind myself that though I prefer to workout in the morning, I really can do it anytime.  Last night I laced up my sneakers and went for an evening walk.  It wasn't great, but it was something. 

The Lost Wife

I read so many books with wife in the title —The 19th Wife, The 9th Wife, The Senator's Wife, The Pretend Wife, The Pilot's Wife, The Time Travelers Wife, The Spare Wife, The Wife's Tale, American Wife — that I imposed a girl-cott on reading any others.  I made an exception for this book. 

Alyson Richman's The Lost Wife is historical fiction at it's best: well-written, intriguing, and educational.  A Jewish couple who marry in Prague are separated a few days later when the bride refuses to leave the country without her family.  This isn't a love story, it's what happens during the 60 years that they are apart, each having learned that the other was dead.  The book starts at the end, where they meet at a wedding all those years later.  I bought this book on my Kindle and could hardly put it down until I was done.

Today I am grateful for sunshine, clean water, Netflix on Roku, fleece pants, gift cards, reading glasses, and a mobile phone that works.

2012 Goals: First Quarter

What I really need to go is start at the beginning with almost everything.  These are things that I think that I can achieve.  If all goes well, my goals for next quarter will be a little more ambitious.

Here are my goals for January - March:

Writing
1) Know what's at least as important as actually writing?  Submitting.  My goal for this quarter is to do one mailing and submit polished work for publication. 
2) Blog at least three times a week.  I like doing it and sometimes it gets the ball rolling for other writing.

Healthy
3) It's time to get the booty moving! I agreed to share a google document with a friend to be accountable and commit to working out.  I really feel better when I workout and I'm a beginner again.  I'm going to log all my workouts and commit to 20 in 30 days.

Romance
4) My Heart's Desire and I will go on dates at least once a month.  We will leave Babyface with a sitter and go out together.  We haven't done this much since he was born, but I will make it a priority.

Community Service
5) Make a donation to a local food bank. I know they get a lot of donations around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but people are hungry in January too.  When we go to Costco, I'm planning to pick up some things (peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, cereal, etc)  to donate.

Parenting
6) It's really important for me to learn how to be a good parent.  I've been taking parenting education classes and want to continue to do so.  I learn a lot from books, but it's also important to learn from professionals and be around peers who are going through similar experiences.

UPDATE: These goals were mentioned in the National Endowment for the Arts The Write Stuff blog!

2012 Goals

As previously mentioned, I've been mulling over what to do for the New Year.  What I've decided is to set goals for every quarter, rather than annual goals like I did in 2010 and 2009. Last year I was so exhausted I didn't set any goals and barely blogged at all. 
This year I'm going to set smaller goals in four month terms, which seems more attainable than setting big annual ones.  I also do well when I can break a big goal into several smaller chunks.  Wish me luck!