{Resolutions: July 2011}

June was some month in my little corner of the world. Life had me doing backflips, side-

stepping, walking on fire, and standing on my head. Sometimes, all that at once. Alas, it's

time for me to take inventory on what I accomplished toward my 2011 New Year's

Resolutions, and reset before marching into the second half of the year.


In 2011:

1) Make one new goal each month that give me a sense of balance and

make me feel like me.

January: Blog stuff -- February: Technology -- March: Photos into albums & scrapbook

-- April: Canning -- May: Was kind of a bust

June: Practice doing a 5k. Graduate from a walk to a jog and with improved time over

the course of the month.

* All things considered, I'm fairly proud of the output for this goal.

* I did 19 5Ks between the treadmill at the gym and outside on the trail with the dogs.

* I mostly walked, but I improved my walking pace from 16:20/mile to 14:41/mile. The

new pace feels much better, and leaves me feeling much more energized.

* I didn't add as much jogging as intended, about 12 minutes per 5K in all. I didn't push

myself as hard as I should have, but it still felt good! I've lost a few pounds, and I feel

so much more comfortable in the breast region when jogging. :) I'm loving that.

July: Get out my sewing machine and use it on something, even if only on one project.

2) Learn how to do the following things around the house in 2011:

* I didn't accomplish a thing from this list, but there's a lot of year left. :)

- Clean up my PCs (May 29th)

- Clean up my MAC

- Unclog the kitchen drain/garbage disposal

- Turn off the water to the house (January 31st)

- Work the sprinklers and the drip system (March 13th)

- Add to the drip system

- Clean the pool filters (February 6th) Change pool the filters (February 13th)

- Weekly/monthly pool care

- Drain and fill the pool (February 19th)

- Fertilize the lawn before summer (March 13th)

- Properly level and hang hardware fixture with a molly

- Change a door hardware and handle

- Relight the pilot light in the water heater (March 19th)

3) Volunteer or donate blood, on average, once a month.

* My goal, from a numbers perspective, was to do at least twelve things this year ("on

average, once a month") to help my community. I accomplished that number in June,

and it feels great. Anything I do in the remaining six months of the year will be icing on

the cake. I also wanted to make being of service to my community part of my routine.

That's happening. Fitting this into my schedule has become very natural and easy. It's

my intention to make this a lifetime habit, no matter how busy or distracting life gets.

1. Made food boxes w/ friends at St. Mary's Food Bank (January 8th)

2. Donated platelets and red blood cells (January 14th)

3. Sorted food baskets for the Bountiful Baskets produce co-op (February 10th)

4. Helped caseworkers collect items from Bridging AZ’s Hope Chest (March 4th)

5. Donated platelets (They weren't setup to do RBCs this time. Boo!) (March 14th)

6. Helped caseworkers collect items from Bridging AZ’s Hope Chest (March 18th)

7. Helped caseworkers collect items from Bridging AZ’s Hope Chest (May 6th)

8. Barb came over, and together we made 112 Cards for Soldiers (May 12th)

9. Photographed the graduating 8th grade class at Children First Academy (May 17th)

10. Donated a double round of platelets (May 24th)

11. Spent a morning working at ICM Food and Clothing Bank (June 4th)

12. Donated a double round of platelets at the blood bank (June 23rd)

4) Go on at least one quality date a month with D (and take turns planning it).

Here's a little info on the thought that went into making this goal.

January: Double feature at the drive-in theater with a car picnic. It was a really fun night!
February: Putt-putt golf. Air hockey and video games. Dinner at Chompies. Awesome.

March: Tempe Art Festival for shopping, people watching and street food.

April: Weekend stay-cation at a resort in Scottsdale. Luxurious, romantic relaxation!

May: Kayaking at Canyon Lake
June: We didn't do it.* I decided to take myself on a date as a way to meet this goal,

better late than never. I'm going to see a play at Hale Center Theatre in Gilbert

tomorrow. I've never been there, and I'm looking forward to it.

* I'm disappointed I won't be able to say "we did it" for this goal come the end of the year.

But the reality is that I can only control my actions and intentions when it comes to reaching

a goal. Taking an adventure with David wasn't an option this month. So, I decided to create

one for myself. I can still try new things and take time to connect with myself, I guess,

right? Onward and upward!