Goals Update - How did I do in 2010?
Boy, did I start out this year with ambitious plans. In retrospect, they were way to ambitious.
I had no idea how difficult it was going to be to teach and work on my PhD and an additional research project as well as juggle my children and my husband and my home and church responsibilities.
I used to do this all the time! How could I do this before and not today?
I pushed myself to the point where I was sick - ending up chronically sick, and I will now never fully recover. Sleeping 3 hours a night, drinking way more coffee than I should, eating poorly and then relying on John to pick up the slack and the pieces.
I can't get 3 hours of sleep a night and function anymore.
I can't drink that much coffee anymore (and no, you really don't want to know how much coffee that was!).
I can't eat that way anymore.
And John is just way too busy with school and work and the kids and his own responsibilities to pick up everything else.
So how did I do with my goals this year?
Well, my Biggest goal was to finish my PhD.
My original plan was to be done in December - right about now.
Well, that didn't happen due to a very problematic committee member, and transcript and exam issues that were all beyond my control.
I can't tell you how frustrating it is to not be done.
I had planned on being done.
John had planned on me being done.
My extended family had planned on me being done.
My employer had planned on me being done.
Uff da.
As frustrating as it is, in the long run it doesn't really matter if I graduate now or in August.
And since everything that has happened was way beyond my control. Which is better than if I was the one pottering around with the whole thing. I'm not quite all the way ABD - I have one more thing to do and it has to wait until January due to a committee member's wife needed huge and unplanned surgery. I can definitely live with that.
In short, I've reconciled myself to this whole thing and I'm now okay with graduating next year.
As for the sewing and scrapbooking goals:
I have made progress on all of it, though there are very few things I've really completed.
I'm the queen of unfinished projects.
And my goal for "Christmas Break" (i.e. now until the 4th of January) is to finish as many of my partially finish projects as I possibly can! (With two five-year-olds and my parents in the house!) :)
That includes: two more baby quilts, recovering my kitchen chairs, and sewing slipcovers for the pillows and cushions in the living room. I also hope to get my scrapbook memorabilia sorted into years for 2005 to the present - it's a truly colossal mess right now and is preventing me from making much progress.
I am disappointed that I didn't complete all these things. I am happy that I did make some progress on all of them.
Now I just have to complete them! :)
What I did today:
I installed a closet system in my bedroom closet with the help of my Dad (Thanks Dad!). And cleaned out from the closet and my dresser three tall kitchen garbage bags of clothes to be donated! I also cleaned out a large stack of memorabilia from my bedroom (recycled half of it!) and recycled an enormous stack of stuff that had been hanging out in various places, but mostly on my dresser. The floor in there is clean again, and so is my cedar chest! The dresser is half-cleaned off and I have another stack of things on my bed that I need to go through before I go to bed tonight. The memorabilia that was in my bedroom was sorted into years as it was put away - big relief there. Now I just have to find a place for all the 'stuff' that doesn't have a 'home.'
I'm excited about the progress I've made this year overall and today in particular.
Stay tuned this week to see how I did in other areas of my goals this year!
In the meantime, how did you do with your goals? Care to share? I'd love to hear!
I had no idea how difficult it was going to be to teach and work on my PhD and an additional research project as well as juggle my children and my husband and my home and church responsibilities.
I used to do this all the time! How could I do this before and not today?
I pushed myself to the point where I was sick - ending up chronically sick, and I will now never fully recover. Sleeping 3 hours a night, drinking way more coffee than I should, eating poorly and then relying on John to pick up the slack and the pieces.
I can't get 3 hours of sleep a night and function anymore.
I can't drink that much coffee anymore (and no, you really don't want to know how much coffee that was!).
I can't eat that way anymore.
And John is just way too busy with school and work and the kids and his own responsibilities to pick up everything else.
So how did I do with my goals this year?
Well, my Biggest goal was to finish my PhD.
My original plan was to be done in December - right about now.
Well, that didn't happen due to a very problematic committee member, and transcript and exam issues that were all beyond my control.
I can't tell you how frustrating it is to not be done.
I had planned on being done.
John had planned on me being done.
My extended family had planned on me being done.
My employer had planned on me being done.
Uff da.
As frustrating as it is, in the long run it doesn't really matter if I graduate now or in August.
And since everything that has happened was way beyond my control. Which is better than if I was the one pottering around with the whole thing. I'm not quite all the way ABD - I have one more thing to do and it has to wait until January due to a committee member's wife needed huge and unplanned surgery. I can definitely live with that.
In short, I've reconciled myself to this whole thing and I'm now okay with graduating next year.
As for the sewing and scrapbooking goals:
I have made progress on all of it, though there are very few things I've really completed.
I'm the queen of unfinished projects.
And my goal for "Christmas Break" (i.e. now until the 4th of January) is to finish as many of my partially finish projects as I possibly can! (With two five-year-olds and my parents in the house!) :)
That includes: two more baby quilts, recovering my kitchen chairs, and sewing slipcovers for the pillows and cushions in the living room. I also hope to get my scrapbook memorabilia sorted into years for 2005 to the present - it's a truly colossal mess right now and is preventing me from making much progress.
I am disappointed that I didn't complete all these things. I am happy that I did make some progress on all of them.
Now I just have to complete them! :)
What I did today:
I installed a closet system in my bedroom closet with the help of my Dad (Thanks Dad!). And cleaned out from the closet and my dresser three tall kitchen garbage bags of clothes to be donated! I also cleaned out a large stack of memorabilia from my bedroom (recycled half of it!) and recycled an enormous stack of stuff that had been hanging out in various places, but mostly on my dresser. The floor in there is clean again, and so is my cedar chest! The dresser is half-cleaned off and I have another stack of things on my bed that I need to go through before I go to bed tonight. The memorabilia that was in my bedroom was sorted into years as it was put away - big relief there. Now I just have to find a place for all the 'stuff' that doesn't have a 'home.'
I'm excited about the progress I've made this year overall and today in particular.
Stay tuned this week to see how I did in other areas of my goals this year!
In the meantime, how did you do with your goals? Care to share? I'd love to hear!
