January Rewind

WHOA.  How, HOW can it possibly be February already. Seriously, I have a tough time wrapping my brain around it. Yet, all in all, January kind of ... well, it sucked. So, in many ways, glad to just put it behind us and move forward into February.

Still, I wanted to take a look back at my goals to hold myself accountable and re-evaluate to set some goals for the coming month.

First, in January I pledged to tackle the overall goal of starting my day right, which I defined more or less as "focus on simply getting up when I need to get up (as determined the night before)."

So, how did I do?  Pretty terrible. I kind of gave up on this halfway through.  I started fairly strong and was journaling regularly and getting in (some) of my workouts first thing. But a couple of times I woke up and just had nothing - no desire to meditate or journal, no desire to run, nothing. Once, I even went back to bed (sad, I know). I still think that this has value and I'm continuing to work at it. Part of the problem is that I am often over-zealous at night and then I wake up and remember how COLD and DARK it really is at 5 a.m. Bah.  I've also been on antibiotics and a ton of cold meds for awhile and they seem to be giving me really weird/bad dreams. I didn't' sleep well this month at all. 

Other goals?

Running & Fitness - My January goal is to get back to running 3-4 days consistently each week. 

RESULT - More or less accomplished. I decided to jump into marathon training and my plan calls for 4 days/ week running. Except for my sick week I have stuck to my plan.  

Financial - Get back to a written budget. 

RESULT - Done, but in the nick of time. :) Procrastinated right up until the end of the month, but do have a fairly comprehensive budget drafted for February and M and I are both committed to getting back on track. Bonus - I started our taxes. 

Career - Undertake some form of networking activity. 

RESULT - Done, though not what I'd hoped for. I met with a friend of mine from law school twice, which ended up being not only fun, but a step forward in this department. However, I had to cancel another meeting I had set up and missed two networking events I had planned to attend because I was dead to the world for a week. 

Relationships - My goal for January is to have as many positive and purposeful one-on-one interactions as possible with Jhon. 

RESULT, Could have been better.   I would give myself a "check mark" here, but I can't really say "done." It's going to take continual, planned effort on my part to really reach him one-on-one, but we are doing it. Last night, for example, I read a library book to him that he had picked out. It was a dinosaur almanac in Spanish. Do you know how hard it is to read about the Jurassic era in espanol! But it was a lot of fun. He was pretty interested and was even able to explain to me certain words that I could read but i didn't know. I don't think I will make this a continual "goal" as far as the blog goes, but I will continue to look for these opportunities to reach him one-on-one.

Other January News:

Miles Ran:  70.  Not too shabby considering a missed an entire week (in which I had planned to run 24 miles). Pretty pleased overall since it's a big jump from Nov and Dec, but I'm still feeling good and injury-free.

Books Read/Listened to:  Quitter by Jon Acuff (review here); Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed.  Wild is all the rage right now in blog-land and was an Oprah bookclub book (which I didn't know before I listened to it - I'm not a big Oprah fan).  My take? I was disappointed. The underlying story of pain and redemption certainly has great value, but it didn't really reach me. I don't consider myself a prude, but the frank discussions of drug use, infidelity, sex and so on struck me more as for shock value and just didn't strike an emotional cord with me.  I was most interested in the parts about the trail and the hike itself, which are more of a set-up for the rest of her story than the subject of the book itself.  However, I did listen to the entire book and was not really compelled to stop, so I suppose there is that. I don't think I will read it again. 

TV/Movie Obsession - Hands down, Downton Abbey. In January, Mark and I watched all of seasons 1 and 2 and caught up on 3.  Love it. I'm a sucker for a good period piece and I'm really enjoying this one. 

Family Update - Kids are keeping us busy. Hana decided to try basketball, so we've had Saturday games added to our schedule. S is conditioning for Spring soccer and attending youth group. It seems like we've had a million doctor appointments,which will continue into February. Something is always coming up with someone. Poor Mark ends up doing a ton of shuttling around after school. Trying to get a handle on this before we lose our minds. :) Mostly, it's fun and I'm glad the kids have found different activities to enjoy. And it makes me enjoy the lazy days when we are home together with no plans all the more!

Other things I'm loving?  Boots. Really enjoying the boot craze. However, I don't enjoy skinny jeans, which are kind of a must with the boots. :( These muscle-y calves were not made for skinny jeans!