Random recap

Today is the 222nd day of the year.

The number is so perfect you'd almost think I chose this date deliberately to start writing on this blog again.  I didn't.  But it would've been so cool if I had...

ANYWAY- when I first set up this blog I made a huge deal about how I was doing this 365 day challenge and blah blah blah.  (you can read my starry eyed post here: 'Titles, goals and stuff') oh I miss that lass; that girl that thought somehow she would find enough time to blog every day for a year.  It was really quite adorable...

So to re-cap in this blog: (and you can see this by looking at the side of the page) I currently have:
31 for Jan
17 for Feb
15 for March
10 for April
10 for May
03 for June
and
08 for July

94 posts...

And as time goes on I have fewer per month... it's really sad.

Of course I cannot bear (bare?) to just make one naive post about my goals and dreams for a certain time period.  I had to decide to 'Reboot, Rededicate' back in February and start the whole challenge again in March- as the 'right thing (for me) to do'.  Then I felt like I needed to let the world in on my Summer Goals.

What have I learned about myself?

I'm a very ambitious person who sets her sites high, is a decent planner but a horrible follow-threw-er.  Eh; let's be honest- I'm not even very good at planning.  I have the worst habit of spending a lot of time collecting information; and that's really about it.

Ok ok, I'm not really THAT bad.  But if I'm going to keep setting such high goals for myself I need to come up with a way to do them.

ANyway- back on the post count.

So I have 94 published posts. (I have more that are drafts, but honestly they only have a sentence or two on them)  It is day 222.  That means I'm 128 posts behind (ouch).  There are 143 days left to the year.  So theoretically I could actually achieve my goal of 365.

However; does it count as a 365 day goal?

The original idea was to do *something* every day.  I chose a blog because I thought- hey I need to journal more and that would help me handle depression/life/whatever.

So far the only thing I've done every day this year is stress about cleaning and unpacking.  >.>

I think I've babbled most of this out before- sorry I'm being repetitive.

I've decided for myself getting 365 posts to prove to myself I can do it is what I need to do at this point.  I'm not sure if I'm going to have 2+ posts with the same date on them as I catch up OR if I'm going to post date them to earlier in the year and just link them to the day I actually wrote them.  I'm leaning towards the latter- as it would be something like a check list and I could feel like I was making progress filling up boxes.

In OTHER news.  I referred to my list of Summer Goals- so of the 10 goals I made; how am I doing? The Summer ends for me in 2 weeks and I dive back into the craziness of school again.  So might as well do an assessment of where I'm at.

#1- Lose some weight.
I've lost some- about 15lbs total- which is 5lbs a month.  Not bad honestly- not amazing, but hey- I'm a little lighter and hopefully I can keep it up.  (she says as she takes another drink of doctor pepper...)
follow up goal: stop drinking soda

#2- Become a better artist
Have not been good about this one.  Outside of some random sketches and a small painting I did for a friend of mine for her baby.  (which by the way I need to finish soon) I've been a total bum.  SO this one needs some focus over the next 2 weeks.

#3- Get my home clean and keep  it that way
THIS has been the all consuming project this summer.  Most of my posts in May are about this subject- on both this blog and my art blog.  I'm not going to re-cap any of that.  Thankfully my efforts have finally been paying off.  We are all unpacked- with the exception at this moment of about 5 boxes.  I hope on Monday to have the before and after photos taken of the various rooms I was complaining a

bout originally.  I've re-arranged EVERY room, some multiple times, trying to get stuff to fit in a way that was both attractive and functional.  This goal, so far, is the only one I have actually accomplished.  Or will by Monday night to be more accurate.
No comic con for me (was in the original goal) I didn't purchase a table early enough.  SO I'm going to save up for next time and purchase one as soon as they are announced.

#4- Get in the habit of preparing homemade meals
I'm not doing to bad on this goal (if you ignore the past 4 days), and now that our kitchen is nearly set up (and I think we have a kitchen sink now! (more on that later)) I'll be able to do even better- and maybe I'll finish up that meal plan in time for school.

#5- Write in my journal daily.
heh. fail.  Though I've been writing at least every other week- which is something.

#6- Cross stitch and play my Clarinet daily
aw- another of my cute innocent goals.  Has yet to happen.  I do no know where both my cross stitching stuff and my Clarinet are.  I still plan to integrate both into my life for various reasons.  I'll hopefully expound on that later.

#7- be happy
not really sure what to say on this one.  I've still been a drama queen; so this one needs some work

#8- walk or hike with kids daily
been so busy unpacking that we've not done this.  HOWEVER we've started.  (as in 2 days ago) so hopefully this is another thing I can integrate into our lives as time goes on.

#9- Read 20 minutes daily with kids
WHAT WAS I THINKING?? I HAVE A 2 YEAR OLD AND A 4 YEAR OLD!!!! seriously.  we've been reading for 5-10 minutes at a time.  Sometimes as long as 30-40; really depends on their mood (well; and mine) but we've been reading together; that is the important part.

#10- Read by myself 30 minutes each day.
If you count audio books... well I still fail.  But not any where near as bad.

I sound like I'm being down on myself- but honestly I'm glad I've done as well as I have.

The apartment is nearly put away- like within hours of being done- once I get back to work on it.  This will make EVERY part of my life so much better; the blogging, art, exercise, sleep- well you name it; having a clean apartment will help.

This post is long.  But I felt like babbling.  If you read through the whole thing then I assume that means you love me dearly- I cannot think of any other reason one would slog through all these words. :)

Hopefully this will be the first post of many as I get back on track

~Nikkie

PS- yes- I was lazy and re-used a TON of pictures from other posts.  I'll make up for it later