Tag: goals

10 Goals for 2012

2011. The year of changes. So much so that I pretty much forgot that I had set goals for the year.

Someone asks why I set goals. Well, I’m trying to set a habit-forming goals instead of something I know I can’t attain.  Whatever I did well, I’ll keep up with for the years to come. Goal #10 has been a growing list, and I would like to keep it growing each year.

Now, let’s first look at what a failure I have been in 2011 before we move on to set goals for 2012.

2011 Recap: 5 out of 10

1. 12 books a year – Win!

Well, I got to 11.5. I’m going to call that a win. 🙂 I spent quite a bit of time trying get through Emperor of All Maladies before I gave up, so I’m going to count that as a 0.5. I really don’t like nonfiction as it turns out.

  1. The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern
  2. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter – Seth Grahame-Smith
  3. The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer – Siddhartha Mukherjee …Did not finish
  4. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs
  5. Ghost Story: The Dresden Files – Jim Butcher
  6. Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? – Seth Godin
  7. Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins
  8. Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins
  9. Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
  10. Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files – Jim Butcher
  11. Serenity: The Shepherd’s Tale (Graphic novel)
  12. Full Dark, No Stars – Stephen King

2. Play piano/guitar/sing on Sundays after dinner for an hour – Fail

I perhaps did that three or four times…

3. Eat a salad a week…Vegan Tuesdays don’t count!- Win

I did pretty good on this one. It’s good to have a few salads you’re addicted to and must have on regular basis.

4. Catch up on DVR on Tuesdays, Thursdays and weekends (Friday is flexible) – Epic fail

LOL … Why did I even bother setting this goal!

5. Cook one new recipe a month…and blog it!- Fail

And you thought that with having more time during unemployment would be conducive to more blogging! I did cook more but I didn’t blog as much.  Also, once I started working at Saatchi LA, with me getting home at irregular hours, I actually haven’t cooked much at all.

6. Wednesday Date Night – Win-ish

Having gone out to eat quite a bit in the later months, we sort of just called that date nights too. At least we did get out to do stuff together a bit.

7. If the hair needs a wash, work out! – Fail

Again, why did I even set this goal if I keep forgetting?

8. Write every week day on the way to work – Fail

Hauling the laptop to work everyday became cumbersome. And then I didn’t commute on the bus any more. I could’ve written every morning during unemployment, but obviously that didn’t happen much either.

9. A secret goal…which was to find a new job than the one I had – EPIC WIN

So, yeah. I consider this a win because the old job did get left behind.  I still haven’t found a full-time position yet though. Hee.

10. Keep up with past success – Mostly win

Weekly lunch out and coffee treats, totally worked. I actually eliminated coffee treats altogether at some point!  Vegan Tuesdays stayed mostly dry and mostly egg-less.  I did switch out a few days in the year but I did quite well.  I’m still taking Italian lessons albeit ever so slowly. And I’m still finishing up magazine within days of their arrival.  The only fail in this would be that I didn’t try NaNoWrimo again.  November has become way too busy with tailgating and such that it was not realistic even to try to write any more.

Not bad, right? So…yay!

Now. For the next year…

2012 Goals

1. Find a job I love

Whatever it is! Now that I have had a taste of what it is like to work where you’re happy instead of just grinding away, this will be a difficult challenge. But I am sure I will find my place in the world.

2. Blog once a week on OakMonster.com

With all the microblogs I’ve got going on, this blog gets neglected. I’m going to fix that.

3. Cook one new recipe a month and blog it

Let’s try this one again…

4. Launch the Side Project

We have a web project we have been discussing with a friend for a while now. I just have to actually get to work on it.

5. Do at least 20 push-ups and/or crunches everyday

Baby step for this fitness averted girl. 🙂

6. Try one new restaurant a month

My taste buds need an adventure. Besides, this will give us perfect excuse for date nights!

7. Take a trip somewhere even nearby once a season

Once in a while I’d ditch Italian class for a weekend getaway. We’ll have to maneuver around the spring when Brandon is taking classes and the fall when I have football games. But we can totally do this! Already have a weekend getaway plan in January for our 10th wedding anniversary. 🙂

8. Play the piano/guitar once a month

Once a week was a bit ambitious. Let’s start smaller.

9. Update the paper trails

You’re supposed to keep, what, 7 years of documentation? I’m sure I have more like 12 years around here. Time to commit to cleaning house!

10. Keep up with past successes

Read 12 books a year. Lunch/coffee out only once a week. Veggie Tuesday (but less strict on eggs). Eat a salad for a meal on a non-veggie day. Continue with Italian classes. Leave no magazine unread.

Got goals? Share!

10 Goals for 2011

Before we move forward, let’s see how I did with 2010 goals, shall we?

Goals for 2010: 6 out of 10

1. SUCCESS: Lacto-vegetarian Tuesdays. I totally rocked that. Sure, there were some accidental lapses and a few intentional ones, curiously some of those cases involved bacon.  But more or less, I did REALLY good. And I even threw in no alcohol to that mix. So yay me!

2. FAIL: One hour of piano/guitar/singing, twice a month. Another victim of my television habit.

3. SUCCESS: Keep up with Italian. Still going strong despite feeling like the village idiot in class. The joy of learning the third language on your second one.

4. FAIL: Work out at least once a week. HAHAAHAHHAHAHAH …nope.

5. FAIL: Read at least one book a month.  8 out of 12 and two of those are graphic novels. So yeah, I cheated a little bit.  I didn’t do so well this year because I rocked #6. And I got stuck trying to get through “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “The Zombie Survival Guide” when I should’ve given up and moved on.  The sad reading list looks like this:

  1. Serenity: Better Days #1 (Comic book)
  2. Serenity: Those Left Behind (Comic book)
  3. Angel Time – Anne Rice – the first book I ever hate
  4. New Classic Family Dinners – Mark Peel – Read it but haven’t cooked all of it.
  5. Dead Until Dark – Charlaine Harris
  6. Room – Emma Donoghue [ETA: Totally forgot to mention]
  7. Delivering Happiness – Tony Hsieh
  8. Naked Heat – “Richard Castle”

 
6.  SUCCESS: Finish reading the magazines as they arrive. And that’s why it eats into #5 goal a little bit.  I usually read my book before I go to bed so I’d bring in the magazines some nights instead.  Someone was laughing at me that I couldn’t finish reading a magazine in a few hours. Unlike other people, I *do* really read my magazines, getting my money’s worth.  Entertainment Weekly gets read the day it arrives, except the big issues.  Food & Wine gets in the next few days as well and will get another going-through when I sift through them later to pull out recipes.  WIRED and Self also get read cover to cover but over a longer period of time, in that order.

7. FAIL: Do my household paperwork on early day from the office.  Not so much. I found myself using that time for something else like catching up to the DVR.  Again, another victim to a television habit.

8. PARTIAL SUCCESS: Eat breakfast everyday.  Not very consistent here, but I did make an effort to do so.

9.  PARTIAL SUCCESS: Take a crack at National Novel Writing Month. Another weak yes.  I did it but didn’t accomplish it.

10. SUCCESS: Keep up with what’s working.  Starbucks and lunch out once a week for most of the year.

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Goals for 2011

Less ambition! More routine setting!

Well, a lot of the failures last year has to do with bad television habit. It’s like a vicious cycle. If I don’t watch the show(s) that night, then I’d have to sacrifice another night to catch up and therefore losing time. ETC.  Hopefully, I have come up with a good solution.

Here goes!

1. 12 books a year. One of these years I’m going to be able to manage this!  Already have some books lined up to get read:

  • Full Dark, No Stars: Stephen King
  • Side Jobs: Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden short stories
  • Emperor of Maladies: Siddhartha Mukherjee

 
These will be alternating some what with a bunch of cookbooks I haven’t read yet, and the three newest edition.

  • Momofuku: David Chang — this has more stories than recipe!
  • Ad Hoc At Home: Thomas Keller
  • Fiesta at Rick’s: Rick Bayless

 
2. Play piano/guitar/sing on Sundays after dinner for an hour. More manageable and a set schedule on the least busy night of the week.

3. Eat a salad a week…Vegan Tuesdays don’t count! Trying to add more vegetables into the diet here.  And yes, I switched from calling it meatless or vegetarian Tuesdays because I also don’t eat eggs. That just throw people the hell off for some reason.

4. Catch up on DVR on Tuesdays, Thursdays and weekends (Friday is flexible). This doesn’t mean no television on any other night.  We will still watch a show with dinner, but I will not linger on the couch and watch everything else on the DVR every night of the week.  Tuesdays, since I already can’t have meat or alcohol, I’ve gotta have me one of my vices!

5. Cook one new recipe a month…and blog it! This could be a total disaster, but it’ll keep me on schedule at least.  Especially with all the cookbooks I have/want to read.

6. Wednesday Date Night. We MUST establish a day or it never happens!  LOL

7. If the hair needs a wash, work out! With much hair, I am not going back to washing it daily. No way in hell!  So, if it’s the pony tail day, it’s a work out day.  And by work out, I mean doing something active.  Like going for a walk or go to yoga class, or doing some mini workouts with the weights I have sitting on the bathroom floor before hitting the shower.

8. Write every week day on the way to work. It’s proven over November during NaNoWriMo that I *can* write on the bus on the way to work without getting motion sick!  The route is pretty straight on and the traffic is never too staccato. And I don’t really miss the morning nap that much.  That’s an hour of productive time I can have.  And I should use it!

9. A secret goal. If you want to know, you’ll have to ask me personally. 😉

10. Keep up with past success. Weekly Starbucks and lunch out; Vegan & Dry Tuesdays; Italian lessons; Reading magazines as they arrive; and participating in NaNoWriMo.

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So those are mine. What is/are your goals?

10 goals for 2010

We’ve seen how I did last year.  Let’s see how many I can accomplish this year.

1.  Lacto-vegetarian Tuesdays

Vegetarian or vegan diet is nothing new to this Buddhist. However, the most I’ve ever done was 2 days a week of loosely vegan diet during Catholic lent of back in high school.  That was tough too since there was no soy milk or tofu available in nearby grocery stores like there are today.  In college, I started back on vegetarian on Tuesdays, the day of my birth.  You know, one day a week of not taking any lives.  My mom encouraged me to do that as herself had altogether given up eating beef (aka killing of large animals) many years before.  But then, I found myself eating mostly fries, mac and cheese, cheese pizza, and cheese sandwiches–grilled or otherwise, on those days.  Eventually, I gave up.

I still don’t have the will power to give up beef like my mom did, and now my oldest brother does (I think…?).  But lacto vegetarian (vegetarian with dairy product but no eggs) on Tuesdays (and even vegan if I’m mindful enough) can totally come back now that I have more resources to get healthy vegetarian foods and motivation/discipline to do it.  Mommy, this one’s for you.

2.   One hour of piano/guitar/singing, twice a month

Once a week of music shouldn’t be too hard.  I mean, I tried last year.  But realistically, with all of my obligations and TV habit, twice a month is a good point to start. Heh.

3.   Keep up with Italian

I started it. I’d better keep it up!

4.  Work out at least once a week

I have come to realize that my fitness goal wasn’t aligned with my life’s goal.  I was pushing working out on myself to “get in shape”. What’s the point of getting in shape if my eating habit still involves Del Taco?  However, working out so that my metabolism is high so that I am able to consume more calories, now THAT aligns with my culinary exploration.  I came to this little epiphany as I discussed my fitness habit with a colleague, walking up the hill from a big lunch at Bottega Louie.

Exercise so I can eat more.  Now that’s a goal I can get behind. 🙂

5.  Read at least one book a month

Last year I got to 10 out of 12.  This year, 12 and up is to aim for!

6.  Finish reading the magazines as they arrive

The only magazine I finish in a timely manner is Entertainment Weekly, being a pop culture fiend that I am.  SELF gets relocated to the bathroom the day it arrives and it does get well read.  Food & Wine and WIRED tend to get backlogged.  I mean, I still have at least 5 of 2008-2009 F&W in the cabinet I have to sift through! This is why I recently canceled my subscriptions to Rachael Ray and Real Simple.

7.  Do my household paperwork on early day from the office

I have put it on the calendar every month that I come home early from those board meeting days.  Last year, after 3 months, I haven’t followed through with that at all.  Oh god, that reminds me…ARRRRGH PAPER WORK AVALANCHE!!!!

8. Eat breakfast everyday

Another realization about how my body works came very clearly to me during my week in Bangkok over Thanksgiving.  I had proper breakfast everyday.  As in Thai style breakfast of, well, rice and whatever was left from dinner the night before.  I felt great all day and even with all the food I stuffed myself with during the trip, I actually might have lost a couple of pounds.  I guess my spoiled little self has been programmed to have proper breakfast since, well, birth.  I mean, when you grew up with a nanny and then a maid, neither one would let you out the door without at least an egg or a scoop of rice in you.

Here in the US, I don’t always eat breakfast.  First of all, I’m never hungry the moment I wake up.  So if I don’t eat before I leave the house, I usually try to find something to eat at the office…which turned out to be either a cup of coffee or tea and some Goldfish crackers, and not much else.  Not any more.  I’m going to do better with packing breakfast as well as lunch from now on.  Well, I’ll try at least.

9.  Take a crack at NaNoWriMo

November is usually the crazy month for me.  But I would like to participate in the National Novel Writing Month this year anyway!  I mean, I think maybe I could cheat and started the ground works in August. Or something.

10. Keep up with What’s Working

I’m doing brilliantly with saving on little things I started last year.  A weekly Starbucks latte and non-brownbag lunch work out very well.  Then again, most of my lunch-out would make for 2 lunches anyway. 😉

Now, share yours.

That was so 2009

2009 in pictures

2009mosaic

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2009 Awards

Drinking Buddy of the Year: Brandon, actually. Surprise!  The mister doesn’t usually party down, but he has taken up a beer here and there this past year, a stressful one for his work.  So we had gone out for a beer together more than the year before.  Cheers to you, honey bunny!

Bar of the Year: Hennessey’s Tavern and Beachwood BBQ in Seal Beach. These two places never fail to deliver cold pints and some great eats.  They’re our go-to places when we want to run away from the daily life for a little while.

Sorry to disappoint y’all with the lack of Downtown LA’s bar feature this time around.  I haven’t partied in town much at all.  Climate change around the office will affect your happy hour weather, I tell ya.

Newcomer Award: Twitter Gang. I have grown to love folks I met at Tweet Ups especially @dananner, @anaperiodista, @fstop23, @davidmoyle, @sendchocolate, @joncruz, @vbesack, and the disappearing @phraktyl.  We went shooting pictures.  We played Rock Band.  We got drunk.  We had overall great times on and off line.  Great year to make new friends!

High Point of the Year: Watch Thrill the World Los Angeles became the awesome success. From mere 100 last year grown into the thousands. It still blows my mind.

Low Point of the Year: The Christmas Flu and USC Football Rebuilding Year. Yep. Suckage.

Best Holiday: Halloween…again. I mean, prancing through Pine Street as Zombie Princess Leia, rocked that stage with my awesome crew of zombies?  Best. Halloween. EVER!

Halloween_2009_ (16)

Song of 2009: Glee soundtracks. I mean, I can barely pin it down to just ONE song!  Almost everything from Glee I totally dig.  I’m especially partial to Somebody to Love, Don’t Rain on My Parade, Defying Gravity (the duet), No Air, Sweet Caroline (Can I get a hell-yeah from Team Puck?), and this one I can’t stop singing.  Lea Michele.  What a revelation!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu7grQH0LbE]

Movie of 2009: Avatar. I’m sorry, Star Trek and District 9!  You came sooo close!

Surprise Movie of 2009: Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story – Rod Faifa Ma Ha Na Tuh – รถไฟฟ้า..มาหานะเธอ.  I’m soooo in love.

Restaurant of the Year: Bottega Louie. Great food and ambiance.  Totally a favorite place to run away from work to for a long lunch.  Okay it’s a little loud, but what an awesome place to be!  Affordable awesomeness.

Book of the Year: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Seriously. Go read that.

TV Show of the Year: Glee. Duh.

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2009 Goals Tally:  6 out of 10…kind of.

1. FAIL – Explore Kung-fu.  HAH!  I did not.

2. FAIL – Drink more water.  Did okay for a couple of months before waking up to pee in the middle of the night got old.

3. FAIL -More guitar/piano/singing – at least twice a week.  I did try for once a month, but that didn’t happen since my office got so messy I can’t even get to the piano.

4. PARTIAL SUCCESS -Read more books – One book a month at least.  Actually did 10 out of 12.  Not too bad!

  • Water for Elephants, Sarah Gruen – Love it.
  • Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, Lynne Truss – Learned all sorts of new things.
  • Watchmen, Alan Moore – The movie ending makes a hell of a lot more sense than the book I tell ya.
  • Turn Coat: The Dresden Files Book 11, Jim Butcher – Always love Jim.  This is no exception.
  • Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert – Definitely love the Eat/Pray part. I could do without the Bali experience.
  • Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith – Best. Book. EVER!
  • Bad Things, Michael Marshall – I’m still scratching my head at that one. Whuh…?
  • The Foodie Handbook, Pim Techamuanvivit – Totally enjoyable and awesome.  She takes gorgeous pictures.
  • Heat Wave, “Richard Castle” – Totally a fun read for us Castle fans.

5. FAIL – Add yoga to the routine – at least once a week.  Not so much.  However, I ended up losing 6 lbs. from September through November with the Thriller work out and stress diet.  Haven’t gotten any of it back…yet. 😉

6. SUCCESS – Take a language class.  Buongiorno!  🙂

7. PARTIAL SUCCESS – Cook one new recipe a month.  I went with a few new ones in a month and then go without cooking for weeks.  But we did try new recipes.

8. SUCCESS – Fix them teeth.  5 more months!!!

9. SUCCESS – Fix them eyes. Well, I *did* decide on not getting LASIK done after extensive reserach and serious discussion with my optometrist.  There’s a 50/50 chance I would come out normal or my dry eyes are going to get more severe to a level that’ll become problematic.  I’ll stick with the glasses with that kind of odds, thanks.

10. SUCCESS – Keep up with whatever is working well.  Still a latte a week here.

Hopes and Dreams

Each year, Master Steinhauser has his students turn in their 10 goals for the new year by the end of January. I usually ended up with 3-4 things checked off on the list. Perhaps 10 goals were just too many.

But here are a few I intend to accomplish this year.

  1. Learn a new skill. I’m leaving this wide open. I want to take a new dance lesson, either tap or flamenco; and learn Mandarin.
  2. Close more credit cards.
  3. Get into a house, hopefully.
  4. Donate more to charity and other causes.

Not too ambitious.