July Update – New Year’s Resolutions

In January I published my New Year’s Resolutions, and every month I have been updating on my progress in order to keep myself motivated.

Here is where I am on my list.

1) Leave the country – We went to China!!! We were there from Sunday, March 16 until Thursday, March 27. You can read the announcement of our trip, our arrival in China, our trip to the Great Wall, Beijing and the 798 Art District, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven Park, Nanluogu Xiang and the Hutong and the Lama Temple and Natooke. After writing those posts, I decided to fit all of the events in one day per blog post. The posts from our time in Shanghai are by date: March 20, March 21, March 22, March 23 and March 25. There are two posts on the day we spent in Hangzhou here and here.

2) Write at least one post a month in Spanish – I got caught up with my resolution by writing three posts in July. However, my goal is to catch all the way up to the current month. If you can read Spanish, check out my project list, Lista de proyectos, and a recap of what we accomplished last year in Enero,  Febrero,  Marzo,  Abril, Mayo, Junio y Julio.

3) Move more – In July I walked for seven hours and forty five minutes, did yoga for five hours, biked for an hour and swam for three hours for a total of sixteen hours and forty five minutes of exercise for the month. My minimum goal was a conservative ten hours a month, so I am way over that. I am going to have to up that minimum next year. Here are Douglas and I on a walk on the Ocean City, Maryland beach.

4) Visit one of the last six states on my list – We went to Long Island to drop the animals off with my mother and went to the ocean with her, my aunt Kathy and my grandmother. Then, we went to Ocean City, MD where Douglas did a nine mile ocean swim for the second time in a row. Finally, we went up to Lake Placid, NY where he competed in Ironman #8 for him. Alas, none of those trips were to Hawaii, Alaska, Maine, Oregon, Washington or Idaho. Therefore, this item remains unchecked. Here I am with my loved ones on the beach in Hampton Bays, NY.

5) “Finish” the kitchen – Great progress has been made in the kitchen. In July we made the final decisions on tile, prepped the walls for the tiles, tiled the backsplash and then grouted. There are still things to do in the kitchen, but another large item is nearly checked off our project list. We just need to caulk and seal the tile.

Before we ran into a problem with the electrical, we had removed the old countertops and had templates made for the new ones. We had a new countertop installed, and I refinished the cabinets and hardware,  organized the cupboards, and installed under sink tip-out drawers. Then, in June we had the outlets rewired.

6) Take better care of the garden – Overall, the garden is in better shape than it was last year. We had a few failures, but some of the produce has thrived. We are definitely eating more of the fruits of our own labor than we were last year.

The first steps were taken in April to prepare the garden for summer.  Then, I planted the garden when my mother came to visit for Mother’s Day. While I was in Oklahoma in June, my loving husband built me a trellis for the green beans and sweet peas.

7) Do more for Douglas – July has been his month. Basically, nearly everything that we have done has been for him. I try to support his sports as much as I can so that he can continue to do this every year.

8) Finish cleaning out and organizing the basement – I made some progress down there in early May, and nothing was done in June. I have been working down there quite a bit in July, but I am not ready to post an update yet. We are going to have a yard sale on August 23-24, so hopefully the basement will be a lot emptier after that.

9) Paint all of the trim in the living room and dining room – I am beginning to believe that this is not going to happen this summer. Fall, perhaps?

10) “Finish” the dining room – This is another project that has been pushed back to fall at the earliest. I would like to sell this table in the yard sale, which will motivate me to get the other one out of the basement. That will be at least one step in the right direction.

11) Regrout the tile in the bathroom – I am hoping to start this project next week. If I get nothing else accomplished for the rest of the year, this is one thing that I hope we do. I cannot stand this disgusting grout any longer!

I have assigned random percentages to the amount of work I have accomplished. With these calculations, I figure that I am 37% through my resolutions. Of course, with some of my goals it is not possible for me to have completed them because we are only partially through the year. Here is how I assessed my progress thus far.

1) Leave the country – 100% complete

2) Write one blog post a month in Spanish – 66% (My goal is to write 12 and I have written 8)

3) Move more – 58% (We are only through the seventh month of twelve.)

4) Visit at least one of the remaining six states – 0%

5) Finish the kitchen – 47% (There were eight items on the to do list for the kitchen, and we have finished 3.75 of them.)

6) Take better care of the garden – 60% (There are about five months that we can be working in the garden, and we are through three of them and going strong.)

7) Do more for Douglas – 58% (Same reason as was given for #3.)

8) Finish cleaning out and organizing the basement – 20% (This is just a random number that I assigned myself give all that I want to accomplish down there.

9) Paint all of the trim in the living and dining room – 0%

10) Finish the dining room – 0%

11) Regrout the tile in the bathroom – 0%

If each item on the list is out of 100% there are 1100 points total, and I have completed 409 of 1100 earning a 37%. How are you doing on your New Year’s Resolutions? Do you even make any?

Happy Homemaking!