Project 52 - Weeks 10, 11, 12, 13,14

Well, so much for updating my Project 52 goals once a month. Since I'm a week late, I'm including Week 14 as well!

Weeks 10-14 were all pretty good weeks for me. I did a decent job of keeping up with my weekly and monthly/multi-event goals and I even crossed off 2 of my one-time goals! I like those the best. Crossing things off of lists gives me a real sense of accomplishment! Here's my accounting of how I did:

Weekly Goals

3. Cook 3 times per week - I was able to do this for weeks 11, 12 and 13, but I only cooked twice in week 10 and a measly one time in Week 14. Not too bad, especially since this is one of the hardest goals on the list for me. Score: 9/52

10. Walk/Exercise 3 times per week - Success! I blew this goal out of the water. Weeks 10 and 12 I walked 5 times and Weeks 11, 13 and 14 I walked 6 times! Woot, Woot! Score: 11/52

30. Pay attention to local politics - Check! I'm still doing a good job keeping up with local politics, especially education. I've also been paying close attention to the discussion surrounding RI's unfunded pension liability and the suggested reforms. I could be doing a better job of paying attention to national and international news. I'm going to try to focus on that in the month of April. Score: 13/52

33. Post at least once a week - Nope. I missed Week 12. Score: 12/52

34. Write a weekly letter to Katie - Done! Score: 9/32

36. Keep fresh flowers in the family room - Check! Score: 13/52.

Monthly and Multi-Event Goals

1. Try one new non-soup recipe a month - I nailed this one in March. I actually tried 4 new recipes! (I'm really tempted to count three of those for future months.) Score: 2/12

2. Try 6 new soup recipes - I finally found a soup that we all like - Winter Casserole Soup. Delicious! This may be the last new soup recipe until Fall. Soup season is (thankfully) almost behind us. Score: 4/6

5. Invite my mother to dinner once a month - Yup. During Katie's Spring Break we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner, which is something my mother loves. And as a bonus she had a chance to spend some time with Katie. Score: 3/12

14. Write book reviews for all 4 and 5 star books read in 2011 - In the past few weeks I have read 5 really great books, four of them back to back. One book, The Moonflower Vine, scored it's own review, but it was impossible for me to keep up with individual reviews for the other four so I wrote one Book Feast blog post. Score: 7/7

31. Watch one Netflix month a month - I did finally watch The Last Station, which I thought was a terrific movie about the last years of Tolstoy's life. I was so fascinated that when the movie was over I did a little research on Tolstoy and decided to read his novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich. It was interesting to read it after learning more about Tolstoy's philosophy. Score: 3/3

32. Go to the movies once a month - Geoff and I saw the Adjustment Bureau. I really enjoyed it. I usually have a hard time following the plots of action adventure movies, but this one was written in such a way that I actually understood it! Amazing! And it was a even an intelligent story. Imagine that. A thinking woman's action adventure movie. Go figure! Score: 2/12

37. Donate to a charity or cause once a month - As it turned out Geoff and I had three opportunities to donate to charities/causes this month. Our planned donation was to our town's Education Foundation, which provides "extras" to our local schools - items such as digital cameras, video equipment, technology supplies for the libraries, etc. Sadly, we also made a donation to a local church in memory of the mother of one of Geoff's friends/employees. And lastly, we made a contribution to a political cause that is important to Geoff after receiving a fundraising phone call and letter. Seems like there is always a good cause to support. Score: 3/12

40. Schedule one Mental Health Day a month - Nope! During the last full week of March, I realized that I hadn't scheduled a Mental Health Day and there was no opportunity left in the days remaining. I suppose this is actually a good thing, since I didn't feel the need to "check out" for a day. But I plan on remedying this early in April. As a matter of fact, tomorrow is already earmarked in my calendar as a "Do Not Disturb Day"! Score: 2/12

One Time Goals

18. Read one book on my tbr list that has been on the list for at least 3 years - I got a really pleasant surprise when I looked through my tbr list to find a book to meet this criteria. Seems I've either done a good job of keeping up with my list or of weeding out stagnant books, because the oldest books I could find were added to the list in March 2009. And those books were all non-fiction books written by Alison Weir. Reading one of Weir's book is #17 on my list, so I decided to pick the next oldest book to meet this criteria. That was The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carlson, which was added in December 2009. It was fabulous! Score: Completed!

25. Spend the weekend in Portsmouth, NH with a friend - I've started the preliminary planning on this trip. My friend, Margaret, and I talked about going some time this spring, but could not find a date that worked well. So, we've decided to go in the fall. New Hampshire in the fall! Sounds like a good time to visit. Both Margaret and I have a lot going on during most weekends next fall, so we'll see if we can squeeze this one in. I sure hope so.

26. Explore the shops on Hope St. in Providence - This goal turned out to have a added bonus attached to it. Not only did I explore the shops, I did it with Katie! Before Katie came home for spring break she mentioned that she wanted to put a day aside to spend with me! I was so surprised by this. Usually when she comes home she just wants to sleep and spend time with her friends. So this really touched me. We ended up spending the day on Hope St - shopping, browsing, having lunch at an adorable diner and getting dessert a local bakery. It was a great day! Score: Completed!

How about you? How are you doing on your Project 52 goals or New Year's Resolutions? I'd love to hear about your progress.