Project 52 - Weeks 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

Well, so much for updating my Project 52 goals once a month. Since I'm a week late, I'm including Week 19 as well!

Weeks 15-19 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! But I have noticed that my motivation on my weekly goals is definitely waning. Not only the motivation of keeping up with them, but also the motivation to keep track of them. One thing I've learned is that if I participate in Project 52 next year, I will not include any weekly goals. Here's my accounting of how I did:

Weekly Goals

3. Cook 3 times per week - Epic fail! I didn't accomplish this at all in Weeks 15-19. Ugh! Score: 9/52

10. Walk/Exercise 3 times per week - I'm still going strong on my exercise goal. I walked 7 days in Week 15 and 19, 6 days during Weeks 16 and 17 and 4 times during Week 18. I think I've been successful in making exercise a permanent part of my routine! Woot, Woot! Score: 16/52

30. Pay attention to local politics - Check! I'm still doing a good job keeping up with local politics. And I did do a better job of keeping up with international politics during the month of April, which I had set as a goal last month. I'm going to continue to work on that in May. Score: 18/52

33. Post at least once a week - Nope. I missed Week 18. Score: 16/52

34. Write a weekly letter to Katie - Done! Score: 14/32

36. Keep fresh flowers in the family room - Check! And today I was given a lovely bouquet in honor of Mother's Day. It was made even more special because Geoff and Madeleine both remembered my favorite flower, Gerbera Daisy, and chose a bouquet featuring a lovely light pink one. Score: 18/52.

Monthly and Multi-Event Goals

1. Try one new non-soup recipe a month - April was a bust! But I have already made one new recipe in May - Moroccan Zucchini Lamb Chili (Geoff and I loved it. Madeleine, not so much. What else is new?) Score: 4/12

5. Invite my mother to dinner once a month - Gulp! Another failure in April. Are you noticing a theme here - anything to do with cooking is a real struggle for me. Madeleine and I did take her out to a Mother's Day Tea today. I'd like to count that for May's dinner, but I won't. That's really not in keeping with the spirit of this goal. Score: 3/12

31. Watch one Netflix month a month - I am really on top of this one. Not only did I watch a Netflix DVD in April (Mad Men Season 4 Disc 1) I have already watched one in May (Conviction). I loved both, btw. Score: 5/12

32. Go to the movies once a month - Another success! I saw movies in April - Jane Eyre with a girlfriend (loved it!) and Water for Elephants with a group of girlfriends from my book club (we all loved it!) I also already met this goal for May since I saw Something Borrowed last night (exactly what you would expect from a romantic comedy). Score: 4/12

37. Donate to a charity or cause once a month - Done! In April, we donated to a political cause whose values match our own. Score: 4/12

38. Just say "no" at work - Without going into details, I did have an opportunity to express myself about an issue at work and I got up the courage to be honest about my opinion. It was a little nerve-wracking, but in the end it all worked out. However, I have a very specific event in mind when it comes to saying "no" at work. An event that should be coming up in the next few months. Let's see if I can stick to my guns on this one. *fingers crossed* Score: Making progress

40. Schedule one Mental Health Day a month - I did follow through with the plan I formed in late March to have a Do Not Disturb day in April. On April 8th I stayed home, cozied up on the sofa and caught up on DVDs I'd been wanting to watch (Never Let Me Go, Made Men and episode one of Cranford. All excellent!) Score: 3/12

One Time Goals

4. Buy a Dutch Oven - This one happened quite by accident. I was shopping at Sam's Club and saw a gorgeous bright red Dutch oven for a very reasonable price. Sold! Score: Completed!

13. Join and complete Shape Up RI - Back on February 7th, Geoff and I joined a group of 9 other friends to form a team for the our statewide health and fitness challenge - Shape Up RI. The idea of Shape Up RI is for participants to track their exercise minutes, steps per day, weight loss and number of fruits and veggies consumed for twelve weeks. The challenged ended on May 7th and I'm proud to state that both Geoff and I finished in good standing. Over the course of the 12 weeks I lost 8 pounds, walked 870,178 steps and exercised for 3,790 minutes. (Geoff lost an amazing 25 pounds!!! I'm so proud of him!) I did not do as well on eating my requisite 5 servings of fruit and vegetables per day, however. I always thought I ate lots of fruits and vegetables, so I was very surprised to see that in reality I do not. Ugh! Perhaps that can be a goal for 2012's Project 52. 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.