Taking Stock of 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Photo information:  Photo from internet. Not sure the name of the photographer.

At the close of the year,  many of us look back and review how the year went.  Some of us,  make resolutions.  Others of us, set goals.  I've never been one to make resolutions but I usually do set some broad goals for myself.  Mostly these have been unwritten goals in 2-3 key areas.  For the first time last year,  I sat down and wrote out my goals in several major areas of my life.  Last year was also the first time I posted my goals on my blog.  Within each broad goal I identified, there are a number of smaller ones.  I didn't write these down, but kept them in mind as I moved through the year.

I wanted to see if writing and posting my goals would help keep me achieve some things that I "always want to do" but which just never seem to get done due to lack of time.  Does that sound familiar to you?  I've heard it said that if you want to make sure you do something, you need to make an appointment to do it.  Setting broad goals can help in setting those important appointments with yourself throughout the year, and keep you focused on what is important.  It can even help you decide where you will spend your money in a given year and help you be realistic about what you can and cannot achieve. 

Some of my regular readers know that I had major mobility issues this past year.  The lack of mobility and the constant pain impacted negatively on my ability to achieve a number of health goals, despite my best efforts. Nonetheless, I kept trying and I'm still trying.  Eventually I'll get there.  Having a very sick parent that was in and out of hospital and needed to move, also took up a lot of energy and resources.

While I did think about different ways to undertake some minor renovations in the kitchen, in the end I didn't make much progress on my "Home" goals.  I decided not spend anything in this area and I won't spend anything in this area unless I have saved it first.  Debt repayment and living within my means, or living under my means, is one of my key goals for the foreseeable future.  I've been making steady progress in this area over the past several years.  I've managed to make progress by organizing my finances to make things flow better (cutting interest rates and number of bills paid), implementing a lot of cost saving measures in running the household (food, electricity, buying medical prescriptions 3 months at a time instead of monthly, only shopping the sales flyers),  cutting costs on hobbies (buying books and yarn at thrift stores, buying exercise equipment rather than spending on gym members, buying used rather than second hand where cost effective, shopping the sales when buying new) and cutting out expenses that were no longer necessary or changing services to get better value for money (cable television, mobile internet, cell phone, pharmacist).

My debts do not prevent me from giving to charitable causes, like the Missions of Hope , my sponsored children or a variety of other needs.  I am a tither so giving ten percent or more of gross income is something that I do despite my other financial obligations.  Having said that, giving would be easier when debts are cleared.  No more debt would also give me more freedom to do what I'd like as well as prepare me better for whatever comes.

Of course, debt management is only one part of financial planning. One must also think about savings/investments for retirement, insurance needs, and paying off the mortgage while you still have the finances to do it.  If you are still working on all these steps don't forget to have a lawyer make up your Last Will & Testament.  Give some thought to your beneficiaries as well as your last wishes concerning "going home" arrangements.  It really isn't that expensive to have a lawyer draft your will so don't try to cut corners by going to a notary public.  It is better to see a lawyer who specializes in Wills & Estates matters.  So many people don't like to talk about these things but it is all a part of the life cycle and we must be grown up and practical about such things.  Otherwise you make it harder for those left behind to cope when they are grieving and having to sort through your personal and financial business.

While you're at it, you might also give some thought to having a lawyer draft up a legal document as to what you would like to have happen if you find yourself requiring life support.  Hospitals need to know whether their patients want to be resuscitated.  They get these wishes from the patient.  However, if the patient is too sick and weak to properly represent himself/herself, it really isn't a good idea to leave this decision until a critical time. It is important to know ahead of time and to give your loved ones your wishes in a legal document so that they can advocate for your wishes at the hospital.  More and more hospitals simply want to "pull the plug" before the family is fully ready. Don't be caught unaware on this one.  In Canada, this kind of legal agreement costs about twice as much (about $550.00) as I paid for my will (about $275.00) though the price may have gone up since I hired a lawyer.

Writing my goals down really helped to keep me on track and start doing the things I've been wanting to do,  like reading more and getting on with my swimming lessons.  While the achievement of my goals has been mixed, I am still happy with what I was able to achieve given my limitations and the always unexpected things that "pop up" to distract you.

I put a little √ mark beside those goals I was able to achieve, and an X beside those that I did not meet. If I was not able to action any goal, consistently throughout the year, I put an X beside it.

In 2012, I will undertake the same process of setting my goals in writing and posting them since I found it to be a helpful process.

SPIRITUAL
* Make more time for prayer and study √
* Research and obtain some good study materials √
* Support one person in reaching their dreams/goals √
* Make one loan to a female entrepreneur in a Kenyan village√
* Cultivate and nurture my Christian friendships and broaden my base of friendships√
* Write to my new sponsored children in Kenya, send them photos and family/birthday gifts √

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE
* Learn more about healthy diet for diabetics and incorporate pulses, grains, dark green veggies into cooking. √
* Be more active & do more stretching X
* Ride my stationary bike for 30 minutes 3x per week, increasing to every day X √
* Resume weight training X
* Continue with my swimming lessons √
* Take a water aerobics class X
* Eat more vegan or vegetarian dishes. Limit protein eaten at any one meal. X
* Learn how to make make bar soap X
* Get more Omega 3 EFA, vitamins & fibre √
* Daydream more X
* Laugh more X
* Watch more videos and invite friends for movie and popcorn X
* Use computer time more efficiently √

FAMILY
* Continue to visit mom √
* Learn about mom's special clothes needs √
* Find new home for niece/mom √

FINANCIAL
* Pay down debt X
* Learn tools to pay debt √
* Live below income √
* Save more X
* Continue saving in the snowflake jar fund for miscellaneous projects √
* Think two or three times before impulse spending √
* Implement strategic charitable giving (where my dollars will have the most impact to address grassroots needs) √

HOBBIES
* Read at least two books per month √
* Learn more about creating an edible garden X
* Embroider 1 medium-large piece X
* Crochet several doilies √
* Knit slippers√ , learn to knit sweaters X
*Take a quilting course X

HOME
* Redecorate master bathroom X
* Continue major decluttering project and give to the goodwill √
* Consider and save for minor kitchen upgrades X

How about you dear reader? 

Did you set goals last year and did you reach them?

The Rush Toward the Reading Challenge

One of my goals for 2011 is to read 24 books and I track my books on Goodreads along with others who participate in self-defined goals for the reading year.  While this may not seem like a lot of books to read, one can quickly fall behind in the goal unless plans are made and time is set aside to read throughout the week.  I've actually done a fair bit of reading since the Fall but some of them were rather lengthy.  A few of them were about 1000 pages (Pillars of the Earth and Anna Karenina) each and that also impacted on my goal of reading two books per month.

I've decided I must make real progress on the number of books read before the summer is out.  The sooner I do that, the sooner I can also give my books to someone else to enjoy.  That will help me in another goal for 2011; to fully declutter the condo.

This week, I'd like to share some of my recently read books with you. I don't go in for writing extensive reviews of the content of books and highlighting especially interesting or meaningful passages. I prefer to enjoy reading my books and give short summaries or impressions of what I've read. 

French Fried
Written by an American in Paris. It is charmingly written with anecdotes about the author's life in Paris and her forays into learning how to cook as well as learning the art and beauty of the French approach to eating and living. I've always been fascinated by France and French living. I enjoyed the book because of insights into the culture as contrasted with American culture.

Teacher Man
Written by Irish American author Frank McCourt of Angele's Ashes fame. I found this book very interesting because I too have a background in teaching.  I enjoyed Mr. McCourt's recounting of his early teaching days and what he had to say about his fears, hopes and experiences during his teaching career in New York.

Joshua's Bible
Written by  Shelly Leanne this thrift store find turned out to be a very pleasant and interesting read. Set in the mid-1930s, it is a book about a Black American preacher sent to South Africa by his "white" missions group to "civilize and christianize" the Africans. Movingly written it takes us through the joys and sorrows of the young preacher, Reverend Clay, and his experiences with the tribal peoples of South Africa. Over his period of two years he opens his eyes to the truth of the African experience and history and their hopes for emancipation and equality.  Despite what sounds like a heavy book, I found this to be a pleasant read with a nice rhythm to it.

Leaning Into God, When Life is Pushing You Away
I won this book through a giveaway and I will need to write a proper review of it as my "payment" for receiving the book for free.  Written by Reverend Robert Anthony Schuller, this book explores the various ways in which individuals lose or experience interference with their connection to God.  The author explains how emotions such as shame, regret, fear, and disappointment can stand in the way of our intimacy with God.  Reverend Schuller leads the reader through ways to reconnect with God and after each chapter asks incisive questions for us to consider and to help draw out our understanding of what causes our disconnect/connections with God.

Autism's Hidden Blessings: Discovering god's Promises for autistic Children & Their Families
This is another book I received in a giveaway and for which I need to draft a proper review. The book was written by Kelly Langston, a mother of an autistic son. This book was somewhat different than I anticipated. I had thought it would be more of memoir of a mother dealing with an autistic son. Instead it turned out to be a good bible study on turning to God as a source of help in dealing with an autistic child.  The book is also sprinkled with good discussion points, summary points and anecdotes about the Langston family experiences in raising an autistic child.  I was highly interested in reading this book because my family raised an autistic child in the days before there was little available as helps for families and next to nothing known about autism.

I'm currently reading, The Shackled Continent:  African's Past, Present and Future by Robert Guest and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

I purchased this book at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. It's a great read so far in terms of helping my understanding of Africa.

After this week, I will still be 3 books shy of my goal of 14 books for the first 7 months of this year. But  I am feeling well on my way to reaching my goal if I can keep up the momentum.

What about you? Are you reading a lot this year? Do you have any reading goals for yourself or any great books to recommend?

Click here to leave your thoughts about reading biographies.

Getting Started on the Right Foot

Hi friends and fellow bloggers,

I've been silent for awhile. That isn't like  me. But everything is okay. I have just been very busy trying to get organized for the new year so I can get started on the right foot. Also, to be honest, I haven't felt up to blogging. I feel I have too much to say and I have no idea where to begin. So I simply stayed quiet for a few days so I could focus on some other tasks.

Some of you know that last year I began to work on a number of projects after being sick for several years and not being able to do too much. I haven't much experience with written goals but in the last two years or so I've found it is one way to help me keep on track and try to focus on those things that are most important to me on those days when I actually feel up to doing things.

I shared my goals for the first time here on the blog in  2010 and I'm happy to report that I was able to accomplish almost everything on my list over the course of the year. At the same time, I stated in early 2010 that due to my illness,  I was not going to pressure myself with deadlines for accomplishing my goals in 2010.  Whatever didn't get done in 2010 would simply be carried over to the next year.  I have now identified my goals for 2011 and posted them.  But again, I am not putting pressure on myself to reach all of my goals. I will do what I can and carry over anything left undone to the next year and so on.

I have a huge decluttering project that has been underway for some time. I do make progress on it from time to time but there is still much more to be done. This is really a project in learning to live more simply and scaling back on the material things so that I can focus my time and energy on things that are more important to me. Unfortunately, this isn't as easily achievable for me as it is for some people because I am a pack rat at heart.

I do tend to accumulate things and I have this idea when I come across something that I can always read it later, use it later or even give it to someone who needs it.   Often however these things end up collecting dust and becoming clutter. I know it will take time to achieve my goal of decluttering and simplifying but I am sure it will happen if I continue to plug away at it. One thing that motivates me in this area is the fact that my mom is also a clutter bug but unlike me she has never really organized her clutter. Now that she is too sick and disabled to do anything for herself, I find myself having to attend to it for her and this has been a huge burden on me. Doing so however has forced me to be ruthless in getting rid of things and has also helped me to think about being ruthless in streamlining my own possessions.

Some of the giveaway bags.

Just before the world rang in the New Year I began working in earnest on my big decluttering project. I cleaned out my dresser drawers and my closets and threw away a garbage bag of tattered clothes/  I also put together 4 large shopping bags of clothes for give away and  went through several boxes and bags that hadn't been unpacked since the fire we had over a year ago.  I was able to shred and discard so much of it. I also made some progress in cleaning the master bathroom and finding some spaces for the overflow of bags/suitcases I have in my bedroom.

One of my cleaned out drawers. This one houses summer shirts & t-shirts.

In the main living area, the slipcovers for the sofa and arm chair were washed and mended.  They look much better now. I moved my armchair from the window wall so I could put my stationary bike in its place. I also moved my weights closer to my bike and found a space for my Swiss ball and yoga mat in the corner of the living room.  This means I will use my living room for a work out room.  Hopefully this will help me be more consistent about working out, getting healthy and losing weight as I spend much of my time in this room. So far I have managed to do my cardio exercise every day of the new year. I am keeping things simple and starting off with 20-30 minutes daily on the bike and hope to do resistance training every other day or so. The idea is that once I feel a bit stronger and have more endurance I can increase my exercise time. I also hope to get back to my swimming lessons which were at a bit of a standstill due to family responsibilities, Christmas and travel.

I can watch TV from this perch. Hopefully that will help keep me consistent with the bike.

I am also determined to make more time this year for bible study and have been researching new study aids and bibles. If any of you have recommendations (along with reasons for your recommendations) please send them my way.

My bible is King James Version.

In terms of my hobbies, I haven't had so much time for them. I am just trying to get my books out of nooks and crannies and place them in readily accessible places. I am talking here of books that don't fit onto my crowded bookshelves. These days I mostly buy second hand books and I borrow books whenever I can. That way when I have finished reading them I can pass them along without feeling any reluctance. Of course I return borrowed books to my friends.

Recently, I finished reading Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky and am currently reading a number of other books at the same time, including Véra by Stacy Schiff and A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth.   A Suitable Boy is a book I started a long time ago but put aside because it was packed away after the fire. I am happy to begin reading it again but have decided to start once more from the beginning to enjoy it more fully.  Véra .is about Véra Nabokov; the wife, muse and translator of Vladimir Nabokov who translated Dostoevsky into English.  Vladimir Nabokov is also the author of the controversial book and movie of the same name, Lolita. I am finding that I am learning a lot about both Nabokovs through the book about Véra.

Right now I have two 6 foot high bookshelves which are full of books and there is an overflow of books in the living room and bedroom. When I buy books at full price, I tend to want to keep them for later reading and that is why I have altogether too many books. My goal is to scale back my books as I read them and give them away so that I never have more books than will fit on my two bookshelves.  Perhaps when I get to that point I can make a new goal to scale back even more.  That would be ideal.

As far as other hobbies go I intend to continue to make doilies, experiment with embroidery, make a garment or two for my mom and continue to knit.  Hopefully I can perfect my slipper making ability as well as learn how to make basic sweaters.

Early knitting projects.

Rounding out my goals for the year are plans to save for emergencies and wants, pay down debt and get control of my spending. This is no small task as most of you can imagine. I did make significant progress on similar goals over the past year or two and I'm sure I will continue to do so in 2011. I also have plans for being a good sponsor mom to my two boys in Kenya. I will be writing them letters and sending little things to them in the mail. In addition,  I have some small projects I am involved in in Kenya as my desire is to help widows and orphans in a few villages.  Of course I also have family here at home that I need to engage with and help in various ways. One of those ways is helping my mom to get settled in the nursing home when her room becomes available. In talking to the home today it sounds like they are taking all the right steps in readiness for mom's arrival. It is difficult to say exactly when the move will happen but my hunch is that it could be very soon.

As you can see things have been busy for  me as I gear up to make the most of 2011 and get things started on the right foot.  I must say I am looking forward to 2011 and I pray that you and your household are also looking forward to 2011 and making new goals and plans.

Blessings to you and your household as you embark on 2011. 

May it hold everything you seek.