Progress Report

Words that literally give me a knot in the pit of my stomach, as I associate them with midway updates sent home to my mom during the school year.  These were never good for me, because I am a notorious underachiever, and so a progress report only served to remind me and my mom that I was definitely NOT living up to my potential.  Anyway, I digress.

Now that I’ve discussed the main idea of my 40 before 40, and posted the actual list, let’s review where I am so far, shall we?  Don’t get too excited, I’m not about to go ham all over the list with a red pen and achieve greatness (see above reference to my tendency to under reach) in one post…these things take time, OK?  Simmer down.

As I mentioned in my last post, Steve helped me divide the 40 goals into four groups, with each group representing a chunk of time.  Some of my goals are season or date specific (#16 – Rockefeller Center Tree would be tough to see in say, June…) so having an organized idea of what I start now vs. what needs to wait (#20 – My dad doesn’t ice fish.  Thankfully!).  Here are the 14 goals that I can be working on now:

1. Lose 40 Pounds

3. Shoot a gun

5. Save $5,000

8. Plant a garden

14. Read a “Classic”

15. Spend a day with my grandma

17. Finish a craft project

19. Pay off credit card debt

21. Get a good haircut and color

28. Try a new church

29. Cook (and eat) a fish dinner

30. Keep an orchid or violet alive

38. Take Murphy to the dog park

39. Keep a journal

Here are some updates on where I stand so far:

1.Lose 40 lbs

A few years back I had some reasonable success with weight loss using a combination of gym workouts with a personal trainer and Weight Watchers.  All told, I lost about 35 pounds in about a year.  Don’t panic, I found it again.  Plus I found about 10 more just to keep things interesting.  So…I went to a weight watchers meeting a few weeks back.  That was fun.  I weighed in, saw some familiar faces…then never did a single thing I’m supposed to do.  Then I thought I’d try a new approach and I signed up for Noom, which is an online weight loss program.  I used the app for about three days before I decided that it wasn’t really telling me anything I didn’t already know.  Back to Weight Watchers I went. 

In the first two weeks of actually making at least a half hearted attempt to following the plan, I lost 2.6 pounds.  The third week I went on a business trip and gained one of those back.  Still, I know this is a plan I can do with moderate success if I apply myself, and they’ve made some changes to the plan in the last week which might make it a little more flexible for a picky eater such as myself.  I’m optimistic.  As long as I keep going to meetings and focus on making better choices at least most of the time, I know I will see results.  Slow results, but results nonetheless.

5.Save $5,000

This goal is mixed in with a bunch of larger life plans…namely “Own Property”.  I want to try to buy a house at some point, whether that be a primary residence here in Pittsburgh, or a vacation condo…not sure yet, but no matter what, I need a down payment in order to do that.  So, in order to get rolling on this, I set up my direct deposit to automatically send a “mortgage payment” into my interest bearing savings account.  This has two benefits:  I gets me used to living on my income MINUS my approximate anticipated mortgage payment, and allows me to save that money as a down payment.  I’m lucky because I live with my cousin, and my rent is cheap.  So, I subtract my rent from my anticipated mortgage payment, and automatically send the difference into that savings account.  After a few months, I will be able to tell if this is a comfortable and realistic mortgage payment goal, and also how much house I can afford based on that.  I am a smart man.  Actually, the financial advisor I spoke to is a smart man.

33.Go on a Picnic

I know, I know, I’m cheating.  Number 33 was actually listed under fall, spring and summer.  With a question mark next to it.  As it happens, I sort of crossed this one off the list inadvertently, but hey…it’s still done.  Last month, I was on a business trip to Washington, DC.  DC happens to be one of my favorite cities.  I always feel like it’s easy to navigate, I love the history, and I just love the vibe.  So, when it looked like I was going to have at least one afternoon “off”, meaning I could leave the convention center for awhile, I debated going to one of the many museums or galleries.  Since it was late October, and a beautiful day, I ultimately decided to grab some snacks and my Nook and head for the Mall.  Not the mall-mall, but the National Mall.  I spread my jacket out on the grass, stretched out and read my book while I munched on some (not altogether WW friendly) delicious olives, cheese and bread.  I hung around until the sun went down enough that it got chilly, and then I headed back to my hotel.  It was only later that I realized this was technically a picnic!  Score one for me and the list!

3.Shoot a Gun

Turns out, while there are indoor shooting ranges, I don't know anyone who is a member of one.  As such this is now going to be reallocated to a spring time activity.  See, I can swap "picnic" for "target practice".  Almost the same thing, right?

8.Plant a Garden

I had big plans to order some fall bulbs and plant them so they'd bloom in spring.  By the time I got around to ordering the bulbs I wanted, they were sold out (see: Sara is a Procrastinator, chapter...every singe chapter).  So.  This too shall be relegated to a spring garden.  Looks like I have a busy spring ahead of me.

30.Keep and Orchid or Violet Alive

I have a long history of struggling with orchids.  I think they are beautiful.  I buy them, and enjoy them, and then the blooms fall off.  And I know that if you continue to feed and water them, they will bloom again.  I know this because all the websites say so.  Also, because my grandma is able to make this happen regularly with her large collection of orchids.  I can't seem to ever get them to bloom a second time.  So now in my head, it's like a direct challenge to my ability to nurture something.  I feel like I have to do it to prove that I am a good solid human being.  But the damn things just don't cooperate!

My mom used to have a little African violet on the kitchen windowsill.  For years, she faithfully watered it and cared for it, and it survived.  Once or twice, it would get a little weird, and look like it was about to go south, and she would doggedly keep it going.  She had some kind of superstition about it's health and life being somehow indicative of my dad's health...but that's a story for another day.  All I know is that if she were going to be gone for any length of time, I had better not let that violet die on my watch.  It's dead now...and I'm not sure when exactly it finally gave up the ghost, but I thought maybe a violet might be more realistic than an orchid for my challenge.  Turns out, I really don't like them.  So...back on the orchid bus.  BUT, in the meantime, until I purchase one (again, P-R-O-C-R-A-S-T-I-N-A-T-O-R) I have successfully kept this little guy alive.  Not only haven't I killed it, but he has actually grown from the two leaves on the original cutting given to me by Steve, to the healthy six leaves you see here.  Progress!

39.Keep a Journal

This blog is acting as my journal, and since this is only the second official entry, I'd say it's not going well.  But, I intend to write more often, even if not every entry is specific to the list.  After all, the original intent of the blog was to journal about living a more purposeful and crafted life, which definitely extends beyond the 40B440 list.  As a matter of fact, I was about to start an entry about something completely unrelated when I saw that I had started this post and not finished it.  So.  Now it's finished, and I can move on to the next thing!  Which, let's be honest, is probably going to be lunch.