Tied to a Tree in 2003

With only 47 items completed to my satisfaction, 2003 was my worst uberlist ever. I didn't even rate a Brenda on the 90210 Success Scale. Oh, the ignominy of Kellydom. Yuck. Maybe the negative title for 2003 killed my year... I really did kind of spend the year tied to a tree. 2004 will have to be perkier.

Each year, I choose a number of resolutions to correspond to the year at hand. Selecting said resolutions is this big ordeal/challenge every December. The rule (and it's possible I change the rule every year, but as far as I know it's set) is that you have a 10-day grace period in which to refine your list and finish up last year's old business before you jump in whole hog. I spent weeks of list-making & a good deal of liquid paper narrowing down my 103 items. Does that make me unforgivably boring? Of course it does! And yet, I'm somehow wildly enthusiastic about the prospect of my tedious new year. Ah, 2003, I love you already!

My top 3 are big and red; rollovers (either neglected completely or not satisfactorily routinized) from previous years are in italics. I got the category thing from Kelly Sue, who likewise embraces the Annual List. This year seems all about money, discipline, and simplification. Hopefully, I'll get my sitch in order this year and next year it can be all about fun stuff and becoming fabulous.

What's worse than the time & effort I spent on this list? I made three different elementary-school style charts on which I can check off my progress. I never really got over the motivation of gold stars...

(It's almost the end of the year, time to take stock & cut losses. Here's the score so far: gray/strikeout=success; acid green=failure. The jury's still out on the rest.)

Daily/Ongoing Lifestyle

1. DISCIPLINE (PERSONAL): Get up early 3 days a week
2. DISCIPLINE (PERSONAL): Wear a watch
3. DISCIPLINE (PERSONAL): Write every day, even if it's totally lame
4. DOGGIES: Spend 10 minutes/day on the floor or playing in the back yard with the dogs
5. DOGGIES: Walk dogs every single day
6. DREAM: Start a blank book for all the brilliant ideas I always forget
7. HEALTH: 4 fruits/vegetables each day
8. HEALTH: Continue oral hygiene program & whitening products
9. HEALTH: Limit sweets to once a day
10. HEALTH: Water & vitamins
11. INDULGE: More fluffy indulgences with existing girly stuff
12. LEARN: Listen to the news daily
13. MONEY: Record expenses daily
14. RELATIONSHIPS: Be nicer to my parents & Lowell
15. FUN: Maintain a healthy sex life
16. SIMPLIFY (HOME): No buying: makeup, underwear, or nightgowns (made it all the way to October, though...)
17. SIMPLIFY (HOME): Quit stockpiling & hoarding
    

Weekly

18. DISCIPLINE (HOME): Finish up and put away laundry within 24 hours of starting it
19. DISCIPLINE (PERSONAL): Watch & return Netflix movies w/in a week of receipt
20. DISCIPLINE (WORK): List 30/week
21. DISCIPLINE (WORK): No listing, no shopping
22. DISCIPLINE (WORK): Religious shipping schedule!
23. FUN: Read books for pleasure
24. GREEN: Pick up poop & mow regularly
25. GREEN: Regular watering and worm schedule
26. HEALTH: Yoga 3x/week
    

    Monthly

27. CAR: Regular car cleaning & maintenance
28. DISCIPLINE (WORK): Monthly backups/UBB maintenance
29. DOGGIES: Kiki's injections on schedule
30. FUN: Do one touristy thing each month
31. HEALTH: Maintain goal weight & weigh in monthly
32. MONEY: Pay any new credit card expenses + set payment monthly
    

    Big Fat Ongoing Projects

33. CLEAN: Resume cardfile system (review books)
34. COOK: Cook something from every cookbook I own (137, eek, but this should help me reduce)
35. CREATE: Ball gag project
36. CREATE: Make 3 things from ideas folder/book
37. CREATE: Relaunch FP
38. CREATE: Work on 3-2-12 project (Outline + ongoing notes)
39. DISCIPLINE (WORK): Make & observe site update schedule
40. DISCIPLINE (WORK): Start up mailing list again, assface
41. FUN: Have the house sane enough to put up Christmas trees inside & lights outside
42. GIVE: Make/buy all Christmas presents by December 1
43. GIVE: Send parents cards/presents early
44. LEARN: Try knitting, embroidery, needlepoint, some kind of grandmaish handiwork I haven't done before
45. MONEY: Continue to make & keep a budget
46. MONEY: File income tax on time
47. MONEY: Fill the bulldog & use it for fun
48. MONEY: Update affiliate links quarterly
49. NEST: Mend/alter all clothes in hamper (schedule?)
50. SEW: Start sewing projects & give it a whirl
51. SIMPLIFY (HOME): End up with a house through which you don't have to walk sideways
52. SIMPLIFY (HOME): Reconsider house setup; ditch excess furniture
53. SIMPLIFY (HOME): Return any crap I buy but don't use/wear within three weeks of buying it
54. SIMPLIFY (HOME): Thin collections
55. SIMPLIFY: Use or sell laptop
56. WRITE: Keep a shortie diary
57. WRITE: Write & post the new Girls I've been meaning to post for the last 3 years.
    
    

One-Time Projects

58. CAR: See to car stereo/wiring problem/insurance claim (got stolen again after that, but I did it)
59. CREATE: One new item by October
60. CREATE: Rebuild dog shrine
61. GREEN: Clean up back yard
62. MONEY: Add merch banner/affiliate links to SAAN
63. MONEY: Sort through old Vanguard/401(k) statements & decide whether to rollover IRA to single account
64. NEST: Bed skirt solution
65. NEST: Get half bath usable and DO NOT FILL IT UP AGAIN
66. NEST: Paint bathroom
67. NEST: Paint front & back doors
68. NEST: Remove, clean, alter & replace living room curtains
69. NEST: Remove, clean, alter & replace yellow curtains
70. ORGANIZE: Transfer all Christmas crap to those 2 big bins
71. PAPER: 2004 Year of the [what-have-you] Calendar
72. PAPER: Make 2 pretty little scrapbooks
73. PAPER: One new paper item by October
74. REPAIR: Add shelves/fix big white kitchen wreck
75. REPAIR: Remove & replace yucky old shower caulk, ick.
76. REPAIR: Replace broken glass; recaulk & paint
77. SEW: Elvis quilt
78. SIMPLIFY (HOME): Empty, clean, repair & organize shed
79. SIMPLIFY (HOME): Garage sale
80. SIMPLIFY (HOME): Modify fur table skirt for easier storage access
81. SIMPLIFY (HOME): Overhaul/clean/thin filing cabinet
82. SIMPLIFY (HOME): Weed through old magazines & discard to avoid being buried alive under piles of garbage
83. SIMPLIFY (WORK): Convert to PayPal shopping cart
84. SIMPLIFY (WORK): Make a cost chart for all merch & supplies
85. SIMPLIFY (WORK): Make a weight chart for all merch & supplies
86. SIMPLIFY (WORK): Make Dreamweaver templates for FP
87. TECH: Add image rotator to SAAN front page
88. TECH: Convert recipe pages to UBB
89. TECH: Implement that new UBB feature
    

One-Time Tasks

90. CAR: Fill trees with bird tape or pie tins to save the poopmobile
91. CLEAN: Empty hamper and use it for laundry instead of misc. piles of crap
92. FUN: Take a vacation
93. GIVE: Make Christmas stocking for mom
94. HEALTH: Find a new doctor (ask political questions)
95. MONEY: Devise debt repayment plan (eliminate all consumer debt by end of 2004)
96. MONEY: Open Christmas Club account for property taxes
97. MONEY: Pay 2002 property taxes on time
98. MONEY: Sell stock. Really. This is the year I quit being part of the problem.
99. ORGANIZE: Clean up wires behind computer
100. REPAIR: Fix camera or acquire new one
101. SIMPLIFY (HOME): Eliminate one remote control
102. TCB: Paperwork
103. TECH: Reorganize Country Club