Keeping resolutions

Way back in January, I posted a list of things that I didn’t want to call resolutions, but really were. I’d like to point out how well (or not) I’ve been keeping those.

• Exercise: With the exception of the past month or two, we’ve been exercising at the gym at work most every day. I discovered that the secret to doing this is peer pressure, so I’ve been helping to keep Lon and David active in the gym too. I’ve been doing weights for the first time in my life, and either walking or running more often than not. For a long time, I was running some every week until I busted my knee. All of this has been supporting a pretty active season of hiking. I think I’m up around 10 or 12 hiking trips this year, with more yet to come. It’s come in streaks, though, with three or four weekends in a row followed by about a month of nothing. I’d like to keep it up through the fall and be able to do some winter hiking or cross country skiing.

• Expenses: I’ve created a budget and do a fairly good job of living within it. Some trips I’ve taken have busted the budget for that pay period, but nothing too serious. I’ve saved some and am close to having credit card debt out of the way. I’ve also gotten food expenses under control. The biggest problem has been understanding I’m not saving as much as I would like and accepting that in favor of getting debts paid off. Next year can be about saving.

• Writing: I haven’t done well on this at all.

• New computers: I replaced my old crappy server and old crappy workstation with brand new machines. I’d like to replace the router, too, just as soon as I can get the Fedora live CD project to behave.

• Savings: I had an automatic savings plan for a while, then I had to turn it off to pay off some debts, and now I’m slowly turning parts of it back on as I get debts paid off. So I have not saved nearly as much as I would like, but I’ve had a plan all along. So that’s good.

• Make more beer: I made some really excellent beers this year including an oatmeal stout, ESB, porter, and dunkelweizen. I also had some failed experiments, but that is to be expected. I haven’t brewed since June since running the stove so long in the summer wasn’t a pleasant idea, but I will be firing everything back up at the end of this month. I’d like to make another batch of the pumpkin beer, a stout with cherries and chocolate, another batch of tripel, and another batch of oatmeal stout before the year is out.

• Pictures: I’ve taken a lot of pictures from hiking, but I still very much have a love-hate relationship with photography. I never feel like I’ve taken enough pictures or good enough pictures.

So as you can see, it’s a mixed bag so far. I’ve done well on some things and not so well on others. Overall, I am pleased with how I have been doing this year. For the most part I have done the things I set out to do. Of course, there is room for improvement. Hopefully I can make a lot of good beers, decrease expenses, increase savings, and get a lot more hiking in before this year is out. Expect to see a hiking wrap up by the end of the year.

And now I think it is time to go lay on the couch and watch Mystery Science Theater until it’s time for bed. Some of us do have to work for a living.