Reviewing my 2010 To-Do List

Just like in past tradition, I must go over the past year. So here was my 2010 To-Do list along with what I actually got done, what I totally failed at and what landed somewhere in the middle of the two. I know this is a long email but please bear with me on this one. Is a big deal to me to see my accomplishments and failures throughout the year so that I can change things that I need or want for the following year. So here we go...

Me:

[ X ] I was not able to actually go back to school last year due to time and money. I am making it my number one priority this year. I am not trying to take on the world, I just want to at least do one class a semester to get going again. {Priority my ass, I totally failed at this AGAIN ! I had a lot going on this year with my mother, moving and the kids but that is all excuses. The bottom line is that I didn't do it !}

[ * ] I would like to get out and meet more of my neighbors. We have lived in this community for a year and a half now and I am ashamed to say that we barely know our neighbors. { Well I do know more our neighbors and have more of that community feeling but not in the same house...lol. That house was beautiful and huge but the neighborhood was snobby and snooty and we would never have made friends with our neighbors there !}

[ * ] I will continue to work on my life book. I don't want to call it an autobiography because that sounds so proffessional and I am far from a writer. I do want to have my life in thoughts on paper though for my kids and grandkids someday. {I did continue to work on it but not as much as I would have liked. I didn't mention how much though so I do consider this an accomplishment. It's all about baby steps.}

[ * ] I am currently working on not yelling so much. I have to admit that I unfortunately got that from my mother and tend to yell before I even talk. I am really trying. { I don't yell as much. I still yell. I still yell more than I want to but I have worked on it and there has been progress !}

[ X ] Since we are talking about my mother, I want to actually work on my relationship with her. There has been a lot that has happened these past couple of years and we could use some reflection on what we have. I know that I complain a whole lot about my mother but I truly do love her. { This was the biggest fail of them all ! My mother no longer speak anymore. I don't exist in her eyes. The relationship is gone and there is nothing to work on. }

[ * ] I would like to actually see the raises that I have not been getting in my job. I work my butt of and def deserve to recognized. But if for whatever reason, that does not happen soon, I might just be forced to look somewhere else. I want to be at a job that recognizes that work that I do. { My boss recoginzed my hard work and everything that I do and gave me a raise. Work has actualy been getting better...do I dare say that. I was really looking for another job but now I think that I might sit still for a while. That is good news to me because I really don't like bumping around from job to job. }

[ X ] I am also ashamed to admit that I never started the search to get back in touch with my brother Tiago. This will be another priority that I have this year. { Because of the horrible relationship, or lack of, with my mother, the relationship with my brother and sister have also faltered. My brother would have been the one to help me in my search and I don't feel as though I can ask him now. This will be something that I will have to put on hold until I can find someone else to help me accomplish this. }

[ X ] Volunteer work is another avenue that I want to pursue this year. I honestly don't know where I will have the time but it is something that I seriously want to do so I will have to make the time. {Another fail but something I feel that I need more this year than any other year. I not only want to do it myself but I also want to have my children participate with me doing it. Something in dealing with those less fortunate than us. I feel that there is a lesson that they have not learned yet about how much we have in comparison to others. }

[ X ] And lastly for my personal goals, I want to start putting my crafts out there to see if I can actually do something that I love as at least a side business. There is no time like the present. { Fail....ha ha ha. I barely worked on my crafts this year at all. Again, it really was due to everything else going on but that is just an excuse. }

Me & Jose:

[ X ] We will continue to have our monthly date nights. It has actually allowed us to get even closer, if you can believe that...lol. { Our monthly date nights went out the window when Larissa went to RI for the summer because we lost our sitter. When she came back I felt too guilty asking her. We do spend some nights together cuddled on the couch watching movies when the kids fall asleep but I feel that we need to get out of the house together too. This is something that I want to work on again this year. }

[ * ] We need to work better on budgeting to allow for saving and even a little more playing. We are at a point now that we should be able to put a little aside. Every little bit counts. { Due to our wonderful move, we now save more money. We also bought the Kia so that is more money going back out but we have learned to manage our money better and have a plan to put into action this year to save some money so this was an accomplishment to me. }

[ * ] We have been successfully organizing our meet-up group. Ok, so I am the one doing most of it but he is so great about standing behind me and helping me with everything. He is just as involved in it as I am, we even added a Guys Night Out that he does. I want to continue to do this throughout this year. { This was the biggest accomplishment of them all ! The group is great and some of the wonderful friends that we have made here were through the group. Here is to another great year !}

The Kids:

[ * ] Obviously I would like to spend more time with the kids but there are only so many hours in a day. I want to try to spend more QUALITY time with the kids. I have realized that although we might all be in the house, we are not really spending time together. I want to work on that for them and for me. { I really do feel as though my time with the children this year was more about Quality than quantity. I really enjoyed the time I had with them this year. I want this to carry over to the coming year too. }

[ X ] Night routines: God only knows that the weeknights are a nightmare. I get home from a long day at work and it is dinner, homework, baths, clean up, studying, and trying to find out how everyone's day went and what they need for the next day. I seem to be a little less organized at this point in my day. What? I can be disorganized sometimes you know. But I do want to work on this and make my night more productive than they currently are. { Night routines are so hard for me. I guess I should say bedtime routines, not night routines. I have a night routine...I come home, cook dinner, go over homework, we all eat together at the dinner table and then the night falls apart after that. So I guess maybe I should have worded this differently. }

[ X ] PTO...I was PTO president at Larissa's school in RI and very involved in Nathan's school PTO but for some reason, I have really slacked here. I want to try to get more involved. I don't really have the time for President or anything too time consuming like that but I do want to at least join and know what is going on.
{ Although this was a fail, I am not going to work on it this coming year. I do a lot of blog reading and Clover Lane is one of my favs. She is a stay at home mom who made me realize that we don't have to kill ourselves and do it all. Being part of the PTO is just not a priorty in my life right now. I can be active without being a part of something so big and taking time away from my family}

The home:

[ * ] Working on our bedroom is a must. Your bedroom should be a sanctuary but it just seems like a room with everything thrown in. I want to try to get it to the adult bedroom that both Jose and I really want. {I love our bedroom in the new house...with the exception of the damn weight bench in our room...and I feel that it is the retreat that I have always wanted. }

[ X ] If we renew our lease in May (the only way we won't renew is if they raise the rent), I want to paint the kitchen. I have been saying that since we moved in and it has yet to be done. { As you all know, we didn't renew our lease and we moved so this was not a task that I was able to accomplish !}

[ X ] Cleaning the garage and organizing it will be my spring project for this year. Tons of unused space just going to waste. {same answer as the above..we moved, no accomplishable !}

Family:

[ * ] Game Night is back on and hopefully will be all year long ! {We have not kept it up all year long but we have done it often. Looking forward to more of it this coming year. }

[ * ] I have already started this but I need to cook healthier not only for Jose and I, but also for the kids. More veggies, less junk and leaner meats. We can do it together. { We do cook healthier but we still need to work on the veggies part. I have def eaten more veggies this year but getting the fam to do it is a whole other story !}

[ X ] I want to get more exercise as a family. Spend more time outdoors. That was a goal last year and I think that we failed pretty badly at that. We all know how I get in the heat. I think that I went in hybernation when the really hot weather came. { We are not an outdoor family. We hate being outdoors and everything that comes with it so I am just going to leave well enough alone and continue to enjoy our time together...indoors !}

So that was it...not too painful I hope. This will allow me to meditate on what I want the new year to bring. I have some thinking to do now.