Setting goals

I find as the holidays approach (or pass...uh, hello and goodbye Turkey Day), that I have little to no motivation for the things I *should* be doing. And lots of motivation to ignore those things and do other things instead.

Unfortunately there are 2 (or were 2....1 is now wrapped up....knock wood) big deadlines at work in between T-Day and X-Mas. One of the big hematologic oncology meetings happens the first weekend of December, and we had an oral presentation as well as a poster presentation to prep. Hopefully those are now in the bag, especially since the attendees are leaving...um, yeah, tomorrow. Whew, one down.... UPDATE: Boss just walked out the door, without asking for any additional info or changes! Woot!

But I digress! Goals...yes, that's where I was headed.

I've set some goals for next year. I figured I can start working on them now and get a head start. In no particular order......

1: Clean house. And I'm not talking about that superficial cleaning that has been my go-to for the last too-many-to-count months. I know, I was a little busy doing other things. Fun things. But the house seriously needs cleaning. The simplest thing may be to bring in a fire hose and blast it all outside, but there are a few things I'd like to keep. One being my dog....and my bike on the trainer.....oh, and my husband......ahem, in no particular order of course. I did get started on this, but the two toughest rooms are still waiting. Both the spare bedrooms, which have boxes and boxes, and drawers and drawers, of "stuff" in them. I'm feeling a need to simplify. Get rid of a ton of "stuff." If it's in a box that has dust on the top....out with it! Don't even open it. Yeah, okay, I can't do that either. Open it, but throw away without a backward glance. And keep the husband away while doing it. Historically I throw, he comes by usually when I'm not looking, and starts pulling stuff back out. *sigh*

2: Drop some weight, or at least some fat. Neither of which will be easy considering this is the season of eating. Altho......the boxes of candies, cookies, cakes, and various treats that we get from vendors hasn't started arriving. Perhaps the state of the economy will put a damper on those this year. That would help my cause for sure. Evidently I'm a see food person. If the food is in sight, I *must* eat it. At least it seems true for the foods that I *shouldn't* be eating. Maybe that's a simplification. I think it's more that I tend to let myself get too hungry between feedings, so then I grab the first thing available. And that tends to be the crap....the delicious, decadent crap that hangs around this time of year. I did start working out again with my weight trainer, Elena (another evil, evil woman who enjoys making me suffer), this morning. And thought I might die. Yeah, I can pedal my bike for hours on end, but one hour with her and I want to pass out...what gives? Evil, I tell you. But in the pursuit of the lower fat me, she'll be a good ally. Remind me of that when I can barely move tomorrow.

3: Get faster. I feel the need...the need for speed....on the bike. And the run. And why not..the swim too. And the best thing is....if I get faster/better/smarter at the bike, it helps my run. Bonus! I've set a somewhat ambitious goal for my biking, with an appropriate reward if said goal is met. It may take more than just next year. But I'm patient (HAHAHAHA....who am I kidding?!?!). Okay, I will try to be patient with this. As I've been told....it takes time. And the reward, plus evil workouts from Coach Liz, will push me to harden up. Included in this is the need to find a 'good' Masters swim group. I've been less than impressed with the couple I've tried so far. Two more on tap to test out but I'm running out of places within a reasonable driving distance.

4: Get my resume in order. I don't have an immediate need, but big things should be happening either for better or for worse at work early next year. Best to be prepared. And as much as I bitch about my current job, there really are quite a few advantages, so replacing those will be tough. I may try to flip to doing consulting/temp work if things fall apart here. I'll have to see. At least there still seems to be *some* market for my skill set.

Let's start with those, shall we? And let's raise a glass to progress toward goals! Cheers!