13 in 13: End of the Year Summary

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1. Sell 150 items: 

Total sold: 62

Summary: I stopped selling on ebay. I still have a books on half.com. It became too much pf a chore, filled up the spare room and was a pain to deal with. I think If I continue I will stick with books and things that fit into padded envelopes for shipping.

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2. Weekly Blog Posts: 

December posts: 4

All year posts:
January - 5
February - 5
March - 9
April 6
May - 5
June - 3
July - 5
August - 4
September - 4
October - 5
November - 4
December - 4

Summary: I didn't post every week, but I did a fair bit. The usual starting the year strong and petering out. This looks like a success.

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3. Read a Book Per Month: 

Number of books read: 9, read during 6 out of 12 months.

Summary: I read much more online and things that are brief. I am ashamed that it has come to that. I continue to have a stack of To Be Read books.

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4. Track my Food to Lose Weight: 

Final: I gained weight. I am snug in all my clothes. I am tired and stuffed. I am starting back logging my food, eating salads for lunch and the husband is bringing over a piece of exercise equipment that has been in the shed.

5. Monthly Adventures: 

Summary: I think I have done great with this one. I have been using the calendar on my phone to save the dates of interesting events. I already have 3 weekends in January scheduled. Also the coupon/groupons help. I doubt I will ever run out of adventures. We definitely go somewhere interesting at least once for month. Success!


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6. Get serious about starting a family: 

Final: Nothing has changed with this. I am getting older, perhaps too old to have kids. I need to do it or give up. The bills are paid off, the house is almost fixed up and these eggs are old.

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7. Save Money: 

Final: $3000+

Summary: I paid off my car and my student loans this year - with help from a loan repayment program and laid off/ PTO time paid. Next to pay off is the small loan for the AC unit at my house. Also I can start using the savings for some things we have been putting off - new glasses, a new bed, home improvements etc, all while still savings hundreds per month. By 2015 I will owe nothing but the monthly bills. Super Success!

      

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8. Watch More Movies:

December movies: Red 2, Frozen

Summary: I still love movies. Success!


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9. Improve at Work: 

Summary: I am still employed. I always work on being better at my job. I received a compliment when my co-worker referred to me as the supervisor. I corrected her. Then she said I tell her when she does things wrong without making her feel dumb. Success!

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10. Take a Real Vacation: 

Summary: This year it was short trips with our sick pets. But we did leave the state and had several nights away from home. Next year I have to save up leave time with the new company just to get a whole week, probably in the summer. In the mean time I would like to take weekend trips more. Success!

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11. Try Something New: 

Summary: This one was not a huge success. But I think this one is about the little things. I interviewed and considered new jobs. I ate different foods. I am always working on self improvement. Life long success.

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12. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: 

Summary: I continue to recycle everything I can. I try to come up with new ways to reuse things. I donate whatever I don't use. We have about one bag of trash a week. Definite success.


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13. More home improvement: 

Summary: We painted, fixed, beautified, reorganized, moved and cleaned out. Nothing huge this year. With  the pay off of the bills we have more money to work on. The simple request for new kitchen cabinets the thoughts on the kitchen possibilities are growing and growing. I think this too is a success with more success to come.


Overall I think I did well on most of the goals. My strengths and weaknesses are obvious. I will continue improving myself and the world around me. I just don't think I will be writing a list every month. I may just post about my goals as they come. :)

Community Nutcracker

The same weekend of the Christmas parade I went to the Community Nutcracker at The Florida Theater in Jacksonville. My friend's niece was in it. I remember going to the nutcracker when I was in elementary school with my mom and aunts. I never liked the nutcracker guy because he looked creepy.

The husband was a good sport about attending his first ever ballet. He liked the Florida Theater. I have always loved that old theater. Next time he wants to sit in the balcony. I have been trying to get him to see the old summer movies they show there for years. Unfortunately they conflict with Nascar's schedule. Fortunately my friends said they were interested. Hello busy social calendar.

It was a great performance. Her niece is already picking out what to audition for next year.

Christmas Float Finale

The parade float was weeks ago. The only excuse I can give is I was sick last week.

I learned a few things while doing the float.

1. The husband is good at designing and finding all the parts for the float. I didn't do too bad myself. We found most of the parts in the first weekend.

2. I am a horrible procrastinator still. We spend most of the day of putting the float together. The weather report said rain on the day before the parade. It didn't rain until the day of.

3. You really need a place to keep the float covered so you can work on it ahead.

4. I give up easy and the husband does not. I was ready to throw in the towel. He worked hard to get the truck that pulled the float back on the road. He kept working on the float down to the last minute. We actually made it there on time. There were people showing up after us.

and

5. Of course the judging is rigged. We don't know who won the competition. The photos were in the paper but nothing about who won. We still think we were in the top 5. I saw judges checking us out. I know they were thinking, how did they do that.

I mentioned to some friends about the float and I think they would want to work on one next year. I think with more people it would get done quicker and of course to start on it sooner.

Overall it was interesting. I found out I am good with a air staple gun. The husband was the belle of the parade with his light up hat. Overall it was fun.

And finally, here are some pictures, Remember this is a first time float and we took on a tough theme: A Christmas Story. Only a couple floats even had it on theirs.

Daytona Turkey Rod Run

I know, I have been on a car show trend lately. The husband seems to be checking out every car show in North Florida.


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The weekend after Thanksgiving we had planned for a while to check out the Turkey Rod Run in Daytona. It takes place inside the Daytona speedway. Of course that makes for a HUGE. When we got there we saw a ton of people on sccoters. After walking for an hour and only getting 1/8 around the track we knew why.

We wandered around oohhing and aaahhhing all along. I killed the camera batteries early on. We also have a thing where the husband and the father in-law tell me they had that car and how little they paid. I keep telling them they are pissing me up.

Here are some of the highlights of what seemed like a 100 mile walk.

Next time a scooter and a wagon full of goodies. 

13 in 13: November Update

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1. Sell 150 items: 
59, another non-payment and  broken product.

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2. Weekly Blog Posts: 
I was not a weekly contributor.

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3. Read a Book Per Month: 

none

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4. Track my Food to Lose Weight: 
Still the same. No real effort :(

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5. Monthly Adventures: 
Pumpkin Run


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6. Get serious about starting a family: 
The husband has been sick :(

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7. Save Money: 
I have saved over $1000. This month I received my work money from the change in companies and paid off my car.

      

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8. Watch More Movies:

A Christmas Story
A Haunted House



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9. Improve at Work: 
I have been dealing with a difficult coworker. Again. I have been trying to avoid her since she is temporary. She has been going around saying that I don't like her. How immature.

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10. Take a Real Vacation: 
That was in October. Always planning the next one.

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11. Try Something New: 

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12. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: 
Donated a bunch of books and unsold stuff. I continue to recycle.


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13. More home improvement: 
Nothing new this month.