Three more resolutions

Just had some random ones I figured I should get down while they're fresh.

#2 - Take the GRE, apply to grad school.

I'm looking to start grad school in fall 2014 or spring of 2015, so 2013 seems like a good time to start the process. Just checked the price...$150! So I guess I should write "Study, Take the GRE, Apply".

#3 - Limit TV Viewing to less than 5 hours a week.

Yes, even during football season. And Netflix. It took me binging on Sons of Anarchy to realize that this is not the healthiest way to spend my time, and less TV is not a bad thing. Especially since NBC seems hell bent on destroying my Thursday night sitcoms. I actually don't think this will be too hard of a thing to accomplish, and it will need to be tracked weekly, especially at first.

#4 - Declutter my life

One of the greatest continuous joys I have in life is buying CDs. I love music. But lately I've been buying CDs and ripping them to my computer before I even listen to the thing! And then the CD goes straight into a CD rack that I never even use. Books? Read once and insist on keeping them around for "future research". It's not gonna happen. I mean it always COULD happen, but those days are long gone and likely aren't coming back. Basically, from here on out, I'm going digital and/or using the library. I have a Kindle for books and numerous devices to stream music (legally).

Still trying to think of one more good one...

#QuitNow! Achievement unlocked: Hundred - No smoking for 100 days

Boo ya!

#QuitNow! Achievement unlocked: A whole week - You saved 7 days of your life

The Hunt for the Red October Review

Okay...here's where I'm at.

Networth = Positive!
Marathon = Delayed
Travel more = Working on it, trip to Savannah this month
Write more = participating in the NanoWrimo challenge this month to write a novel by the end of November.  I'm currently way the hell behind in my word count, but I figure anything is better than nothing. We're talking about my first fiction story in a decade, so this is definitely something fresh.

Quit smoking = 80 days and counting.

Really, the only thing I'm disappointed in is that I won't end up having run a marathon by the end of the year. I think I can pin that on two things: 1) Not quitting smoking early enough in the year, which would have enabled me to 2) run more.

However, I'm starting to think of some of the goals I'd like for next year. Luckily, running will be one of them because....

#1 - Cut down to 175 pounds. This isn't too lofty of a goal, somewhere between a 20-25 pound loss by the end of next year (I'm 6 feet tall, so this isn't going to be freakishly skinny). I think after quitting smoking, running a half marathon, and just being more aware, I should be able to accomplish this goal. I know that you're not supposed to tie success to numbers, but it's not like I'm shooting for under 170 where success may be harder to define.

More to come as I think of it! 

September Review

Completely forgot to do my September update, but there hasn't been a whole to mention either. First up, the updates

Quit Smoking - 10 weeks strong! I've been trying to figure out the last time I went this long without smoking, and as far as I can tell, it's been either 6 years or never. It's even getting to the point that I can smell the smoke on my clothes after going out, which isn't a great thing for my clothes, but a testament to the new nostril power! Also my willpower, as I haven't even really been tempted. Actually, the one downside has been that I don't even really like going to smoking bars now, which unfortunately is just about every bar. Unfortunately, a good chunk of my friends still smoke, meaning I'm stuck with the smoke smell for now. I'm on track to having half the year smoke-free by the time New Years runs around. And THAT is a great feeling. I'll start posting my QuitNow achievements on here again since I'm past the point I was at last time.

Networth - Doing better and better. Credit card is now paid off, two more of my student loans were knocked off, and now that I have a mortgage instead of rent and a slight bump in salary, paying a bit more every month while still living my life is now possible. Having some breathing room is definitely making this aspect of my life easier to deal with, seeing as how I can actually do things instead of sitting around the house.

Run a marathon - This one is going to be going on the backburner until early next year. I was gradually increasing my runs by 5 miles each week until I got my eye surgery, and with just a week off, I kind of fell off.

Travel more - Got a trip booked to Savannah next month! Outside of that, I got to see my beloved Foo Fighters in Atlanta halfway through last month, something I'm glad I did after they announced they're going on hiatus not even a week later.

Write more - Well, clearly I haven't been. I think of all my resolutions, this is one I've struggled with the most. Not sure if I'll end up picking this one up more by the year's end, but at the very least, I have nearly 50 posts on here!

Wallpaper = Sheet Rock Holocaust

In addition to my ongoing New Year's resolutions, I have a few other ones listed that are more of a to-do list, and after an embarrassing 3 months, I took my watch in to get its battery replaced. The sad part is, I thought it would have to be shipped off and cost me $80, but after 10 bucks and five minutes, the wrist was blingin' again. Woo!

Now onto the wallpaper...the previous owners had god-awful wallpaper borders, and after investigating a variety of options ranging from an expensive steamer to cursing it off, I settled on a wallpaper removal concentrate, which didn't work any better than just hot water, a sponge, and a scraper. I'm sure the steamer might have been the best option, but $100 is nuts compared to the $5 I paid for the scraper and maybe another $5 I paid for the scorer. The real test is going to be when I tackle the completely wall-papered foyer (which admittedly, doesn't look terrible) and the painted over wallpaper in the kitchen.

My PRK surgery seems to have healed at a pace which can only be described as incredi-fast. My eyesight is at least near 20/20, and for the first time since the surgery I set the screen back to 100% instead of 150%.

Man, it's been a while

I just noticed that I haven't posted since June....and wow, what a change. I guess the first thing is to give the progress on my goals

1) Quit smoking - Back on the wagon, 16 days smoke free. And i feel like everything in my life is stable enough now that I won't be going back anytime soon.

2) Run a marathon - I started running bigtime a few weeks ago, gradually increasing the mileage. Last week I ran 20.5 miles throughout the week, but since I just got eye surgery, breaking a huge sweat isn't going to be in the cards for a week or two, unfortunately.

3) Networth - This one kind of went haywire, especially since I just bought a freakin house! Obviously I didn't buy it in cash, so I'll be basing the networth portion as compared to the estimated value from my bank's estimator tool. But to also be fair and kind of keep me on my toes, if it's worth more than I owe, I'm not going to count it with my other finances. This isn't a personal finance blog, so I'm making up my own rules, and I don't think it's dishonest if it makes it harder for me to say I have a positive networth.

But with all that said, my head is still above water financially, and I'm slowly but surely adding value to my house while paying down the rest of my debt. I'm planning on being completely out of debt by September of 2014, and hopefully I'll be able to reach that date without needing to sell off any investments.

4) Write more - I haven't been, obviously. It's either been work or working out, but I think there's a novel challenege in november that I may partake in. I guess we'll see.

5) Travel more - I was supposed to go on a trip, but that didn't happen, so at some point before the end of the year I'm going to find a way to go on a different trip or SOMETHING that won't also have a negative effect on my financial outlook.

So, now that the final four months of the year have begun, I'm hoping to finish as strongly as I started this whole process. I also had lasers zap my eyes to what will hopefully be 20/20 or better, so here's hoping for a speedy recovery. I'm on day 3, and my sight seems to fluctuate between good and, well, shitty. I think a lot of it is due to the bandage contacts they put in to protect the cornea as it heals, but I can pop those out on Monday. From what I've (blurrily) read, my sight will actually decrease again following that before healing steadily, hopefully in time for the Eagles' season opener.

I wish I had more to write about, but it's mostly been a lot of small scale house work lately. I bought the Nest wifi programmable thermostat and it has been a really, really cool gadget. Anyway, hopefully I'll have some better things to write about soon.