2014 Goals Checkpoint

With one month gone, it's a good time to see where things are at and if any changes are needed to this year's goal list.

Exercise/Stretch 5+ Days a Week, Body Fat 12%

Check. I've been very close to 6 days a week of exercise, and while I haven't stretched on each of those days, I've been doing it at least 3 days a week. The scale told me that my weight's still right around 160, so even though I do need to get busy finding a way to measure body fat, the chances that it's risen much are pretty low.

Healthy Elbow, Eyes, Teeth

Teeth first: I've done about all I can do short of getting a root canal on this one. Went back to the dentist and for the third time since my last visit, he did some re-shaping of a crown that's been giving me problems. Now just about the only way I actually bite against it is if I'm eating something small and solid like nuts or something. So at least the pain's minimized. At some point I may go the distance and just kill the root, but for now I'm happy.

Eyes: The bad news is that I am still trying to figure out why contact lenses go haywire in my left eye. It's blurry, there's occasionally mucus, even a little blood once. Doc's got me on an antibiotic to see if the mucus/blood thing was just viral like an ulcer. Apparently there are still some options for a contact in that eye. On the huge upside, though, the upgrade to my glasses has created perfect vision at all distances, even without bifocals. Switching to the McLean County Eye Center (thank you Facebook friend Adam Shake for the referral!) has been a revelation. My previous doctor simply recommended that I start wearing reading glasses to balance my eyes and end the blurriness. Incorrect.

Elbow: Still dealing with tennis elbow in the right one so that I haven't shot a basketball or done an upper body workout pain-free since last summer. Seeing a physical therapist recommended by the NCHS team trainer, and he has me on a regimen of daily light exercise, and weekly visits for treatment. I'd have to say no improvement noticed in its health, but at least it's getting worked on professionally which if nothing else will rule out treatments that don't work.



Tutor 300 Hours

By the end of the day I'll have logged 36.5 hours of private tutoring in the month of January. That's a fair pace considering that by my count there were really only 25 tutoring days available under the best conditions, and that I lost 9 days to school cancellations and basketball games. Plus it's the first month of the semester which is the slowest. Actually, taking all that into consideration - averaging more than 2 hours of tutoring a day and knowing that it's going to ramp up - it was an excellent month. I decided not to audition for a play that I'd blocked off 6 hours a week to do, so I am positioned to take on more students than I thought. That's in addition to the 18 students I have currently. Though I don't count my 10 weekly hours at Heartland toward this goal since it's basically low-paid training, in all I'm at 30 hours of tutoring a week, and 40 is certainly not out of the question by semester's end.

Blog Thanks Weekly

I have lacked on this one. Got my 50 monthly posts in as usual, but considering all the great things that have happened this month, have reflected on them only briefly in writing.

Make 10 New Acquaintances

Sitting out the play will be a drawback, but I've volunteered to be the Leadership McLean County Alumni Chair for the next year, which opens possibilities. I don't like to count my new students as acquaintances, but there is definitely some learning from them in terms of character. It's early in the year and there is plenty of time to make things happen here.

Clean House

I'm just going to re-state the goal here, since nothing happened with it yet. This is a catch-all for a few things. Our basement wall needs a good scrubbing. A major project to repair driveway/carports will improve our property greatly. My wardrobe and files need an overhaul. A cleaner home is a launching pad for the fresh start that is 2014.