report card

Since it is January 1st once again, I thought it would be a good time to check in on those New Year's resolutions from last year and see how well I did. Most of the time, by December 31st, I can't even remember what my new year's resolutions were (half of them are forgotten by June), but fortunately, a blog is a good record-keeping device, so I went back to January 2008 and found my original list.

My New Year's resolutions for 2008 were:
a) To live a lower-carb lifestyle
b) To read more
c) To do better on saving money (and specifically, to pay off my school loans--finally!)
e) To get back involved with a church (I was quite a slacker on church attendance in 2007)
f) To exercise at least 3-4 times a week
g) To do one new service project every month

Now, for the grading:
a) Lower carb lifestyle--This lasted until, oh, February, when I started training for the half-marathon and realized that carbs were my friends, not my enemies. 2008 was filled with much bread, pasta, potatoes, and so many other foods that make life delicious--so I'll have to give myself an F on this one. But, oh, what a sweet F it is. I think I'll take that F, dip it in chocolate and eat it. For breakfast.
b) Read more--Does Domino magazine count? I don't know that I actually read more in 2008...I probably read about the same amount as I did in 2007. But I did buy a whole lot of books on Amazon that are sitting there just waiting to be read, so this one can carry over to 2009. I'll be kind and give myself a D.
c) Saving money--I actually did add to my savings this year, although that is quickly dwindling with the whole selling-and-buying-a-new-house project. However, I did pay off all of my school loans, which is a HUGE accomplishment (that I have been working on for the past 9 years), so I'm gonna give myself an A on this one. And a big fat WOO-HOO!
e) Churchgoing--I'm a heathen. Why is it so hard to get up and get dressed at a decent hour on Sunday morning? I was a part of a women's bible study for most of the year, and I have done my own devotionals, but I was just about as bad as a C&E Christian as far as churchgoing went. I'll have to give myself a very guilty D- on this one. Thank goodness God doesn't grade like I do.
f) Exercising--Although I didn't always make it 3-4 times a week, I think I did pretty well on this one. Between training for the half-marathon and leading a boot camp, I think I exercised my little fanny off. Well, not completely, but at least it didn't get any bigger, and that's good enough for me. A-.
g) Service projects--I actually stuck with this one pretty well, even during the busy times...until November and December hit. I cooked lunch for the homeless, bowled with the United Cerebral Palsy group, made care packages for people living with AIDS, helped build a house with Habitat, volunteered with the Light the Night Walk, and quite a few other things. As I suspected, this turned out to be my favorite resolution to keep, and I highly recommend it for others. Since I missed November and December, I'll have to take a couple of points off, so we'll go with a B+. And I think this one will be a carry-over for 2009.

All in all, not too shabby, especially when compared to my success at keeping resolutions in the past.So now, I just have to come up with the list for 2009. Any suggestions?