2010 - The Results

First, I'd like to thank the Academy, I mean my 3.5 readers for keeping me accountable!  The real purpose of the "Big 10 in 2010" list was first and foremost to actually remember the list.  For the whole year.  (Usually I'm lucky to find yesterday's post-it note.)  I admit I initially stacked the deck a bit by including things I really wanted to do, like the garden and the den, but even those had issues when viewed over the entire year.  Overall, I feel pretty good and am working on the new list for 2011. 

Plant Vegetable and Herb Garden from Seed
Definitely a success on this one... until about October.  It turned out that I sort of ignored it (along with the compost pile) once it stopped giving me lovely vegetables.  But we had tomatoes, peppers, okra, lettuce, peas, pole beans, carrots,  zucchini, tomatillos, raspberries, basil, oregano, chives, scallions, and enough mint to make juleps for the entire South.  Now, admittedly, not every veggie on this list was what I would call productive; a few just made a small showing.  And thank goodness for my friend Monica's tomato FOREST.  She kept me in the red, yellow, striped, and cherry beauties all summer.  Probably the biggest benefit of the garden was clearing out the old shrubs and converting it to what I like to call our "urban farm" of edible landscaping.  P.S. I also am involved in starting a school garden at my kids' school.  Oh yeah, I actually got fruit from my new citrus trees - three oranges, two grapefruit, and lots of lemons!  After 15 years, I feel like a real Californian.

Daily Yoga, Pilates, or Walking
I started regularly walking our local park in March, and thought I was doing well with 3 laps.  I also did my Malibu Pilates dvd once or twice a week and yoga now and again.  In June, I planned a trip home to NY, Ohio & Indiana so started watching my eating to try and lose 15 pounds by September.  With this plan, I actually lost a whopping FOUR pounds in three months, so something had to change!  Then three huge things happened.  1) I bought a digital scale, and found out our old one was TEN POUNDS LOW so that 15 was really 25.  2) Saw my oldest friend Sandy, who had lost a zillion pounds and looked 10 years younger by using the Fat Flush Plan.  3) Bought a pedometer and a heart rate monitor, only to discover my heretofore mentioned workout wasn't aerobic enough for my grandma.  So now I walk about 15-20 miles a week, work out in some way every day, and after 14 weeks on the Fat Flush Plan, have lost another 14 pounds!  It has changed my outlook, my health, and my body shape.  My amazing hubby has lost over 20 pounds!

Monthly Date Night with DH
Okay, this one sucks; I think we managed three nights out last year that didn't involve family, school activities, holidays, or other friends/couples.  It will definitely be going on the 2011 list.

Finish 18 Knit, Crochet, and Sewing WIP's
Hahahahahahaha.   The actual funny part is that I thought this would be a piece of cake!  See my post entitled "Knitter's Math".  Enough said.  My knitting goal for this year will be structured very differently, as you will see.  I also was handicapped a bit on this goal since I was often knitting new projects for classes I was teaching.  Even if I already had a class model, it rarely was in the right yarn for the right shop.

Frame and Hang Fam Fotos on Hallway Wall
Nada.  But I did semi-organize my giant messy shelf of pictures and albums.  (Okay, I put everything from the last two years in a box.)  Definitely will be on the 2011 list.

Repair/Clean Grandma's Lace Tablecloth
Nope.  Truthfully, I am very nervous about this one.  I can't decide if I should try to clean or repair it first.  The smoke smell is overpowering and the yucky brown color very unmotivating.  But I really want to save this priceless heirloom, so it will be on the new list.

Use My 96 Cookbooks in 1 Year
This lasted all of ONE month.  I did actually use more cookbooks, and now am more aware of what I actually have, which is good.  I also bought about 8 new (and mostly unhealthy) cookbooks this year, which is bad.  Now I only cook from the Fat Flush book, and Clean Eating magazine.  Check it out - it's awesome!  Anybody need any cookbooks?

One-on-One Kid Time
Pretty good on this one; it helped that my youngest had more social stuff going on this year, which gave MD some Mama Time.  But I do miss my time with the oldest now that she is back to work.  But yeah for her!

Make Challah for Shabbat
Yeah on this one!  Not only did I create a recipe we all love that gets mixed in the bread machine then baked in the oven, but I won First Prize in the "Other Breads" division at the county fair this summer!  I'm actually looking into selling it at the farmer's market.  This involves getting my kitchen certified which initimidates me, so no progress yet.

Transform My Half of Den into Craft Room
This was fun and I love seeing my yarn and books all organized instead of all over the place in boxes.  As is typical, it turned into a whole den reorganization, but now my hubby also has half of the den and actually uses his desk!  Now I'm ready to inventory what I actually have and get it on Ravelry to keep me accountable for one of the new 2011 goals.