Happy 2018! I mean, aside from pretty much everything in political news, mudslides in Montecito, and it being one of the worst flu seasons in decades-- it's only January, by the way-- at least we aren't in 2017 anymore, right?
Right?
2017 was an interesting year in a lot of ways, but personally it was different because I set actual goals intending to accomplish them. A bulleted list was typed, printed out, and taped to my front door so I could see what I set out to do for the whole year every day. Usually I'd rattle off a couple New Years resolutions at the bar while counting down to midnight, only to forget them a couple days later, but 2017 was going to be different; I wanted to do more and be better, so I set out to do just that.
But how did I do? Let's go down the list:
1) Quit Smoking
Uh... moving on...
2) Run more
I ran three different races last year; two 10ks and a half marathon. I ended up with a pretty bad ankle sprain after the Verdugo Mountain 10k in May so that laid me out for all of June and most of July. I was pissed about it, but I got back at it and continued the ten to fifteen miles-per-week goal and surpassed it after I signed myself up for the Santa Clarita half. Now that I have new shoes that might not aid in spraining my ankles or make me trip and give me gnarly road rash (that happened mid-September, my arms now have some ugly scars) I plan to get back at it.
3) Work out more
I petered out a little bit as the year ended (from Thanksgiving on it's been a mix of apathy and comfort food), but I managed to keep exercising even when my ankle was fucked up, so I plan to continue that too.
4) Build up Adventure Fund
My "Adventure Fund" consists of loose change, tips, bonuses, et cetera, saved up for a trip somewhere. So far, after having Adventure Fund as a concept for a couple years, I haven't used it for adventures for reasons better explained later. However, I'm working on that again this year, so we'll see if it gets used for its original intention instead of groceries.
5) Camp more
I didn't go as much as I'd have liked to, but I did squeeze in at least one trip in 2017. Hopefully this year is different because there are some spots I'd like to post up at.
6) Hike more
I did hike a fair bit, but much like camping I didn't go as often as I'd have liked. Then again, I did run quite a bit, which is kind of like hiking but faster, so it's a sort-of success? Either way, I have new maps of new areas I haven't explored before, and old maps with places I haven't been to yet, so I'm excited for that.
7) Kayak
I got a kayak from my brother in 2016, and I got a rack so I could haul it places on my Versa, but my nieces use it around my brothers house, I never got the rack on the Versa, I never seemed to find the time to even go, and I traded in the Versa anyway and sold the rack. Regardless, I still want to float the Owens River in the kayak eventually, so hopefully I can find a weekend to make that happen.
8) Continue job hunt
It's disheartening, but I'm still looking.
9) Build up savings account
Remember how I mentioned I traded in my Versa? That happened because the transmission basically died. Less than 6 months to pay it off and not even 100,000 miles on it and the car croaked! It's fucked up, right?! So I had to bite the bullet and drop pretty much everything I had saved up on a down payment for another car. Sure, I love my 2015 Civic, and I'm glad I didn't end up upside-down on the Versa, but I'm still building my savings up after that stress-filled fiasco.
10) Invest more in 401(k)
I just said I'm still building up my savings again, chill out.
11) Get rid of some stuff
My girlfriends family and I did have a yard sale, and I did let go of a lot of stuff. Having a small apartment means deciding what crap you really need, and I still had stuff in boxes from when I moved in, so I purged and managed to sell and donate a fair bit. I'm a fan of cleaning and getting rid of crap so it was a win in the bag.
I have a similar list of goals for this year, about half being continuations of last years list. I'm trying to pick up running mileage again, squirreling away money into savings and Adventure Fund, and even trying to re-learn Spanish. It should be a good year as far as accomplishments go, so hopefully that's the case.
If 2017's list of resolutions has taught me anything it's that things are really unexpected and often inconvenient; Some goals weren't attempted, some were attempted but failed (coughcoughsmokingcough), and some were hindered by things beyond my control. Beautiful summer morning runs were replaced by a swollen ankle. Paying off my car loan and building up my savings was replaced by spending weeks calling garages, talking with car dealers, and dropping thousands of dollars. Call-backs for jobs were few and far between, and the ones I did get didn't go anywhere.
Despite the missteps-- both literal and figurative-- and setbacks, not everything unexpected was inconvenient. I didn't think I'd reconnect with a good friend whom I hadn't spoken to in ages. Marching in protest was out of left field too. There was a lot of bad last year but it wasn't without respite.
Either way, here's hoping this year isn't the worst, even though it probably will be, and if it is here's hoping we make it out in one piece.
