Dear Friends and Family,
We went out for the traditional Korean New Year's dinner. And, Mr. mouse is napping on the couch now. I think I feel well enough to attempt my year wrap up and look ahead.
Scratch that. My head ended up hurting pretty bad last night so I saved my post as a draft, placed an ice pack on the base of my skull and took two Tylenol. Hopefully, I have better luck this morning.
Wow! 2007 went quicker than I ever thought possible. We didn't "accomplish" "much" by our standard yardstick. We didn't sell any houses. We didn't move jobs. We didn't make any major life changes. But, it was a perfect year for little things. And, after multiple years of big things, I'm 110% okay with a year of little things.
baby... maybe
Well, we made the decision to give this a try. And, so far it's been a process of trial and error. The main issue has been trying to predict my overall cycle length. I'm bi-modal, 28 days or 32 days making ovulation a moving target. I guess we'll continue down the path we're on unless something changes. For now, it is what it is.
clutter diet
Fortunately, we have had the time to tackle some of this during 2007. The main living areas are 80+% of the way there. There always still more to do. The big areas still left to tackle are the basement and the garage. They've become catch alls for everything we haven't had the time to organize. My budget does a lot of manage this since I get "credit" for everything I sell (like my ice cream maker) and I'm not as tempted to buy new things.
eating out/food finds/wellness
I'm about two months away from my two year anniversary with Weight Watchers. And, I have to say, I'm very satisfied with the results. I might begin playing with core this year as the point counting thing is getting a little old. Part of this is point counting is at it's most onerous during the holidays when there's a lot of atypical eating. January will be better for that. But, if we do become pregnant, then, I think I'll want the structure of points to manage the weight gain to a healthy level. I'm not sure I trust myself with gauging the difference between real hunger and pregnancy craving since I've never been down this path before.
green is good
This has been a good thing to add to our list. I'm pretty sure there's still a ton we can do to continue making a difference. It'll be small changes throughout 2008. You'll be on the journey with me as I continue to try and reduce my impact on the environment and to reduce, reuse and recycle.
money matters/make your mark
This has been another good thing to add to our list. We made our retirement savings goal last year. Woot! And, we're one month shy of our rainy day fund goal. That fund gives us a one year cushion if something goes south for Mr. mouse and me simultaneously. I know that's a pretty conservative amount, but, it helps me sleep at night, and that's all that ultimately matters. This budget thing helps a ton on this front since it really sharply curtails my spending to, realistically, where it needs to be.
And, this ties into make your mark, how? Well, we have 10 years left for active retirement savings at our current trend. And, realistically, I think I can get that down to eight years. The big question is, can we get it down to six? Maybe. This will be a good year for learning that since it's our first year of normal savings. Once we hit our retirement savings goals, which is also a moving target if you want me to be completely honest, then, both of us have a lot more flexibility in the work we do. It's got to put food on the table and cover our benefits, but, besides that, not much else. I like what I do and so does Mr. mouse, but, I wonder what my "next career" will hold for me. I have a feeling it'll be radically different and that's why money matters is tied to make your mark.
mouse house/mouse pad
Fix the roof. Must fix the roof. This year's big project is to take apart the deck and redo the roof. I think we've agreed to not replace the deck until we know what the long term plan is for the roof. We may go solar. We may go green roof. We may replace the deck. But, it'll be resealed this year, regardless. This is getting ridiculous.
That all being said, I love the mouse pad. I love its location. I love its layout. I love that all of our stuff is in one place. I love that it's our home. I love all of the visitors we get. I'm very happy with it all. I've got a lot of mental plans on things we want to do with the place to make it even more us, but, that's all still in the planning phase.
Top 3
What's on my Top 3 list?
transitions/work
Well. I like my job. I love my group. I just wish the company wasn't falling apart at the seams. I'm glad I made the move. I've made lots of friends, six of whom I would consider good friends that I'd keep in close touch even if either of us switched work.
travel
Ah. It's been so good to have our weekends back to be able to take advantage of this. We got to visit a lot of places that we'd been putting off because of the mouse house work. And, now, we have another whole year ahead of us. I'm giddy with the thought of another long vacation. And, of staying on our regular travel cycle. It's a good mix of time at home and time with friends.
And, that, my friends, is my recap of 2007 and, more so, my look ahead into 2008. Wow, you're a trooper if you've made it this far into my post and deserve a hearty congratulations for sticking with it and caring that much about me.
Cheers!
mouse
We went out for the traditional Korean New Year's dinner. And, Mr. mouse is napping on the couch now. I think I feel well enough to attempt my year wrap up and look ahead.
Scratch that. My head ended up hurting pretty bad last night so I saved my post as a draft, placed an ice pack on the base of my skull and took two Tylenol. Hopefully, I have better luck this morning.
Wow! 2007 went quicker than I ever thought possible. We didn't "accomplish" "much" by our standard yardstick. We didn't sell any houses. We didn't move jobs. We didn't make any major life changes. But, it was a perfect year for little things. And, after multiple years of big things, I'm 110% okay with a year of little things.
baby... maybe
Well, we made the decision to give this a try. And, so far it's been a process of trial and error. The main issue has been trying to predict my overall cycle length. I'm bi-modal, 28 days or 32 days making ovulation a moving target. I guess we'll continue down the path we're on unless something changes. For now, it is what it is.
clutter diet
Fortunately, we have had the time to tackle some of this during 2007. The main living areas are 80+% of the way there. There always still more to do. The big areas still left to tackle are the basement and the garage. They've become catch alls for everything we haven't had the time to organize. My budget does a lot of manage this since I get "credit" for everything I sell (like my ice cream maker) and I'm not as tempted to buy new things.
eating out/food finds/wellness
I'm about two months away from my two year anniversary with Weight Watchers. And, I have to say, I'm very satisfied with the results. I might begin playing with core this year as the point counting thing is getting a little old. Part of this is point counting is at it's most onerous during the holidays when there's a lot of atypical eating. January will be better for that. But, if we do become pregnant, then, I think I'll want the structure of points to manage the weight gain to a healthy level. I'm not sure I trust myself with gauging the difference between real hunger and pregnancy craving since I've never been down this path before.
green is good
This has been a good thing to add to our list. I'm pretty sure there's still a ton we can do to continue making a difference. It'll be small changes throughout 2008. You'll be on the journey with me as I continue to try and reduce my impact on the environment and to reduce, reuse and recycle.
money matters/make your mark
This has been another good thing to add to our list. We made our retirement savings goal last year. Woot! And, we're one month shy of our rainy day fund goal. That fund gives us a one year cushion if something goes south for Mr. mouse and me simultaneously. I know that's a pretty conservative amount, but, it helps me sleep at night, and that's all that ultimately matters. This budget thing helps a ton on this front since it really sharply curtails my spending to, realistically, where it needs to be.
And, this ties into make your mark, how? Well, we have 10 years left for active retirement savings at our current trend. And, realistically, I think I can get that down to eight years. The big question is, can we get it down to six? Maybe. This will be a good year for learning that since it's our first year of normal savings. Once we hit our retirement savings goals, which is also a moving target if you want me to be completely honest, then, both of us have a lot more flexibility in the work we do. It's got to put food on the table and cover our benefits, but, besides that, not much else. I like what I do and so does Mr. mouse, but, I wonder what my "next career" will hold for me. I have a feeling it'll be radically different and that's why money matters is tied to make your mark.
mouse house/mouse pad
Fix the roof. Must fix the roof. This year's big project is to take apart the deck and redo the roof. I think we've agreed to not replace the deck until we know what the long term plan is for the roof. We may go solar. We may go green roof. We may replace the deck. But, it'll be resealed this year, regardless. This is getting ridiculous.
That all being said, I love the mouse pad. I love its location. I love its layout. I love that all of our stuff is in one place. I love that it's our home. I love all of the visitors we get. I'm very happy with it all. I've got a lot of mental plans on things we want to do with the place to make it even more us, but, that's all still in the planning phase.
Top 3
What's on my Top 3 list?
- baby... maybe
- green is good
- money matters
transitions/work
Well. I like my job. I love my group. I just wish the company wasn't falling apart at the seams. I'm glad I made the move. I've made lots of friends, six of whom I would consider good friends that I'd keep in close touch even if either of us switched work.
travel
Ah. It's been so good to have our weekends back to be able to take advantage of this. We got to visit a lot of places that we'd been putting off because of the mouse house work. And, now, we have another whole year ahead of us. I'm giddy with the thought of another long vacation. And, of staying on our regular travel cycle. It's a good mix of time at home and time with friends.
And, that, my friends, is my recap of 2007 and, more so, my look ahead into 2008. Wow, you're a trooper if you've made it this far into my post and deserve a hearty congratulations for sticking with it and caring that much about me.
Cheers!
mouse
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1 comment:
cheers to you mouse! you are fabulous and I'm so happy to call you my dear friend. such an inspiration. I'm also glad for the blog and your attention to it - I hardly feel disconnected from you at all which just makes the time we DO get to spend together that much more gratifying. can't wait for another year of friendship and living our authentic lives. xoxoxo
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