And the Year That Was...
Dec. 31st, 2010 05:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catsittingstillLet's see--I don't think I posted any New Years Resolutions for last year.
I meant to donate time to charity, and did that by volunteering at the Jefferson Rural Clinic, a minimum of one morning a month and often more than that. This coming year I will be doing two mornings a month except for January, when the clinic will be closed the first morning I would volunteer.
The down side is that one morning a month doesn't really give me enough experience to get good at it. The up side is that I have been able to really help several people. Mind you, it's help they would have gotten from someone else if I hadn't been there, but it still felt good.
I meant to exercise in a more deliberate and regular way, and some months I was pretty good but I tended to get off track when the weather changed or when I had a big project, or when I had guests. I lost a lot of my canoeing muscle while I was working so hard on Constance.
I finished Constance! She was considerably cheaper than Patience, partly because I used leftover epoxy from Patience and white pine instead of cedar, and partly because I didn't have to buy nearly as many tools this time. I learned a new technique for staple-less construction, and "wrap-around" gunwales. My canoe lifter worked quite well, though I would like to work out a way to make it easier to change heights. My workbench worked quite well but tends to fill up with stuff; I could use a lighter, smaller auxiliary table to hold things, and I could use better tool storage.
The fixing the shower tile thing that I planned to start in January actually got done in June or thereabouts--just before my Dad and Brother came to visit and we really needed to be able to use both showers. It turned out to be a two bathroom glue-tiles-back-on-then-grout job, but it did finally get done. Plus I finally cleaned out under the house in November, though I still have to redirect the flow of a couple of downspouts and put proper plastic over the dirt in the crawlspace, which I'm not particularly looking forward to.
The house cost us considerably more than we expected when I found that the roof was leaking. We subsequently got a new roof, which should be good for forty or fifty years (a metal roof) which will be partly deductible from the taxes, and while I was at it I also had the attic insulated which is also partly deductible for the taxes plus it should bring our heating and cooling bills down. Considering we had the coldest December in a decade while also having visitors we turned the heat up for, I sure *hope* it will bring our heating and cooling bills down. Also I hope it will make the boatshop more liveable in winter and summer. I still need to go around installing weather stripping on all the doors and put the storm windows back over the kitchen window.
This years resolutions:
Go back on my diet--reduce the amount of sugar and fat; increase the amount of fruits, veggies, and whole grains
Exercise 150 minutes a week minimum, plus three strength training sessions a week
How about giving meditation another try?
Another big, exciting project--another canoe would be good
Regarding house--redirect downspout, put down plastic in crawlspace, weatherstrip doors, fix paint in bathrooms.
Practice mandolin five times a week; if Folksingers Anonymous peters out try at least three other people to see if I can put together my own music circle.
I meant to donate time to charity, and did that by volunteering at the Jefferson Rural Clinic, a minimum of one morning a month and often more than that. This coming year I will be doing two mornings a month except for January, when the clinic will be closed the first morning I would volunteer.
The down side is that one morning a month doesn't really give me enough experience to get good at it. The up side is that I have been able to really help several people. Mind you, it's help they would have gotten from someone else if I hadn't been there, but it still felt good.
I meant to exercise in a more deliberate and regular way, and some months I was pretty good but I tended to get off track when the weather changed or when I had a big project, or when I had guests. I lost a lot of my canoeing muscle while I was working so hard on Constance.
I finished Constance! She was considerably cheaper than Patience, partly because I used leftover epoxy from Patience and white pine instead of cedar, and partly because I didn't have to buy nearly as many tools this time. I learned a new technique for staple-less construction, and "wrap-around" gunwales. My canoe lifter worked quite well, though I would like to work out a way to make it easier to change heights. My workbench worked quite well but tends to fill up with stuff; I could use a lighter, smaller auxiliary table to hold things, and I could use better tool storage.
The fixing the shower tile thing that I planned to start in January actually got done in June or thereabouts--just before my Dad and Brother came to visit and we really needed to be able to use both showers. It turned out to be a two bathroom glue-tiles-back-on-then-grout job, but it did finally get done. Plus I finally cleaned out under the house in November, though I still have to redirect the flow of a couple of downspouts and put proper plastic over the dirt in the crawlspace, which I'm not particularly looking forward to.
The house cost us considerably more than we expected when I found that the roof was leaking. We subsequently got a new roof, which should be good for forty or fifty years (a metal roof) which will be partly deductible from the taxes, and while I was at it I also had the attic insulated which is also partly deductible for the taxes plus it should bring our heating and cooling bills down. Considering we had the coldest December in a decade while also having visitors we turned the heat up for, I sure *hope* it will bring our heating and cooling bills down. Also I hope it will make the boatshop more liveable in winter and summer. I still need to go around installing weather stripping on all the doors and put the storm windows back over the kitchen window.
This years resolutions:
Go back on my diet--reduce the amount of sugar and fat; increase the amount of fruits, veggies, and whole grains
Exercise 150 minutes a week minimum, plus three strength training sessions a week
How about giving meditation another try?
Another big, exciting project--another canoe would be good
Regarding house--redirect downspout, put down plastic in crawlspace, weatherstrip doors, fix paint in bathrooms.
Practice mandolin five times a week; if Folksingers Anonymous peters out try at least three other people to see if I can put together my own music circle.
