Counting Down

I have a friend who is always counting down. She has count down calendars for everything including, I think, her retirement which is still a few years away.

As a general rule I don’t count down. It isn’t usually productive for me and often serves to reinforce just how much longer I have to go making me that much more depressed. So, I am not counting down to retirement. At least not actively. As of this writing it is a little over 10 months away. That’s as close to a count down as I am getting right now. A lot can happen in 10 months, including a shortening or even lengthening of this timeline. So, not counting down.

I am, however, counting toward other goals. 

After each rowing session I estimate how many more sessions I will need to get to 600,000, 750,000 and 1,000,000 meters. As of today the counts stand at 2, 23 and 59.  All of these counts will shrink as I get closer and … might even shrink more than one session at a time depending on how many meters I row each class. (Counts estimated based on a minimum of 7,000 meters per class.)

I am also kind of, sort of, counting down (up) to my 500th class at Bar Method Noho. For all the years I have been doing Bar Method, this is the closest I have come to 500 classes at a single studio. My count as of today is 431. A rough, in my head, calculation has me taking my 500th class sometime this summer.

These are positive goals. They are measuring my pleasure. My strength. My aspirations. They are goals that can be reached sooner rather than later and can be sped up if I so desire.

Here’s to counting the positive and (trying to) ignoring the negative.

Now to accomplish some sewing goals!

Goals: Update #4

Done! All of the goals that I posted at the start of break have been accomplished.

• Little Squid now has new, warm mittens
• Papa Squid has a big sack of homespun sweater yarn
• and we finished the puzzle.

In addition:

• I'm almost done with the woven scarf(?) (might be 2 or 3, it seems to be taking forever!)
• I built another airlift hydroponic system
• I made a fresh batch of yogurt
• I figured out how I'm conducting my last 3 weeks of classes
• I graded the papers that I brought home
• I played lots of Wii with the kids and Mike
• I played a few board games with the kids (and Mike)
  
• I slept until 7 or (gasp!) later almost every day
• I started a major cleaning of the kitchen which will ultimately lead to a paint job during either February or Spring break (I'm taking it in small chunks so it is not too overwhelming. 15 - 20 minutes a night of serious cabinet and wall scrubbing.)
• and I ordered a big-girl Loom.

My goals for the next month are:

• To spend lots of time at work making sure that the student programs are ready to go on February 1.

That's it. I really can't put anything else on the list with that looming. Oh, and maybe warp my loom once it arrives at the end of the month. (Like that won't happen!)

I'll try to get some pictures of the yarn posted later, and maybe the yardage if I manage to finish it off.