progress update

i really can't say it enough. how happy i am that i retired from my old job. chief among the things i do not miss is writing up reports. i can't even tell you how many reports i wrote up between the years of 1979 and 2012. i would venture to say thousands. many thousands.

and that doesn't even count the continual progress reports. which sometimes were very hard to write when you dealt with students who were, in many cases, in physical decline. many times, a child just "standing still" was considered progress, in that there was no decrease in skills. or sometimes progress would be that they didn't decline as much as you thought they would. it was down right hard. being positive when there was really not too very much to be positive about. i had to be rather creative about it at times. and it sort of broke my heart sometimes.

oh but anyway.

tonight's blog is my personal progress report. but since i'm not forced to put it in any particular format or form, i'm just going to list some things towards my goal of being a "better" person. i'm definitely not going to put my accomplisments in quantifiable terms. if i never measure write up anyone's progress in quantifiable terms again, i'll die a happy women.

1. i have been playing my guitar. i'm still really bad, but hey my "ode to joy" and my "brown eyed girl" and my "hey mr. tamborine man" - they are not as horrible as they once were. i have learned notes and strumming patterns.

2. i have been cooking. tonight i made a salmon steak and a wonderful avacado, tomato, and mozzerella salad. it was delicious. i paired them with a delicious crisp white wine.

3. i have moved to a new city and i'm getting along well. i explore. i try to go somewhere new here each week.

4. i have a new job and i think i'm becoming quite decent at it. and the people at work seem to like me.

5. i am developing quite the green thumb. i have 6 very very healthy plants growing on my patio. that i've grown from seeds and had to repot 3 times now, they've grown so much. oh and there is my indoor bamboo plant. it is thriving too.

6. i've finally learned to not hate excel. ok, i still sort of hate it, but i'm minimally proficent at some of it now.

7. i've improved my math skills. really, i have. i have been doing little math practice drills on the computer regularly. and i'm improving.

8. i have decluttered my life,and my apartment could actually be described as clean, neat,and tidy. it's a rare day when i don't make my bed.

9. i've been taking my medicine, and i'm eating breakfast. oh yeah. and drinking water.

10. i'm laughing outloud sometimes, now.

11. i've read 14 books since january. oh, and i've re-read two.

12. i've saved money this year. really. and with a fraction of my old pay.

13. i'm up to running up to two miles again. even while i still really hate running.

14. i've been getting lots more sleep.

speaking of sleep- i should get some. good night.