A retrospective: Part Three

A new year. 

Rather than an overall assessment of growth and progress this month, it will be easier – and possibly more interesting - to address each resolution individually. Here are the first seven days. This is taking much longer than anticipated.

Day 1: Self Portrait. Nope.  This is not a goal Hypatia stuck to with any sincerity. That does not mean she doesn’t continue to indulge in numerous selfies, but these do not count.  It might be worth pondering the deeper significance of a willingness to take pictures of one’s self as a means to critique but an unwillingness to share a photograph that one feels proud of.

Day 2: Clean out car. A mild success! Hypatia certainly does not clean her car out on the 2^nd of every month, but it should be noted that the back seat is generally free and clear of clothes, books, dishes, and paper.  That means guests can ride in the car comfortable and dogs don’t step on library books.  Overall tidiness has been a huge area of growth for Hypatia in the past year, and this resolution definitely contributed to that.

Day 3: No scale. Hypatia’s obsession with the scale waxes and wanes with the moon.  Seriously. Certain times of the month are worse than others.  In her stronger moments she can hide the scale under a shelf in the bathroom, which is enough for Out of Sight, Out of Mind to kick in.  But inevitably, one skinny feeling day or one fat feeling day is enough to lure out the red, plastic beast from its cave.  Interestingly enough, Hypatia has recently resolved to throw away the scale. Maybe for 2014.

Day 4: Wash car. It happens more often, but not often enough. Maybe once every three months. Hypatia is at least conscious about it now. Also, there’s a drought in California.

Day 5: Eat five different color fruits and veggies. This is tricky. Given that Hypatia eats a plant based diet, you’d think that this would be pretty easy to accomplish. The problem is, Hypatia is not creative in the kitchen and so eats the same meals over and over again. So, she eats a lot of green food: kale, spinach, broccoli, zucchini, and avocado. These are all great foods; however, Hypatia still lacks variety. Something to work on.

Day 6: Learn a new word.  No. This lasted through March, I believe.

Day 7: Cross of seven things from my To-Do list. Lists continue to be a big part of Hypatia’s life.  Now that she has an iPhone, her lists are ongoing. She has three different list apps. One is the standard Reminders. That’s for tasks like: Exercise, Go to the Library, and Transfer Photos to External Hard drive. Then there is the Notes app. That is for grocery lists, Costco, Songs I Like, Books to Read, Target, To Do with Money, and Children’s Books Ideas. Then there is Wunderlist. This is used less often, but is a good for lists related to a project, such as the yearbook or getting married. Now, whether or no there are seven things a day, there are certainly enough lists to keep her busy. (And the Reminders list is set up so that she crosses off at least one a day: it’s an affirmation each morning to keep her positive and motivated)