Resolution check-in

06. January 2012 · 1 comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

A week mostly down.  How did it go?

  • Laundry every day: check! So far, so good.
  • Meal planning: not so good.  I had my dad visiting through the beginning of my work week.  We didn’t make it to the grocery store while he was here nor after he left.  So it’s been leftovers and frozen pizza.  Which isn’t horrible, but still.
  • Decluttering: check! I missed a day because I literally wasn’t here, but other than that, I’ve made progress. I’m trying not to think about how overwhelming it is to deal with all the crap. I’ve got a pile to keep and a pile to give away–with even a pickup scheduled today! I’m also decluttering 15 minutes a day in my classroom. So yay!
  • Yoga once a week: check! I even brought a friend with me this week.  So far so good.
  • Budget stuff: sort of check! It’s too early to tell, but I am keeping a close eye on things.  I think this resolution should be changed to something like check accounts every day.  Knowing about spending leads to not over spending.
  • Walk every day: not so much.  I have walked the dog, but that doesn’t really count.  Frankly, it’s just too cold outside.  Mr. Geeky is talking about getting a treadmill, so that might help.
  • Write a program every day: check! A couple of these have been simple examples for class, but still.  And I’m writing my own version of an old game I used to play, just for fun and practice. It’s text right now, but I’m going to graphic-ize it once I have it functioning the way I want.

So not too bad.  I’m taking it a day at a time.  How are you doing?

Looking back

31. December 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

It’s the last day of the year.  We have festivities planned and I will do what I normally do, which is to look forward not back.  But also, I like to learn from the past.  A year ago, I was halfway through the first year of a new job.  I was still really feeling my way.  To some extent, I still am, though there are certain parts of my job, especially interacting with kids, where I feel perfectly fine.  I think the nature of my field is such that I will always feel a little stretched.  So, it was mostly a good year.  One great thing about having a blog is that you have a bit of a record of your life.  I picked out the most popular posts to see what life was like and what my readers found most interesting.  Here’s the top six, with some commentary.

6.  Top Secret Rosies and Middle School:  In this post I reflect on seeing the movie Top Secret Rosies, which I ended up showing to a bunch of middle-schoolers.  They really related to the women in the movie and were impressed with their skills as the first real programmers.  I’m still proud of the work I’m doing at the middle school level in terms of computer science and hope to continue that work in the years to come.

5. Could you live without the Internet?:  A reflection on purposeful use of the Internet, and whether some critics of the Internet aren’t right about how it makes our connections weaker and our minds mushy.  One of the reasons I’ve started blogging more is of course, I have more time over the break, but also, I wanted to return to the reflective nature of blogging.  I wanted to use the Internet for its best purposes: to learn, to think through ideas, to connect with people with shared interests.  I think it’s important for us to keep thinking about our interactions with technology and not just accept them blindly.

4. Robotics competition results and more:  Some thoughts on last year’s robotics competitions.  I definitely learned a lot from that and thought I didn’t implement some of my plans for this year at the upper school level, I hope to next year.

3. Some thoughts on gender and robotics:  I muse about robotics again, and whether it’s worth the time and money and some of the inherent gender issues that come up, especially in this particular area.  I have a feeling this will be a regular feature of the blog.  I’m still sorting out what I think about it.  There are both pros and cons.

2. The meaning of life is over: A post about turning 43, wanting to lose weight (yes, it’s often on my mind), and what it’s like getting older.

1. Getting geeky wit’ it:  A post about taking my Mac apart to change out its hard drive, getting a new phone and other geeky projects. I enjoy writing these posts for sure!

Surprisingly, two or three of my top visited posts for 2011 are posts from 2010, so I didn’t include them.  It’s nice to see the geeky content is reigning supreme.  Here’s wishing you all a wonderful 2012, and may it be a bit geeky, too!

Resolution check-in

02. February 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

I was thinking this morning that I wasn’t doing so well on my resolutions. It’s true I’ve slipped a little here and there, but it’s not as bad as I thought. One thing I didn’t resolve to do was exercise, but now I’m rethinking that. But I really do hate exercise for exercise’s sake. While I want to be in better shape, feel stronger, and perhaps reduce stress, I have a problem plopping myself onto a treadmill to do so. And there’s only so much time in a day and right now, I’d be looking at probably sacrificing something that’s more important to me. But I’m contemplating it. We’ll see.

I’m doing the best in the career/work goals I set for myself, so maybe what I’m really feeling is a lack of balance in not working on the other areas more. I also think I’m still trying to get into some kind of routine now that classes have begun and the family being sick last week did not help that. So, I’m adjusting. And I must admit that winter really gets to me. I’m not as inclined to leave the house and I dislike the cold and the dreariness. Although Punxatawny Phil did see his shadow relegating us to 6 more weeks of winter, spring really isn’t that far away. All that’s to say to myself that it’s not that bad, and things will get better. Once again, I call on my friend Dory, “just keep swimming.”

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

Happy New Year

01. January 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

Sun through the window, originally uploaded by lorda.

I hope everyone started the year off well. We went to a big party, where I knew just a couple of people. It was fun but not quite what I might have chosen to do. We survived, stopping by another friend’s house on our way home, then celebrating a little with the kids when we got home.

I have been thinking about my resolutions for the last couple of days. In general, my theme for the year is simplify and balance. So here are some of the things I’d like to accomplish this year.

Career/Professional
-write every day to work towards completing two projects
-officially set up my business

Home/Family
-take the kids on an international trip
-go on a date with my husband at least twice a month
-remodel a room
-continue to get rid of stuff and organize

Personal
-get outside at least 3 times a week
-get to know my city

There’s actually a lot more I want to do, but I’m going to take it one day, one week, one month at a time, continuing to evaluate as I go. i feel positive about the coming year. It feels full of possibility and change and for me that’s a very good thing.

I’d love to see everyone’s resolutions–link below if you want. And Happy New Year!

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

2008 Resolutions

31. December 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

Some people are not making resolutions. Others have themes. Me? I’m a bit of a self-improvement junkie. I love making resolutions and I don’t mind if I don’t make it. It’s the thought that counts. So here’s what I’m thinking for this year.

Personal:
1. Exercise. You knew I’d put this one on the list. I’m planning 3 times a week (Tues, Thur, and Sat) with the possibility of adding more–a class maybe. My goal is to lose 15 pounds which I know can mostly be achieved by moving around more (my diet is pretty good). I’m sticking mostly with walking for now, but I own weights, a yoga pad and a couple of DVDs so I have plenty of tools to work with. I get bored easily, so I’m going to look for opportunities to hike, play games, etc. I’d like to join a women’s soccer team in the spring, but that may be too ambitious. We’ll see.

2. Declutter the house. It stresses me out to see stuff piled in the corners. I think this will go a long way toward helping me relax. Thanks to the Unclutterer blog, I’ve gotten some great ideas. The main idea I’m going to work on is scheduling cleanup time. I’m very organized about my time, so it makes sense to take advantage of that (as I’m doing with exercise). I hate cleaning, but if I’m supposed to clean for 1/2 hour, I will. I’ve scheduled one room per day for 1/2 hour (today is the kitchen/dining area). I’m also creating playlists for musical cleaning. I’m hoping most of this time can be for decluttering and not general cleaning or that it will eventually. For example, the kids and Mr. Geeky are responsible for basic kitchen cleaning. If the kitchen is clean, I can do things like reorganize a cabinet. And once that’s done, I can cut cleaning time to 15 minutes. Yes, I’m very optimistic.

3. One day without screens. Our geeky household spends a lot of time in front of the computer or a video game console. It’s not that I think all such activities are bad, but it definitely takes time away from other possible activities and I think it would be a good example for the kids. I did this yesterday–no screens until 5:00. Geeky Girl followed my lead most of the day and read a book and played with other toys besides her video games or webkins. I didn’t tell her to; she just did. Now if I could get Mr. Geeky to follow suit . . . I’ll admit this was hard for me. But I think it will be worth it.

Work
1. Blog three times a week. I let the blogging slide this semester because I was really busy. I think the blog can be a good tool for getting out information, so I need to do it more. Again, I’ll schedule this time.
2. Schedule time for research/reading. I was doing this, but I let it slide, so I’m reinstating it. In order for this to happen, I have to leave my office–sad but true.

That’s really it. I have a lot of little things I want to try to do–like use LibraryThing and do Project365 again this year. But those are minor.

I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year’s Eve. Here at the Geeky household, we’ll be finishing a Risk game, drinking champagne and watching Monk.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

Resolutions past

29. December 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Before I post this year’s resolutions, I thought I’d take stock of previous years’. I make resolutions twice a year, now and at the start of academic years. Let’s see how I did.

According to this post from 2004, recording resolutions for 2005, I wanted to do the following:

1. Walk at least 30 minutes per day (may be substituted with other exercise)
2. Write at least a page a day.
3. Cut my debt in half. Ideally, I’d eliminate it, but I think that’s unrealistic.

That first one has been a perennial item on the list. The desire to exercise in some form or another comes up almost every 6 months on this blog. Earlier this month, I started walking–running even–but then weather and/or illness have prevented me from being outside and/or mobile for a couple of weeks now. I’ve decided that trying to exercise every day is crazy. If I miss a day, I feel horrible and that’s just counterproductive. Three to four times a week is more reasonable. I can almost always do something on both weekend days and that just leaves two days during the week to squeeze in time. I obsess about this for two reasons. One, I’ve gained about 15 pounds over the last couple of years. Two, I’m not getting any younger. I really do want to be in decent shape as I age.

Two and three are pretty moot. I’d like to get back maybe to writing for fun (besides here), but I’m not sure if I’m ready to add that to my life. The debt is more than cut in half, but not eliminated. It seems likely that I could do that this year, but it’s not a top priority.

One new year and one academic year saw finishing the dissertation at the top of the list. There are some other interesting things on that academic year list: taking hikes, going to kid events, quitting the inadequacy schtick. I’ve done okay on the second and third items, but the first, not so much. I might be able to add that this year. January 2007 was also a year of interesting resolutions. Family game night didn’t pan out. We did plenty of stuff as a family, but it wasn’t always game night Date nights worked out pretty well also, especially after the dissertation was handed in. And work is, well, work. I’ll have more to say about that later.

Most recently, of course, I made another set of academic year resolutions. I still think I could work on relaxing. I’m planning some meditation or something. The exercise, of course, a struggle. Publishing something–I think that’s going to happen. We’ll see.

So, I’ve kept a few resolutions, missed others, but haven’t let failure hinder me from continuing to put them on the list. A quick Google search brings up some interesting articles on how to keep resolutions and/or set goals for the coming year. I like the idea from this article of setting mini goals each month that are part of the greater goal. I especially like this post from lifehack.org, which suggests doing what I just did–looking back at past resolutions and seeing what didn’t work and why. What resolutions have you not kept and why? What’s on your list for this year?

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

Be it resolved

02. January 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

So the resolutions. Last year I didn’t make resolutions, though I did make them for the beginning of the school year. I take my resolutions pretty seriously. I like the fact that on New Year’s Day, we’re encouraged to reflect on the past year and make plans for the new. Otherwise, I feel like I’d careen through life and not notice everything that’s passing by. This past year has been somewhat difficult. I’ve had some setbacks both professionally and personally. In the midst of those setbacks, however, I managed to write a dissertation. The last few months, especially, have been good ones despite my being extraordinarily busy. I still felt like I hadn’t lost track of what’s important. So here’s what I want to do this year:

  • I want to get back to exercising, at least three times a week. I was doing pretty well with this last year, but by summer, had quit keeping up with it. I have to think about when to do this. Right now, either in the morning or at night, it’s dark out. I could certainly do something indoors, but walking is the easiest exercise I can do, which makes it more likely I’ll keep it up. I’d like to do some yoga with that. Once the weather gets better, I can play tennis and do other outdoor activities.
  • Along with the exercise, I’m planning to eat better. This past semester has been one of convenience foods. And most of those have been fairly unhealthy. I’m sure there will be a few of those still, but if it’s only every once in a while as opposed to every day, it won’t be a big deal. Mr. Geeky has resolved to cook more, so we’ll see how that goes.
  • Reinstitute family game night. We have a ton of board games and got some new ones for Christmas, and it’d be fun to get back to having at least one day a week when we do something together as a family.
  • Reinstitute date nights. Mr. Geeky and I were going on a date twice a month, but in December, we just couldn’t get it together since I was working constantly on the dissertation and we just generally had too much other stuff going on. I just don’t want this to fall completely by the wayside.
  • Quit complaining about work. I think this is going to be a hard one. I have had some frustrating things to deal with at work. It’s hard not to let that stuff get you down. Plus, two of my favorite colleagues resigned just before the winter break. Mostly, I just want to focus on constructive solutions as opposed to railing against perceived injustices.
  • Related to the above work resolution, I want to follow my passions at work. I have enough freedom in my job that much of the time I can pursue my interests as I see fit. For me, that’s going to mean more reading and research and more writing about that research. It’s also going to mean finding a way to share my knowledge and expertise with my immediate community as well as the broader community. And, I want to find ways to connect people who are interested in similar issues.

I think that’s enough to tackle in one year!

Update: One other resolution I had was to make some blog changes. As you can see, I’ve upgraded. Mainly I was waiting for haloscan. Finally, they have got it working with the new blogger. There will be more changes later, but I need to run off to the grocery store for some healthy food.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure

Happy New Year

01. January 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags:
Happy New Year! I helped empty the bottles to the left there, along with about 19 other people, so this post won’t be terribly long. The Geeky family traveled out of town to attend a 1920s style soiree. We had loads of fun. We not only rang in the new year, but we very nearly saw the sun rise. I think Mr. Geeky finally ambled to bed around 5:30. I had preceded him by only fifteen minutes or so. He’s now in bed. And I will be too before too long. Unfortunately the kids return to school tomorrow, so we’re all in for a rude awakening in the morning.

I’m returning to work on Thursday, so I get to slide into it slowly. I still have grading to do and calculating, but I suspect I’ll be done with that fairly quickly. Grades are due Wednesday. I do have resolutions and some reflections on the past year, but no energy to deal with those for now. I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday and I wish you all the best in the new year.

Please consider donating to my efforts in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure