21 for 2021 goal wrap-up, part 1

 I promised a 21 for 2021 goal wrap-up post, and I'm generally a person who keeps promises, so here I am with a wrap-up.  I've decided to wrap in three parts because I just don't think I'll be able to hold your attention for a whole 21 goals.  I mean, that would be a lot of words.  And 21 just lends itself so nicely to three parts of seven.  

So here we go.  The format will be original goal, followed by my commentary and whether or not, and how, the goal was accomplished and/or what I thought and/or think about it.

• Set up a spreadsheet to keep track of mystery shopping assignments, payment, and reimbursement.  There's one particular mystery shopping company that I really need to keep a close eye on payments for, and the system I've used in the past--hatch marks on an envelope--revealed itself to be insufficient last year, so I really need a new system. 

I did this!  I was so proud of myself for figuring out how to format the spreadsheet so that it would automatically keep track of assignments and payment amounts in total and by mystery shopping company.  I liked this system so much that I've copied it to use again next year.

• Set up an electronic list of future projects--these can include Cricut projects, building projects, or really any ideas for future projects that I may want to accomplish at some point in the future, but that have no urgency or due date.  I do have a running list in my to-do notebook, but an electronic list would be easier to organize, which would make it easier to keep track of what's on the list.

I did set up an electronic list of future projects, but I simply added all of the projects that were on my written list and then never looked at it again.  As much as I would like to be, I am not a person who does well with electronic lists.

• Complete 10 of the projects from my electronic project list (it's acceptable to add something to the list just to cross it off).

So, I just looked at the list (see above goal), and I didn't do anything--not one thing--from the electronic list.  Which is an accomplishment in itself, yes?

• Declutter and reorganize Pinterest boards.  At the beginning of the year, I had over 1600 pins in 90 boards.  It's too much.  I'm hoping to get down to 21 reorganized boards.  Twenty-one, because it's 2021, not because I've done careful consideration and planning and decided that 21 is the number of boards I need.  

I consider this goal complete: I did reduce my number of pins and pinboards.  Unfortunately, this kind of thing actually needs to happen regularly, so even though I completed the goal, I have not (and will never) complete the task.

• Declutter electronic mystery shopping receipts, photos, and screen shots.  Again.  

Yup.  Did it.  Need to do it again, and annually.

• Unsubscribe from 21 email lists in the first 21 days of 2021

Absolutely.  In fact, I unsubscribed from 40 email lists before I stopped keeping count.  This is, once again, is a never-ending task.  *Sigh*

• Improve my scores on all 2019 and 2020 Just Dance Extreme versions to Superstar or better.  I've been working on 2019, and I've only got one more to go.  I'm not sure where I stand on 2020.

I accomplished this one, too!  In fact, I achieved Megastar (which is better than Superstar) on all of the extreme versions except one.  It's been a while since I've danced--I need to get back to it.

So that's the first seven.  Not bad, eh?  Well, especially not-bad for a person who decided almost immediately upon stating her goals that she didn't actually want to do any of those things.

I'll be back tomorrow with the next seven.

My fantasy self does puzzles (and likes them)

You know how there are people in the world who set out a puzzle around Christmas time and the whole family will work on it from time to time as they pass by?  And the puzzle brings different groups together for brief moments of time and they chat while they work and they find pieces for each other?  And then the next time it's a slightly different group and they still talk and work and laugh and in general have a good time and enjoy each other's company?  And how those people get those puzzles done in a reasonable amount of time?  Like a week?  Or two days*?

I want to be one of those people, one of those families.  I have wanted that for a while now, at least 10 years, and this year, this Christmas, I actually obtained a puzzle and set it out for the family to work on.  

But my family is not being cooperative**.  And my puzzle fantasy is dead.  Dead, I tell you.

Here's how my puzzle looked on December 25.

And here's how it looks today, five days later.

OK, yeah, there has been some progress.  But y'all.  There is no family-members-stopping-to-put-in-a- puzzle-piece-as-they-pass by.  There is no forming-and-reforming-temporary-groups-to-work-on-the- puzzle-together.  There is definitely no getting-it-put-together-in-a-week.  It's pretty much just me.  Kind of hating it, except when I find a piece--then I temporarily love it and immediately go back to kind of hating it, until I find the next piece.

I'm not sure the pleasure of actually finding a match makes the angst of looking worthwhile***.

But will I stop?  Oh no.  Definitely not.  I will not stop working on the puzzle.  I will not stop looking for new puzzles to put together.  I will not stop thinking about which puzzle we should do as a family next Christmas.  I will not stop pretending that working puzzles is something I enjoy.  I will not let my fantasy puzzle self go.  

It's disappointing and annoying to be faced with such strong proof that something I believed to be true about myself is not.  Someday (probably within a year, but I'm not making any promises) I will finish this puzzle, and then I can go blissfully back to believing that I enjoy working puzzles.  

Until then, tell me: what does your fantasy self enjoy?

*OK, you're right--two days is definitely not reasonable for a 1000 piece puzzle.

**I should have been more strategic in choosing the family to work on my real life puzzle with my fantasy self.  Like I should have chosen the family that actually likes and is good at puzzles.  But they weren't available.

**This seems like a statement that could apply to a lot of situations, but it's that weird week between Christmas and New Year's Day, and I have no brain power to even keep track of what day it is, so I'm not gonna go any deeper on that.  But hey, feel free if you're in the mood.

Long time no read

 Hey friends.  It's been a while.  I feel compelled to tell y'all that the reason I haven't even been doing menu plans is because we've been having an awful lot of fend-for-yourself these past couple of months.  It just seems not worthwhile to post a menu that is half or more fend-for-yourself.

Anyway, I've been thinking the past couple of days that I should revisit my 2021 goals for y'all, because while I almost immediately decided that I didn't want to do them, I did accomplish some.  And I'm curious to see how many.  

But that's not what I'm doing right now.  Right now I'm telling you about Esther.  Our Easter egger chicken, Esther.  My OG* lap chicken.

For the past couple of weeks, I've been going out to the coop after dark and moving Esther from the roost in the run to the doorway of the hen house.  In other words, she's been sleeping in the run, by herself, instead of with her sisters in the cozy hen house.

Most of the time after I move her, she hops up to the roost on her own, but at least once (it was dark, so she couldn't see very well), I lifted her up there.

A couple of times, I've removed Charlotte from the hen house roost, and put her in the run to allow Esther to hop up to the roost unaccosted.  

Because Charlotte is a bully.  And Esther is gentle, and would rather sleep all by herself than stand up to Charlotte.  Who is, by the way, three years younger.  Respect your elders, Char.  Honestly.

I hope that someday I'll go out and not see Esther on the roost in the run, but for now, I go outside every day around sunset, and Esther and I do our little ritual.  Me lifting her into the hen house, and her flapping her wings in protest.  

Be back soon with that 2021 goal wrap-up.  In the meantime, any guesses as to how many I accomplished?

* OG stands for Original Gangster?  Huh.  Based on current usage, I was thinking Original Great, even though that sounds weird.  Esther is definitely not a gangster, although maybe Charlotte is...