Hello everyone,

With summer here things are a bit hectic but that isn't slowing me down. I was hoping to par this down to 7 goals, but that's just not enough to cover my aspirations. So I went for 8 again, a pretty consistently important number in my life. 

Big Goals:
1) Anthology. Send out line edits, review line edits for any additionally needed edits, put together book, figure out book cover, review everything for the new Createspace, and put in an order in time for our Sep 14th release date! 

2) Health improvement. This is a major lifestyle change, and it's a bigger deal because I want to do this with the SO. I've done many things before such as Crossfit etc and they work fine for me, as I have a lot of internal motivation, but the SO needs the external motivation. So this time, we're in it together!

First I'm getting the SO a step counter. Once that's in we'll both have the goal of 8k a day. 

Second is to improve our food intake. I think that the easiest way to do this is through a meal plan. The SO doesn't like eating the same thing too often in a row. Thus I think having a three week meal plan that rotates should give us the variety to keep to it. There's a personal bonus of being able to preorder our groceries with saved grocery lists, so that will save us a chunk of time every week as well! (Of course now I need to see if we have enough healthy recipes to actually do this with a three week rotation.) Once this is implemented we'll work on making small improvements and trying new recipes to add to the rotation.

Third is to have at least two weight lifting, stepper, badminton, Pilates, or rowing machine sessions of 30 minutes a week per person. I might have to schedule them so we both do them at the same time to have the accountability. We'll figure it out as we build on this life style.

3) Learning Japanese. 15 minutes of studying vocab a day. Write a letter to a penpal every other day. Watch an episode of anime in Japanese with no subtitles at least once per checkin. 

Small Goals:
1) Misc stuff that needs to get done. I don't want to overload myself, so I'll work on one at a time and call them all goal 1. First is making the family calendar. After that is watching/reading borrowed things and return them. This includes GoT, Outlaw star, and TMNT. After that I'm sure something will come up, probably to do with crafts and/or up-cycling. 

2) Read 10 physical books from my shelves. I've got a handful already chosen, and will choose more as those are gone through. 

3) Read 3 self improvement books. One will be, 'Ask More'. The other two will be writing related.

4) Home improvement. The first goal is to get the yard squared away. I've given up on the actual outdoor improvements and would be happy to simply have everything weeded and not completely overgrown. (Keeping expectations reasonable is an important part of my happiness!) After that I might go back to cleaning the basement, or some of the house repairs that the SO and I are considering. One thing at a time, mostly I'm aiming for progress, while being flexible. 

5) Outline for NaNo. I expect this to get more time later in the round. The first part is taking the many ideas I have flying around and fleshing them out enough to know which has enough meat to work on. After that will be some plot development and character development. After that I'll make a whole Aion Timeline for the novel and fill it out/do research as needed. 

Cheers,
Shannon

MINI BREAK TIME CHECK IN:
1) I finished typing the edits into the computer and have shared them with my beta readers!!! Hurrah!

2) Successfully did not study Japanese vocab. I have been taking a lot more lunch time walks instead and suspect that will continue with the new HP game being out. 

3) Major success! I've been cleaning up a bag of yard waste/weeding per sunny day and cleaning the basement on rainy days. The progress is steady and maintainable! 

Hello all! This is a bit late because I've been busy and I'm working on not overexerting myself just to finish a goal by my deadline when it's not going to negatively impact my plans. I'll make some mini goals for the break, and update once at the end of the week for the accountability. 


AFTER ACTION REVIEW:
Big Goals:
1) Wonderfully and completely done!

2) This is the goal that needed an extension. I'm done writing out the edits on paper, now I need to put this into the computer before sending it out to beta readers. My intention is to have this done by the end of the month. 

3) I haven't been doing nearly as much official Japanese studying as I intended. I have been watching and playing games in Japanese with English subtitles and been trying to listen to it as much as possible. Overall I did get two months of really good studying there where I was making excellent progress, but trying to increase the daily time dedication made me start to stumble. Perhaps the jump was too great? I'll consider it over the week break and come back renewed and ready for the last 100 days of studying! 

Small Goals:
1) This was basically made obsolete after some good improvements at work. Overall it's still good to keep an eye on, but the financials are doing alright.

2) Successfully scheduled two workshops and have had a library reach out for another option. Hosted one so far and it went quite well! 

3) Successfully read 10 books. I think I got slowed down/stuck by reading a longer/slower story in the middle, so I'll focus on shorter books at the start of a round and finish with the longer ones.

4) Happily read four self-improvement books. Two were great, one was good, and one was pretty bad. Overall a fine distribution. One has to wade through stuff to find the best, particularly things that work for them.

5) The family visited over the weekend and had a great time! This goal felt like it was thwarted by the vast amounts of rain that we got this year, and how it always seemed to land on the weekend. So the inside of the house was really great, probably the best that it's been in a year. The yard was an overgrown mess. 

Still, the weather was great for the everyone to hang out outside all weekend and my family is wonderfully helpful. By the time everyone left most of the fire wood from three different mini piles was burned or stacked up in the one spot they're supposed to be in. The patio was weeded. Plus the gas for the grill refilled. The momentum was really great, so I tried to keep up by doing some mowing and additional weeding once everyone headed home too. 


BREAK TIME MINI GOALS:
1) Finish typing edits into computer and send novel to beta readers.

2) Do not study Japanese vocab specifically, because it's break time. (But if I'm playing a game with Japanese in it then I will listen as much as possible.) 

3) Keep up the outside momentum. Ideally put together one bag of weeds or one mowing session per day that it's sunny. Get rid of five things from the house on days that are rainy. Reward myself with some Harry Potter Wizards Unite!

See everyone on the flip side! 

For those tuning into this round my master goals list is here. The list of everyone participating in this round is here. I personally format my check-ins as an after action review, then the setting of intentions/minigoals for the next check-in. Please leave a comment, even if it's not related to the goals I don't mind, it's nice to know that someone sees this page!


​AFTER ACTION REVIEW:
Big Goals:
1)  Completely done!
 
2) Didn't actually do the edits yet, but planning to really focus on them while I'm at writers group later today. Allowed myself a more leisurely weekend to recharge, so more reading for fun instead of for my projects.
 
3) Still not back into the swing of studying Japanese here. I did start a new game which has Japanese audio, trying my hardest to pay attention to it while playing.
 
Small Goals:
1) Sent out the eBay deals. So far one was accepted, and that's one more thing out of the house!
 
2) Took a bit of time today to go through my emails, respond to what needed to get responded to, and put all events on all calendars that they needed to be on. Slowly getting back to the place that I should be here.
 
3) Read one of the short books that I wanted to read. I have two more left to finish before the end of the round to complete this goal.
 
4) Did not do my DnD prep yet, but will also be doing this at writers group. I need to talk out some of the ideas with fellow idea people, ya know?
 
5) Did half of what I intended here. Cleared off the guest bed, changed the sheets, and took out all the trash/recycling. Decided to not wash the kitchen floor because it's raining again and my doggo is just going to get it dirty again. The bathrooms aren't too bad right now, so they'll get cleaned during the week.
 
Bonus) Got around to the goals from last week on this; collecting photos and making sure there were enough of everyone. Then went to the website to put everything together and realized that the calendar doesn't need to get ordered until August. That'll be better for my finances and for my planning, plus that leaves the opportunity for new photos to add to said calendar! Overall a pleasant winning surprise!
 
 
INTENTIONS/MINI-GOALS
I'll probably do my weekly checkin and the overall round checkin in Thursday, so mostly these goals are to finish things out.

Big Goals:
1) Done, thank the goodness.
 
2) 61 pages of detail level edits, typed into the computer, and sent to beta readers.
 
3) Try to get 15 minutes of Japanese studying a day.
 
Small Goals:
1) Ship out eBay items as needed.
 
2) Complete.
 
3) Finish reading two books out of the three I have started.
 
4) Official goal is done. Sub goal of DnD hosting to be worked on.
 
5) Prep the house for a family visit this upcoming weekend! 

t's been a hella busy week, and that trend continued until Friday. Now, I get to breath out. Most of the week was running around like a chicken and taking care of myself as much as possible.
 
AFTER ACTION REVIEW:
Big Goals:
1)  Absolutely wonderfully done. After tens of classes and hundreds of hours. 
 
2) Nothing got done here, no chance to sit down.
 
3) I gave myself Monday off. Tuesday I managed to sneak in 15 minutes of Japanese studying a couple minutes at a time while waiting in lines etc. Did not get to the letter, but that was a bad on my part. I should have known I would be this busy and not planned on it in the first place. 
 
Small Goals:
1) Sent out the items as needed and kept spending reasonable. Although, I did eat out a bit simply because I haven't had time to cook or pack food or anything. I think that's fine for this week, as it's not a normal event, I'll just have to make sure I reign it in this weekend.
 
2) I am up to date on all important emails. 
 
3) Didn't touch the two books I intend to read. Perhaps this weekend?
 
4) Did the DnD prep, then DMd my first session in a long time. I think it went well, there was some mystery, intrigue, and plenty of laughs.
 
5) Success! The house is still clean.
 
Bonus) Nothing, it must have been hopeful thinking on my part.
 
 
INTENTIONS/MINI-GOALS
Big Goals:
1) Absolutely nothing!
 
2) 61 pages of detail level edits. Stretch goal to completely finish this goal by typing the edits into the computer and sending the file out to beta readers.
 
3) 15 minutes of vocab a day, until the end of the round. Catch up on Fruits Basket to help the motivation a bit.
 
Small Goals:
1) Send out some eBay deals, so that people can /hopefully/ buy them with their Friday paycheck. The hope is to get some extra stuff shipped out before the family visits next weekend.
 
2) This is pretty much done, respond to emails as needed.
 
3) Finish the two short books I’m in the middle of and actually look at the total for the round to see how many more I have to read.
 
4) Do more DnD prep. As always happens the session went off course from what I was expecting, so I’ll definitely need to make up some new material and fun encounters.
 
5) Keep the house clean. Deep clean both bathrooms. Clear off the guest bed and change the sheets on both it and my bed. Wash the kitchen floor. Fill and take out trash and recycling.
 
Bonus) Finish and put the order in for the calendars. 

For those tuning into this round my master goals list is here. The list of everyone participating in this round is here. I personally format my check-ins as an after action review, then the setting of intentions/minigoals for the next check-in. Please leave a comment, even if it's not related to the goals I don't mind, it's nice to know that someone sees this page!
 
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AFTER ACTION REVIEW:
Big Goals:
1)  After 8 years this is 100% done, with the degree successfully arriving at home.
 
2) It took an extra push of effort, and the knowledge that I was writing this up and would be accountable, to get these 40pages done. But they did get done, and the edits were all reasonable! I found three plot related issues that need to get fixed, and the rest were all sentence structure or adding additional emotional depth. I'm really looking forward to having this out to beta readers on the 20th!
 
3) Ended up ignoring this for most of the week. Just a bit too busy and a bit too high on anxiety to get around to it. Taking a deep breath now, and refocusing this upcoming checkin.
 
Small Goals:
1) Success! Sent out eBay sales. Withdrew from the old investment. Kept spending to a minimum. (Still splurged on 2$ pizza for lunch, because it was that kinda week. Still a reasonable price for not having to make or pack lunch.)
 
2) Responded to all emails and rescheduled appointment to August. Cleared the schedule a little, which is helpful with the extra life that is happening.
 
3) Read some more of the books I'm in the middle of. Opted for podcasts instead of audiobooks because that was what I was in the mood for.
 
4) I did not read some of 'Ask More' nor did I watch GoT. As before there was too much to do, and as smaller more fun goals they got placed to the wayside. I did some more of the prep I needed for DnD and will be doing a test battle after posting this!
 
5) Huge success! I finally got around to cleaning the house! I also did a test run of touching up the mortar on the house. The color match ended up being pink instead of red. Some of the mortar on the house is an odder color than that, so I did my practice patch there. On the other hand some of the mortar matches the red brick color very well, so I'll probably try another entire jar of mortar next time I do this. That all being said, I think I underestimated this project a bit. This is a much better goal to do a bit at a time so that I can learn and focus on getting it to look good, instead of all at once. I shall continue forward!
 
 
INTENTIONS/MINI-GOALS
Big Goals:
1) Nada!
 
2) 20 pages of detail level edits.
 
3) 15 minutes of vocab studying a day, and 1 letter a day.
 
Small Goals:
1) Send out eBay sales. Keep spending to a minimum.
 
2) Respond to emails as needed. Review notes for workshop.
 
3) Finish two shorter books I'm in the middle of.
 
4) Do more DnD prep. I doubt I'll have time for much of anything else.
 
5) Keep the house clean. It'll be raining for most of the week, so I'll keep this simple.
 
Bonus) This is a goal for the week; make grandma's calendar on Shutterfly. This is often a lengthy process for me, taking an average of four hours. So I'd like to spread it out over the week. I also just got a coupon that ends on the 17th, and I do love me a deadline. 

For those tuning into this round my master goals list is here. The list of everyone participating in this round is here. I personally format my check-ins as an after action review, then the setting of intentions/minigoals for the next check-in. Please leave a comment, even if it's not related to the goals I don't mind, it's nice to know that someone sees this page!

AFTER ACTION REVIEW:
Big Goals:
1)  Wonderfully done~
 
2) Got 20pages done of the 60 I was aiming for. A bit too much life in my plans. I'll adjust course this checkin and keep at it!
 
3) Did not really get back on the studying Japanese streak at all. I think I needed more recovery time after the weekend that I did not account for. Plus it's been a particularly social
 
Small Goals:
1) Sent out all packages on Monday. Did spend money on a couple cheap lunches this week, cause sometimes that's just needed, and I was that out of spoons.
 
2) Did 6/9 emails on Monday. The other three haven't been gotten to yet. Normally I have three or less important ones, so this is above my normal.
 
3) Continued book.
 
4) Did not get around to reading the book Ask More. Did finish watching Good Omens, it was as amazing as the book with some brilliant acting. Did about half of the prep that I needed to for my DnD campaign, which was what I needed for Monday night at least.
 
5) Still didn't get to cleaning the house. I want my house to be cleaner and it's just not happening! Ugh!
 
 
INTENTIONS/MINI-GOALS
Big Goals:
1) Done, thank goodness. I've been low on spoons so the extra time is a huge help right now.
 
2) Edit 40pages of scene level page edits, bringing me up to half.
 
3) Maybe just go back to 15 minutes on Thursday/Friday. Try for letters and 15 minutes on Sat/Sunday.
 
Small Goals:
1) Send out eBay sales. Check in with old investment. Keep spending low.
 
2) Respond to all emails. Reschedule events and appointments as needed. Did not realize that so much was scheduled for this month, and it's even more unusual to not have it on my calendar.
 
3) Listen to more audiobook.
 
4) Read some of 'Ask More'. Watch up to 4 episodes of GoT. Finish prep for DnD.
 
5) Weekend project to touch up the mortar on the house. Put in the order for supplies already. 
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For those tuning into this round my master goals list is here. The list of everyone participating in this round is here. I personally format my check-ins as an after action review, then the setting of intentions/minigoals for the next check-in. Please leave a comment, even if it's not related to the goals I don't mind, it's nice to know that someone sees this page!

I'm very happy and lucky that this is the writing challenge that knows I have a life, because life happened. Had a car accident over the weekend. No one was hurt, but my car will be in the shop for a while, with all of the chaos that such brings. I'll adjust my life and goals accordingly, so that I can continue to take steps forward towards the goals that need it most while still getting life done. 
 
AFTER ACTION REVIEW:
Big Goals:
1) Eight years of complete, and right before the most recent chaos!
 
2) Finished typing all of the edits into the computer. It took longer than I was expecting, but it did get done. A spellcheck was completed. Then I changed the font. Remembered to add page numbers, and printed it out again. Winning, with progress on the most important goal!  
 
3) This was a bit of hit and miss with trying to get back into a groove after vacation. I'll continue to work on it, and try to keep at the top of my mind that there are only a few months left until the trip! Nothing like a deadline to make a goal more real!
 
Small Goals:
1) Lowered the price on 20 items and sold a handful more before the end of the month. Kept the spending reasonable while having a good time out and about. To be talked about a bit more in the minigoals.  
 
2) Many emails received that I need to respond to now that I have a moment at my computer.  
 
3) Decided to not continue the audio book in the car. It's a solid 3 stars, but there are so many more 5 star books that I could have in my life. I choose to listen to those instead.  I did not watch GoT, instead I watched a couple episodes of Good Omens, which is an absolute delight!
 
4) I reached out to the mentor and they emailed back! I'm not sure what will come of this new relationship yet, but this is honestly already more than I expected.
 
5) Actually didn't get to the housework, which was a little surprising since I kept the goal so low and it was all stuff that I wanted to get done to have a cleaner house. But there were real life distractions, plus big goal two took longer to do than I hoped, so that time had to come from somewhere.
 
 
INTENTIONS/MINI-GOALS
Big Goals:
1) STILL DONE! Actually been feeling a little restless with the extra time I have since this is done. It's just such an odd feeling, having time!
 
2) Review 60/121 pages of the novel for scene content and any remaining major edits.
3) Start the studying streak anew. Study Japanese for 15 minutes per day and write one letter per day.
 
Small Goals:
1) Send out packages Monday morning.
 
I was going to say a lot more about this but really it's simple and I just have some weird baggage about money that I should address at some point soon. I got a raise at work and financially things are looking up and much more in the green than last year. Basically this goal isn't needed anymore and I shouldn't spend much more time on it. But, I do like getting stuff out of the house. And a lot of the eBay stuff took time to put up, but doesn't take time to leave up. So I'm going to coast this out for the rest of the round, keeping to small cash ins and the eBay stuff, while using the time for everything else.
 
2) Respond to all emails bright and early Monday morning, so they don't sit around turning into frogs.
 
3) Actually already started a new audiobook (Slaughterhouse-Five). Continue that this week.
 
4) Parallel with the talking to mentors goal of mine is the goal to be able to ask them good questions to get useful advice. To this effect I got the book Ask More and want to read at least sections of it while talking to mentors.
Finish out Good Omens before going back to GoT.
Also prep for the DnD campaign I'm hosting this month.
 
5) With all of the rain I have not been able to get this goal as far as I need to. I'm at the point where I need to figure out if we should hire someone to do all of the major yard work once, so that at least I'm caught up with everything, or if I should pick at most 6 things and make peace with the rest not getting done before the family visits.
I'm not sure what the right option is yet. All I can dedicate myself to this checkin is the general cleaning of the house again.  
For those tuning into this round my master goals list is here. The list of everyone participating in this round is here. I personally format my check-ins as an after action review, then the setting of intentions/minigoals for the next check-in. Please leave a comment, even if it's not related to the goals I don't mind, it's nice to know that someone sees this page!

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