Monday, January 2, 2012

Start of Another Year



Well another year has come and gone. This is the time of year that everyone makes lists of crap they are going to do or change about the way they live. I'll come up with one of these lists and see what it is that I can accomplish over time.

1. Try to post a blog that has some value to someone once a week. 52 blog posts over the course of a year? I think I can actually manage that.

2. Try to find at least one Geocache per week. This one is going to be really tough. I have a very hard time these days getting out to locate caches. The ambition just isn't there right now and it hasn't been for a while as I've kept Bangor mostly found for so long, that I can't just run in a 5 mile radius anymore and grab a find. When you've emptied your home area, it gets hard to want to go further and further.

3. Create a small building or survival type shelter either along the area that my brother and I used to go kayaking. The beavers have ruined the area for kayaking so this will give me a reason to actually go out there on a continuous basis.

4. Try to go for some sort of walk or run once a week to get in some sort of physical shape that would allow for me to complete Mt. Katahdin at least once this year. Chris Cavallari came up with the 2012 GeekHike Challenge and I want to make sure I'm able to complete the hike, no matter which trail it is to get up and down.

5. Take the boys camping. Cooper needs to be able to get out and do some things that other kids get to do that I don't always get to do with him as I have both boys at the same time. Some of the things that Cooper would love to do, Cosmo just isn't capable of doing. That's going to change this summer. I want Cooper to experience summer weekends away from video games, tv, and the apartment itself.

6. Make the apartment my own. Wendy has been the greatest roommate anyone could ever ask for. She put up with us for the last three years and hasn't said a word about our crap. While it's been nice to have someone to occasionally be there to talk to besides the kids, I look forward to turning the place into my own and make some changes here and there.

7. Slowly work on getting all my digital photos printed out onto paper and actually create albums. I way too many pictures on the computer that that either haven't been shared on websites or just plain have never been looked at by anyone. Getting those pictures onto actual paper and into frames on the walls will be nice.

8. While I am absolutely fine in most cases being by myself with the boys, and not having to deal with any sort of drama, I need to make some sort of effort to actually go on a couple dates, maybe even with the same person? 2011 was a year of dating one person very briefly. That person and I went on a total of three dinners and she was too interested in trying to meet the kids for my liking. While I'd expect someone to be kid friendly, trying to get over involved in my shit after only a few evenings is more than I want to deal with. Get to know me before you worry about my kids.

9. Spend a little time researching day trading with an e-trade account or something similar. I'd like to get into it a bit and see what I can do with a few transactions here and there like I have in distant past. If the fee per transaction isn't bad, maybe I can start with $100 and see what I can turn it into over a quarterly basis. You never know I guess until you try.

And here's #10....My whopper that is almost certain to not get done.

10. Get behind the controls of an airplane, even if just for a few minutes. I've gone to the Sea Plane Fly In a couple times now in Greenville, Maine, this year being the one that got to the me the most as the only kids that were there were the three of us guys who do stupid stuff together, taking on more than we should in our adventures. Some day I'd like to actually learn to fly. It's got to be one of the most expensive hobbies out there but I'll bet it feels like nothing else.

Kid related...
Get Cooper tying shoes
Get Cooper riding his bike with no training wheels
Get Cooper swimming without his life jacket
Get Cooper into at least two sports again this year
Get Cosmo on the toilet 100% and off diapers
Get Cosmo off multiple nightly wake ups for juice
Get Cosmo writing the alphabet

Watching TV and blogging isn't working out tonight but at least I've got this posted and while it may not have any value to someone else, it gives me a starting point to go on.