Mid-year resolution check-in

I can hardly believe that 2021 is half over, but it's time to do a mid-year check-in!

What goals have I completed?

I did complete our financial plan and implemented it by getting Quicken tracking software and opening our first brokerage account!

I also completed my clemency petition for my prison pen pal and submitted it in February. It was docketed with the Prisoner Review Board in May and should receive a decision this summer. If it is accepted, it will go to the governor for review.

In June, we also (finally!) covered my dining room chairs with some fabric from JoAnn and a borrowed staple gun. We have had this furniture for 10 years and are only now getting to this...better late than never? They are my grandma's old midcentury modern set, and I love them in general. They just needed a spiff-up.

On another long-term goal, we vowed to finally stay in the Starved Rock cabins this year after years of wanting to. In fact, it's been a long time since we even visited Starved Rock at all, so it was nice to get back and see the whole park. We hiked it (see goal on hikes below - four of the hikes from the book were in the Starved Rock area) and relaxed in the cabin for two days. 

Canyons in Starved Rock

Starved Rock has been increasingly overrun in recent years, and I recommend you do what we did, which is book a stay during the week for low hiker traffic. Early in the season was also great as far as low heat, as well as the waterfalls in the canyons actually having water in them, which wasn't the case the last few times I've been there.

What goals am I on my way toward?

Several of my goals were cumulative - to complete a list of hikes or restaurants, for instance. I am over halfway through the remaining hikes in my hike book, the delightful tour of Indian restaurants from the Chicago Tribune article I kept, and through the 20 French movies.

We also need to schedule a short camping trip to dust off that tent of ours, and I also want to take a weaving class.

The unavailability of most of the activities I love last year reminds me to savor what I can do this year. I am trying to pack it in. Some of the yarn projects have been overwhelming this summer, but I remind myself that none of them were on the books on January 1 - you never know what a year will bring.