Fourteen in 2014

Goals, hate 'em.  We have "stretch goals" at work and the only stretching I want to do is at the gym. But, I will say that having those goals at work is motivating, if only because I want to get paid. Well, I can't pay myself, at least not in dollars, but maybe putting this out there for all the world to see will motivate me, if only because it would be really embarrassing to fail at all of these. So, in no particular order, here's what I hope to accomplish in 2014.

1. Write/email/call everyone on my Christmas card list since I didn't send out Christmas cards this year.
   
2. Blog more often. I have lots of dozens of photos on my camera's memory card planned for short blog posts, but somehow, they never make it on to the computer. So here's to clearing out my memory card.
   
3. Send at least one card/letter a month. You know, that old-fashioned snail mail. I don't want the USPS to go away and I know how much I enjoy receiving real mail. Hopefully, I can brighten a few someones' day.
   
4. Clean up the spare bedroom. I have big plans for it (see below), but until it is cleaned out (or half cleaned out), I can't do anything with the room.
   
5. Turn the spare bedroom into a scrap room. Now that's a biggie since that room has been used as a storage room for the past 10+ years. That's a lot of cleaning up/tossing out.
   
6. Send two boxes of cards to Operation Write Home. Making the cards isn't a problem. Sending out the box out is.
   
7. Go to the gym once a week. This may not sound like a lot (and it isn't), but my gym is by the office and I only go after work. I'm already behind this year since I didn't go this week (I'm still on vacaton) and I most likely won't go next week (health reasons).
   
8. Keep my average weight below XXX and hit the "magic number" at least once. Again, I'm off to a bad start since I can't exercise for at least another week, but hopefully, I can do some good before the end of the month. And I know that strength, endurance, and loss of inches/fat is a better measurement of health, but stepping on the scale is an easier way for me to track progress.
   
9. Take a one-week vacation away from home. Somehow, vacations have fallen by the wayside. Even long weekend away don't happen very often. I have many weeks of vacation saved up and I earn many more each year. I actually had to create a spreadsheet to make sure I took enough vacation time (we stop accruing if our vacation bank reaches a threshold).
   
10. Have a dinner party/crop/event at the house. Again, that involves cleaning/tossing/making room.
    
11.  Make enough room in the garage to fit a new car. We never replaced my car after it was totaled and we've slowly filled the empty space with stuff. Much of it came from Mr. Fix-it's dad's house after he passed away, but I think it is time to reclaim the space.
    
12. Attend a crop. I miss it sooooo much and the place I used to go for overnight crops is being sold. There are a couple of local peeps who hosts overnight crops so I may attend one of those. Anyone want to join me?
    
13. Make at least six scrapbook pages for my in-laws. I give them pages every year for Christmas. I've been slacking on the pages (only two pages last year) so there's lots to catch up on.
    
14. Make at least $500 in extra money from garage sales, Craigslist, Swagbucks, Ebates, or whatever else I can think of. This is quite the stretch goal. Less clutter, more room, more (vacation) money. A win-win-win!
    

Basically, I challenging myself to clean up the 20 years of crap that has accumulated in the house/garage. Posts specific to these goals will be labeled with "2014," in case you want to check up on me. Wish me luck! Any tips are welcomed.

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