1 Pound Down...

35 to go!! According to the Healthy Weight Calculator that I found on the internet, the ideal weight for someone my height (short!) is 131. So, I've got my work cut out for me to get back down to a weight that I haven't been in years. But I'm determined to get there! Especially since I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes a couple of years ago and my recent lab test results were NOT good!!

Diabetes is related to so many scary health problems, but the one that really got to me was when I saw on CNN yesterday that it has recently been linked to twice the risk of developing dementia. I can deal with my body failing me when I get old, but I can't deal with losing my mind!!

So, time to get off my butt and lose some weight!!

Road Trip Across the South!!

In June, my good friend, Tiffany, and I drove across the south. We had a terrific time!! We spent a day in Birmingham, 3 days in Atlanta, 3 days in Savannah, 2 days in Charleston, and a day in Asheville, NC at the Biltmore Estates - which I've wanted to see for about 20 years. I hadn't put any of these places on this list, but I was thrilled to get to see them!!

Back to Work on The List!!

I had a pretty crazy year last year, but I promised myself that I will finish this list, no matter how long it takes!! I can't afford to do some of the items right away because I quit my full-time teaching position at the end of the school year in June to work part-time while working on opening a new private school next year. I've made some headway, but progress is slow! Just as with this list, as long as I reach my goals in the long run, I'll be happy!!

Attended a Poetry Reading

As part of an Art of Peace event, a section of the event was to have locals who have written poetry about peace. I was pleasantly surprised at how good some of them were! I've never been that big on serious poetry, but it makes a big difference to hear it read aloud, especiall when it's read by the author!

2010 Might Be Done, But I'm Not!!

Ok, so I only made it a little over halfway during 2010, but I did get some bonuses in there! And I am not going to quit until the entire list is done!! I hope to finish most of it before I turn 41, but the one item that I know I won't be able to do before then is the Dallas State Fair because it doesn't happen until September. But if I can get all the rest done in the next 6 month, I'll be thrilled! And I WILL go to that fair next year! Plus, I'll see if I can add a few more bonuses for the new year! (I already have a huge one in the works, but I have to keep that under wraps for a few more months!)

Hundreds of Ancestors Found!!

I don't think that I will actually be done working on my family tree, but I've accomplished my initial goals of finding ancestors hundreds of years back and from different countries. I was thrilled to find a line going all the way back to 1490 in Scotland. And then I was ecstatic to find a line going all the way back to 1310 in England! I've also found a strong German line, which is particularly interesting to me since I was born there.

I had hoped, but didn't actually think that I'd be able to find anyone really important in my family tree. While I haven't found anyone who is famous in the traditional way, I have found two veterans of the American Revolution - one of whom has a cemetery named after him - and one veteran of the Civil War, along with some WWI and WWII veterans.

My ultimate goal is to take every line as far as I can into the past and then find some living descendants to get to know. I've been working hard on all of this for months and wouldn't have gotten very far at all if it weren't for ancestry.com!! It's an amazing site!!

No Jury Duty This Time!

I was so glad to be dismissed from jury duty! The court sent more summons than they ended up needing, so more than half of us were able to leave after just an hour and a half of going over all the procedures. I got paid my $6 and was on my way to the previously scheduled training by 10am! Maybe next time will be a better week for me, but I was at Camp Tyler with my class most of the week and I really didn't want to miss that!