90. 3,000 miles was so close

My car isn't exactly a high-end car.  It runs alright and has been extremely dependable. It's main use is for when either Melissa and I go out on our own.  Otherwise, we use the van.
On my first day to school this year (August, 19th 2009) I passed 109,000 miles in the car.  As the year went along I was noticing how few miles I was putting on from month to month. From home to my school is 4 miles.  The trip to Jewel (grocery store) is 1 mile.  To get to Aurora University is 3 miles.  Needless to say, that car doesn't travel too far. It wasn't until February or March that I started to wonder if I could go the whole school year keeping under 3,000 miles.  I started to bike more to stores or even take the girls in the stroller when I wanted to jog over to Jewel.  I felt like I was on track but the miles slowly added up and this week, as Melissa was headed out to run some errands, it crossed the 112,000 mark. 22 more days and the goal would have been met.
I'm proud for how few miles I went over those 8 1/2 months.  I'm proud of using my bike and the stroller more to get around. It feels good to get some exercise in when running routine errands.  I've even found that when riding my bike it takes just a few minutes longer than when in the car.  I see that as being worth it.
It should get even better as far as using alternate modes of transportation.  Melissa found a trailer for me to pull the girls along in when I go out on bike rides. This will mean that I can take them out even farther than just the grocery store.  I'm excited to start using it and to take the girls around town.

5. EDU 8010 Research Methods

This class was a ton of work. The class topic dealt with research and it was pretty intense from January all the way to May. It was so much work that Melissa took the kids all the way to Ohio for almost 5 days to give me time to write.  Without that time, I would have been in trouble to get everything accomplished.  The funny thing is, I didn't really procrastinate.  I used 24 sources for that paper. That's a lot of reading! I think that beats my previous best of 12.  There was a lot of reading that needed to be done for this class.  Nothing that couldn't be accomplished, but just a lot.  Some was fun, some was just boring and dry.  I am so glad this class is over. 
Our final paper that was due was actually the beginnings of one chapter of our dissertation (that's the big paper I need to write in order to graduate).  It feels funny starting on it already, but at the same time it is exciting.  It's great to have the feeling of knowing that what I am doing now is actually going to be used in part as my final paper.  We'll see how much it changes or gets revision over the coming years.  Hopefully not much.
I decided to wildcard the accountability group with the guys because I don't have the time.  Honestly, our small group is struggling to find time to meet, I don't need another commitment that I might not be able to keep up with.  For my next list this might make it, but for now I just don't have the time.
On a side note related to time.  Our lawn is 10 inches high maybe higher.  That's an estimate, but Melissa will tell you that I'm pretty good at estimating.  I haven't mowed in 3 weeks and it is really showing. It could be a positive to say that I am helping it by allowing all the grass to produce it's own seed. I was hoping to mow when I got home today, but rain is forcasted all day.
Another goal down!  I've got 6 weeks until my next class starts.  I'm hoping to check off some goals during that time. I'm thinking that getting 11 or 12 goals done in that time is possible.  We shall see.

29. EDU 8135 - Dynamics of Organizational Theory and Change

1 of 2 classes are finished for this semester. Two more weeks and one very big paper to go for the other class. They both have been incredibly challenging.  One met regularly every Wednesday night for 4 hours and the other met every-other Saturday for 7 hours each session.  This class I finished was the Saturday class.  We were required to read 5 books for the class and write a paper on almost every one.  This meant that almost every class we went to required a paper to be turned in.  It was definitely not a class that could be coasted through. I did enjoy most of the books as they gave were a change from the typical educational textbooks that we used last semester.
The content of the class was good for a class that met for 7 hour stretches.  We basically talked throughout the course of how to keep an organization moving in the right direction and discussed ways to make a bad organization better.  I know this doesn't sound super thrilling, but the discussion parts of it definitely made the time go by.
I decided to use this class as a wildcard for my Spanish goal. I said "Hola" to my neighbor the other day from across the street, but knew discussion could not continue much farther than that. When I wrote this goal down I knew it was ambitious to think I could learn a language, but I have been so desparate to learn Spanish that I thought this would be the thing that did it for me.  Turns out becoming a doctor, having 3 little ones, and learning another language are a lot of work.  So...I'm cutting the language out and will work on doing it another time.  I might just put it on my next list of goals.

What to write about

I get onto this blog every day thinking what can I write about. It is so boring looking at the same thing over and over again. I look over my goals and think about what things I can do to get each one done so I can have something to write.  The months of December through March were crazy.  I was writing every third or fourth day.  April has been much less impressive.  This is my third post and it really isn't anything special.  I have completed no goals. 
I have gotten closer to finishing my biking goal. Three times left. My best time making it from school to home is 15 minutes and 20 seconds.  I have really enjoyed this one.  I will definitely continue doing riding after I complete this goal.  I'm liking it so much, I'm hoping to find a bike trailer to take the girls around to different places.  Melissa has been really diligent looking for a good deal on one and I am very appreciative for that!
I'm reading a few chapters out of the Bible every day.  I'm in the middle of Proverbs and Isaiah right now.  After I finish Jeremiah and Ezekiel, I am really going to be close to getting through the whole Bible. I've never gone cover to cover and have really enjoyed making my way through it.
I have learned that the girls really like the library. They love to pick books off the shelf and are really excited when we get home and get to read the books they pick out.  We're working on teaching them to not grab every book off the shelf.  They did great last time we were there. I have also learned that if you check 7 books out and are 8 days over due it will cost you $7.35.  Ouch!
I am much closer to finishing my goal on making dinners for the family. I haven't been super aggressive with that one because I enjoy Melissa's cooking so much!  She makes the most incredible grilled cheese sanwiches and macaroni and cheese. She makes great adult dinners too!
I've got two more weeks of class and a ton to do between now and then.  I probably won't have any completed goals between now and then, but maybe something special will come up.  After my class is done, I have a lot of ideas for things to do and goals to finish.  It should be fun!

15. It gets easier...I guess.

I didn't write about it then, but Tuesday I went into the gym to shoot some free throws and I started out 18 for 18.  I missed the next one and left the gym. I figured I with 5 minutes of shooting time left before I had to pick my kids up that I couldn't do any better than that. 18 for 19 shooting for the day. 94.7%  I'll take that.  Especially in dress shoes.

78. Duathlon

No, I didn't sign up for another race.  Yesterday I rode my bike to and from school and really enjoyed it!  It was a great way to start the morning and a great way to finish the day.  The four mile ride took me 22 minutes to get there and 16:53 to get home.  There are definitely different factors going in the morning and coming home.  It takes more time going there because there is a lot more traffic and it is slightly up hill most of the way.  On the way home there are way fewer cars and you can put it into high gear most of the way.  I told my students about it this morning and they though I should try to get under 15 minutes.  Lofty, but I will give it a try.

When I got home I needed to head over to the hardware store to pick something up so I put the girls into the stroller and jogged my way over there.  I have never gone from heavy riding to jogging before and now have an idea of what it feels like from how Matt has described it before.  I felt like C3PO going along.  My legs didn't bend right and it just felt weird.  After a couple of blocks I worked it out, but the transfer from riding to running was definitely not graceful!

This was the 4th trip to school on my bike.  I am definitely enjoying this goal and plan to continue on far beyond the 10 times that I put down as a goal.

Thanks everyone for reading this post and the many others that I have written.  You are all the ones that keep me motivated to get this list done.  Life is really crazy now, but doing these goals and adventures are what keep me having fun.

46. How to make a kite that doesn't fly

When making my list of goals Melissa told me that she hadn't flied a kite in years and that she would like to give it a try.  I took it one step further and thought it would be fun to make some kites with the girls and try to fly them. 

Here are a couple pictures of the process I took:

 They had a lot of fun "designing" their kites.

Our family made it to the local park and gave the kite a try.  It didn't work at all.  I actually feared for the girls' safety as the kite was all over the place.  I'm guessing that the balance was off.  I might try to make some modifications to make them fly. 

I am happy I had the foresight to bring along a "professional" kite.  This kite was one that I bought Melissa about 5 years ago.  I had a lot of fun out there.  Hannah and Maddie both had fun trying to catch the kite. I really enjoyed myself out there and want to give it a try again some time this summer.

Here are a few pictures from our time out there:

After out time out in the field we went out to dinner at Culver's.  Overall it was a great night!

Another goal down!  I'm up to 60 and on a roll.  I'm guessing it will slow down in the next month or so as I have a ton of school work coming up.  After that it should get pretty fun checking stuff off.