Resolutions and Goals

I once read somewhere that successful people plan and make goals of varying timelines.

Having direction is so comforting for me that I have done this for the last several years and it's always satisfying at the end of the year, to review that list (ooooooo list) and see the progress or places for improvement. I'm already late this year so I better just get this thing posted:

PERSONAL/ACADEMIA/CAREER

My plans remain the same, to finish this semester brilliantly and then spend the summer and autumn working and gaining more experience then applying to the OVC.

• Reading for leisure has majorly been put on the back-burner after I finished reading a handful of books during the Summer of George. I want to get back to reading books for interest and fun. Let's see what happens after exams.
• I elected to partake in 2 semesters before applying for vet college and I'm working on the second one. I did well enough for the first semester so I am going to keep working hard this semester. This semester also sees me revisit my old friends statistics and cellular biology so I best pull myself together for those!!
• Take a first aid/CPR course.
• I want to make my OVC application stand-out so I am planning on diversifying my experience with large animals, emergency clinics and other opportunities.

HOUSEHOLD

I think that owning a home usually means your list of projects tend to shift more heavily in that area. This is certainly true for me...

• The big project this year is the backyard. We put in a chain-link fence to close the yard but at the expense of cutting away the segment of bush in the back. Now things are feeling a little exposed. Plus, I want to plant the strip that is outside the fence so I don't have to mow it anymore. I've got plans to create a perennial garden to provide some privacy, rid myself of some lawn and to ensure a way to keep drivers from driving over that lawn and dog walkers from neglecting to pick up after their pets.
• The other partial yard project is to help +ADW put together the frame of his vegetable garden and let him sort out the rest.
• There is also a section of the front lawn that I need to clean up to look presentable because after I was forced to remove the shrub there, it's become a wild patch.
• The sun-room should also start its transformation into a kitty sanctuary reading/working room.
• Consider re-painting the outside doors.
• Clean out basement (junk removal service) and then pull out the useless shelf and purchase and sort out hanging bike hooks (x3).
• Fix the tiles I broke in the kitchen.
• Hang at least 3 images/frames in the house.
• Look for that central piece over the fireplace... this one might take some time.
• Organize the shelves above the fridge and 2 hallway closets.

HORSEY/RIDING

If someone asked me what I wanted to do for a living, regardless of skill level, financial means/need and pretty much anything else, I would probably tell you I'd want to ride for a living. But, #adulting means being realistic with one's goals.

• Summer of George really put me behind. I intend to start riding again after exams have ended. I would like to increase my riding to 2x/week if it's feasible to do so.
• I also want to see if I can get a part-time gig on a trail ranch.
• The only aim I have in terms of skills is to get back to last summer's abilities. I think that's ambitious enough considering everything else.

FITNESS/WELLNESS

It's time to get re-involved. Being immobile for ~8 weeks really took a toll on my waist-line!

• Physiotherapy my leg back.
• Yoga practice to loosen all the stress tightened areas.
• Cycling is coincidentally the best thing for my leg at this point. I've set up the bike in the basement.
• Regulate sleeping hours! This one is tough when I have had a stretch of being diligent due to school or the like.
• Keep blood sugars stable. I bring nutty snacks with me as often as possible.
• Make food more often. Find good non-muscle meat recipes (I'm looking into all those wonderful innerds I get from the farm) and just eat cleaner without compromising my love of tastes.

FAMILY

I always put this one in because I want to keep myself accountable. I'm one of those types of people who can just disappear into my little world if I don't keep one foot out not because I don't care, but I can get sucked into other things (like hobbies) really easily.

• I haven't been doing too badly on this front and will make more efforts to have various family members over for Sunday brunch or something of that nature.

SOCIAL/VOLUNTEERING

It's good to surround oneself with good company and good conversation. It's even more important to give back. I believe that many of us in North America lead privileged lives and so it is inconsiderate and irresponsible not to give back in some fashion; at some point, someone helped me.

• See some old coworkers who are good peeps. Take the opportunity in the spring/summer to do something!
• Make a regular (not necessarily frequent) effort to meet up with low-maintenance friends b/c we each seem to get sucked into our respective worlds and then forget about hanging out.
• Foster kittens and cats if it works out.
• Some of the veterinary experience will fit into the category of volunteering too.
• Review engagement with the community sports club and see if it's something feasible to continue working on. I am considering to simply cut out of the board and just continue doing some ops and logistics. It can be seasonal so that works out nicely.

It looks like I've got quite a year ahead of me. I am looking forward to it! I suppose I'm the last one of the blogisphere to put something like this together (and the inspiration board is still to come!) but if I'm not, I beseech you to consider it :)

YiR & A Preview of Resolutions

I'm obviously late to the game this year but I have valid excuses :D

The first half of my return to undergrad adventure is complete and so is another calendar year. Marks were returned and *hooray* I'm still in the running to be able to apply! I continue to commute to Waterloo but this time, in the winter--which has a bunch of its own challenges.

For serious, I'm driving through the SW Ontario snow-belt

But, if there is anything I learned getting through last semester, I learned that I can do it, if I just put my mind to and that there is nothing that is impossible to accommodate as long as I can manage my time and limits appropriately. To keep myself on track, I am creating a visual inspiration board and doing my annual review and goal setting for the coming year.

Oh Dilbert. You always have an interesting perspective on life

Let's start with an analysis of last year...

• Personal/School/Career: I can confidently say that I have successfully met all these goals from last year!
• Household/Buckingham & Stanley C. Panther: the only one I did not meet my expectations is the cooking aspect. I have been taking advantage of my mom's cooking daily, and often going out to eat in place of making my own meals. Otherwise, all other tasks have been addressed! Not bad :)
• Horsey/Riding: this one took a major stall this summer and I think it actually needed to; I wouldn't have been able to achieve what I did last semester without this one being put on hold. I still find my mind wandering though, and I try not to think about this absence because I just get really sad. I found myself really enjoying the hugs I gave Ariel and Bons when we visited over the holidays. But the honest truth? I don't know if I could have brought myself to stop lessons if it wasn't for my Summer of George.
• Family: I have literally amazed myself on this front. Still lots of room for improvement but I did really well in this quadrant of goals, too!
• Social/Volunteering: I passively moved off one of my volunteering gigs; this was not the right way to go about it but I haven't been able to say "no" and not feel bad about it, yet. I also plain ol' stopped volunteering for the cat rescue and I honestly wish I stopped volunteering for my reluctant gig and moved to do something with the cat rescue instead. I did donate some pet food near the end of the year.
  In terms of the social aspect... I did only a degree of it. But, I don't feel too bad about it and think I just need to readjust my expectations and plans a wee bit and I should be good.
• Reading: does reading a lot of dry textbooks and science articles count?

I am impressed with myself, overall. I didn't think I could do as much, and I was really just focusing on the monumental task at hand. I'd say I didn't do too shabby this time around and I'll be upping the ante, so to speak, for 2017 because I think I can do it.

Truth!

How did your respective 2016 resolutions and year go?

No Rest for the Wicked

My parents instilled in me, at a young age, that participation in school or work was critically tied to being successful in that class or career. I hence became that guy that attended every class and even accepted (for a time) the unspoken "norm" of going into work while sick, at my previous place of employment. It was never outright stated that it was expected of us, but simply by example (which usually just got the rest of us sick like dogs) and the response intonations when we called/emailed in sick.

Boss cat makes it funny but it wasn't funny :(

I have since changed that perspective and no longer put someone else's expectations over my own needs--especially if they were not in my best interest. After all, nobody's gonna care about you more, than you. Not because they're bad people, but because they don't see it from your perspective and they're thinking from a economic standpoint.

Semesters are actually quite short; you get 4 months to fit in an exam schedule, 3 weeks of exams and midterms, assignments, papers, labs and the lectures themselves. Trust me, this is an awful way to learn but it's the only way available at the moment. That said, I was determined not to fall ill for any reason and got the flu short--something I have never done because I'm not a firm believer in the flu shot (not because vaccines don't work--they do work. It's just this thing about strains... a conversation for another time). Getting sick was something I was working at avoiding... like the plague (har har! see what I did there?).

The semester is coming to a close and I'm still behind on some lectures because I just haven't found the time to get to it. But, I was getting progressively sicker and sicker last week and I surrendered by Wednesday afternoon and booked an appointment with my physician to see her on Thursday. I didn't actually think it was going to be all that involved... a quick in and out appointment, deal with the infection and I"d be back on my way to classes on Friday. I was wrong.

Strong like bull... until I get sick

I underestimated the severity and ended up at home lying around trying to not aggravate the infection and what a colossal waste of time that was! I intended to catch up on lectures and notes and start my exam studying but none of that happened because I just couldn't physically manage it. So now, I'm scrambling to catch up, understand the new stuff while I still don't understand the old stuff, sort myself out enough to pose questions in class (#stillwaiting) and find time to see the profs during office hours.

But, that's the thing about adulting life, isn't it? You spend all your time trying to stay afloat and work like an ox to get yourself some chill time only to be knocked out by a virus/bacterial infection when you least expect (or need) it but you can submit to the poopiness or you can suck it up princess and get 'er done. 

Public Announcement

I had to... because this is literally me lately:

Good news, I didn't actually take an online quiz about what flavour potato chip I am but I did pull together the Pinterest account I associated with this account. Still building it but got a strong start! And, with exams peeking over the horizon, I expect I'll be spending more time blogging or pinning or taking online quizzes.

First Leg Finish on the Horizon!

Now seemed as good a time as any to check-in by a blog post after being entrenched in school work for 2 months. That, and I needed to do something constructive after hearing about the US electoral results which I will NOT get into detail further other then this one reference because, although I don't live in the US (thank heavens), as a Canadian, I can't stop hearing everyone's opinion about it. And, I might have a new house-guest for the next 4 years with an option for an additional 4 year stay. HA HA HA. Okay, not funny, at all.

Going on, I have been busy keeping up with my studies and finding myself even more motivated, curious and engaged then I have ever been. Seriously. When I first started my undergrad, I just knew I liked biology and science in general and was curious about it. But, at the time, I didn't really know what I was doing or why I was doing it. I was also closed to getting into certain subjects just because I didn't think they were worthwhile.

This semester, I have gotten myself into Human Metabolism, Animal Physiology, Moral Issues, Embryology and Developmental Biology and Advanced First Year Chinese (Mandarin). The two courses that I was prepared to struggle with for 3 months and cry a small river (daily) learning about was metabolism and embryology. Then I thought that I'd be bored to tears about philosophy and Mandarin. Quite the contrary, the course I find most engaging is moral issues! I have never enjoyed philosophy more.

Unfortunately, with the broken leg and the packed schedule, I haven't had much time to consider returning to riding and while I am sad, I don't really have much time to actually be sad. I have though, been getting occasional doses of equine related activities like volunteering for the Ontario University Equestrian Association (OUEA) show hosted by UW the last weekend of October. The format of this type of showing is very different than I'm used to seeing where a rider works with their mount for months or years perfecting the relationship. Instead of riding your own horse, you ride a random horse drawn for you on the day you're showing. They do flat and jumping/hunter classes for a range of rider levels. I admit, not really my cup of tea but an interesting experience to see what that is all about. Unfortunately, due to my mid-term schedule, I had to miss the opportunity to learn to drive miniature horses (I know. CUUUUUUTE!!!). Another time.

I did get to get out to The Royal to support one of Gosling Stables riders show pony jumper in the A's with her rescue pony. She totally deserved it considering the amount of work she's put in. I also had the opportunity to chat with a Hereford rancher about his love of the job and how he's already "retired" four times but can't seem to keep himself idle long enough! Such inspiration.

Reversing a bit, the leg is completely healed and I'm on my own to make it better completely. I still limp if I have to rush somewhere as the quadricep muscles just aren't what they used to be. You probably couldn't tell there's anything wrong until you challenge me to race you to the end of the block: #nothappening. I am glad that I don't need the crutches but I just wish things would go back to normal, faster.

Finally, my brother has taken on a side project and transformed his love of coffee into a viable business in the Distillery District of Toronto and let me tell you, if you are in the area, you have to make it a point to go, not just because I said so, but because you will not be disappointed. It's currently one of my happy places not only because it's a break from studying, but because I get fuelled with the best coffee I've experience. So much love, experience and care goes into each cup that it makes me warm and fuzzy both figuratively and literally!

In the meantime, when I have time, I will make a point to getting around to other blogs, some more reading and another post. Until then, I hope y'all are enjoying yourselves doing whatever it is that you're occupied with :)