my three month checkup

here's what i pledged to do for 2007. let's see how i'm doing.

* stop biting my nails
a rousing success, though one slightly marred by the replacement of one bad habit with another questionable one. kind of like people who quit smoking and get fat, i've quit biting my nails and have started filing them with a four-surface emory board (though i only use two, no buffing for me!)

* dinner party once a month (starting february)
only failure to report. i began the year at zero, and remain there.

* cook one real meal per week (multiple pots and courses)
a mixed bag. i've cooked several real meals, but nothing that i would consider impressive. i continue to disappoint myself by the way i cook. still, my goal here was partly economic, and i've probably saved something.

* one month cycle
failure!

* stay with the gym (add ten pounds of muscle and lose five pounds of fat)
i'm pretty sure i've added ten pounds. unfortunately, it's not all muscle. just reupped at the gym though. of course paying's the easy part, now i have to start going.

* 20k invested
i've modified this goal to having 50k across all my investment vehicles. that includes two 401k accounts from old jobs, a brokerage account, and an online savings account. with the $4000 of excelsior funds i just purchased, that brings me to ~ $30k. since i started the year with around 20k, that puts me roughly on schedule.

* 2 international trips
well i'm still at zero, but i think there's a reasonable chance i could get to four if i include work trips. ireland for my birthday, southern europe for new year's, and then montreal and manila for work.

* remember how much i like my friends (keeping in touch, visiting, gifts)
i've found it offputting to give gifts to friends. so far i've purchased two of them, and delivered one after a long deliberation. this may just be me being me, but there's always something to feel weird about. if she is single -- or even worse if she's not -- will she misinterpret it as a play? if the friend is a he, well, guys exchanging gifts is just weird, right? i have a gift sitting at my house and am actually waiting for a reason to give it. of course, this kinda defeats the purpose of random gift-giving, which is what i set out to do.

* keep chin high (six days so far)
haven't been able to sustain this, and have tried to replace it by keeping myself busy. i've taken freelance assignments so that i wouldn't have to sit and think about things i shouldn't be thinking about. and when there have been other free moments, i'll play cards. hell, if you're not going to be happy now, at least set aside something for the future when you might. well at least that's my thought process.

honestly, it's been a tough year, and nothing close to what i had envisioned at the beginning. i feel like i've done some good things, but it still feels like i'm coming up short. i guess the silver lining's that i still have nine months to correct that.