Random Fodder

I thought I'd post an update on one of my goals for this year (and last year, and the year before). A year ago, I posted on 43 Things that perhaps moving into the new apartment would make things easier to keep the place neat and tidy. 2007 proved that this wasn't the case at all. I decided yesterday that I’ve got to really focus on accomplishing this goal so I can help keep my wife’s sanity intact.

Yesterday, I finally got around to getting started on cleaning up the apartment:

1. I picked up the kids’ toys after they went to bed and put the toys in bins. I warned the kids that they will be expected to keep their room clean and that some toys will be disappearing as we store them and/or give them away.
2. I ran two loads of dishes last night and mostly cleared out the sink.
3. The kids’ dirty clothes were piled on the floor, so I bought a second hamper so the kids have a place to put their dirty clothes.
4. We had a large mess on the kitchen floor where our recyclables really had no good place to go. The storage area was far too small (just two plastic drink containers and the bin was full). This resulted in plastic and cardboard spilling across the kitchen floor. To remedy this, I bought a couple plastic bins large enough to hold our standard amount of plastic, cardboard, and glass.
5. I put our futon back into the upright "couch" position — it had been in the flat "bed" position ever since we had company during the holidays.

So, for one night’s work, the place looks a bit cleaner and organized — and certainly less cluttered.

And tonight, I got some stuff accomplished, though I didn't do nearly as much as yesterday:

1. I cleared off the table of the mounds of papers and other items cluttering half of our dining room table. Not only do we have use of our table now, but we also have more of our clutter gone!
2. Sprayed and wiped off the dining room table and chairs.
3. I went through all the areas I cleaned yesterday and made sure that any disarray from today had been cleaned up. (This is the key to keeping the house clean each day!)

There’s still plenty of work ahead of us. We’ll see what the future holds. I’ve requested some cleaning / organization / decluttering books from the library to see what suggestions and hints I can glean from skimming them.

See more progress on: clean up my house and keep it clean. I'll probably post further updates there as I continue to try and keep up with this goal.

2008 has reared its ugly head, and left me with not even a handful of completed goals:

• 3 goals (7%) were completed successfully.
• 9 goals (21%) were abandoned.
• 31 goals (72%) will be carried over for 2008.

What goals have I chosen for 2008? 31 goals have been carried over, 12 new goals have been added, and 1 goal from 2006 has returned:

1. Accomplish more goals this year than last year
2. attend a local government meeting
3. Be a better blogger
4. be an audience member for a TV show taping*
5. Be part of a flash mob
6. build an igloo
7. clean up my house and keep it clean
8. Do the Discovery Health National Body Challenge
9. drink more water
10. eat healthier
11. eat with my hands
12. exercise regularly
13. fly a kite
14. Get better at chess*
15. Give blood
16. go camping
17. have a 3 month emergency fund
18. have family devotions
19. Help my child finish the Hooked on Math program*
20. Help my mother start her home business
21. Join a professional organization*
22. Learn how to remember peoples' names
23. Learn Spanish
24. learn to do crosswords*
25. learn to ice skate*
26. Learn to juggle*
27. lose weight
28. make a time capsule
29. Make family silhouettes*
30. open the yellow pages, pick the seventh restaurant, and eat the seventh entree and dessert on the menu
31. Read 23 books in one year†
32. Reduce debt.
33. Send a message in a bottle
34. Send a postcard to Postsecret
35. sleep in a hammock
36. spend ten minutes holding the door for people
37. stick to a budget
38. stop being late
39. take 43 photos of 43 places within 43 minutes of where I live‡
40. take a family vacation
41. Take the Mensa test.*
42. Volunteer
43. Write a will*

* A new goal for 2008.
† A "new" goal for 2008 added in October 2007 and due by October 2008.
‡ A renewed goal from before 2007.

You can also view my current list and past accomplished goals at 43 Things or on my own 43 Things page here.

My top two "cheered" goals by other 43 Things users each have 10 cheers, twice as many as the next highest cheered goal. They are:

• 10 cheers - build an igloo
• 10 cheers - attend a local government meeting

So, I should probably put a little extra effort into getting these completed this year.

Grade School Fight Club

As with any successful series of movies, Baby Fight Club has spawned a spin-off: Grade School Fight Club.

Though Sebastian would have us believe that this bloody shirt was simply the product of a bloody nose, I think I've uncovered the beginnings of Grade School Fight Club.

These clubs have started sprouting up in the deepest, darkest shadows of elementary school playgrounds around the country. Under the monkey bars, by the water fountain, and in the parking lot at 3:00 — hoards of grade schoolers gather to join in this newest trend. So far, they must abide by only two rules:

1. The first rule of Grade School Fight Club is: There is no Grade School Fight Club.
2. The second rule of Grade School Fight Club is: If you tell anyone, we won't be your friend any more.

Please let us know if you uncover any additional information about Grade School Fight Club. We're doing all we can to keep it under control.

I am shifting my list of 43 Things from a list of annual goals to a list of lifetime goals. Thus, I have dropped a couple goals and picked up a couple goals, and I plan on doing further maintenance in the future.

One of my 43 Things that I have kept is to interview my son Sebastian on video every year. I have thought this was a great idea and I wanted to do it before he started kindergarten. This year I added the goal so I could do it during the summer between kindergarten and first grade, but it still hasn't gotten done. So, for some lamebrained reason, I decided to use the Challenge feature of 43 Things to try and motivate myself.

So, my current challenge on 43 Things is to interview my son by December 31, 2007 (70 days from now) or else I will: make three snow angels wearing only a pair of shorts.

I tried to make the penalty something annoying enough that I wouldn't want to do it, but easy enough that I would actually penalize myself if I failed. Hopefully, it won't come down to this and I'll get that interview done in the next month or two!

Of course, since this is a recurring goal, I will mark it as completed each year when I complete the interview and then re-add it to my list when the time comes around again.

Last year, Sebastian told me that his Kindergarten teacher said "the S-word" to the students and I got nervous, but I had to assume that it wasn't the S-word because I knew his teacher wouldn't slip up like that. (As it turns out, "the S-word" was "stupid".)

This week when I came home from work, Sebastian and I were talking for a while. Suddenly, Sebastian got a serious look on his face and he told me that some older kids were outside our window talking loudly. He told me, "I heard one of the kids say a bad word — the bad "SH-word"."

Again, I was concerned. This wasn't "stupid" because he gave me the dreaded second letter — obviously, he wanted me to know that. Sebastian knows that there are bad words to say and really bad words to say. I prefer that he doesn't yet learn exactly what these really bad words are, but I know that eventually he'll find out. I thought perhaps this was an indication that he had already learned of his first curse word.

I raised my eyebrow and replied, "Oh, really? Sometimes older kids say things they shouldn't say." I paused to get a response.

Then, in a hushed tone, Sebastian whispered, "You know, the 'Shut up' bad word? That's what he said." Sebastian looked closely for my response to this atrocity, so I tried to keep a serious face. I'm sure I couldn't help but smirk after hearing what "the sh-word" was.

You can't protect them from "the sh-word" forever!

Game 13 - Yellow Bees

This week, they beat the Yellow Bees 2-1 for their sixth and final win of the fall season. The Blue Dragons spent most of the game with a comfortable 2-0 lead, but a late Yellow goal made the last two minutes of the game more exciting.

Sebastian had a great final game this year. He played more aggressively than ever before and had some great opportunities because of it. Despite not scoring a goal this year, Sebastian was literally a foot away from scoring his first goal this week. Check out the video (and instant replay) to see just how close he came:

Fall Season Recap

The Blue Dragons won every game of the fall season! These six games were much closer than the seven spring games. In the spring, the only game decided by one goal was the game the Blue Dragons lost. In the fall, four of the games were decided by just one goal and the other two games were decided by two goals. This may be because the Blue Dragons lost one of their top goal scorers as she moved up to the next division for the fall season. Sebastian played harder and smarter than in the spring. If he keeps up this pace, next year should be a great experience.

2007 Season Recap

The Blue Dragons' combined record over both seasons of the year was 12-1. The only defeat was to the Purple team, who they did not have to play in the Spring season. The Blue Dragons beat all other six teams twice — once in the spring and once in the fall. On average, the Blue Dragons scored 3.1 goals per game and their opponents scored 0.8 goals.

Great job, Blue Dragons!!!

Game 11 - Red Hawks

In the 11th game of the season, the Blue Dragons battled the Red Hawks. Despite the game being knotted up at 1-1 for quite a while, the Blue Dragons were able to score one last goal to win by a score of 2-1. Sebastian displayed some smart decisions on the field, proving that he is able to think about the strategy instead of just kicking the ball whenever it is close.

This video starts with a pre-game warmup goal that Sebastian scored. What's funny is that Sebastian doesn't celebrate — he walks to the back of the line nonchalantly, just like when he doesn't score . . . but you can see that he's proud under it all.

Game 12 - Dark Blue Dolphins

Sebastian showed that he was growing as a player during his twelfth game of the season. He took opportunities to shoot when he had a decent chance, he got open for throw ins instead of bunching up with the crowd, and he was able to take the ball down the length of the field. As we discussed the game later, Sebastian even articulated some of his strategies. Despite going down by one goal early on, the Blue Dragons were able to tie the game and eventually win 4-2.