Goal Progress?

Why yes, there has been some progress with my goals. Things are not going as quickly as planned, but it has not been discouraging...which is actually a little surprising. I haven't updated as much as I'd like, but there is usually only time for it on the weekend. During the week I am up by 6, if not earlier, and don't get home until 6. At that point I cook dinner, then play with Alexander, give him a bath, read or play a little more, put him to bed, clean up the dinner mess, wash or fold any clothes, then finally sit down for a breather around 9 or 9:30. Ivan and I both tend to nod off around this time so we head to bed. The weekend is a time just for us to be together, visit with family and friends, get groceries, and clean house. There still isn't an excuse because I could write something short on the weekends, I just don't feel like it. Boo me.
Even with all of that I am making progress on some of my goals. Luckily my new workplace has a gym so goal number 4 is easier than it was at the beginning of the year. I have lifting weights as well, so although I can't tell as much on the scale that I'm losing weight I can tell by the way my clothes are fitting (and the compliments I'm getting. Yay!). Ivan and I are also eating better and having great tasting food, too. I don't deprive myself, though. If I want dessert I get it, but I don't gorge myself.
Goal 9, painting my dresser, did hit a snag because of the way it was constructed, but I think I've found a solution. Time will tell. The dresser will become part of my studio as a storage piece, so it will need to be completed before finishing my studio (goal 8).
Paying off credit cards has proven to be the most difficult. Not because they're too expensive or we don't want to put money towards them, but because of other issues. Two very unexpected medical bills and 3 expensive car repair issues have prevented us from getting this done as quickly as we could have. Don't worry, we didn't put any of these expenses on a credit card; we paid directly out of our bank account. The problem: that money would have paid off all of one card and about an 1/8 of another. I think we can still get them paid off, though. We had another big chunk come out of our budget for a conference for Ivan. It will be very beneficial and help with his business (That's right! Ivan is starting his own business! I'm sure some exciting updates will happen because of this. I've linked to his blog at the bottom of the page).
Goal 3 is semi-started. I have ideas written and know how I want the story to go, I just need to put it in words. I am working on character designs now. I don't think most authors need that, but it will help me visualize better. I also see stories as movies in my head as I read anyway, so this will help. I have so much imagery in my head for this story. I wish I was better at getting what's in my head on paper. If I could do that then I'd make this a graphic novel.
Other goals? Number 2 needs to wait on Halloween to be fulfilled and I just haven't wanted to do the other goals (1 and 6).
I also realize that I haven't talked about or posted pictures from the 3 day trip, but I just finished getting them off of my camera. The card reader on my laptop was broken so I had to buy one.
So that's the progress. I have been busy; I just need to update more. Thanks for reading!

Ivan's blog: A Better Way of Business