Yearly Bingo Check

                                                                  Bingo 2026

Have a girls night at home	Make progress on my OCD	Practice piano every day	Make birthday cards and presents for your closest friends and family(make a list)	Five minutes of mindfulness five days a week
Knit something besides a hat	Have a Catherine night once a month	Blog every weekday	Do a roadtrip/ weekend trip with Justin	Get a new wardrobe
Win a poetry slam	Read at least five books every month	Free Space	Take a family vacation (besides Cape Cod)	Finish my God journal
Finish When I Go to the Railroad Tracks	Go to the gym at least four times a week (optimal five)	Host and guide book club once a month at my house	Attend a writer’s retreat	Find a permanent volunteering
Make three new friends	Lose at least ten pounds (aim is 190, optimal is 185)	Journal four pages every morning	Learn a new craft (decoupage)	Throw at least three parties (7 people or more cannot be book club)

These were my yearly goals I set at the beginning of January.

Here are the daily goals I often find myself completing or work on most days (I give myself the grace that I cannot do everything everyday):

• Make progress on my OCD. This is something I do have to work on everyday because if I didn’t I would get steamrolled by my own anxiety. I’ve been practicing exposure therapy and exposure therapy is something that manages to get both harder and then easier the more you’ve done it. But I’ve kept my checking to a minimum.

• I blog every day (except apparently yesterday). It started with a blog about my book The Story of Hope (as yet unpublished) but then it swiftly stepped in self-help and then it was about my journey and my self help and now its kind of a mishmosh. But I will say starting a blog was one of the best things I ever did after starting a book club. 

• I also try to go to the gym every day. I started with the treadmill because it took a lot of effort to fall off then branched out to the elliptical and the bike (which is the one I usually use now). There’s a class tomorrow that’s going to instruct us how to use some of the other machines which will be useful for me.

• I was originally going to do decoupage as my craft. But I’ve been making cards, tags and bookmarks and they are coming out really nice. My friend has a cafe where she sells local artist’s work and she took the crafts to sell. If I actually earn money I might pay for a table at a crafts fair. But for now that’s just a pipe dream.

Here are daily goals I admit to myself I’ve been neglecting if only because I am getting very busy with new friends, commitments and activities

• Playing piano. I think this is because I scheduled piano for the morning  between journaling and breakfast and on Wednesday when I have knitting I don’t have time at all. Sometimes if I’m preparing for an Open Mic I’ll accompany myself on the piano for practice.

• I journal every morning to clear my head and get an open mind for the coming day. I used to journal much more than I do now (basically I chronicled any thought I had) but now I’’ve branched out to other types of writing and other hobbies like knitting and piano. Plus I’m not homeschooled anymore (yes at one point I was homeschooled) so I have a thriving social life now.

Here are monthly goals:

• Book club met at my house to discuss For Whom the Bell Tolls. Embarrassing because I didn’t even finish the book (I want to finish it. I’m working on finishing it). But it was an enjoyable discussion with popcorn, and cookies. One of our members is at military school in South Carolina so she joined us via Zoom. I’m very glad to have so many friends who like reading. 

Here are goals that are long term, which I will have to work on over the stretch of the year:

• Justin and I are going away for a long weekend in September. We usually can’t afford more than one vacation a  year since I don’t work. But hey, better to go once than not at all. We might visit the Liberty Science Center in March for our four year anniversary. Fun fact when I was there as a kid I fell out the outside of the escalar. Luckily my dad caught me. Ten years off his life.

• I have found a volunteer position leading a book club in an assisted living facility. Whether it will work out I’m not sure. Some people think they want to be in a book club then they realize they don’t want to read the book or no one wants to talk about the book (which is where I come in. It’s up to me to lead discussions). So far I have met several ladies who seem enthusiastic. 

And here are some goals I made progress on:

• Before this year I really did not pursue mindfulness. I was actually adverse to it. This year I’ve been seeking out times and experiences where I could be mindful. This especially applies to food because I am usually pretty hungry and wolf my food down, leaving me the only one at the table with an empty plate. If I savor every bite it lasts longer and dinner is much more pleasant. I am also trying different types of yoga. 

• Finish When I Go to the Railroad Tracks. Right now I’m reading the book reviews and adding historical or cultural background whenever it applies. I don’t think I realized last year on vacation how much more work I have to do and edit and really consider if I want to put some of this stuff out there. Its my story and my life so I feel I have the right to but I took some personal stuff out to protect the innocent. 

• I’m working on a kerchief with the sparkly light blue and the sparkly light pink knitted together in the middle. The first time I messed up so bad we had to pull out the stitches. But now it looks like an actual triangle. I take heart.

• Make three new friends. I was already on good terms with my friend (the one who has the vegan cafe) and she invited me to her Yule Ball. But now we are hanging out one on one and she invited me to join her book club. So I would count her as a friend. And I look forward to getting to know her better. 

Embarrassing Fails:

• In January I was running around the entire time to plans with friends, dates, meetings, dinners, it was so much. February is shaping up to be kind of the same thing. But I only read one (ONE) book in January (Scandalous by Tilly Bagshawe). I’m in three book clubs so you think I would be reading more than ever. Apparently not.