See below for commentary on the things I can check off of my 24 in 24 list.
9. Develop the habit of bringing reusable grocery bags to the store. I would love to stop dealing with flimsy plastic bags. The space, the guilt, the annoyance.
At the beginning of 2024, I was really hard on myself. If I forgot my reusable bags and had to use a flimsy plastic one, I had a tally going inside the door of a closet (that is, btw, jam-packed with all the plastic bags I collected back when I was a terrible person). After about six plastic bag tally marks, I was like, "Megan, get a life. Just do the best you can." And then I did do the best I could. Remembering reusable shopping bags did become a habit. Did I forget every now and again? Yes, I did, especially if I had failed to bring the empty bags back to the car. But, in general, if I had the bags in the car, I brought them into the store. And, since I am self-checking pretty much everywhere, I realized that I really prefer packing groceries in reuseable bags.
My Spotify Wrapped for proof of item 10.
10. Learn five Lana Del Ray songs. I don't mean like learn to play them on the guitar or piano or prepare for karaoke or anything. I just mean, listen to these songs until I learn the words and have a sense of what they mean. LDR is my oldest's favorite artist, and he has chosen the five songs for me.
I did it. I learned these songs and really fell in love with all of them, especially "California." Don't take my Spotify Wrapped as proof that I did little else but listen to Lana Del Ray this past year. I actually don't use Spotify all that often as I am usually listening to audiobooks. The past few years, my top Spotify listen was a recording of The Rosary.
12. Meet my Peloton minutes goal. I'm not going to say what it is, but I will say that it is more than double what I achieved this year on the Peloton platform. I do track my outdoor walks through Peloton, lest you think I am a cycling fool.
My secret goal was 15,000 minutes. That includes Peloton content/classes but also outdoor walks, stretching on my own, and cardio workouts on my own (this is how I count tennis). I made it to 13,650 minutes. I realized in November that 15K was going to be a stretch and decided that 14K would be a good goal. But, then December happened, and I was busy being Mrs. Claus and attending fun Christmas events and then traveling and then resting and regrouping. Considering I made it to 7K in 2023, I am very proud of almost doubling my exercise minutes in 2024. I didn't track time spent playing golf (I almost always walk the course) and that was a good amount of activity. I will try for 15K again in 2025.
13. Unsubscribe to 20 emails. I've already unsubscribed to 45, NTB, but I will keep going.
Nailed it. Probably unsubscribed to 100 different senders, but my inbox is still at 37,132 unread messages so...
15. See three movies in the theater. I love movies and buttered popcorn and giant Diet Cokes and reclining seats and being somewhere where I am not distracted by things I could/should do (fold laundry, empty dishwasher, stare mindlessly at phone).
I was hoping three would turn into thirty, and I would become a movie-going maven. Truth is, there probably weren't thirty movies I wanted to see in the theater. I did enjoy the ones I saw though! In January, a friend and I saw an afternoon showing of the rom-com Anyone But You. A month or so later, I saw American Fiction during a school day by myself (well, me and handful of old people). Last month, I saw Conclave with some female friends. I enjoyed each movie and hope to make more time for going to the movies. Popcorn with extra butter and a big old DC each time. Bliss.
16. Clean out "playroom." I attacked this sloped-ceiling secret room during quarantine and, guess what, it is full of everyone's sh$t again.
This project is underway. I hit it hard in November, but pressed pause when Christmas tasks started knocking on my door. I've already cleared out and donated five big boxes of books. I washed ten blankets and donated to Pilot Pete's homeless outreach in Chicago. I am consolidating school supplies, identifying trash, and sorting, sorting, sorting. One exciting thing that happened while I was in there is that I found my missing passport! This room's chapter as a "playroom" has come to an official end, but I'd like to turn it into an organized storage space instead of the "family dumpster."
17. Try five new recipes. I mean dinner recipes. Send me any ideas but keep in mind I have one child who does not eat sandwiches, one who won't touch pasta, and one who hates salmon.
I made five new recipes but no slam dunks.
24. Track added sugar. I am figuring out what this looks like for me. I need some controls/accountability in place so I don't go on a sugar bender (as I just did in December), but I know from experience that if I try to cut out sugar, the feelings of deprivation don't lead to good choices or results. Feeling my way here.
I didn't do this all the time, but, SURPRISE SURPRISE, I do feel better when I limit added sugar.
Up next ... the 24 in 24 tasks that are rolling over to my 25 in 25 list.
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