GOAL CHECK

June.

The sixth month of the year.

The month when florists, hotels, wedding suppliers, churches, gown factories and make-up artists have a lot of customers.

The month that every bride dreams to get married to their partners.

The month that most students hate.

The one that marks the start of rainy reason in our country.

And...

My birth month.

Yes, I was born on Monday, 18th of June, 1984.
There, you already know how old I am :). For some people who belong to the same age bracket as I am, birthdays don't give them excitement anymore. Well, for me, I still feel excited to read and hear birthday greetings from people who treat me special. Reaching this age is such a blessing, because some people are not given a chance to live longer. And for me, this year, I have a lot of challenges to face, blessings to claim and lives to be touched.

Before 2012 had ended, I prepared a list of the things that I should accomplish this year. And since it's already the middle of the year, let me check which among these things I had already accomplished:

29. Start saving money for my plan to go to Japan to work OR for OUR plan to purchase a house and/or lot.  CHECK! We chose to open a Time Deposit account a few months ago to refrain from frequent withdrawals and thus to encourage ourselves to be more thrifty.

28. Have a new look. I would like to start by replacing my eyeglasses with a new, trendy look.--CHECK.

Then, I would try a new hairstyle, a curly one maybe. FAILED.

27. Lose weight. I am still working on this. Unfortunately, I found out that my thyroid glad isn't functioning properly, so I am having a hard time to reach this goal. STATUS: 50-50

26. Be more serious in studying Kana, Kanji and some useful Japanese expressions.-CHECK. I finished Hiragana lessons a few months ago, and Katakana last month. I have been trying to learn at least one Kanji character every week. Also, I am lucky to have some friends who patiently teach me some Japanese expressions.

25. Keep in touch with friends more often.---IN PROGRESS.

24. Pay for PLDT my DSL to try teaching English online at home as preparation for my goal # 23. CHECK! However, we chose Globe instead of PLDT.

23. Find a new job. I might teach in a real-school setting, or find a better online ESL company.(target month: March-May).

I am not sure whether I could achieve this or not because of unexpected turn of events. My husband told me that his permanent job order (DepEd) is in progress and once it is approved, he has to wait for three to four months before he could receive his salary, so he asked me not to find another job yet. He doesn't want me to work in a private school either, due to salary and heavy workload. STATUS: 50-50.

22. Find a part time /work at home job.---IN PROGRESS.

21. Enroll for refresher courses to prepare for teaching. Not yet done, but I will, next semester. I had two choices: Rizal Technological University- Mandaluyong (near the office) and University of Makati (near our house. Last month, I visited these universities to ask whether they are offering “refresher course” for teachers, and I found out that I had no choice but to enroll in the latter. Anyway, it's okay as long as I finish the course. STATUS: NOT YET DONE

20. Study Spanish/ Japanese language for certification purposes. IN PROGRESS.

19. Buy a brand new washing machine. NOT YET DONE.

18. Fix my birth certificate. I called the Municipal Clerk for a follow-up and she told me that they have been waiting for the NSO- Quezon City to send the documents to them. STATUS: IN PROGRESS.

17. Update this blog more. IN PROGRESS.

16. Read more books. IN PROGRESS.

15. Spend more time with my family members. 50-50. All of us are very busy these past few months.

14. Avoid junk foods. IN PROGRESS.

13. Have a separate bank account. Status: NOT YET DONE. Reason stated in item #23.

12. Avoid using bad words especially when angry. Argh! This is very difficult to do, especially now that I learned some Japanese expressions.

11. Renew my teaching license. CHECK! I just have to wait for three to four months to get my new ID.

10. Update information for my accounts in SSS, Philhealth, BIR and PAGIBIG and get my IDs. CHECK!

9. Be more serious in life. I hope I can do this.

8. Travel with my husband somewhere (at least twice ). I think I might fail on this. Please see item #23.

7. Reconnect with my former students via e-mail. Status: NOT YET DONE.

6. Replace my “revealing clothes” with “more decent” ones. Status: NOT YET DONE.

5. Recall everything I learned about Social Studies and practice how to teach English subjects. STATUS: IN PROGRESS.

4. Prepare for my pregnancy. I might fail, because both of us concluded that there are things that we need to prioritize before having a kid to avoid complications. STATUS: 50-50

3. Buy a lot in Taguig or in any place nearby. Or at least pay for down payment for my house and lot. I think our savings is still not enough to purchase one, so we might delay until next year. STATUS: NOT YET DONE.

2. Travel or work in Japan. (I hope so)

1. Make my spiritual life in-tune with God. (Please help me , Lord)

SUMMARY

Accomplished: 5 (Item #s 10, 11, 24, 26 and 29)

In progress: 8 (Items 5#, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22 and 25)

Not yet done (but have plans to do it): 6 ( Items # 3, 6, 7, 13, 19 and 21)

50-50 (undecided): 4 ( Items # 4, , 15, 23, 27)

Might fail: 5 (Items # 1, 2, 9, 12, 8)

Declared failed: 1 (Item # 28, though I was able to replace my eyeglasses)

Before the year ends, I should have accomplished 19 out of 29 goals. It is only 65% , and my goal is to accomplish 75% (22 items) of these.

Since I made this list, I have promised myself to make a list of the things that I wanted to accomplish. I also have to check quarterly or semi-annually the progress of each of them. That's why before 2013 ends, I should have prepared a list of goals for 2014.

I will be turning 29 next week, and I have 29 goals to accomplish. Another year, another adventure.

Advance happy birthday to me!