The List, Reviewed

Back in January I made a list of projects I wanted to complete by the end of the year.  It was my first-ever-in-my-whole-life list, and I made it hoping that putting my goals in writing would help me stick to them.  With less than a week left in this year, I thought it might be a good time to review The List and see how I did:

Finish painting the exterior of the house.  Except for two porch windows and an errant piece of trim here and there, it's done.  Whoo-hoo!

Re-roof the carport.  Well....no.  But I do have a plan.  I'm gonna strip off what's left of the rotted roof and put up fiberglass panels.  Here's hoping the ceiling joists of the carport are in good shape.  That project will have to wait until spring.

Tear up the rest of the carpet in the house.  Does almost count?  Only the pee-pee carpet remains, and a third of that is gone.  Why only a third of it is gone is a rant for another post...

Scrape the rest of the painted-over wallpaper off the entryway and front parlor walls.  Another no.  It's a tedious job that I pick at here and there but can't stick with long enough to get finished.

New flooring in the master bath.  Yep.  However...in the process of removing the old carpet and linoleum, I found some water damage to the floor between the tub and the toilet.  So, this flooring is only temporary.

Paper the dining room.  Um, no again.  This is the Next Big Thing to be done. 

Fix the front porch.  Boy, did we!  Thanks to a lot of help from Mare, this one got done, and better than I imagined.

Tear down the backyard shed.  Done—thanks to a stranger who wandered up to the front door and asked if he could have the shed.  I like it when something gets crossed off the list with no effort by me.

So, half the things on my list were completed this year.  But half the things were not completed.  Oh.  Fifty percent is an F, isn't it?  But the two biggest projects on the list did get finished.  That ought to count for something.  A greater weight in the grade, you know.  And a bunch of other stuff got done too:  the kitchen, which wasn't even on the list; WTB and I did a small landscaping project, (which I just realized I never took pictures of), there are no more holes in the outside of the house... 

But let's get back to the purpose of The List in the first place.  It was supposed to keep me focused.  Eyes on the prize and all that.  Did it?  Nah.  I ran amok and did whatever I darn well wanted all year, just like every year.  And that's not all bad.  I accomplished a heckuva lot this year.  I will next year, too.  But next year, there will be no list.