I wasn’t even tagged with this but I’m pulling up my 7 + 5 resolutions for 2007 – 7 real ones and 5 stretch goals for this year. I’ve always had the philosophy that resolutions are meant to be broken – usually as soon as possible. But this year, I thought ‘what the hell’, let’s join the rest of those terminally-optomistic people, putting out pipe dreams like Halloween candy.

the RESOLUTIONS

1. Stay on Schedule I’m going to do much better at keeping up on my commitments – working out 3x/week (a free membership around the corner helps), writing 3-4 blog entries a week and actually responding to emails in days, not weeks.
2. Complete what I started to continue… I’m going to finish the designs for my homepage, my blog and a few other creative projects I’ve had brewing. Luckily, more time at home means that I might actually get to them, too.
3. Get Outdoors I need to get out riding, hiking and camping (and maybe even go rock climbing). I miss the smell of the pine trees at night while hanging out around a fire.
4. Go on a stress-free vacation with my wife Lately, all of our trips have been either very local, or to college events, with hordes of family, etc. This one should be just us.
5. Birdlist to 300 I want to up my bird list (267, currently) to get up to 300. Also, get my butterfly/moth list to 75 and my dragonfly list to 35 species. Yeah, I know – you’re amazed how much of a stud I am.
6. Get back to Penn State It’s been one and a half years since I made it back, but I hope to make this year’s Summer Extravaganza poker tournament – and win, if I’m lucky.
7. Buy my wife a respectable 5th anniversary ring Lord knows that she deserves it. But then again, I’m sure she’d get more use out of a 500mm f/2.8 VR lens…

stretch GOALS

1. Win a $500 Poker Tournament I’ve done it once, and so far this year I’ve been doing pretty well. So, I hope to enter and win a higher-stakes poker tourney. Or place well-enough in a big one to equal that total. C’mon, c’mon daddy needs a nut flush draw…
2. Trip to the Islands Bahamas, Costa Rica … or even Fiji. I just need to see the islands and the beach again.
3. Get a Photo Exhibit/Sale I have ‘sold’ some pictures – donated, actually – to the Philadelphia Zoo, Calgary Zoo and a magazine. Now I want to either truly sell a photo – or have an exhibit of my work. It doesn’t matter where – just somewhere.
4. Make $500 on my photos or other creative I’m not sure why that $500 keeps coming up, but it’s a nice, round number. Whether it’s from that photo sale, or the sales of my upcoming t-shirt designs.
5. Get Lasik Surgery I’ve had enough of contacts, particularly after the ridiculous episode with my last contact prescription (3 tries, still not right). So, with a discount from work + FSA money, I think this is the year to finally be able to see without the frickin’ things – or glasses.

Well, there they are – I guess I’ll come back to see how I did in another 362 days…