It’s almost April, and definitely time to regroup and consider how far I’ve gotten with my 2012 New Year’s resolutions.

1) Learning to Swim. I’m still doing swim lessons once a week, and today for the first time I actually swam correctly and confidently. I’ve been doing all of the moves right for awhile, but not quite putting everything together correctly. Some days my kicks would be weak, other days I couldn’t figure out the arms, and most days I got tired and ended up breathing water. Today everything just came naturally and I knew I had finally figured it all out. I’m still working on being a strong swimmer – that’s going to take awhile – but now this means I get to move on to learning my backstroke (for which I started learning the basics a few weeks ago).

2) Start Running 5K Races Again. OK, I suck at this. I ran one 5K, but then stopped running altogether. Must begin running again.

3) Budget Food Expenditures. According to my bank account, I’ve been doing pretty well with this one. I was originally supposed to spend around $160/month on food, and instead it’s looking closer to $200/month, but that’s still not bad. Now it’s time to start working on buying healthier stuff…yesterday I bought chips, dip, cake mix & frosting, and pimento cheese spread. Horrible.

4) Put Money in My Savings Account. I’m doing GREAT with this. I could be doing better, but I’m pretty happy with where I’m headed.

5) Pay Off Credit Cards. I should be CC debt free by the end of April (fingers crossed).

6) Be Happy and Have Fun. For me the first major step towards this goal is getting another job, and I have a job interview tomorrow, so here’s me working hard to get where I want to go. Also, I’m putting in more time in practicing music, since singing with the band always puts me in a great mood. I’ve been taking baby steps toward getting (and keeping) in touch with all of my friends who live far away, and have also not been so strict with myself when it comes to food and fashion, which I know directly contradicts my earlier goal of saving money, but both make me happy and I’ve somehow got to learn to balance so I don’t die with money and a frown on my face.

7) Finish Writing at Least One of My Books. (I haven’t even started working on this goal. Shame on me.) That was actually what I wrote in late January when I first started recapping my work on reaching New Year’s goals. I’m officially a twit.

8) Create a Schedule and Stick to it. Some things are just never going to happen, and we’ve got to be honest with ourselves. Schedules and tidy living spaces will never be my forte. Meh.

If I were grading myself I suppose I’d have to give myself a bad grade, but I’m pretty stoked about swimming FINALLY at age 30, so I’m giving myself an A++++

Buddha and Mr. Potato head also agree that it’s a great idea to go easy on myself and enjoy my triumphs without letting not-so-triumphant moments overshadow.