I’m halfway through the year, so how well am I doing at keeping five simple resolutions? It’s time for me to reflect and address any issues that I may have in keeping those resolutions.

For my writing goal, I’m doing much, much better than I was last month. I addressed the issue of making little to no progress on the project, and I’m now completing 12 pages a week, which should put me on track to finish the project by the end of the year. I just need to stay with it. After a few months of not doing so well, it feels really good that I’ve made as much progress as I have this month. I know with the busy schedule I have coming up (two weddings and going back to work) that it will again become difficult to maintain this schedule and finish by the end of the year, but I really need to keep at it and get it finished.

Last year, my goal was to post a blog every day, and for the most part, I did so, but I didn’t make that part of the writing goal this year because I thought after last year, I’d be doing that anyway. Well, I was wrong about that. Especially the last couple of months, I’ve gone three or four days, a few times even more, without posting a blog. While posting isn’t part of the 2013 New Year’s resolution, I am going to try to do better and post more often.

For my reading goal, I’m right where I need to be at 37.5 books (6.25 books per month). I’m halfway to my goal of 75 books for the year. As I said, I know it’s about to get crazy busy again real soon, so I hope I can maintain my current pace and meet the goal this year. During June, I read the following books: Dan Brown’s Inferno, Frank McCourt’s ‘Tis and Teacher Man, Rick Riordan’s The Red Pyramid, Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Identity, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and Jack London’s White Fang. I have started and should finish either tonight or tomorrow Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Some of these are on the AP Summer Reading List, and I always reread whatever I’m asking my students to read. As part of my reading goal, I want to read the Bible completely through. I’m halfway there. I’ve read the entire New Testament, and a chunk of the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and parts of 1 Samuel and Isaiah). For the remainder of the year, I’ll finish the Old Testament and will reread the New Testament.

For my weight-loss goal, I’m a little disappointed. By this point, my goal was to have lost 30 pounds, and I’ve only made it to 28.4 pounds. I’m almost there, and while I’m a little disappointed, I’m also not going to count this as a total failure for the month. For the first three weeks, I was stuck on one of those dieter’s plateaus. I wasn’t gaining any weight, but I wasn’t losing either. That was so frustrating for me. I increased the amount of exercise I did each day, and I lowered the number of calories I was taking in each day, and still nothing seemed to be happening. However, when I did measurements of my waist and hips, I’d lost a half inch more on both during June, even though the weight was staying the same. That made me happy. Since I started, I’ve lost five inches off my waist and hips. Finally, a couple days ago, I started losing again. I feel like I’m over this first plateau, and that will keep me motivated to keep going. Cody’s wedding is in two weeks, and though my goal is five pounds for the entire month, I’d love to manage five pounds in this last two weeks before his wedding. With the new month tomorrow, a new exercise plan is in place. Hopefully all will go well.

For my restaurant goal, we did try another new restaurant this month, Jet’s Pizza in Lexington. We ordered two pizzas, one a deep-dish pepperoni and a regular supreme pizza. Both were delicious. We’ll definitely order pizza from here again, especially since the price was decent and it’s located close to where Trav lives.

For my movie goal, we did watch another of the classics on my list, Citizen Kane. Today, we saw Entertainment Weekly‘s list of the Top Ten Movies of all time, and guess what topped the list. I’ve always heard great things about Citizen Kane. While Orson Welles did a great job in his role, I’m not sure why this movie rates as the best of all time. I liked it well enough. I’m glad I’ve watched it. I doubt I’ll watch it again anytime soon. There are a lot of great movies out there, and while this one does deserve to be a classic, I wouldn’t rate it as the greatest movie of all time.

All in all, I’m pleased with my progress at the halfway point of the year. I’m finally on track to finish the project, and I’m on track to read 75 books. I survived my first plateau in the weight-loss journey, and I feel confident that with my exercise and eating plans I have in place, I will continue to lose inches and reach my goal of losing at least five pounds per month. I have no doubt that we’ll find six more new restaurants to try by the end of the year, and I’ve no doubt that we’ll watch the seven remaining movies that are on my watch list before the year ends. I think that overall I’m happier with my progress this year than I was this time last year, and I have confidence that the rest of the year will go well.