What do you hope to accomplish in 2010?

On January 1st of every year since 2007, I’ve listed ten things I would like to accomplish in the coming year. There’s no punishment for not completing an item and there’s no reward for completing it either. However, I like to use it as a foundation for the year to come and for something to look back on in memory to see where my desires stood at the beginning of each year.

I actually did pretty well in 2009, accomplishing 8 out of my 10 items. Here they are:

1. Go Camping – Although Christine and I went to Wintergreen, Virginia for hiking etc. in the early fall, I’m not sure I can count this as we stayed in a resort cabin and not a tent at a campsite. The campfire, scenery, smell, feel, and enjoyment were all there though!

2. Write and Submit a Poem to a Publication – Submitted some selected poems from The Adsideologist to Strong Verse, and online poetry magazine.

3. Shoot Under a 95 in Golf – Shot a 94 at East Potomac (par 72) in the early summer. Must have been the hot dogs and beers!

4. Go Skydiving – I’m not really upset to have missed this one though. I’ll find plenty of other adventure gigs with less risk (see “Human Catapult” and “Flanas Flyer” circa 1998-1999)…

5. Memorize 50 Digits of Pi – 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510… I had it down perfectly in January but lost it soon thereafter. I’m close enough so I’m counting it.

6. Get a Pet – I became a lucky father of Lil Santino the Fish (he’s on Twitter too) in March. He is a good boy and is a lot less stressed after leaving his job at Long John Silvers back in July.

7. Go to the New Yankees Stadium – Say the Yanks lose to the Rays 9-7 on Saturday, June 6. Bummed to see a loss but such a great experience, especially considering they won the big one this year for the 27th time!

8. Consolidate Investments – Moved three old 403b accounts into a traditional IRA. It was a long process, a lot of paperwork, and time spent on the phone, but very much worth it.

9. Volunteer/Coach – Started volunteering at The Reading Connection and have been coaching an indoor soccer team (not to mention we won the championship).

10. Begin and Continue to Publish a Personal Blog – Check!

Not too bad! So what’s on my 2010 list? That’s for me to know and you to possibly find out at some point in the future. Until then, have a safe, healthy, and happy 2010!