As 2 double oh 7 rolls to a close...

So, it's about that time, where I take stock of the things I've done that I wanted to do over the past 12 months. In my January post from last year, I laid out a few goals I wanted to accomplish, namely:

*becoming fluent in Spanish -- (in retrospect, this was a little ambitious. Maybe proficiency is the first step. I have been doing a Spanish Word of the Day for my church, which is located in a predominantly hispanic area.)
*travelling the world to expand my horizons - does Florida and Las Vegas count? Still no stamps on the passport though...
*getting outside of my comfort zone when it comes to recreational activities - DONE. just yesterday, I went ice skating. I've also been berry picking, to the Basketball Hall of Fame, had a rollerskating shindig for my birthday, took a spin at Top of the Hub, went to the batting cages (I have form!) and other random New Englandy things this year.
*writing to my level - always - regardless of what I could get through the editors at the paper -- I wrote great coverage of a murder trial in October (check out the archives at Ten95 -- the PJ still owes me half a mic for that coverage), did some good storytelling toward the end of the year and wrote some solid analysis pieces on the fallout after my town manager was fired. And I'm writing a first person series on a citizen's police academy class that I'm attending on my own time (people in the streets are asking me when the next installment is running).
*building my faith up through prayer -- work in progress
*volunteering so that I can give back to a world that has given so much to me -- I'm very active in my church, am a mentor for a program for local youth, served as guest speaker in that program
*Read good books - classics, contemporaries and others - Get at me: "Black No More," "Redeeming Love," "The Street," "Another Country," and "Intoxicated with Babylon." Currently working on "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man," and "Never Drank the Kool-Aid."
*Getting my financial house in order so that I can get out of debt and live the way I deserve to -- started automatic contributions to my savings account and maxed out my company match on my 401(k). will increase it by 1 percent when I get my raise and continue saving. Next: cutting expenses and saving more money.
*surround myself with friends and loved ones who care about me and my well-being -- DONE. :-)
*Read more great writing and really work at getting great at my craft instead of being complacent -- I read Esquire. And the New Yorker. And I got a subscription to Harpers (not the Bazaar) that should start in January. Taking (and sometimes failing) current events quizzes. Starting to read more papers on a daily basis. Also doing crosswords and logic puzzles (upping the vocab). I've started stretching out to other forms of writing (first person, narrative, etc.) in my daily reporting. Still have things to improve on, but getting better. And that's the point.
*finish my project at work and start another one -- I've got to take an L on this one since it's been so long since I did the intial interviews. I do have, however, a project on tap for January.
*network with people outside of my current circle of friends -- made some new friends at NABJ (hey, Jase), and I built a friendship with one of my coworkers (we don't hang out much though because she works super duper days), but my social network in New England is still pretty small.
*Do more cultural things - art exhibits, theatre, concerts, etc. -- CHECK! I've been to a lot of different plays, visited the Newport Mansions, went to two concerts at Harvard (Kuumba singers!), saw "Shear Madness" and checked out Floetry in Boston, and similar things.
*Building a great wardrobe to carry me through the years - I'm definitely working on it. This year, I found my TRUE size (i've been buying my clothes too big all this time) and bought some great outfits and wonderful staple pieces I can update with trendier items as the years go on.

I'm still working on what I want out of 2008. I'll let you guys know what I come up with as soon as I figure it all out. In the meantime, have a safe and happy holiday and I'll see you guys next year.

--T. Dot