Evaluating the program

Well, as some of you may have guessed, my comprehensive plan has been slightly modified by the vagaries of life. Being sick with the swine flu changed things; so did going down to Vancouver for the weekend and just plain old busyness.
The good news is that I have been doing better in some categories. For example, while not exactly meeting any of my goals, I have improved upon some of them. I am praying more. I can now do 3 chinups in a row. My French has improved.
I suppose that too is debatable, though. I had a new French student last week, and I was going over some spelling words for him. I pronounced the word 'parenthèse' and he turned and looked at me with a puzzled look.
"What do you mean?"
I tried valiantly to pronounce it again. His quizzical look vanished and he said, "Oh, you mean parenthèse!"
Yes, of course that's what I meant; that's what I said. But I think the difference was in my emphasis of syllables. Yvette corrected me on it the other day. One of the down sides of learning a language by yourself is not being able to predict the irregularities to rules. Take emphasis, for example. In English, different words have the stress in different places. 'wonderful', for example, has the stress on the first syllable. To say it 'wonDERful' would sound funny. 'Hallelujah' is pronounced 'HalleLUJah. 'Produce' can be pronounced two different ways- and the emphasis completely changes the meaning of the word.
So it is in French, I have learned. Unlike Italian, which has a predictable rule that (usually) the second-to-last syllable is stressed (think spaGHEtti), English and French change at will.
Sometimes I've had to choke back laughter listening to my ESL friends read out loud, now I have become one of them.
Years ago I read an inspirational quote: "Reach for the moon: even if you miss, you'll land among the stars".
I thought about it for awhile and then decided it was a pretty stupid quote. Anybody who had been through grade 2 knows that the stars are farther from earth than the moon. If you reach for the moon and fall short, there's no way you'll even be close to the stars. Not only that, but the chances of actually hitting another intrastellar body while aiming for something else that is lightyears away is pretty darn slim. I modified the quote to make more sense:
"Reach for the stars: even if you miss you might be the same distance from the earth that the moon is."
I suppose I've reached for the stars with my comprehensive plan. You may think I'm hanging around the moon's orbit. Actually, as we all know, there are near stars and far stars. I aimed for some pretty far stars, so hanging around Alpha Centauri suits me just fine.
Excuse me, I've got some chinups to do.

It's an idea.

Well, I'm still sick, but this time it is sort of self-induced: I got the H1N1 vaccine. The good news is that Robin is still quite sympathetic (as long as he judges that my symptoms are not just made up). I admit, I can be a bit of a hypochondriac. But this time, it really is bad.
Last week I didn't work all week and this week I worked two afternoons, so I've had lots of free time and it's been exceedingly frustrating.
I've always been a highly motivated and busy person so to be sitting around, feeling crummy, not having much work, is really wearying me. On monday I was talking with our friend Marlene and she commented on the necessity to enjoy the slow times because before you know it, you are overloaded with work.
I thought about that for the rest of the day and the next morning my thoughts had consolidated themselves into the perfect solution.
I began Heather's Comprehensive Improved Program for Total Betterment. It took me half the day to write up all the flowcharts and lists but I got it done. Lasting for 12 weeks, this program has several goals in different areas and delineates the individual steps needed to get there. For example, in the 'discipline my body' category, in 12 weeks I will have worked up to doing 12 consecutive chin-ups. Each week I add one on (this week I'm supposed to do 1 a day). In the 'challenge my mind' category, I have to listen to 20 minutes of French a day, write one French essay a week, learn 2 new Latin words a day, study one drug class, etc.
In the 'build my spirit' category I have various bible memory goals. In the 'channel my emotions' category I have to paint/draw one picture a week. It all started out fine. Because the first day was a half day, I cut myself some slack. I did the chin-up, listened to some French, worked on a memory verse.
The second day I was a bit busy with various things and only got 3 different things out of 20 done. I decided my goals needed to be attenuated a bit. The third day I drove to summerland and listened to 80 minutes of French but did nothing else but the chin-up. Today I'm feeling sick and my arm is burning from the vaccination so I doubt I'll even manage the chin-up. I decided that I don't like painting and the running is a bad idea when I'm sick and I don't feel like reading my old physics textbook.
When I first devised my plan I told Robin about it and begged him to tell me it was a good idea. He paused for a moment and then said 'It's an idea'.
I think I often shoot too high. It's better, I believe, than not trying at all, but sometimes I don't have a very realistic view of myself and my capabilities. If only I could take all my good ideas and actually make them happen....
At any rate since I'm sick at home today with not much to do I can do some of the more laid-back things. Perhaps I'll be feeling better tomorrow and I can catch up on the running and chin-ups. I'll keep you posted.