Setting some goals

Well, what's a new year without some goals. These aren't 'resolutions,' as those imply some change in lifestyle. They are more a statement of things I really would like to accomplish, or at least keep in my mind to work on as the year progresses.

Books:
The books below present a challenge, as finding time to escape without interruption makes it slow going. If I get to half of them I'll be happy. I have a bit of a guilty chip in the back of my brain that says that if I'm at home, then I should be helping out with the kids. Even when I get some time to leave the chaos, I feel that obligation to help out creeping in, so a lot of the reading gets done on lunch breaks at work, or just before going to bed at night after the kids are down. But I've discovered that I read much faster and with more comprehension in the morning, so night time reading usually ends up only a few pages or a chapter at best. (Oh, if only I knew I was a morning person back in college! The things I could have accomplished!!)

The reading stack:
The Winter King - Bernard Cornwell (Book One of The Warlord Chronicles)
The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch (Book One of The Gentlemen Bastard series)
The Mutineer - Rants, Ravings, and Missives from the Mountaintop, 1977-2005 - Hunter S. Thompson (Third and final volume of letters - to be released soon!)
Moby Dick -- or The Whale - Herman Melville
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling
The Pale Horseman - Bernard Cornwell (Book Two of the King Alfred trilogy)
The Lords of the North - Bernard Cornwell (Book Three of the King Alfred trilogy)
The Darkness That Comes Before - R. Scott Bakker (Book One of The Prince Of Nothing trilogy)
1776 - David McCullough
Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Prachett
The Once and Future King - T.H. White
The Mists of Avalon - Marion Bradley Zimmerman
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

Cycling:

The cycling rides listed pose a different challenge, as once on the road, there is a commitment. The obligations are tugging at my brain, but keeping upright, or better yet with a group of riders helps to center the focus. With these, making a commitment is somewhat easier when there are entry fees paid in advance, or there are other riders expecting you to show up.

The Riding Goals for 2007
Start regular rides around neighborhood with the family. This would be awesome for me and hopefully fun for all four of us.
Get 500 road miles ridden before the first century in May. This means getting out on the bike for lots of small lunchtime rides and several 40-50 mile rides. If a few can be done in February, that would be great, but would like to get ramping up in March and April. The base miles will make the rides later in the Spring much more pleasant with less chance of falling off of the pace.
Joliet Sudden Century (100 miles) - May, Joliet, IL
Udder Century (100 miles) - Early June? - Union, IL
Horribly Hilly Hundreds (200k route) - June - Blue Mounds, Wisconsin
RAIN: Ride Across INdiana (160+ miles) - July - Terre Haute to Richmond, IN
Dairyland Dare (200k route) - August - Dodgeville, Wisconsin
Cream City Cycle Century (100) - August? - Waterford Wisconsin
More rides will be added, especially when consulting with folks from the Bike Forums site

Home improvement:

Housework is yet the other challenge for the year. Painting a bedroom, planting, and hopefully getting a patio put in before summer are the primary goals. Those involve getting off my lazy arse and making them happen. Sometimes it's a bit too easy to just ignore the home improvements until tomorrow.