Matt's pre-baby goals

Right after we found out about the pregnancy, I made a list of pre-baby goals.  At the halfway point, here's where we stand:

1) Get into the best shape I possibly can (subgoals: lose 10 pounds, be able to run 8 consecutive miles, be able to do 100 straight pushups) - I'd like to be in the best shape of my life when the baby gets here, because who knows where my workout time goes after that, for the rest of eternity.  I've been running a 10k training program with Nike+, and I've almost hit the goal already (I ran 7 miles a couple weeks ago with no problems).  I'm actually waking up in the mornings and running, which is just pure ridiculousness (I even have "workout clothing" now) but does have the added bonus of often seeing deer on the forest trail I run along.  Yes, this is often the high point of my day that doesn't involve my wife/baby.  Meanwhile, 100 pushups is a program I need to get back on.  Losing weight, no progress, if anything I'm going backwards after vacation.  Grade: C+ for progress, B for effort, D- for love of the three B's: bread, bacon and beer (preferably all at once).

2) Find a new vehicle for the Z family - our pickup and Mustang aren't baby-friendly, to society anyway (i.e. jerks), so we're looking at joining the rest of White America and buying the family SUV.  I'd like a hybrid, mostly for the money saved on gas, but also partly for my liberal guilt.  But it may prove too expensive.  A Toyota Highlander or Honda Pilot are the top two choices so far.  I've done basically no research yet like I had hoped to do.  Maybe soon, but we're still essentially on track because we don't plan on buying one until late Summer/early Fall anyway.  Grade: C- for effort, B+ for maintenance of our iPad-Starbucks-Whole Foods-White person guilt lifestyle possibly overcoming frugality.

3) Build a garden in the backyard - eh, there's always next year.  Grade: F

4) Read at least 10 new books (including Infinite Jest) - we're well on track here.  I read one paperback at the beach that I've been meaning to read since high school (Catch 22) and I've read my first three Kindle books (two Michio Kaku books on physics which have allowed me to pretend I'm suddenly a friggin' Mensa or something but probably still sound dumb as ever, and the new book that was a history of ESPN).  So 4 out of 10 so far, nice start.  Up next is the new Bill James book on crime, a book about dinosaurs that Baby Z (from beyond the womb!) got me for my birthday and a Cormac McCarthy book Rebecca got me for Hannukah.  Infinite Jest continues to taunt me from our office bookshelf.  Grade: A- for overall progress, C for holy crap, I always forget Infinite Jest is longer than the Bible, Koran and Torah combined.

5) Sort and backup all our pictures - I finally got a wireless external hard drive, which now houses my 10,000+ MP3s.  Next up I need to backup and organize our digital picture collection, which if it was an actual physical picture collection would consume our house to the point where opening the front door would lead you away awash in a wave of Polaroids.  A wave which would double in size to what could technically be labeled a tsunami after probably 6 months of Baby Z's life.  I've now officially spent more time inventing metaphors to describe this goal than I have actually completing it.  Grade: D for progress, B+ for analogies.

6) Avenge my philanthropic parents' death at the hands of a mugger by exacting vigilante justice against the seedy underbelly of the city... wait, crap, that's Batman's list.

6) Learn some conversational Spanish - I want my kids to speak at least a couple languages, and I guess this is my effort at a start.  I've wanted to learn Spanish for a while, as it actually has practical use when you live in the DC area.  I probably should have just learned it in high school, but judging by how much French I remember, it wouldn't had made a difference now anyway.  This is another one I've barely started.  When I finish, I plan on testing it on the migrants who hang outside the nearby shopping center looking for day work.  Maybe I'll pay the guy to organize our pictures.  Grade: INC for incomplete-o.

7) Improve my anger management - did I manage to stub my toe, get stuck in rage-inducing traffic and come home to a mess today all without dropping a single f-bomb?  F*$% yes I did!  Grade: B for showing some F'ing improvement.

8) Relearn the guitar - I'd love to teach my kids to play various instruments at an early age, and maybe they won't half-ass it like I did.  I got off to a great start, relearning a couple classics and started a roll that has come to an abrupt stop.  Plan on picking up again this week.  Grade: B- for progress, D- for songs that use the B7 chord.

9) Learn 10 new recipes - this is also coming along slowly, partially because my pregnant specific-cravings obsessed wife hasn't really been in the mood lately, partially because I've just been lazy, especially since I got my grill.  Who wants to learn recipes when you can just grill stuff?  I might try making grilled clams for the first time this week, which isn't really a new recipe, but hey this pre-baby goal stuff isn't as easy as it looks, and I'm already on goal #9 here.  What do you want from me?  Grade: D+ for SERIOUSLY, WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE, HUH?

10) Watch the Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup.  Grade: A+ for Woooooooooooooooooooooooohooooooooooo!