Have I mentioned before that I’m a huge fan of setting goals? Like a really big fan. I set new goals for myself on a daily basis, sometimes even more than once a day. So naturally when it comes to New Years resolutions I get all sorts of excited thinking about what new things I’ve got planned for myself. I’ll write pages and pages about what I hope to accomplish in the next year and how I plan to do it. I get jollies off of it or something. But this isn’t anything new, I’ve been a little goal junkie for as long as I can remember. I guess that’s what happens when you start listening to Tony Robbins self-help tapes at the the age of seven. Thanks, Dad!
Anyway, I came across this little gem while I was at my parents house over Christmas break and boy am I glad I did. From the moment I could write I have been keeping notebooks and journals. Guess I was just born to be a blogger. Lol jk.
I had big plans for 1999, didn’t I? Seven of the eleven goals I set for myself were all physical activity related. That’s just the kind of kid I was. I used to run races and set up obstacle courses for “fun.” I really need to get some of that drive back, twelve-year-old me would be so disappointed that I no longer do push-ups after school or run suicides on the sidewalk in my free time.
And can we all just take a minute to talk about how life changing it was when you learned how to write an “S” the cool way? See top right corner of page. And if you look in the left corner you’ll see the second best learned thing to draw- a 3D box. Those two things alone changed my life in 1998. Almost as much as creating a face out of the word “boy” did for me in 1997. (See top center.)
Goal #1: Do 11 pull-ups in P.E. class.
You know what my goal would be for 2014? To do one pull-up. ONE. Because pull-ups are hard as hell. What I wouldn’t give to have the strength I used to have back in the 90s. And you know why I did pull-ups back then? So I could be awarded the Presidential Physical Fitness Award. Notice I didn’t write that down as a goal and that’s because it was just a given. I got it every year and I was smug as hell about it. And the funny thing is Bill Clinton was the president at the time, a guy whom I’m sure couldn’t win the award himself. No way could Willy pass the V-sit test and reach six inches pass his feet. Then again maybe he could…
Goal #2: Beat all of the girls (and boys) in the mile run.
I like how I went back in and added the boys just to make sure it was a real challenge. Like I said, smug. as. hell. I used to love mile day at school. I would actually train for it and time myself running the course at school beforehand. Sadly there was always one or two boys who beat me no matter how hard I trained.
Goal #3: Win the 6th Grade Track Meet.
Oh the 6th grade track meet. What can be said about a day that was everything I had hoped it would be and more? I always knew I was fastest twelve-year-old in town but this meet finally gave me the chance to prove it, so of course this was a super important goal to me. I had probably been writing it down since my sister attended the meet in ’96 and didn’t win a thing (God bless her she never had the athleticism of the family, although she did win a softball trophy once she’d be happy to show you.) And just as a side note my mom actually had that trophy made for her…
Long story short, I won every race I was involved in at the 6th grade track meet except the 200 meter dash (which we all know is a dumb race anyway) and I strutted around that track with my posse of 6th grade girls like it was the best day ever. Because it was. See, goals really do come true! And now it’s about time I find a new glory day because it’s a little sad I’m still reminiscing on a day from 1999… #dreambig
Goal #4: Get a Tamagatchi.
I like how I originally wrote boyfriend but then realized how stupid that sounded so I immediately scratched it out and replaced it with a Tamagatchi. Of all things, I chose a Tamagatchi. Why wouldn’t I set a goal for a new sunflower outfit? Or perhaps a new sunflower bag? Or sunflower bedspread? Or an actual sunflower that I could look at and worship every single day?
Perhaps I should have set a goal to not wear the same outfits on repeat. I don’t know, just a thought.
Same goes for this sunflower dress. At least I don’t have the demonic smile my brother does. In his defense I think he was a little constipated this morning.
Goal #5: Do the splits on the right leg too.
Being flexible as a kid was equivalent to ruling the world. Or at least it was for me. Flexibility= power. I can still remember all of the kids in grade school who could bend and stretch in all sorts of weird ways because I was deeply deeply jealous of them and their amazing God sent talents. The fact that I wasn’t graced with the ability to do the butterfly and let both of my knees touch the ground while doing so absolutely tore me up inside. And for that reason it only made sense that it was a goal of mine to learn to do the splits leading with the right leg because I had already mastered the left leg.
Goal #6: Save $40.
On my car insurance? I’m not sure what this one really means. I can only assume there was something at either the candy store or something at Wacky Weasel (presumably fake vomit/poop/something disgusting) that I was dying to get my hands on because those were the only two stores that mattered to me up until about 2001. Then again this might have had something to do with the Beanie Baby ring I was involved in in 1999; a little underground business that made me no less than $800 in 24 hours. But that story will have to come another time.
Goal #7: Work on handwriting and cursive.
Starting immediately obviously. I like how I really made an effort with #7 and #7 alone to prove that I could have nice handwriting if I really took my time at it. Is cursive still a thing I wonder? Because if it is it shouldn’t be. You wanna know who suddenly decides the alphabet isn’t good enough and should be fancied up with a bunch of curly letters that connect? A pretentious 3rd grader that’s who. Cursive is bullshit. There I said it. And just for the record my handwriting still looks exactly the same time today. I’m not kidding, when I fill out forms people often send them back to me and suggest I “don’t have my eight-year-old son fill them out next time.”
Goal #8: Make traveling basketball team.
When I was little I wanted to be on “club” everything. Club soccer, club basketball, club volleyball, you name it and I wanted to be a part of it. If you can think of something more fun than traveling out of town with your teammates and staying in a hotel (with a pool!!!) well then we must not like the same kind of fun.
Goal #9: Watch every movie.
Just watch all of the movies. I’m assuming this one had more to do with being able to keep up with the boys by quoting every Jim Carrey movie more than anything.
Goal #10: Do a backhand spring.
I wanted a backhand spring to be my party trick so damn bad. When all of the other kids started doing cartwheels and one-handed cartwheels at birthday parties I dreamed of a day when I could whip out my backhand spring and shock them all with my amazing gymnastic talents. Well I did one. Just one backhand spring on my own and then I was too scared to ever try it again.
Goal #11: Learn to tight rope walk.
Your guess is as good as mine on this one.
And that’s it. I know there’s an arrow on the bottom right corner (the universal symbol for turn the page) but there’s nothing on the back. I don’t think I quite understood the meaning of the arrow yet, but like the shoes at the top of the page, it was just too fun not to draw.
Stay tuned for tomorrow when I finish up my segment on resolutions. It’s a little post I like to call “The Bloggers Guide to Making Resolutions.” It’s gonna be a hoot.
I love this! I love finding these old lists of mine too, I've always been a goal setter/list maker myself. And for some reason I was also fond of sunflower clothing back in elementary school. HAHA!
Every movie? If only they'd quit releasing new ones every damn year, I sure you'd be done by now. And I couldn't do a left leg split and never did learn how… 12 year old me would be so disappointed.
haha- EVERY movie! That was a pretty lofty goal for an 11 year old. I also prided myself on being the fastest 6th grader. It was super awesome until I realized I hated running and I wasn't that fast anymore.
I want to save $40 too friend. 😉
This is pure gold. Shoot I wish I could do one pull up! Why do you think you picked 11 as a goal number? I also appreciated how in #7 you started writing in cursive for the emphasis of the importance…love it! I write lists daily and then cross them off…nothing better for an OCD person to draw a line through a task for the day… 🙂
this is amazing. #4 is my favorite by far. and i was all about flexibility. and pull ups… i couldnt even do half of one if i tried.
I had a sweet babydoll tee that had sunflowers all over it. I guess it was just the era??? Ugh… 🙂
I love all the doodles on your page. I noticed those right off the bat and smiled. I wish I could find some old stuff from when I was that age. This is so great!
what an awesome list!
This is too cute! I think my favorite part might be that you wrote "handwriting and cursive" in cursive. See, already tackling those goals!
I think the only thing that cursive is relevant for now is the two sentence statement on the SAT that you have to write in cursive. I'm not even kidding- it's the hardest part.
Love it 🙂
xo, Hima
Hima Hearts
This is the best resolutions list that I've seen all week. Perhaps maybe even the best ever. 1999 me would have agreed with you on all accounts, except I would have written soccer instead of basketball, and gigapet instead of tomagotchi. Unreal.
This was hilarious. I should've taken precautions and eaten my lunch before reading it. Instead, I ended up with peas all over my monitor. Either way, it was worth it!
I specifically love 'watch all the movies' because how could you choose just a few? It was almost the millennium, what if there was no time left to 'watch all the movies' after 1999?
It is always fun to look at these old notes from when we were kids! You were are real go getter! Those were some lofty goals, girl!
Ohhh, the S & the 3D square… so I wasn't the only one who felt it was required to draw them on every paper ever? bahaha. You sound like me with the constantly writing in journals & notebooks as soon as I could write. I never actually managed to keep up with a single journal because every time I went to the store I found a newer, better notebook to write in. I do love how competitive you were… that's about as far off from my childhood as you can get. I hated anything that required physical ability. Except dancing. But it's really no wonder why I was such a chubby kid 😉
Jamie @
The Growing Up Diaries
Hahaha such a great flash back. I laughed so hard about the presidential fitness award. I felt like old Bill would be so proud of me for earning it.
i swear girl you crack me up! i had a similar sunflower outfit, cept mines was blue jean material, and had small fake sunflowers glued to it. yep it was pretty classy, and my mom swears she couldn't get me to wear anything else. hey i was a classy kid back in the day.
oh and i love how your sis (i'm guessing that's your sister) is carrying her two kleenex boxes that were always on the school supplies list.
I think we all went through the sunflower phase. It was a phase, right? I know that I had sunflower wallpaper in my room (that I picked out) a few sunflower dresses and a sunflower folder for school. I don't really know what the deal was, but I'm glad that I'm not alone.
every movie ever? every movie that year? i love the ambiguity. it makes for excitement and mystery. i sincerely hope you saw all the movies.
we had the same sunflower outfit! hahaha
laurenofthedoxey.blogspot.com
These are GOLDEN! hahaha
I had to do a double take with the shoes because I swear almost every paper I've kept from when I was little has at least one shoe drawn on it. They look identical to your shoes and I was always so MAD because my right shoe always looked better than my left. Kid woes, right?
Looking back on most exes…I wish I would have had a tomagotchi instead of a boyfriend.
Taylor in 1999 was just as awesome as I imagined. Hope you got your Tamagatchi.
Oh man…sunflowers used to be the ish! And I'm so glad you realized tamagotchi is a safer bet than a boyfriend.
oh my gosh I'm dying. funniest thing I've read in a while!!
I love trips home and finding this amazing stuff. Watch all the movies, ready – go!
These are absolutely adorable – true story, I can not do 11 pull ups!
xx
Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes
OMG I love this beyond belief and I seriously laughed out loud at "watch every movie," that's my favorite!! Also I'm gonna have to go digging through the archives to find a picture of me in my sunflower outfit–could be the same one for all I remember.
I already commented on facebook but I couldn't help comment again. Didn't notice the crossed out boyfriend replaced with a Tamagutchi. amazing. Also I would have rocked that sunflower outfit as much as you did… that thing is priceless. Lastly, they HAVE stopped teaching cursive completely in elementary schools. I guess the big shots decided it was pointless. AND IT IS.
This is hilarious! I need to find some of my old diaries. Definitely would give myself a good laugh!
Pretty sure I had those same sunflower shorts when I was a kid!
This was hilarious! So funny 😛
This is some good stuff. The "cool" S was THE thing back then … I remember I tried to do the same with other letters and … well, that didn't turn out as cool as the S.
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