My Summer Goals Link-Up

Happy Friday everyone! I know that oh so many of you lucky folks are all done for the year! Congratulations on making it through another year!! Around these parts, we'll be going to school until mid-June or later. Gotta make up those snow days!

I found out about this a bit too late to make the first link up, but I wanted to link up with Monica from I Heart Grade 3 for her AWESOME summer link up party! She has set a really awesome schedule of blogging topics for the entire summer! Every Monday is when you can link up and share your blog! I just LOVE link up parties, they are not only a wonderful way to get more traffic to your blog but they are also a great way to give a blogger something to write about! I know that during the summer it can be hard to think of topics <about as hard as being out of work on disability!> so having a schedule like this will really help! Here's what Monica has come up with!

So, according to the schedule, this week I am to share with you my Summer Goals. Isn't the summer just the very best time of the year?? I'm not overly crazy about the humidity and heat, but I do so enjoy the time off of work to rest and recuperate! My goals this summer are a tad different than previous summers, but that's due to the injuries sustained during the car accident in January. So here goes, my Summer Goals!

Ever since the accident at the end of January I have been laid up on the couch unable to walk. I have not been able to stand on my own without the aide of crutches or a walker. We live in a two-story house so I have not been able to sleep in my own bed since January. I have been undergoing laser surgery treatments this month that will continue on through next month. The treatments have been helping the scar tissue damage to heal and for the blood flow and circulation to my ankle to return. The treatments aren't painful, and so far they seem to be helping. I cannot walk yet, but the swelling is FINALLY starting to go down and I can tell the circulation is coming back. The doctor thinks I should be able to walk again by the end of June or end of July at the latest. I have a long road to recovery, but I WILL RECOVER! :-)

My poor little blog has really suffered since the accident! For the first few months I was simply recovering, and the next few months I was having a hard time finding things to talk about since I wasn't in school. One of my goals this summer is to get into a regular routine of blogging, as well as trying some things for the very first time. I'm currently trying my very first link up party, and though no one has linked up yet I have gotten some positive feedback! Yay!! I'm also going to try my first group blog, getting together with some other AMAZING early childhood educators/bloggers. We have some pretty amazing things planned for the summer, so make sure you stay tuned! My blog celebrates it's third birthday this year, and I want to plan a huge birthday bash to celebrate! More to come about that as July gets closer!!

Not only has my blog suffered since my accident, but so has my TPT store! Before the accident I had even started the process of starting up a Teacher's Notebook store, but have done ZERO with that since then!! My TPT store has not gotten much attention at all lately, and I am making a goal to change that!  Last summer I had set a goal to get 100 products posted in my TPT store, and after a lot of hard work I was able to create and post over 30 products! I was able to reach that goal, and I have been thinking about how to set a new goal this summer. I am definitely going to be creating, but I seem to do better when I have a set goal to strive for. I also want to keep it realistic enough that I can reach the goal and not get frustrated and give up or get discouraged. I haven't decided what the goal should be for this summer...I'm thinking that getting another 30 products posted is pretty realistic. I haven't decided yet, but I will definitely let you know!!

This is by far my largest summer goal, and perhaps the most complicated one to fulfill! My first summer goal is to walk again, and this goal follows directly behind that first goal. Once I can walk again I have oh so very much that I need to get done. First and foremost, get back into shape!! Not being able to do ANYTHING buy sit on the couch all day long means I have lost muscle tone and gained fat. Stupid fat. I was doing SO WELL before the accident! Walking a few miles a day, hitting up the gym for an hour or so, doing better with eating habits. Then everything stopped...though to be honest things had started sputtering out after my mom died unexpectedly. So anyway, it is most definitely beyond time to get back to being active and healthy! As soon as I can walk again I'll be talking with the doctor and physical therapist to see how much I can safely do without causing any more damage. I know that I won't be able to get right back into the swing of things, and that I will have to take things slowly as I continue to heal. I won't be walking as much or doing as much weight-lifting, but I am so ready to get started! I can't get back to where I was without getting started!

Besides getting back into shape, I also have to get some serious cleaning done! Everything I neglected while I wasn't able to do anything, and I do believe I'll be looking into getting the couch cleaned. I owe that, and so much more, to my dad for taking care of me! :-) 

I have to get a new car. I don't know about all of  you, but I'm not a fan of car shopping. Oh don't get me wrong, I LOVE having a brand new car! I love the smell and the shiny sparkling clean and the newness of it all. I just don't particularly enjoy shopping for a new car. Honestly everyone, I'm not all that crazy about driving again...makes me a bit nervous. Realistically, I know that I need to get behind the wheel and drive again. I'm just feeling nervous about it. So imagine how much I am so not looking forward into setting foot on the car lot! I know that I want something safe, with at least the same if not more airbags than my old car had. The new car has to be as safe as or safer than my old one. Other than that, I'm not 100% sure of what I want. So I'll be doing some research on cars during the next few months. I need to have one before school starts again in August. It is my right ankle that I broke, my 'driving foot', so if I have to wear a brace or something I won't be able to drive yet. Then I'll have to look into carpooling, but I'll worry about that detail if and when it happens! :-)

So those are my summer goals! I have a lot of work to do, and I will be periodically updating you all on how my goals are going. I put it in writing so you can hold me to it! :-) I would LOVE to hear about any goals you have set for yourself this summer! We can work together to hold each other accountable for our progress!! :-) Make sure to go read about the summer goals so many others have written about by going back to Monica's I Heart Grade 3 blog and learn all about her summer weekly link up party!