10 for 2026 Q2 Update

  Here's the 2026 Edition, Quarter Two Update: 

1. A completed, working draft of Book 4 by the end of the year. I've got 40K words and it's time to figure out what to do with them. It needs a restructure. I know how it ends. I sort of thought I knew how it begins, but that might be changing, and I need to figure out the rest in between. 

I'm revising the forecast on this downward-- aiming to get at least a good chunk of Act 1 reworked by the end of the year-- but work and life are eating a lot of my writing time currently, so I'm trying to find time to get some work on this done. I know, I know, I've been promising and teasing Book 4 for a very long time. At the very least, I can say that I have 40K words written down and I'm going to want to do something with them-- that at least I can promise.

2. Built-in bookshelves! (Also: fix the gutter, fix the window, privacy strips for the fence, get new doors hung in the back hallway, fix the van bumper.)

This has been a rough year for homeownership. The garage door is periodically on the fritz. The roof needs repaired for now and replaced probably in the next two years. The van is reaching the end of its useful life, so we're starting to think about what to do about that- and it needs new tires- and the front door probably needs to be replaced as well. I hate being an adult sometimes.

BUT: we got new couches for the living room and new curtains, so a repaint/refresh prior to built-in bookshelves is possible. The Missus just redid/refreshed a super cool linen chest so we have better blanket storage and I can probably take a crack at cycling in new doors over the winter little by little. 

Feels like two steps forward, one step back on this front. Ah, the joys of home ownership.

3. Being Present: I know that's a buzzword these days, but I want to unpack it a little bit. I want to get into the habit of putting my phone down rather than having it with me at all times, so I reflexively scroll. I want to read more physical books and work on having fewer screens-- not just for me, but for the kids. I want to intentionally use my PTO/Sick Time when necessary so I can actually have a work/life balance and not just talk about it. I don't know how exactly I'm going to quantify this, but I'm going to try it and see. 

Screen time has been filtered and dialled back for the kiddos. New internet provider means that I can control which devices have WiFi access (mwahahahahahaha) and that has short-circuited a lot of arguments. But, having read The Anxious Generation, we seemed to be doing a lot right, but both the Missus and I wanted to do more. So, loose rules: no screens until after lunch, and I blocked them out of the more pernicious garbage they seem to be gravitating to.

As for me and my own accountability: phone gets plugged in away from me as soon as I get home. I am reading more physical books, which I like. I also put the screentime limits back in place on my phone, which are way too easy to circumvent, but at least help. I'm down under 6 hours of screentime this week, so I will call this a work in progress.

4. Declutter and purge! (We've been doing a lot of this already, but I want to continue to do so.)

We got rid of two chairs; we are decluttering clothes, and there's a random couch or two we can probably shift out of here. Things are being done!

5. The Random Grab-Bag Resolution: I want to get a t-shirt blanket made, I have a beautiful map downstairs, and I want to find something to do with it. I've got a wood-burning kit I've never used. I want to do some wood-burning this year. And before I do the thing that every male in his 40s does and get a smoker, I want to try and do some smoking with my Weber grill just to see if it's something I can get into in a real way. 

T-shirt blanket is being made!

Wood burning kit, I think I just need to play with.

I can look up how to do smoking on the Weber grill. Might have to do some research but I think I can do it.

The map downstairs will require some thought, I think. But I can start thinking about that.

6. Health: The old chestnut, but expanded to include mental health, physical health, and making sure I'm hitting those 10K steps whenever I can. Be nice if I could end the year smaller than I started it, but I think that's step two. Step one is to integrate exercise and physical activity, and stand wherever I can, so that it becomes a habit. Specific action items: addressing sleep apnea (a CPAP is being ordered), visiting either a chiropractor or a massage therapist to work out the hip, and establishing a stretching routine to reduce daily stiffness. 

I need to get back to working out more regularly-- that's my goal as we head into fall and I want to do resistance training as I'm losing weight thanks to the GLP1s. I am down nearly 30 lbs since March and have been riding at the same dosage for awhile, but think it might be time to up my dosage and get back to a workout routine to see if I can get the rest of the way. Still using the CPAP, still working on the other pieces listed above, but I think I am on track to end the year smaller than I started it.

7. MISOGI TIME: I had to think about this a bit, but decided on the Manitou Incline. I'm going to have to get myself in better shape than I am now before attempting, and I considered things closer to home (like maybe RAGBRAI), but one of my goals is to summit a 14er or a verifiable mountain of some kind, and I feel like this would be a good way to start. I also think the logistics of getting myself to Colorado for a few days in 2026 have a higher potential to be accomplished than, say, taking off for a week somewhere else. A key part of this challenge is: getting myself in shape AND THEN attempting. Not gonna drive out there right now and take a crack at it, because I don't think that will end well. 

Getting in shape is still ongoing, but I'm going to add a wrinkle to this: I want to try a 30-hour fast with the Missus. I think that's a Misogi closer to home that's more achievable-- I haven't given up on this one, but I might bump it to next year. (I also have an itch to do something like Angel's Landing or even Half-Dome, but that requires a little more planning. I want to do a challenging hike like that somewhere, though.)

8. Duolingo: The circle has returned around to Portuguese! 2026 will be my year of Portuguese and I'm hoping to get to a 1700-day streak on Duolingo for the year. 

Should be at about a 1628-day streak by the time this post drops, so I'm on track for this. 

9. Reading: I didn't hit 40 on my Goodreads for 2024, so I think I'm going to take another run at 40 this year. Here's the Official TBR List for 2026 if you want to follow along.

I don't know why 40 is a tough number to crack, but it is. Currently, I'm at 19 books. 5 books behind schedule, and I've got five I'm currently picking my way through. I genuinely don't know if I'm going to get there, but it won't be for lack of trying. 

10. The Annual Control Resolution: Have A List of New Year's Resolutions! (Thus, ensuring that I'm not a complete failure at this!)

This is (obviously) complete!