Which of these books do I want to read next:

• Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
• Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
• On Writing by Stephen King
• The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann
• Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman
• Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
• The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• Drink the Tea by Thomas Kaufman
• The Fairies Return by Peter Llewelyn Davies
• Goblin Secrets by William Alexander
• Return to the Willows by Jacqueline Kelly

Last month, I wrote that I was going to eschew annual goals in favor of three more manageable monthly goals.

I am pleased to report that I accomplished January’s goals, which were:

1. Do not buy hot drinks in disposable cups. I cut back on to-go drinks in general, but also started carrying a travel mug with me in my messenger bag most of the time.
2. Attend a Tuesday night swing class/dance. My resolution-making started mid-month, which didn’t leave me many options for swing classes. I fudged it, sending an email in January inviting friends to attend the first swing class in February.
3. Get my reader card for the Library of Congress. Now I just need to figure out what I want to look at first!

Again, we’re more than a third of the way through the month when I make my goals (I’ll work on that in March), but here’s what I hope to accomplish in February:

1. Ice skate at the two new rinks in D.C. There are now three outdoor rinks in D.C., and, while I’ve skated at the rink at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, I haven’t been in several years. A trifecta would be awesome for the season, but I’ll settle for checking out the new rinks in Georgetown and over by the Navy Yard.
2. Mend all my clothing that needs it. I have knit items that need darning. I have rent fabric items that need patching/sewing up. I have buttons that need to be refastened. I keep thinking, I’ll get to that later and put things back into the closet or drawers, but they’re just taking up valuable space if I don’t ever get to the fixing stage.
3. Begin a 100 push-up program. When I did the ropes course last summer, I discovered that while my leg strength is acceptable, my arm strength resembles that of the 90-pound weakling. I have a goal for later in the year that requires a good deal of upper-body strength, so this seems like a good time to get going on it. (I will try regular push-ups, but if I can’t manage any, I’m totally going for the ones where you work off your knees instead of your toes to start with.)

How about you? How are your resolutions going?