You blink your eyes and another month has passed us by! Where does the time go? It’s probably in the same place where you find “extra” money and “missing” socks. If you’re looking to get a better handle on the situation, as we all are, take a gander at some of these blog posts to help you achieve your life goals.

Let’s kick things off with a fun one, just in time for Halloween weekend. Whit Honea of City Dads Group had the chance to chat with the author of XplodingUnicorn about parenting in the zombie apocalypse. Yes, you read that correctly. Father of four daughters James Breakwell has authored a book on precisely that topic, explaining that “a realistic kid would get [the group on The Walking Dead] killed 100 percent of the time.”

Even when we are not faced with an army of the undead that wants to consume our flesh, we are constantly reminded of our mortality and of the fragility of life. To this end, Louise Chapman asks if she only lives another 15 years, what does she want that time to look like? You might say this is tangentially relevant to this week’s vlog where I reflect on turning 35 and what it means for me.

We all want to be happy. As far as life goals go, that’s about as generic and universal as it gets. It can also mean all sorts of different things for different people. Citing a recent study, Allison Aubrey (with two Ls) explains that you are far better off spending your money to buy time than you are buying more stuff. “Free time” is invaluable with today’s busy lifestyle, so maybe you should pay the neighborhood kid to mow your lawn for you.

Keeping with the topic of money, Anora Mahmudova reminds us that your rate of savings is more important than how much return you get on your investments. It’s definitely a good idea to put money away for retirement or for your kids’ college fund. The thing is too many people focus too much on GIC rates and mutual fund returns and not enough on how much cash they put in there in the first place.

Care for a harrowing tale of the feathered friend variety? Alison Tedford (with one L) offers a cute story about a little duck who is in search of his noisy neighbor who has suddenly gone quiet. He’s concerned, asking everyone from a drum line to an arborist. As you might imagine, this little narrative isn’t really about a duck. It could still quack you up.

From the outside looking in, it sure sounds like Annie H. has it made. She’s living the dream, because she’s retired at the age of 49. And she fully recognizes (and states right in the beginning) that this is the “ultimate First World Problem.” But it’s still a problem, because she feels like she should be “100% happy, 100% of the time.” Obviously, she’s not. There’s something missing. Now if she could only find that thing.

Maybe that thing is yoga? Danny shares some of his lessons from attending baby yoga and learning “how to pom pom” in room filled with moms. This was likely far more intimidating than being the only dad at story time, because while he thought he was busting out the moves like Usher, in reality he says that he “more resembled Mr. Bean.” Watch out for those full-length mirrors!

Finally, we turn to one of the best life goals of them all. I’ve been a fan of Nintendo almost for as long as I can remember, going all the way back to the original NES. Joel Gratcyk and his family share that love of the Mushroom Kingdom. They paid a visit to the Super Mario Odyssey Tour in Chicago and they got to “meet” the master plumber and apparent cap-flinger Mario himself. Fun times were had by all.

And isn’t that all that matters?