Be It Resolved That...

Hello bloggy friends!  (Or blogglings - I kind of like the idea of having blogglings.  Like minions, only with less servitude.)  Yes, after an extended blogging vacation, I have returned.  And I'm bringing along a change in schedule, too!  I realized that trying to blog on Sundays just didn't work well for me, so I'm switching up to a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule.  Hopefully that will work better for my lifestyle.  But if it doesn't, I'll try something else.

I hope you all had a fun holiday season, with just the right amount of family and friends and food and drinks.  I think I had a perfect balance this year.  My parents and Otter and Panda (and their dog, Bella) came to stay with me for just over a week, which is part of the reason for my blog silence.  After all, I only get to see them a couple of times a year, so I want to make the most of our time together.  This was the first time that Otter and Panda had come down to see me, so we had to do a bunch of typically Southern things (like golf in December), and we had to hit all of the shopping possible.  Have I mentioned that my ENTIRE family loves to shop?  It's a great bonding activity!

I had a semi-quiet New Year's Eve, with my SO and a couple of friends.  We ate brie and drank champagne.  Okay, that sounds WAY more sophisticated than we actually were!  In addition to the brie and champagne, we had an awesome cheesy, meaty, salsa dip of delicious, and chips and dip, and moose milk.  Moose milk?  Yes, moose milk.  It is made of awesome, with some egg nog, ice cream, and alcohol mixed in.  But it's a secret recipe... well, not so much.  You can Google it, but none of the recipes that turn up are quite the same as mine.  Still, if you don't mind a good, strong drink, I'd recommend giving it a try.

And since it's a new year, it's time to revisit last year's resolutions...

• Keep writing in my blogs. I'm not going to insist that I write every day, but I've really enjoyed it. It's generally the last thing I do before bed, and it's a nice part of my routine. However, I have this blog and my craft blog and my 'Take Five' blog, and I'd like to spread out the time between the three a little bit more.  
• Well, I've continued this blog, and I'm occasionally popping in to my craft blog, but 'Take Five' totally fell off the radar.  Still, I've kept writing regularly, so I'll call this one a WIN!

• Finish editing 'Happily Ever After.' I finished the story. It has an ending. However, it needs work. I'm thinking of signing up for a course on editing your own novel, because I really feel that this story has potential. I've pitched it to a couple of girls who fall into my target audience, and they're really excited about reading it (go alpha-readers!). I want to edit, send out to readers, and re-edit, then start looking more seriously at potential agents/publishers.
• Not so much.  I edited the first chapter.  Then I got distracted.  The problem is that I hate editing.  Also, I've got other ideas that I want to work on.  But I'm still planning to edit it.  Really.  But this is a no.

• Lose 20 lbs. I know, I know, I failed at this one last year. But I'm going to keep trying, dammit, because I'm just not comfortable in my body right now. I've already started keeping track of what I'm eating, and that alone tends to help me. Back when I was doing Weight Watchers, I found that part helped more than anything else. So I'm giving it another try. I've got a really cute pair of jeans that I want to wear again.
• Hahahahahaha.  No.

• Get together with Mooselings. For the past several years, my NaNo group here has said, "Yeah, we'll totally get together outside of November!" and failed miserably. I'm going to make it happen this year!
• YES!  We did manage to meet up during the winter and spring.  Things sort of trickled off in the summer, but really, we've got too many people with too many things going on.  Between theatre stuff and jobs and kids' sports and school vacation and everything else, summer's just not practical.  But the important thing is that we kept in touch.

After looking back at last year's 'meh' result, I had to ask myself, "What do I want to resolve this year?  Do I even want to make resolutions?" 

OF COURSE I DO!  I like goals.  More importantly, I like lists!  Without further ado, here is my list of resolutions for 2011:

1. Drink more milk.  I usually only drink milk when my parents are here (or I'm visiting them), and we drink milk at every dinner.  Specifically, I will drink milk with a meal once a week.
2. Cook dinner.  And I mean really cook, not just reheat leftovers or zap a TV dinner.  Specifically, I will cook myself at least one meal a week.  
3. Use 'so' less.  I use the word 'so' an awful lot on this blog.  So much, in fact, that it's started sticking out to me.  I will use it less.  But I have no specifics on how much less. ;)
4. Be on time for work.  I am really bad about clocking in at 8:02.  All I have to do is wake up 2 minutes earlier (in theory).  Specifically, I will clock in to work at 8:00 or earlier at least 4 days a week (which is an improvement over my current one-day-a-week trend).
5. Drink more water.  Over the last few weeks, I've been drinking a lot of pop.  A LOT.  Like, 3 or 4 cups of Dr. Pepper at work, then a Cherry Coke with dinner, and a Dr. Pepper later in the evening.  That can't be good for me.  But I got a fancy new plastic cup with my initials on it, and I find that I drink more water when I'm drinking out of that.  Specifically, I will have more water than pop while I'm at work (even if that means guzzling two glasses of water in the last ten minutes of my day!).
6. Finish Partners.  I HAVE to finish this play.  I've run it through the critique group once, and I've made some major changes, but I need to finish this next draft and submit it to the theatre if I want to have a chance of having it produced next season.  Specifically, I will finish this draft by the end of January and I will have it to my crit partners by mid-February.

There you go! You'll notice that this year, I haven't resolved to lose weight.  I figure by drinking more milk and more water (and also by cooking rather than eating out), I'll probably lose some weight without frustration and calorie counting.  And even if I don't, those things will make me healthier, which is important, right?

Have you made any resolutions?

Side note: I edited out at least 7 'so's before posting today!