New Year, new plans?

No, actually, I think my plans for this year are probably about the same as they were last year.  But the resolutions, they are different.

First, let's check out last year's resolutions: 

1. Intentionally exercise at least three times a week.FAIL. A lot of fail. I managed it for, oh, a couple weeks.  But then my dad came out for a visit, and that always throws my schedule off.  And then it was summer, and hot.  And then I went to visit my sister. And then my family came to stay with me. And then I wrote a novel in a month. And then my family came back again.  
2. Blog daily. FAIL.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  It was a nice idea.
3. Read lots, at least a book a week.  YES!  I'm not sure if I read a new book every single week, and I didn't actually document them very well, but I did read lots, sometimes three or more books in a week, so I think it all evened out.

And now for this year's resolutions:

1. Finish all of the movies on my shelf before buying new ones.  As of Jan 1, I had 24 unwatched movies.  As of today, I'm down to 15. 
2. Finish an old project before starting a new one.  I have 13 in-progress projects.  Well, 12, now, because I finished one yesterday.  And I'm close to finishing another tonight.  If you want to see the whole extravaganza of procrastination shaming, you can visit my crafty Tumblr at daniemakesthings.tumblr.com
3. Finish the unread books on my shelf. Current count, 67.  Plus 2 in progress.  Plus several ebooks on my phone, but I'm not counting those.
4. Finish the first draft of Frenchie and start on edits.
5. Get my office organized.  With the visit from my niece, lots of stuff moved into the office in an effort to baby-proof the house.  And then we moved rooms around so my new roommate could move in, and my craft room/spare room stuff had to relocate to my office, too.  So I've got my desk, my five bookshelves, a recliner, two boxes of still-unpacked office stuff, four boxes of still-unpacked random crap, four big Rubbermaid bins of yarn, a big box of purses, and about a dozen bags of craft projects (or projects-to-be), plus a closet full of winter coats and costumes.  This will be a long-term project.

It looks like this year is the year of finishing crap.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, actually.  I've got a bad habit of starting on new things before I finish stuff.  (Could you tell?)  

I'm pretty sure that I can make these resolutions this year.  I feel as if I should have one or two that are more challenging, but in all honesty, finishing Frenchie and starting the edits is going to be rough.  Once I realized that this story is actually one that I enjoy AND is commercially viable, it suddenly seemed scary.  Up until this point, I've either not liked the end result of what I've written, or it didn't really fit into any particular genre and was therefore not really marketable, so there's been no pressure to do anything other than write it.  But this one... once it's polished, I'm going to take a deep breath, write and polish a query letter, and start looking for an agent.  That's big.  (At least, it's big for me.)

Be It Resolved That... (or, The First Check In)

I was poking around the internet, trying to find out a bit about how well the world does with keeping their New Year's Resolutions.  It doesn't look good, blogglings.  It depends on where you're looking, but anywhere between 36% and 98% of people have already given up their resolutions.  Let's see how I'm doing so far...

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.
• Not bad!  I'm drinking milk more often, but I've modified my resolution: instead of just drinking milk once a week, I've resolved to finish every container of milk I buy before the 'best before' date.  So far, I've managed to meet that goal.  Yay!
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.
• Check!  Tonight was the first night in about a week that I stopped by and picked up take-out for dinner.  I've been making pasta and chicken and other pretty yummy stuff, and I've definitely saved money, which is a bonus.
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. ;)
• I think I'm doing okay with this one... I've been making a concerted effort to use that word less, and I've been diligent in my editing.  If you think I'm wrong, please, let me know, and I'll step up my efforts.
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).
• Umm.... Well, I clocked in before 8:00 twice last week... Okay, okay.  This one needs work.  Lots of work.  LOTS of work.
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!).
• For the most part, I'm doing pretty well with this.  Monday was a mess - the computers were stupid, and I drank a LOT of Dr. Pepper at work.  But aside from that, I have been drinking just as much water as pop, so I'll call it a win.
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.
• Haven't touched it yet.  Crap.

I'm getting there, I think.  It definitely helps that I've set specific goals, rather than just wishy-washy "I wanna get healthy" resolutions.  I can work with a goal.  I'm not so good at the abstract. 

How about you, blogglings?  Have you joined the ranks of the given-up, or are you still slogging along?

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!

New Year, New Plans (recycled title)

Last year, I made some resolutions. Let's see how that panned out!

- Blog every day. And on the days that I don't have internet access, I will write offline and publish as soon as I get access again, even if it means saving to a thumb drive and stealing a spot at a computer at work on my lunch hour.

- I think I almost managed this. There appears to be one day missing, but it's close enough for my purposes! I am satisfied with my results on Resolution 1.

- Finish at least two craft projects before I start on a new one. Once I'm caught up with everything but the two large afghans I'm working on, I can start one new project at a time.

- It was a nice try. It was a good idea. The problem is, I've got a bunch of long-term projects (things like blankets and afghans) that don't have recipients, and don't have any good reason to be rushed. However, I've been much better at finishing the projects I started, so I'm going to go ahead and say I'm satisfied with my results on Resolution 2.

- Lose 20 lb. I'm not huge by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm not fitting into my pants as comfortably as I was this time last year.

- *sigh* No. But I did manage not to gain any more weight, so that's a start.

- Get in better shape. This goes hand in hand with the previous one, but it's more about lifestyle than size. I need to feel more fit, and I need to be more active.

- *sigh* No.

- Read more. I've signed up for a group whose goal is to have all the members read 52 books this year (about a book a week, but you can average it out as needed). I miss reading. I need to read more.

- Yes! A resounding yes! I gave up on that group (it was kind of irritating and useless), but I have definitely been reading more. I've started reading on my lunch break at work, and I've been finishing a book every week or two (depending on how complicated my meals are). I've also read at the airport, and in the evenings, although I'm still not at the insane levels that I used to read back when I was in high school. Of course, I have a full-time job, and I'm back into the theatre, and I'm doing all this knitting/crochet/jewelry making, so I don't have quite as much down time to be filled.

So three out of five is not bad at all! I'm happy with this.

Now the big question: What about this year?

In 2010, I resolve to:

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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!

Once again, a fairly reasonable set of resolutions. I think I can manage this!

Little things

... can make me very happy.

I spent tonight baking and watching chick flicks. It was awesome. I used to bake a lot - it was a very good form of stress relief. Unfortunately, while I was doing "Chicago," I didn't have time to bake, despite having plenty of stress in need of relief! I can't believe how much better I feel now. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I also have a big ol' pile of cookies (five dozen minus one, to be exact). Even better, though, is that almost all of the cookies (except for the last eleven) are going to be given away, so that I don't backtrack on any of my resolutions for the year!

Speaking of, this seems like a good time to revisit them:

- Blog every day. Check!

- Finish at least two craft projects before I start another one. Umm... almost. But I'm finishing more things, or at least giving up and ripping them out! So the spirit is there, if not the actual exact action.

- Lose 20 lb. Down by 9 so far, which is not bad. Now that the show is done, I can start getting up and exercising again. It was REALLY hard to do when I was out at the theatre until 11 every night.

- Get in better shape. Yup! Not where I want to be yet, but better than I was. It's amazing what a skimpy costume will do to your will power...

- Read more. I've been reading at least a book a month, though I do want to read more. Again, with the show over, I'll have more time to do it.

So I'm not doing too badly! It helps to have achievable goals, too ;)

Food?

Sweet pickled cheesecake covered in orange salsa.  That is all.

Actually, no, that's not all, but that's all I need to say on the subject tonight.

In other news, my dog has learned a new trick (mostly).  We've been working on 'touch' - she touches my hand with her nose.  She's doing it about 90% of the time now, as long as my hand is near face-level for her.  Next week, we're gonna move the hand higher and see how she does.  I'm so proud of my baby!

And in other news, an update on my resolutions:

- Blog every day.  Check! 146 days and counting!

- Finish at least two craft projects before I start on a new one.  Check!  I've finished three projects, so I started a new one... once I finish one more, I'm allowed to start another... which is good, since I need to get started on costume bits for Chicago.  I'm making my own fishnet thigh-highs ;)

- Lose 20 lb.  Check!  Down 6 so far!

- Get in better shape.  Check!  I've been exercising lately, and while I plan to stop doing aerobics for the next seven weeks, it's because I'm going to be dancing in a show, so it balances out.

- Read more.  Check!  I've read 12 books so far this year, which isn't bad, considering that I've been at the theatre almost nightly since, well, the year started.

265!

Okay, so 265 isn't really a big, important number, but I didn't say anything when I hit 250... Of course, that's not 265 this year, since it's only mid-March.  It's 265 since I started my blog, which was... April 13 last year.  I actually blogged every day for four and a half months, then my internet got all wonky and started dropping out randomly, so the last few months of the year were not daily posts.  But so far, I've posted every day this year!  I think that's pretty cool.

In that same vein, I think it's time to revisit my new year's resolutions:

- Blog every day.  Check!

- Finish at least two craft projects before I start on a new one.  Check! I've only finished three so far, but I've also only started one new one, so I'm doing okay.

- Lose 20 lb.  Boo... No change yet.

- Get in better shape.  Almost check?  I've started walking 30 minutes every day after work with Mia, so we'll see.  I had been using the Wii, but the show got in the way in February, so I got out of the habit.

- Read more.  Check!  I've only read four full books so far this year, but I've got a trilogy that I'm working through on my Palm, and I've got a couple of anthologies that I'm reading from nightly.  I may not be doing a lot yet, but it's consistant.

Okay, so overall, not bad!  Go me!

Yay! More accomplishing!

Another one bites the dust!

I've finished another project!  Woot!  So far, this year, I've finished the yellow baby blanket (that was going to be for Charlotte Rae, but now is not because I've seen the nursery and decided on a different pattern), a blue and white striped scarf (with 8 awesome pompoms, made with my pompom maker), and a brown and gold shrug (which should have been done this time last year).  Having finished two projects, I let myself start on another, so I'm working on the new baby blanket for Charlotte Rae, and I'm happy with it so far.  It's my first attempt at using a grid pattern, so it's a learning project, but I'm liking it.  That should be done soon, and then I'll have finished another two, and can start on another project!  The next one in line is a pair of wristwarmers for my sister, since she requested them a few months ago.  In the lineup of things to finish: a toque for James, a yellow and white baby blanket, a white speckled baby blanket, a blue and navy baby blanket, a blue sweater for myself, a purple/white/pink afghan, and a pink and white granny square afghan.  

Eventually, the list will be empty... of all of those projects, only the wristwarmers are not currently a work in progress.  The others are all in various stages of progress, hence the resolution to finish two before starting one.  I'm very proud of myself for sticking to that!  The only exceptions are the afghans, because they're so large.  They're harder to take with me, and they're just long-term projects.  But the rest... yeesh.  And once I'm done all of those, I'll make some more plot bunnies!

Have I mentioned that I like making stuff?

I've also made several necklaces and earrings.  I make greeting cards, too... I need to stop finding new hobbies.  It's awfully tempting to take up spinning so I can make my own yarn.  Or quilting, because my grandma and grandpa do that.  Must... not... learn... new... crafts...

Oh yes.  I also cleaned the burners on my stove today.  Very productive!

A good day

Today was a very productive day, writing-wise. I managed to get out 1400 words of my current major WIP, and I’m very satisfied with that. Plus, my heroine just realized that she’s found her love interest, which is exciting. I get to write more about that tomorrow.

Also a productive crafting day! I am now on the finishing stage of the brown shrug that I started about a year ago. I was going to wear it with the bridesmaid dress for my cousin’s wedding, but I didn’t start it early enough.I put it away for months, and then pulled it out last week, in accordance with my “finish two before starting one” goal. If all goes well tomorrow and Sunday, I should have it done by the end of the weekend. Yay!

I am happy with my progress today.

I swear, I had a great idea!

Another one of those days where I should have blogged earlier in the day, when I had the brilliant idea...  I swear, it was going to be an awesome blog, about something that was pertinent to my daily life, but something that was a bit quirky, and not entirely ordinary.

But I can't remember it now.

So I'll just give you my good news:

The resolutions are going well! 

- I've blogged every day

- I finished a yellow baby blanket, and I'm almost done the blue and white scarf, which means I can start Charlotte Rae's baby blanket soon!  And while it's great that I've finished projects, the most important part is that I haven't started anything new yet, even though I can taste the end of the second one.  Go willpower!

- I've lost about a pound so far, which is good, but more importantly, I've been getting at least a little bit of activity in every day, either on the Wii or walking around while shopping (I like window shopping).  

- I've read one book, and I've grabbed another to start tomorrow at lunch. 

All in all, a successful year, so far.

Wii are tired!

Hooked up the WiiFit tonight, and WOW!  I love it!  I never thought I'd have a video game tell me that I'm overweight, though... *sigh*  And back to the resolution list - lose weight!

On a mildly related note, Happy New Year!  Ukrainian Christmas was last week, and now it's New Year's!  So I'm going to add one more resolution - drink more water.  I read somewhere that you should drink one 8-ounce glass of water for every 20 lb of body weight, so I'm trying to stick to that.  Yet another reason to lose weight - 8 ounces less a day!

Have I mentioned that I hooked up the WiiFit?  I'm freaking exhausted!

New Year, new plans...

Yes, it's time to make resolutions. I suck at resolutions. Either I choose something so easy that I accomplish it two days after the year starts, or I choose something so impossible that I don't follow through.  However, despite my poor track record, I'm making resolutions again!  And to help keep myself on track, I'm writing them down here, and I'm going to keep tabs on how they're going throughout the year.

This year, I resolve to:

- Blog every day.  And on the days that I don't have internet access, I will write offline and publish as soon as I get access again, even if it means saving to a thumb drive and stealing a spot at a computer at work on my lunch hour.

- Finish at least two craft projects before I start on a new one.  Once I'm caught up with everything but the two large afghans I'm working on, I can start one new project at a time.

- Lose 20 lb.  I'm not huge by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm not fitting into my pants as comfortably as I was this time last year.

- Get in better shape.  This goes hand in hand with the previous one, but it's more about lifestyle than size.  I need to feel more fit, and I need to be more active.

- Read more.  I've signed up for a group whose goal is to have all the members read 52 books this year (about a book a week, but you can average it out as needed).  I miss reading.  I need to read more.

I think that's good enough, actually.  Four of the five are long-term, but definitely do-able.  The other might be short term, or it might be long-term, depending on how quickly I can get myself in gear... 20 lb, at 2 lb/week, should be about a 2-3 month venture.  I hope.

So that's my plan for the new year!  Already, I'm doing well, I think.  I got two new books for Christmas, and I've waited to dive into them, but I read three books on my 10-day holiday.  I finished Karen's scarf, and I'm about 2/3 done a baby blanket, and I've picked out my sweater to be my next to-finish project.   And hey, I've already blogged every day this year!