A New Year Dawns

Fan that I am of making lists, I am not really such a big fan of New Year's Resolutions. Still, I keep making them, so what does that say about me? Don't answer that.

Of the 8 resolutions I made last year at this time, I can safely say that I only stuck to one or two, leaving me with the following quandary: do I move last year's unfulfilled resolutions to the top of this year's list, or do I chuck them altogether and start fresh? Does anyone else ever have this problem? I mean, those goals were worthy of setting a year ago, so are they no longer worthy of pursuit just because 12 months have passed wherein I have totally forgotten about making them?
You see my dilemma.

I think I'm going to keep what still feels pertinent and add what seems timely and let the chips fall where they may. After all, there is more than a slim chance that I won't remember making this list anyway.

New Year's Goals for 2011

1) Revise 2009 & 2010 NaNoWriMo novels into one spectacular, readable, publishable work.
2) Knit something for the Red Scarf Project well in advance of the yearly Dec. 15 deadline.
3) Start Christmas knitting much much sooner than I did in 2010. We're talking before Thanksgiving.
4) Blog at least once a month on at least one of my blogs.
5) Continue my quest for the perfect cup of homemade mocha.
6) Cut back on caffeine.
7) Teach more people to knit.
8) Tackle the knitted sweater again, hopefully with more satisfying results this time.

Happy New Year and may you have great success in keeping whatever resolutions YOU set for yourself this year!

A New Year

Something about the turning of the calendar makes me, despite my best efforts to the contrary, no doubt stemming from a deep-seated desire to not always be doing what everyone else is doing, want to make new goals, dream new dreams, and even be randomly optimistic. It is true that a calendar is just a calendar (unless of course your cats gave you one like my cats gave me for Christmas: World War II: A Day-by-Day History) and for the most part, one day is as good as any other for starting fresh. This year, though, I have decided to make an actual List and maybe even stick to it. Who knows, this being the start of a new decade as well as a new year, maybe there will be something magical about the goals we set.

So, in no particular order and without further ado, my

New Year's Resolutions for 2010
1) Read more.
2) Write more.
3) Know that #'s 1 and 2 do not refer in any way to Facebook.
4) Write more knitting patterns.
5) Revise my NaNoWriMo 2009 novel.
6) Eat at Qdoba (aka Home of the Best Guacamole I Have Ever Eaten) more often. This is the sort of resolution that comes directly from eating at Qdoba on New Year's Day and wondering why I do it so infrequently. I decided that if I did eat there more often, I could pull myself out of my food rut (Cheese Quesadilla with Pico de gallo, please) and actually try something else on the menu. It's about more than just the food--it's about getting out of ruts.
7) Take more long walks. Necessary to work off the extra Mexican food!
8) Cut myself more slack.

There you have it--eight little goals that hopefully will make 2010 a better year and maybe even get the new decade started off on the right foot. Happy New Year, Everyone!

A Novel!

The morning of October 25, 2009 dawned like just about any other Sunday morning. There was the usual groggy stumbling for the tea kettle, the quality time with Prayer Book and Bible, the rousting sleepy family members out of bed to get ready for church. Something was different that morning, though. That something was a thought. It started with "I wonder..." and ended with my signing up for NaNoWriMo and writing the first draft of a novel during the month of November. The stuff in between included some Dorothy Sayers mystery-inspired plotting, a lot of caffeine, and sore arms from typing so long at the computer. My family was amazingly supportive, most likely owing to the assurance that it was to be a short absence, this time of my body being in the room and my mind being in a little town somewhere where murder was being planned and a blackmailer was on the loose.

It was an astounding time for me. I learned that I could do it. I could take an idea and turn it into a story, with characters and dialog and some decidedly uneven prose. As I told Shannon, I emerged from November and my NaNoWriMo experience a different person--one who jots down scraps of conversations, interesting names and bizarre story ideas (and isn't afraid to use them).

Muchos thanks (in random order) to Jennessa, Shannon, Jani, daHubby, SuperCraftyDancerGirl, JuniorBravesFanatic, my writing buddies on NaNo, my local NaNo group, to Chris Baty for starting NaNoWriMo in the first place, and to all the people over the years who have encouraged me to keep writing, even when I didn't think I could do it (Leslie and Papa, especially!).