Goals and Writing

It’s the end of the year, as I was reminded by one of my online game opponents (who happens to be a bookkeeper), and a time to assess and reassess and see where I am and where I want to go. Some areas of my life are what they are. I accept it with an eye toward the idea of changing over time, or accepting whatever may be may be… “Que sera, sera,” if you will.

I’m all about bettering myself. If there’s a book out there about some real or imagined flaw that I find in myself (or possibly pointed out to me by a very observant, and caring “friend”), I am one of the first people to buy that book! Although, I admit, I am not a huge fan of self-help books. The most recent book I purchased for self-help was called “Getting Things Done.” It’s still only partially read. That’s one thing I need to put back on my To-Do list. (Yes, I get the irony. Is now a good time to mention all the books on procrastination I have yet to read?)

Okay, so where am I going with this? I’ve been thinking… A dangerous pastime, I know! I’ve been thinking about my writing. I don’t want a lot. My life’s dream would be to make enough money to just help my family out a little here and there. I don’t need millions, or even tens of thousands of dollars. You know, like maybe five thousand. A year. Okay, maybe three times that a year...

But I’m not going to make anything if I don’t get things finished.

So my goal, or one of them anyway, is to write every* day. I plan to use my blog kind of like a jumping off place. Call it my warm-up. Writing exercise. At least in one area of my life I can get whooped into shape, right? I am, unfortunately, easily overwhelmed, and if you know anything aboutmy life, it’s nothing if not a bit complicated at times. So I’m going to be gentle with myself, forgiving. I want to reach my goals and not be mad at myself. I’m almost done with school, but that’s for another post.

*I need to note that by "every" day I mean that I need to have a weekly goal so that I feel accomplished. So even if I start out getting 1,000 words a day--maybe even working up to that? I know I've tried to do 2,000 a day and that proved to difficult for me at the time. I don't want to write on Sundays, and it's difficult on Fridays and Saturdays when Superman and the other super-heroes are home--not excuses, reality. Anyway, so the weekly goal would be 5,000 words a week. (And my blog writing will not go toward that goal, it's extemporaneous.)

Gratitude Part 3

Took me a while but I got it together. Here is the Grande Finale!

Day 25: The Christmas Season

I wish I didn't have to wait until after Thanksgiving to "start" Christmas. I told my kids maybe we should be like the rest of the world so we could jump straight from Halloween to Christmas! Why wait, right? This picture is from last year. This year we've put the tree up in a different spot. It's less intrusive, I think.

Day 26: The pup, Ellie-Mae Claire

I wrote before about how I had to re-home my beloved dachshund and about a year ago our only other dog ran away. We are a dog family and have always had a dog. Since we are renting I thought we were going to be a dogless family until we got into our own home again, but when a friend posted that she had these lab mix pups I mentioned it to Superman and we checked them out. HE fell in love with this beauty and she's been ours since June. She is part of our family like no other dog has been (not even my Bailey, I am sad to say) since Hubs and I were newlyweds! Haha!

Day 27: Baking, my one true "talent"

I have a lot of things I like to do. I used to do a lot of cross-stitch. Sometimes I knit. I sew a little, but not well enough to show you anything. (Not like my mother!) One thing I can do is bake. I like to bake! It's been a while since I've really put time and effort in but every year I make these Sweet Potato Crescents (apparently since 2000!) and they are always my contribution to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner!

Day 28: Happy Thanksgivukkah!

This year I joined my BFF, Gypsy, and her family for a Thanksgiving/Chanukkah celebration. It was awesome. We had a fried turkey, latkes as well as traditional Thanksgiving fare (I made the mashed potatoes, a ton!), but mostly it was the celebration with friends. Superman went to visit his sister for Thanksgiving and I was happy to spare him (this one time). My parents came also and we had a great day! 

Day 29: Lazy Days
(Our Black Friday)

 I don't do "Black Friday." It's way over-rated and my "personal space" issues don't allow for big crowds and mean people. We did go to Target for a bit and to see "Catching Fire" (Awesome! but I cried through the whole thing) and out to eat, but then we came home and relaxed. It was great!

Day 30: Jesus Christ

I have already mentioned reading my scriptures, my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and going to church. Bottom line though is my belief in Jesus Christ. He is the reason I do all the other things. I am beyond grateful for my Faith. I believe it is a gift to believe in God and more. I believe that all the other good things in my life have come because of this faith and it is also the reason I can endure the not so great things. 

I don't think I will be doing this kind of gratitude posting again, but I will probably come up with another way to show my gratitude. Although I love jumping to Christmas, I am grateful for the time I spend being grateful and recognizing the good in my life.