Goal Roundup: March

After last month's massive update, not much going on in March other than the creepy-early spring weather that ruled most of the time. T'ain't natural.

• Things to Do: Not much. Saw some friends. Finished with the skating lessons. Keeping up with Tuesdays with Dorie.
  
  
• Better Me: Still going to the gym, and in fact had my best run in years this week (and I went to yoga that same day). Reading has fallen off the list (again).
  
  
• Money: PAID OFF THE DAMN CREDIT CARD. 
  
  
• Writing: Momentum acquired, then lost, then tentatively getting back on stride. On average the FF revision has been going smoothly. I should have about a month left over before Taos to work on Go. Inner peace wobbly.
  
  
• Job Stuff: Still nothing on Scrum training. :( No job openings to apply for.
   
• Birthday Observance: March is a light month for my circle.
  
  
• Household Stuff: Got a couple of new chairs. Got myself some new clothes.

 Pretty good, overall.

Goal Round-up: February 2012

It's a little early, but I doubt much more progress will be made in the next few days.

"Unfucking" appears to be The Thing to Do right now. I ran across the word first in one of Chuck Wendig's brilliant posts, then in a marvelous writer's Girl Unlocked tumblog, the inspiration for which appears to have come from Unfuck Your Habitat.

As a word, I like it. It says that things are messed up right now, but we will do this thing and then it will be better. Not perfect--better. Whatever else the world has going on, at least my bed is made. Perhaps someday we will all graduate to unfucking bigger things. I suppose my annual goals and these accountability posts are in much the same vein. So what did we unfuck this month?

• Things to Do: We did some entertaining. I went to the Museum of Science with some friends who were in town for the weekend (I visited the gecko exhibit and instantly was OMG I WANT ONE. Wonder if we could do that instead of rabbit, which is Eldest's current pet request). I took Eldest ice skating. I sent in my Taos payment, and the check was cashed, so I am going. This is a Real Thing. Maybe Tuesdays with Dorie fits in here, too? I did the first two recipes successfully. I finally filled out Eldest's Girl Scout registration form, which has been on my desk for two weeks.
  
  
• Better Me: Gym has been great. I actually did a four mile run last week--slow, of course, but the last time I did that was probably before Middle Kid was born. I have been tracking my workouts and seeing steady improvement.
  
  One thing I am not doing is keeping a close eye on my weight. The stated goal of this endeavor is to feel better. Which is not to say that I am not thrilled at being able to fit back into my old jeans, but I don't want to make weight the focus. This is about not getting out of breath when I have to run for the bus, not about vanity... right? The one time this month I did weigh myself, the scale claimed I had gained three pounds. I suppose it could be muscle. Whatever.
  
  Also on the Better Me front, I have been making more of an effort to read. It's not a fast thing, but it's getting me through a few more books than was the case for a while. So, of course, I bought some more. This is a tough thing for me to fit into my day; the only slot available is right before putting Eldest to bed. It's enormously tempting to sit there and read the internet instead of a book--or doze off on the couch--while she does her school reading. Must Improve.
  
  
• Money: The Taos payment aside, it's been a good month. I even went over to Fidelity and had one of those Real Grownup Conversations about what I should be doing with my investments for our hypothetical retirement and the kids' college funds. 
  
  
• Writing: Up to chapter 6 of FF revision. I spent a very long time going back and forth over one early scene. It's better now, but I am still not entirely happy with it. However, I have a new thing I can tell myself: Maybe they can tell me how to fix it at Taos. I have been told that the only prep I need to do is to write the best book I can, and I am trying to do that, but I am in keen anticipation of learning how to do it better.
  
  On a related note, I have come to a new inner place lately, one strangely free of anxiety. I am going to do this thing; I am a writer. Maybe I won't be a success at it, but it's a real thing to me now. Is this a passing sensation, or an enormous new self-unfucking, this confidence? Time will tell.
  
  
• Job Stuff: The Scrum thing is out of my hands, and there's been no motion on it. I've got my eye on some online classes to look into next month. No job openings to apply for.
   
• Birthday Observance: Keeping up.
  
  
• Household Stuff: Nothing doing, but one of the last remaining kitchen chairs in our set has started falling apart, so I think that will be the next thing that gets crossed off the list. Must search Craigslist now.

 Pretty good, overall.

Goal Round-Up: January 2012

Time for the monthly accountability.

• Things to Do: Missed Arisia, so this one will get carried forward again. I applied for the Taos Toolbox workshop AND GOT ACCEPTED. I am over the moon.
• Better Me: Gym attendance spotty due to being sick for two weeks. Hopefully getting that out of the way for the year! Best workout: 2 1/2 miles, 32 minutes.
• Money: Positive flow into the savings account.
• Writing: Two chapters of FF revision down. Sickness did not help. 
• Job Stuff: Working through approval process for Scrum Master training. 
• Birthday Observance: So far, so good.
• Household Stuff: Moved a problem bookcase out of Mimi's room.

 Where will the year go from here?!

2012 - Off to A Good Start

Discipline is not a fun word. It seems to have the word "slip" built mockingly into it, and it feels that way in the mouth. It's a word like the last bit of a soap bar; you would unwrap a new one, but feel guilty for wasting what's already there. It's also a word I mistype almost every single time.

Until they come up with a way to make everything that is good for us fun, however, it is pretty much the only way forward. A fair amount of research points to the idea that discipline works like a muscle. The good part of that is that the more you do it, the easier it gets. The bad part is that just like your muscles, it gets tired and eventually quits when overused, and while a sprained discipline won't put you on crutches, it can derail projects and lead to moping.

I do not like moping. I do like feeling like I'm making progress toward my goals. Therefore, some studious application of discipline has been in order this past week. It's been a good week, an encouraging week. Part of that comes from knowing myself well enough to know where my discipline is likely to wear out. I like being productive, but that doesn't mean I like working harder than I have to. Hence, my efforts to make discipline as easy for myself as I can.

First off, there's going to the gym. Yes, I joined along with the rest of the herd. I know from years of painful experience that the only way I will make it over there is to make the process as free of conscious thought as possible. I go early in the day, when there are no realistic excuses I can make to avoid it (not being able to sleep past five is in this case an asset). I pack my stuff and lay out my sweats the night before, so that all I have to do is pack a lunch, grab my ridiculous number of bags, and trudge out to the bus stop.

Packing a lunch (and breakfast, for that matter) is important for both fitness and financial goals. The most important thing I did for this effort so far? Stocking up on yogurt. I will only eat one kind of yogurt, and it's a kind that my normal store doesn't carry. I can get through my day on a half a bagel and a sandwich or whatever leftovers are around, but only if I have my yogurt in between. If I can't, then I'm going to eat an entire bagel for breakfast, and then I may as well go out for lunch since my day has already been calorically blown. I do realize this is silly, but there's no addendum on "know thyself" that says "but only if what you find out is not too silly." By giving myself this one thing (which is even good for me!), I make it easier for myself to eat decently during the day.

I do allow myself treats. There is no reason to be ridiculous about things, after all. I have adopted vending machine pretzels as my standard afternoon snack, which is probably better than M&Ms, and I give myself the occasional visit to Dunkin Donuts.

The third discipline is writing. This is actually a lot more difficult than getting myself to the gym, but it's been pretty successful this week. Inspired by this post on Terrible Minds, I had to admit that I spend an awful lot of time doing things that are not in fact writing. So now, after the gym, I sit down at my desk. I open up my document and -- this is the important part -- nothing else. No email, no IM, no browser. Just my book. I set the timer on my phone for one hour, and I work until that hour is up (also I drink tea and eat my bagel, which tastes pretty damn good by that time, let me add).

Can I keep this up? Remains to be seen. So far, it's been a good month. I've been to the gym every (week)day. I've revised the first 3,000 words of Fury's Flight, nearly 1/3 of what I need to apply for Taos. I haven't gone out for lunch even once, though I think I will need to schedule in some breaks in that; boredom does not make for a happy, productive me.

Finally, in what is perhaps a fit of insanity, I've signed up for the new Tuesdays with Dorie project, which starts in February. The fact that they're every other week this time was a big motivator; I should be able to bake twice a month! Serendipitously, while I was thinking about whether or not I should try to participate, my mother let me know that she had a copy of Baking with Julia that she had picked up free somewhere and wasn't using. The book has obviously been well-used by someone, and I look forward to adding my own sprinkles of flour and spatters of chocolate to its pages. Although I did a lot of baking for the holidays, most of it happened in something of a frantic blur, and it's been something of a sugar drought since then (I did mention that treats are good?).

If I was doing a Happiness Project, it seems that

• January = Body & Writing
• February = Kitchen (& Writing, since you are supposed to blog about the recipes)

I'm sure I will think of something to do in in March. With writing. 

Winter Solstice, 2011

Feeling rather pensive today, standing at the brink of the new year. There are so many things I want to do, sometimes it feels overwhelming.

Not for long, usually -- I am by nature or training a planner, and when things look insane, my instinct is to break them down, to chunk them out, to find a path toward the goal. At least, I do that sometimes, with things I really care about. Other things, well... they can fall by the wayside. I am wondering if I should take a page from The Happiness Project and try a different thing every month? Something to consider during the holiday week

Generally speaking, I'm a pretty happy person, but one thing I've never been happy with (for long) is my productivity. I am often busy, but am I busy in good and useful ways? How will I look back on this time in ten years, or twenty?

I have some firm goals in mind for 2012. I will revise Fury's Flight; I will apply to writing workshops; I will take up the next book (and find a title for the dratted thing). My Christmas present from D* this year is a precious one: time to myself. I'm going to use it to take a French class in the spring. I've renewed the gym membership that lapsed while I was pregnant with Mimi.

Beyond that? Things get vague. Things get, "I'd really like... someday." I'd like to learn to can, and to quilt. Yesterday a friend gave me a book on cheesemaking, even more packed with heady possibilities than most cookbooks. I'd like to plan a monthly day trip somewhere with the kids. I'd like to actually do a 365 project. I'd like to single-handedly revive the art of letter writing, decorate my apartment, learn to dress like an adult, throw dinner parties.

Beyond vagueness, the list devolves into questions. Do I want to listen to NPR, or do I just feel guilty about not being a better informed person, and would doing something about it make me happy? Should I put more time into blogging? Am I doing enough to develop my writer's voice?

Add to list: study the art of the possible.

I have an open notebook, and a spiffy new desk calendar. Time to plan.

2011 Goals Revisited

As we dive headlong toward the holidays, it seems amazing that the year is already almost over! Time to sit back with a plate of cookies and see how we did.

Do Things
After 2010's "lost summer" and an autumn consumed by a wonderful new small person, this was a major goal, and I'm thrilled to say that it was met and then some. While we didn't get around to everything on my list, we did quite a few things:

• Vermont Cheese Festival
• Visited friends in CT and ME
• Visited family in RI, PA, and VT
• Sandwich Fair
• Gardner Museum
• Walden Pond
• Chinatown
• Museum of Fine Arts
• Museum of Science membership got used a lot (we re-upped for next year)
• Nutcracker

So many wonderful memories. I hope we can keep it up next year!

Finances
I had two financial goals this year:

• Start saving for the kids' college education. I set up automated deposits for all three of them, and they have been ticking away faithfully. No problem there. 
• Improve the savings account. This one was an abject failure. I'd like to blame a series of emergencies (the cat, the car) and traveling, but at base I think it comes down to lack of discipline, and I'm going to make that a top priority for '12. 

Food
I wanted to try one new recipe a week, and I wanted to blog about them. As I generally do, I started the year out strong and then lost my way. I seem to have reached a zone where I'm not as concerned with trying new recipes all the time; it's nice, but it's not a priority. As for the blog, who knows what I'll end up doing with it, if anything at all. So this area wasn't a big success, but it's also not something I really fret about. We eat well pretty much all the time, and I can be happy about that without stressing myself over it.

Writing
I had two goals for this area, too, and double success! I send out a couple dozen queries for The Inquisitor's Wizard--which netted me absolutely nothing, but I did it, and I have the rejection emails to prove it. I put my shoulder to the wheel and finished a proper draft of Fury's Flight, and then I rejoined critters.com and got myself a half dozen beta readers, who are giving me some very useful feedback.

Observe Birthdays
Umm... I started out well?


So there we have it. Obviously, I can't say that I met all of these goals, but it was a really, really good year. I have a wonderful family and friends, and many things for which to be thankful as we wrap up 2011.


Happy New Year (almost). May 2012 be everything you wish.

Goal Roundup: January 2011

One month into 2011 (that was fast):

• Do Things: I have been letting the winter blahs get the better of me (considering buying a sunlamp). Going to see some friends in CT next weekend, though. I am trying to organize a get-together of the new supper club, since no one seems to want to take the initiative there. Hoping to visit the local Y today and see about joining.
• Financial: Paid off credit card (thank you, Oracle) and all of our birth-related hospital bills--woohoo! Saving on target.
• Food: 7 new recipes this month, and I made bread for the first time in forever. Not keeping on top of the blogging so far, though.
• Writing: Queried 14 agents; six rejections so far. 

Can't complain too much. I'm even getting a bit of reading done. 

365 #18 This is how my living room usually looks, complete with blurred child

365 #19 We have gotten just a bit of snow this month; that is our van to the left

365 #20 I like tea, okay?

Bonus - Lydia doing her penguin impersonation

Halfway Through January

This was supposed to have been published on the 15th, but autopublish seems to be borked right now. Anyway, goal accountability time - how are things going?

• Do things: Plans made to visit good friends early in February.
• Financial: Paid off credit card. 
• Food: 3 new recipes.
• Writing: Finished my polishing run on the old book; sent the first chapter of the new book to another writing group friend (who is currently distracted by most of her country being underwater); worked on/obsessed over query letter. 

The year is off to a smashing start.

2011 Recipe Project

I had off the Monday after New Years, and took the Tuesday as well, so had some time to kick around at home after getting most of the post-holiday tidying done (and giving up on Super Mario Bros in frustration). I pulled my recently acquired copy of Around My French Table off the shelf -- I see blog and bulletin board posts referring to it constantly, and thought I ought to give it another look as I considered what to do with my cooking goal for the year. I opened it to the Soup chapter, and there I found my goal.

Or at least, a goal. I often think that I don't make soup nearly often enough, and when I do, it's one of three fairly basic recipes. We have many months of cold weather to go. So for the first two months of 2011, I will try to cook one new soup a week from Ms. Greenspan's book. This may require a bread subtheme, or actual sandwiches (and perhaps some nice bowls...). This will almost certainly have to happen on Sundays, the only day when I can be more or less certain of having some time to myself (the next four Saturdays are already booked with social events, which is certainly A Good Thing, but there are also errands and cleaning to shoehorn in).

We shall see what transpires, how much time I can find, and whether I enjoy having this kind of focus or long for my old scattershot ways.

I got a new camera!

 

The Usual Look Back

Time for the standard evaluation of the past year's goals, and the setting of some for 2011. I think one goal must be to keep better track of my goals, since after August the whole enterprise went by the wayside. So did a lot of other things. When I wrote these out at the end of last year, I didn't expect to be having a baby.

• Financial -- Blown in a big way, what with moving and buying the van. We did pay off one of the credit cards, and an another unexpected event (my company being bought) should allow us to pay off the other one.
• Health -- Also blown, given that I quit exercising in July. 
• Food-Related -- Hit or miss, and I can't entirely blame pregnancy for this one. My energy level did suffer a lot from our crazy summer and autumn.
• Writing -- I didn't get done what I wanted to, but I did get a lot done, including a second NaNoWriMo win. 
• Reading -- More hits than misses.
• Birthday observance -- Started well, then lost it over the summer.

All of which misses the point of the year, unexpected as it all was. Miriam is the sweetest baby one could wish for. The move was exhausting and difficult, but we're glad we did it; we like our new place, and our new town, and my new commute. We got rid of a lot of stuff we didn't need any more, and got some new things we've been needing for a while. I might not have been tracking my cooking well, but we have eaten well much of the time.

My hopes for 2011 are for recuperation and exploration.

• Financial -- The emergency fund needs to be replenished, we have three college educations to think about, and of course we still hope to buy a house someday.
• Writing -- Empire goes out to agents in February. If no one likes it, it goes in the drawer, under a rock. I'll also be working on a proper draft of last year's NaNoWriMo project.
• Do Things -- This is a new one. I want to get out and about in New England, to see our friends, and to take advantage of the wonderful resources of this region.
• Food -- I'll shoot again for at least one new recipe per week, and a blog entry for it. I hope to spend some time on ways to make my kitchen more efficient, to smooth out our weeknights as much as possible.
  

I would like to make exercise a goal, but experience tells me that rarely works with nursing; there's only so much time in a day. I'll work on my eating habits and see how the weight loss goes.

I've also been hearing about the 365 project, which sounds like it would be fun, but I'm not so good at forming new habits unless they fit into a particular time slot.

So that's it, and there's nothing too ambitious on the list. May 2010 go out in peace, and the new year be all that you wish for. 

Goal Roundup: June

Well, that went by in a blur--as expected. It was a busy month, to say the very least.

• Financial: The savings account is expected to suffer as we put the initial payment on the new apartment, replace some furniture, and prepare for Baby. On the other hand, we may be credit card-free by the end of the year, which would be pretty awesome.
• Health: Travel and illness interfered in the first two weeks. Since then, back to walking in the morning when I'm in the office.
• Food: See above. Too busy and/or exhausted to do any real planning or much cooking worthy of the name. All of my bakeware is now packed. It will be August before things settle back down in that realm. Not expecting much from myself until after Baby.
• Reading: Interesting Times, Lords and Ladies (both while sick); All Things Bright and Beautiful (reread from a long long time ago). Nearly all of our books are packed, but I left out a few just in case.
• Writing: Have added a few lines of dialog to the current scene, but otherwise this has been sorely neglected as I try to get things done at work.
• Birthdays: Missed my grandmother's. Bad. :( 

So not great, but not unexpected; moving and baby-growing are tiring activities. We'll be spending July packing and then doing the move, so I may not even bother with the tracking.

Right now, I really want to lie down and take a nap somewhere. If only.

Goal Roundup: May

Not the best month for this stuff--way too much going on. Still, here's the progress: 

• Financial: Lost some ground, think we're back on track now. 
• Health: Missed a couple due to schedule problems.. Walking outside when the weather is nice, walking on the treadmill. Only gained 2 pounds at my OB checkup, so must be doing okay there 
• Food: Sans inspiration, sans energy. The few new recipes I've tried haven't turned out well. It's been a T&T month for us.  
• Reading: The Great Divorce (new), Before They Are Hanged (new), The Truth (reread), Going Postal (reread), Making Money (reread). Literary comfort food to go with the literal. 
• Writing: Done through Chap 13, I think. Got some more crits on the first four chapters, mostly minor stuff. Struggling with lack of time/energy as work is really heating up. 
• Birthdays: One birthday observed

Apartment-hunting is consuming a lot of time and energy and so far has produced absolutely nothing. Still, I started packing anyway. Being 21 weeks pregnant is taking up the rest of the energy.

Goal Roundup: April

Another pretty good month.

• Financial: Savings to plan. Paid off my student loans (alas, the bottle of champagne I was planning on will have to wait until After Baby). The car is half paid for, as of this month. Used the month's extra paycheck to kill a big chunk of credit card. Go, us.
• Health: Seems to be the month’s dump goal, but given that I'm pregnant and feeling lousy, I am giving myself a pat on the back for getting to the damn gym three times a week, even if it's just to walk.
• Food: I did try four new recipes this month--three from Fine Cooking, which are on here somewhere, and another one I should blog this weekend if I can get my act together. 
• Reading: Mistborn; Plato’s Republic: A Biography (audio); The Court of the Air; Persuasion (podcast).
• Writing: Very, very little progress, but I am still grinding forward, and I've had a few ideas this past week that should be good for the story.
• Birthdays were at least a day late in all cases, but I did send the cards.

May will probably be a wash, as we'll be busy apartment-hunting, getting rid of crap, and eventually, packing, which takes way more time than it ought to.

Goal Roundup: March

Wow, that went quickly! It's been a pretty good month for the goals.

• Financial: On track.
• Health: Managed to fit weight-lifting in three weeks out of four, made it the gym despite weather and feeling lousy.
• Food: Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics. This goal slipped a lot this month; part of that is due to the Shaws strike. We're trying to respect the picketing, so I've been cooking from the pantry more than usual, shopping at unfamiliar stores, and sticking to "tried and true" menus. I'll be trying some new things for Easter this weekend, though.
• Reading: The Blade Itself (new), The Story of the Stone (reread), The Salmon of Doubt (reread), The City and the City (new). I've been listening to a podcast of Persuasion at the gym and a book about Plato's Republic in the car. Feeling good about this one.
• Writing: Re-revised the first two chapters based on crit group feedback and continue to struggle onwards. My original goal of having a draft of Book 3 at this point in the year has been abandoned; changes in book 1 are likely to ripple into 2, so not much sense getting that far ahead now.
• Birthdays: None this month.

The rain has ended, and though it's still overcast out there it's distinctly warmer than it has been. Forward into spring!

Goal Roundup: February

It's that time again!

• Financial: We had to get the car fixed, which wiped out last month's progress, but an unexpected bonus at work put us back on track and then some. A
• Health: Lifted weights.... once. D
• Food: The Cake Book (multiple), 100 Great Noodle Recipes, Fine Cooking Soups and Stews (multiple). Though I fell behind on blogging, I managed to get caught up. A 
• Reading: Bicycle Diaries; Making Money (reread) B 
• Writing: Joined a second virtual crit group. Replotted much of Book 1. Resubmitted the first two chapters to critters. A
• Birthdays: Only one this month, but it was observed A

And now I really must go clean the fridge, since I'm all caught on the blog....

Goal Roundup: January

The year is off to a good start:

• Financial: A (met goal)
• Health: F (Maybe I should forget about this one…)
• Food: A (Barefoot Contessa. Flavors of Tuscany. Moosewood Daily Special. Another Barefoot Contessa)
• Reading: A (Castle Perilous. What We Eat When We Eat Alone. Iorich)
• Writing: A (Lots of feedback coming on Book 1, have started revision; Book 3 up to 48k words.)
• Birthdays: A (Family birthday duly remembered)

Goals New and Old

As the year wraps up, time to do that whole "look back, look ahead" thing. 2009 was a pretty good year for getting things done, as I look at my original goal  list:

• Buy house - Obviously, this didn't happen, but we made a darn good attempt.
• Decluttering - Progress has been made, though we still have plenty to get rid of.
• Financial - Did quite well on this, meeting our savings target more often than not.
  
• Health - Excellent progress on getting back into shape, though I don't seem to have lost any weight.
• Food - This one was up and down. I certainly didn't try three new recipes a week as hoped, but there were a fair number of new ones during the year, and I was reasonably steady with blogging. Still haven't taken that cake decorating class.
• Reduce size of Amazon list - Early goal which was scrapped, since we have been planning on moving and it didn't make much sense to buy more stuff.
• Household upgrades - No real progress on this one, though we did replace Dave's laptop with a netbook.
• Reading and writing - Late additions. Writing has been going great. Over the past few weeks I have been getting back into the habit of reading, which feels even better than I thought it would. Still at a stage where it needs nurturing, though.
  

In sum, we did pretty well with a lot of things. Those things I didn't get done were mainly those that involved spending a lot of money, so that's possibly just as well.

For 2010 I am going to make a few changes. For one thing, I am pretty close to giving up on the house hunt. The Boston real estate market is starting to look like Caradhras, and we may be stuck in Moria for a while (why no, I don't like Worcester). If one falls into our lap, we'll take it, but I am sick of the stress. I am also going to take exercise off the list because it has gotten back to "habit" status. So here are 2010's objectives:

• Food stuff - I am less obsessed with trying new recipes than I was a few years back. At this point I have a library of "tried and trues" that can take us for over a month without a repeat. Setting a  goal of one new one per week, and since I've canceled most of my cooking magazines after various disastrous redesigns in '09, this should be a good way to get more out of my cookbook collection.
• Reading - Aiming for a not-very-ambitious two books per month. 
• Finance - Maintain savings rate, and pay off D's credit card.
• Writing - Post-NaNoWriMo, been doing a lot of thinking about this. I've been getting a lot done lately, even if a bit too much of that has been due to recent insomnia, and I like enough of what I'm doing to feel that it's worth continuing for a while. This may turn out to not be realistic, but while feedback comes in on book 1 of Empire, I am going to try to blow through a first draft of books 3 and 4, NaNo-style. I am entertaining major doubts about the project's saleability, but I want to finish the damn story, even in rough form. I can then start that masochistic practice known as agent-hunting. I would also like to return to that NaNo project; I skimmed through it the other day and I am pretty happy with the story's core; time permitting, I will attempt to turn it into a proper draft.
• Finally, a new goal for the first year of the '10s. I have gotten appallingly, embarrassingly sloppy about missing people's birthdays. In 2010 I will get my act together enough to at least send my dear friends and family a damn card. 

So that's it. New year is right around the corner! 

Goal Roundup: November

Back to the real world after five days off for Thanksgiving--a nice break, even if I did spend too much of it with a cold and got almost nothing done as a result.

I made a few notes on things I can do to bulk out Furies into a proper novel, should I decide to do so. It can sit for a while without undue harm. I have mainly been working on the early pages of the third book of Empire, which still doesn't have a title of its own. This by way of procrastination, as I am supposed to spend December working on the first chapter of the first book, sitting down like a grown up with all of my critiques and making it better, but for the moment am indulging the whiny little inner voice that says "don't wanna!"

Tomorrow it will be December. The day after that, my request for dedicated readers goes live. I will try not to whine this time!

On the topic of our goals. After a great couple of months, November saw significant slippage.

• House: Sick of the whole thing. They suggested one listing early on and we didn't even go look. Very few listings this month anyway. F
• Clutter: No progress. F
• Financial: Recovering from last month's extravagance, plus Thanksgiving - half goal. C 
• Food: Lots of cooking going on, at least. A
• Writing: Won NaNoWriMo--50,000 words in 20 days. Got crits on my first chapter, founds lots of structural problems, did not abandon in despair (yet). Left the local writing group, as they're just too far from the sort of stuff I want to do. A
• Reading: Halfway through both Matter and Green Rider, and unexpectedly found myself rereading Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, a fine little book. A

Call the month a C, I guess, as we move into the final days of '09.

Goal Roundup: October

Whatever else is going or not going right in life, at least we seem to be kicking butt on these. This month really flew past, and I'm sure the rest of the year is going to go even faster....

• House: Put another offer on the same house when it came back on the market. Didn't get the house but we are trying darn it. A
• Clutter: Got rid of some kids' clothes and two boxes of old toys A
• Financial:  Exceeded target. A
• Health: This has gotten to be a steady-state sort of thing, so I will probably stop tracking it here.
• Food: We had a party! I made all kinds of stuff. Blogging has taken a decided back seat to work on the book, though. C
• Writing: Finished second draft of book 2. Submitted Bk1Ch1 to critters.org along with "request for dedicated readers" but won't get any feedback 'til mid-Nov. Attended a meeting of the local writing group. A+++
• Reading: I might get the rest of the way through this book this weekend... might. D.

Overall: B

Edit: I did in fact finish Fellowship today. So I get to upgrade that D. And Dave noted that this list is supposed to represent various important things in our life, so if it's going well... aren't things generally going well, by implication? This is likely the case.

Goal Roundup: September

I think we're getting good at this!

• House: Made an offer on a place (didn't get it). A
• Clutter: Trip to dump, got rid of old junk. A
• Financial: Met goal! A
• Health: I can run a 10-minute mile again. A
• Food: Got my game back on with new recipes and blogging, and even some pictures, then seem to have lost steam toward the end of the month. B
• Writing: Making headway through Book 2, new scenes coming together. A
• Reading: Listened to "Gilgamesh" in the car. Good stuff. Also rereading Tolkien, slowly. A

Best grades ever. Holidays will be coming up soon, so that will probably take a major toll on... everything, but right now we're in a very good place.