New Year's Resolutions or Whatevers (Another Dang List)

Last year’s list of things I hoped to do:

Bump yoga from "fairly regularly" to "regularly."
I did really well with this at the beginning and middle of the year. Toward the end my attendance dropped off, but I’m hoping to get back in gear with this goal. I hope to focus especially on prenatal yoga.

Start running again.
Again, did really well with this at the beginning and middle of the year. I even decided to run a half marathon in December, but got pregnant and had to reevaluate. I don’t expect to run long distances over the next 4-5 months, but after the baby I would like to start training again if my energy and time allow. I’d love to run the White Rock half marathon next December.

Learn how to make my own candles and/or soap.
Learned how to make soap and made many as gifts this past year. In 2007, I would like to learn how to make candles and possibly take classes on book binding and paper making.

Finish a third draft of the novel and then a fourth.
Ended up finishing seven drafts! Woohoo! Currently looking for an agent.

Go to New York for a visit.
Tried to do this but our plan fell through. We were going to stay with Nate’s aunt and meet a new family member, but various trips and other people’s plans and complications prevented this. Maybe this year, but I expect we will be pretty busy and I don’t relish the thought of traveling to NYC with a stroller and a newborn.

Apply for a few writing fellowships and retreats.
Applied for exactly one! However, I’m working on two residency applications (due in January) and one fellowship grant (due in February) as we speak.

Submit excerpts from the novel to a few literary magazines.
Only submitted to one magazine (two excerpts though). Hope to submit more this year, but am focusing more on getting an agent versus getting published in literary mags.

Consider joining a writing group. (I have mixed feelings about this.)
I am going to my first group meeting on January 12. Depending on how our introductory session goes, I’ll either continue with this group or perhaps find another one if this isn’t a good fit. I’m hopeful it will be. Last year I had mixed feelings because I felt I knew what I needed to do and just needed the time to do it. I was worried that spending time talking about writing took away from the limited time I had to write. Now that I'm starting a new project, I think hearing other writers would be helpful.

Paint the living room and Den. The Den is going to be a whopper, thus the capitalization. It's a multi-phase project. Retexture the ceiling, get two new ceiling fans, add a skylight (maybe), get new French doors, paint walls, paint fireplace, saw some decorative scrolly crap off bookshelves and built-in desks, maybe get a new carpet. Looking at that list, this project might bleed over into 2007.
Did paint the living room. Calling a professional to get an estimate on the Den. It’s still a big-ass project and while we can do some of the work ourselves, a professional will be helpful.

Sod the back yard.
Sodded half the yard. We waited too long and it was getting too hot to plant new grass. We plan on finishing the yard this spring.

Find a good spot for an herb garden. (Good spot = a place where Walker can't eat the herbs. That dog eats everything.)
Had several herbs in the kitchen but I was a bad plant mommy and didn’t water the herbs enough so most eventually died. I’ll try to do better this year. Also hope to plant tomatoes and work on three beds.

Have more fun.
Definitely had some good fun.

Have more fun with clothes. I used to wear some pretty funky outfits when I was younger. Somehow I've gotten more conservative with my dress as I've gotten older. You have to ask yourself, what's the point of that?
Do maternity clothes count?

Other 2006 happenings:

• Got with child.

• Found out we’re having a girl, even though I had been convinced I was having a boy and even put money on it (and lost, clearly).

• Went to Mexico instead of NYC for our summer vacation.

• Volunteered at the AWP conference in Austin and at the Writes of Spring literary festival in Dallas. Attended the Texas Book Festival. And after having been burned out on readings after grad school and a related job, attended about a half dozen readings this past year in addition to the festivals.

• Made bread and pizza (from scratch) for the first time.

• Tried hot yoga and found it not to my liking.

• Visited friends in Austin, Brazoria, and Kemah.

• Finished my novel!!!!

• 2006 Purchases: leather sectional for the den, coffee table, Xbox 360, Honda Element, new garage door opener, ceramics from Dolores Hidalgo. (Compared to 2005, this list is not so bad.)

For 2007, I hope to:

• Clean out my office and transform it into the nursery.

• Have a healthy pregnancy and labor.

• Find a compatible doula, if we decide to go this route.

• Breastfeed as long as I can without driving myself crazy while working full time.

• Find a good day care.

• Pick a good name for our daughter so she doesn’t curse us the rest of her life.

• Eat better. I was doing so well and am now eating a ton of crap.

• Bring my lunch to work 2-3 times a week. Again, I was doing well for probably half of the year and then started eating out (and eating crap) almost five days a week.

• Start training again (running) after the baby.

• Learn how to make my own paper and candles, and bind books.

• Get to work on time (at least more often!).

• Go to Chicago for the SAIC writing program reunion and/or friend’s wedding.

• Find an agent.

• Sell novel.

• Work on draft of next book.

• Check out San Marcos as a possible city to live in. (Still in the exploratory phases; not sure if we will really consider leaving Dallas.)

• Judge less and accept more.

Anticipated 2007 purchases: new laptop, new television (When our “current” 10-year-old one dies. The picture is already on its way out.), sofa or chairs for living room, full nursery set up and assorted baby paraphernalia (stroller, car seat, etc.), French doors, two ceiling fans, at least three rugs, tile for the den (maybe), a newer, safer car for me (maybe), new desk and storage for my new writing space.

Man, looks like 2007 is going to be a busy year and heavy on the cash outlay. But it also seems like it’s going to be a good one. Looking back, 2005 was very hard in many ways. I had a job that made me miserable, Nate worked from home which wasn’t to his liking, we had one car which meant that while I worked long hours he was stuck at home without transportation, we bought a house which was great but strained us financially. In 2006, I found a much better job, we had more money, we had a second car, and we were able to work on our house because I had time and we both had more disposable income. We traveled more and visited friends. And we made an addition to our family, though obviously we won’t meet her until later this year. Overall, I would say we went from a bad year to a really good one and I have a feeling this one is going to be even better.