So last year I blogged about goals that I wanted to achieve for 2010. They included getting into Ohio State, finding renters for our house, finding a place to stay and maybe adopting a thank-you dog, blogging for HarperCollins and writing more, going more natural, indulging myself more, finding a spiritual outlet and revisiting my once active yoga practice.
I went about 3.5 for 10, which is batting .350. In baseball that sounds pretty good, right? Hmm.
I did get into Ohio State and got a graduate assistantship to cover my tuition and pay me a stipend. I found a place to live. I blogged for HC pretty regularly until school started, and was natural-ish until I couldn't afford it anymore. I got back into yoga for a while, but again, once I moved I stopped because the yoga at my Columbus gym is pretty lame, and the independent studio is too far away and too expensive at the moment.
I did find renters for our house, but that became a moot point, as did the thank you dog. I did not write too much, though I tried blogging as often as possible (and wrote in my journal for about a month, which I enjoyed), and the spiritual thing sort of just fell by the wayside. Of course, there's that whole divorce thing that wasn't part of the plan, but, you know: it is what it is."
So what should be in store for two thousand eleven? My OSU best girlfriend has embraced the motto "tighten it up!" which can be applied to all sorts of things--health and fitness, budget issues, etc. Another friend has vowed "no more heartache," which sounds unpredictable, but for her it has a purpose. Another friend is all about turning over the proverbial new leaf, which she has already begun by completely reorganizing her house (while wearing a belly-dancing coin scarf and perhaps a tiara).
Maybe my motto should be "live it up!" I tend to stay in the lines in many areas of my life and could probably stand to break free from my self-imposed boundaries. Another friend suggested that I take an "own it--no apologies!" attitude, which I suppose is a corollary of "live it up"--it wouldn't be "living it up" if every time I "lived it up" I then apologized for or hid from it, right?
I'm not sure I'm ready for a motto yet, but I can't begin a new decade without articulating a goal or two. Of course, the accountability on a public forum like a blog is quite terrifying, but, hey. This is me, living it up.
1. I am going to try to compliment myself more, or at least accept them from others. It's not like I get fawned over or praised constantly, but I have a tendency to brush them off, or respond with self-deprecation even if I also say "thank you." People have told my I'm a good writer ("oh, come on; it's just a blog" or "well, I'm not as good as you are..."). I get told how fit/trim/ thin/"tiny" I am--the fact that this is considered a "compliment" in our culture is a wholly separate issue--and I quickly point out my flaws (small boobs, super fair skin, flat hair...). People tell me how brave and courageous it is that I quit my job and moved to a city knowing one person in order to pursue a dream; I mention how the rest of my life collapsed as a result, and that I am certainly not the only person who has ever done such a thing. See how annoying that is? I'll try to stop.
2. I liked keeping a journal for most of December. I'm going to try to keep up with it, and my friend Remy bought me a new one so I'm all set. I would also really like to work on that goal from last year about writing more often (my YA series, children's book, etc.) though time seems to elude me.
3. I have a friend who spent a lot of last year dating herself. I'm going to give that a shot, too.
4. I have got to get better at cooking for one. This fall, I ate the same thing almost every day for about two months (this brown rice-spinach-chick pea-feta concoction my mom and I adapted from Cooking Light), and then once I got sick of that, I ate turkey and spinach lasagna every day for three weeks. Cooking for one is pretty annoying though, since you're also on dishes duty. And purchasing the ingredients for one serving of something is generally impossible--so that means leftovers anyway. Maybe I'll try one new recipe a week, so I'm only eating the same thing for five days.
5. I'd like to make a few more friends. Through Meetup I met Michelle and Jodi, who are a good time to go out with, and the aforementioned OSU friend and I have all four classes together, get along fabulously and do fun things like dinner, drinks, etc. as well as hanging in our pjs watching Planet Earth. My program is comprised entirely of women, most of whom are married and/or work full time and/or have kids, so it's hard to do much beyond little events with our cohort. My best guy friend lives here, too, and he's my go-to movie buddy, but I need women in my life more. I was hitting the Meetup circuit pretty hard when I first moved here, but school and work take up a lot of time.
6. I would like to be a better "Aunt" to my "nieces and nephews." I am an only child, so these kids are neither biologically nor legally related to me, but they are the progeny of my best friends and I need to start paying more attention to them.
7. I am going to try to keep getting a 4.0, and I am entering a graduate student essay competition at the conference in Texas, though I'm sure I won't win. Getting accepted to the Roanoke conference would be nice, too.
8. There is no reason I shouldn't keep my apartment clean. It's pretty stinkin' small. I've been pretty good thus far; let's keep that going.
9. Should I take a Facebook break? Probably.
10. Dance more. Fret less. You know, things like that.
So far in 2011, I've hit the gym twice, bought new mascara, written in my journal and recorded my "niece and nephews" birth dates in my planner. I started working on my essay for the competition, made a dinner that was newish (and only lasted for 2 days, not seven), and sent a text about how good I looked today. Off to a great start! I also spent hours uploading pictures to Facebook, but, well. I can't win them all.
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