Is Anybody Out There?

In the spirit of the new year (yes it takes me until Jan. 19th to get around to 'new year' spirit), I've been thinking about ways to improve my life. Call them goals or resolutions or what-have-you, but I've been thinking of them nonetheless. And, all this thinking inevitably led me back to the goals I set at the start of 2009. I'd thought I'd reflect a bit on them before launching into another series of high aims and low ambition.

1. Lose weight. I did this. I lost 30 pounds last year, then gained 10 of it back. Hopefully this year I can net a bit more.

2. Read. It took me a bit, but I mostly accomplished this as well. Last year saw me read 20 Something Essays By 20 Something Writers, Haroun and the Sea of Stories (by Salman Rushdie), Lamb (by Christopher Moore), Everything is Illuminated (by Jonathon Safran Foer), and a host of other poems and such.

3. Make a financial plan. Ok, no real plan here. But we did make a budget we sometimes keep, and we got all our insurance/retirement ducks in a row.

4. Figure out just what we would need (and could afford) in a second home. Well, our house is on the market. We aren't looking yet - mostly because no one is really looking at us - but we do have a wish-list and a price range. And, we've been watching a bunch of House Hunters

5. Collect all my thoughts about conceiving Parker, having Parker, and now raising Parker into one coherent piece of writing instead of just keeping them in bits and pieces here and there and in my head. Yeah..no. I'm moving this one from 'year goal' to 'life goal' and we'll see how it goes. If it works, lesbian parenting is a pretty niche market so maybe I can get book deal.

6. Attend at least four arts events in the city. 75% Done. I heard Elizabeth Alexander read at Butler. We saw A Christmas Carol at IRT. And I tried to take a group of students to hear Charles Simic read, but it was cancelled so I ended up making them write their own poems and then had them read their pieces on the steps of the Carillon at Butler.

7. Find a church. I'm calling this one 75% done too. We found one we like and are in the process of talking to them about joining.

8. Write more things down. I have done this. Has it led to anything? No. I have mostly just found that I am now too busy to remember things without writing them down. But, I am giving a talk on recreational writing for the general public in February. If anyone wants to come, let me know.

9. Blog more. Three = number of blogs in 2009. I'm going with a no.

10. Take Suellen on a trip for our anniversary. Did it. We went to Chicago for 4 days. It was perfect.

11. Take a vacation with Parker. Did this too. A whole week in Leland, MI. It was more family perfection time.

12. Start playing the trumpet again. Does UHS Pep band count?

13. Go back to New Hampshire for a bit. No luck here. But there's always this summer...

Now, to start on 2010.