A Time For Everything

First, here's the obligatory celebratory fireworks image:


Now, it's time to rate myself on my goals for the year 2018.

1) Regularly write to my Grandma in Denmark. -- BIG FAT FAIL. I completely dropped the ball on my poor Grandma. She got one letter from me this year for Christmas.

2) Call my moms monthly. -- I didn't do it monthly, but we connected often enough. On the other hand, the phone works both ways. Anyway, I give myself a C.

3) Walk the dog three times a week. -- Another big fail. I don't think I walked her but a handful of times.

4) Cook and eat better. -- I think I did alright, but not the better I had been intending. And I really fell off the wagon once the holidays hit and Sonshine came home. So giving myself a B-.

5) Re-institute the cleaning plan. -- Another F. I didn't even pull the box of cards out of the draw.

6) Work on my writing career--such as it is. -- Not as much as I should have. I stalled out in the writing in February and was never able to get back into the swing of things. I tried over the summer, but then prepping for the conference in October took precedence and that was all she wrote. Or didn't "wrote" as it were. Grade D.

7) Reduce body fat and maintain current weight. -- I actually did okay on this one. Again until the holidays hit. I've only gained maybe three pounds, but too many inches. Grade B-.

8) Take dance lessons with DH. -- Didn't happen. I can't take the full blame for this because DH wanted to wait until he lost some weight and, well, that didn't happen. So we'll call this ... I don't know what to call it.

9) Do more crafts! -- I cross stitched more and expanded the offerings of my Etsy store, but I didn't branch out and do stuff other than that. So D?

10) Take ballet and/or ice skating lessons. --  Didn't do this. Didn't even research it. Grade F.

11) Attend more STARS games. -- The only thing I exceeded at and that was because DH bought me partial season tickets. So A+++ .

What a horrible report card.

I'm sure y'all made better progress on your goals.

Have a great New Year's Eve. Stay safe and all that jazz. I'll see you here on Wednesday.

Sorry I missed Friday, but Thursday was a whirlwind and Friday was busy and I just didn't have a chance to sit down at a computer and get something posted.

So Portsmouth is a charming little town and the conference was a success in as much as it could be for this being my first year attending as a writer.

As a supporting author, I had to pay a little higher registration fee, but I was able to participate in the supporting author book signing Thursday morning as well as schedule two author lounges; lounges are an opportunity for fans or prospective fans to chat with an author. No book selling.

Here is me at the signing:


My setup was minimal because I needed to make sure I had the funds to get/be there. I didn't spend a lot on swag--I bought pens and paperboard coasters. I gave away more coasters than pens which is fine. I sold one physical copy and convinced maybe a dozen or so people to download the free ebook.

I did learn a few things:

A) I do need some sort of  table drape. I tried to buy one a month or so ago, but the image I wanted to use wasn't high enough pixels per inch to allow it to look okay at a larger size. So I didn't end up getting anything. During the signings and other author lounges, I looked at what other authors did. Bottom line...even just my name will work, if that's what it comes down to. But I have an author slogan, so I can certainly incorporate that if I choose to.

B) My book full of QR codes was well received and I got several compliments on having it. So that's a standard going forward.

C) Even if I don't have physical books, I need to print 5x7 copies of the covers and use those standup acrylic frames to show off all the titles... I'm not sure why I didn't think of that this time. (and have the QR codes handy)

D) (and my least favorite but not unfamiliar lesson) Swag is king and draws the crowd. I only took one opportunity to check out swag this year and was amazed by what was on offer. Mostly all I could think of is "why"? I guess mine is not to wonder why, but to provide meaningful and interesting goodies. I have a few months to decide if I'm going to next year's (probably) and then I need to decide on swag and start gathering.

I did get to explore the area a bit too and I'll post some pics on Wednesday.

Hope you're all well and happy Monday.

Last week, I reviewed my progress or lack thereof on last year's goals. I didn't do nearly as well as I thought I had, nor did I have as many goals as I thought I had. But it's spilled milk or water under the bridge and there's no use in beating myself up. I can't go back. I can only move forward and try to do better.

Several of last year's goals are being carried over. They're that important. Let's start with those.

1) Writing to my Grandma in Denmark. This is important. The woman is in her 90s. She's not going to be around much longer in the grand scheme of things. In order to make this easier to accomplish, I think I'll find some postcards depicting Texas and send these along monthly with a few notes and then go for a longer letter every couple of months. Honestly, there's not a lot going on in my life, but I know my Grandma doesn't care that much and would like to hear from me, her only granddaughter.

2) Calling my moms monthly. Again, not much going on in anyone's lives, but you never know what's going to happen and not just to someone who's older. I drive the streets every day. I could be the one who leaves this world far too soon. So yeah. Monthly phone calls to say "HI" and "I love you."

3) Walk the dog three times a week. I took Rayna into the vet a few months ago for some reason or another and mentioned a limp she gave into seemingly randomly. It turns out she tore something in one of her "knee" joints and has developed arthritis. One of the ways to help combat the pain and stiffness of that, not to mention the excess weight she's carrying, is to get her on an exercise regimen. Plus I could stand to be a little more active at the end of my day, so Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are the days I'll take Rayna for a walk. These are all days I'm at home--so instead of driving home from work, I'll walk the dog. Good for her, good for me. Now if the temperatures would warm up just a little.


4) Cook & eat better. Honestly, we're doing okay. Not great, but okay. We usually eat fish once a week and chicken every one to two weeks. It's the "scrounge" days that get us, so I guess that means planning another one or two healthier-ish meals on a weekly basis. Maybe incorporate chicken weekly. Maybe adding a pork-based meal weekly as well. With leftovers, at least six out of seven days ought to be covered, right?

And the last carryover goal is...

5) Re-institute the cleaning plan. All I have to do is dig out the box of index cards, re-sort them, and get started. There's just so many other more fun things to be doing than cleaning. :0) I guess until I can afford a cleaning lady, I'm it, eh?

As for new or similar/adjusted goals, let's see...

6) Work on my writing career--such as it is. I'm not looking to be a New York Times Bestseller or support DH and myself with my writing, but there are a lot of areas to improve upon and that need my attention. The sub-list is as follows:

a) publish books 5-8 this year. Books 5 and 6 are written. They just need final revisions and formatting. Books 7 has been started, but I'm not very far along. Book 8 has characters and a vague plot line.
b) spend some time on marketing the series and the books.
c) enter a contest or two to increase readership.
d) choose an aspect of my writing to work on and, you know, work on it.

*There are probably a few more things, but they're vague notions at the moment.

7)  Now that I've finally reached my weight goal and have maintained that weight for three months, it's time to work on a different aspect of my physical health.

As a side note, I officially started my journey in January of 2012. It took me just under five years. I knew it was going to take a while; I was in it for the long haul, and I never got really discouraged. YAY me. :0)

My new endeavor is to reduce fat--not weight--just fat. I have way too many jiggly spots and losing weight does not automatically mean you've lost fat. Just as gaining muscle does not mean you've lost fat. Fat doesn't turn into muscle. They are made up of two different things. I started the fat burning process once I reached the weight goal and made a bit of progress, but my cruise and holiday hiatus has reversed the process a little. Again, come January 2, it's back to work and back to a stricter diet for a time.

8) Now I can't reach this next goal without DH, but I'm putting it on here anyway because he mentioned wanting to while on the cruise. And that's take dance lessons... DH took ballroom dance lessons many moons ago before I'd met him and he enjoyed them a lot. I just think it'd be fun and then we can dance at family events or on next year's cruise or even just go out dancing.

9) Do more crafts! This was on this goal list a couple of years ago and I didn't do much better, but I always get nostalgic for my craftier days around the holidays. I've been cross stitching some small hockey related things, so I need to keep on going. I also have some other, larger projects rolling around in my brain. And maybe I can get a head start on next year's ornament and make something decent, not only for my kids but for my close circle of writer peeps who also get ornaments each year. Another friend of mine (shout-out to N!) does felt crafts and she's made me some lovely felt ornaments the last couple of years. That might be a fun new craft to try.

10) Take ballet and/or ice skating lessons. Part of this stems from the "be more active" mind set, but also from a get-more-flexible and build-up-stamina thought process in mind of staying healthy and active as long as possible as I face my 50th birthday this year. Also, they look fun, and the ice skating, of course, stems from my new-found love of hockey.


11) And my fluffy goal for the year--attend more STARS games. I'll say five more games between now and the end of the season in early April. Fingers crossed they make it to the playoffs and that I can afford a playoff ticket. :0) Then we'll say three games once the new season begins in October. So eight Stars games in 2018. And if I travel to a city that has a hockey team, chances are I'll buy tickets to a game if there's one being played while I'm there.


So there you have it. A decently ambitious list. How about you? Have you got a goal or two on the record for 2018? Do share.