My Real Life

I love the New Year.

I hate the New Year.

So many new possibilities.

So many new ways to fail.

As you read, yesterday, I didn’t do so well with my Twenty Wishes for 2013.

2013 was a year of big change for me, and if I’m honest, while the change was good, it knocked me for a loop and a lot of the things that I enjoy were left by the wayside.

However, I’m feeling like I’m in the groove now, and I am hopeful that I can be more successful with my Twenty Wishes for 2014.

I think it would definitely make for a happier me, and a happier me means a happier everyone around me.

So, here they are…my Twenty Wishes for 2014.

May I work hard to make them happen.

1. Take the family to DisneyWorld. There’s a reason this item was number one in 2013.  I’m leaving it here and making it a non-negotiable.  It’s not the right of every kid to go to DisneyWorld, but I’d love for my kids to get there while they are still kids.  I didn’t get there until my honeymoon.
2. Participate in at least one random act of kindness per week.  Obviously, the hope would be to do more, but I’m human, I’m flawed, and I get wrapped up in my own crap.  I don’t plan on reporting on these, because I think that feels self-serving to be telling you “Hey guys…here’s the nice thing I did today,” so for this, I’ll hold myself accountable, because more than making it a wish for 2014, I want to hold myself accountable for thinking outside myself as a way of life.
3. Get weight down by 15 pounds AND KEEP IT THERE. It’s important.  For my health, for my future.
4. Incorporate more vegetables into the family diet.  Did it last year…think there is still even more room to grow.
5. Make $1,000 by selling on eBay, consignment, etc.  We need to supplement our income, and because of the new job, I’m no longer teaching as many piano lessons.  So, here’s a way to help with that.
6. Blog at least once a week. I know I can’t do it every day, but I do hope to be able to do at least once a week.  Why?  Because I love writing here.  Because I feel better when I ‘get it out.’  Because I feel like I owe you all that…you’ve stuck with me a long time!
7. Make home office neat, organized, and functional.  The office gives me a tic.  Must. Get. It. Under. Control.
8. Read 50 books (and keep track!)  I did this last year, and I really want to continue with it.  I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs.  Reading (and writing) smooths out the rough edges for me.
9. Have one “No Spend Month.”  I want to challenge our family to have one month where we spend no money, other than our once a week grocery shopping, gas and bills.  No charging.  No cash.  No nothing.  Just to prove to ourselves that we can do it.  I’ve been thinking about it, and I think March might be the month for this.  Stay tuned.
10. Have family photo taken.  The most recent one we have is from Tiny’s baptism.  It’s time.
11. Really go through my closet and be ruthless with getting rid of what I don’t wear.  This serves a dual purpose.  Gets rid of the excess, allows me to donate to brighten someone else’s life, and I can sell some of it, as well, and work on two goals at once.
12. Play piano at least once a week. I teach piano lessons, so I am always at the piano, but I rarely carve out the time to play for myself. I went to college as a vocal and piano performance major and I feel like I’m neglecting that part of myself.  This shouldn’t be as hard as it is.  I need to figure it out and make it happen.
13. Only eat out once a week, if at all.  This is one that we did last year and I think is good to keep in the loop.  This year, with my longer work hours, it’s even more tempting to fall back on bad habits.  So, I’m keeping it in the rotation.
14. Write in my journal more often. I only wrote in it three times in 2013, so anything would be an improvement! I think keeping the blog up every day takes it’s place, but they have different purposes and I don’t want to neglect my journal writing.  I want to do this.  No reason I can’t make this happen.
15. Get published, again.  I was published in “I Just Want to Pee Alone” in 2013, and I definitely want to be published in 2014, as well.  Whether in an anthology, a short story, a magazine, a website…don’t care.  It’s important to me.
16. Re-edit my novel.  I’m hopeful to use my writer’s group for this.
17. Shred and pare down all of our files.  Because these are a huge part of the issue with the office.
18. Entertain more.  I enjoy entertaining at our house.  We just don’t ever get around to it.  I’m hoping to remedy that, this year.  This was actually the first New Year’s Eve that we’ve done something in 13 years, and we live in a neighborhood with some really great people, so I think it’s time to capitalize on that and get to entertaining!
19. Spend more time outside.  Because, even though I did well with this, more outside is always better.
20. Making it happen.  I’m a pretty smart woman and a very determined woman.  I let a lot of excuses get in my way in 2013, and I feel like 2014 is the year that I want to make it happen.  What is “it”?  Whatever the heck I decide I want.