My Real Life

We are a good three months into 2013 now, and I think that’s a fair amount of time to look at my 20 Wishes for 2013 and see how we are doing.

I’ll be honest, I’m not feeling particularly good about it, but I have to admit that I haven’t looked at the list in awhile, so I could be doing better than I thought, without even realizing it.

Yeah, let’s hope for that.

1. Take the family to DisneyWorld. We’ve been talking about doing this for quite awhile and just haven’t done it. I want this to be the year.

So…there actually was a plan in place and we were getting prices and were planning to take the family, as a surprise, next week.  However, a few things came up and won’t be resolved by then, and so we are having to postpone.  Until these things get resolved, I also can’t really make any future plans (it sounds dire, it’s not…I’ll explain when I’m able) so we are still thinking about it and are planning to plan it when we are able.  (Planning to plan…ay-yay-yay.)

2. Get a playset for the backyard. I want the kids to play outside more, and I know my kids and a playset would definitely do it.

This weekend, in fact, Real Man and I are going playset hunting.  We’re hoping it’s simple like, “We want this one.  Here’s our money.  Come set it up.  Go play.”  But, someone started saying things about having to get the yard graded, etc. and we are not happy with that.  Fingers crossed – easy to find and simple.
3. Get weight down by 9 pounds AND KEEP IT THERE. Goal weight: 125

Um, let’s make that 11 pounds, now.  It has been a stressful, stressful few months around the monkey house and I am a stress eater.  I also haven’t made the time to exercise in quite awhile and the scale this morning showed me the consequences of those two things put together.  Very disappointed in myself.

Steps in the right direction – I’m back to logging my food at WeightWatchers.com and I used the delayed opening, this morning, to hit the treadmill.  In a stroke of genius, I chose to start watching “Breaking Bad” while on the treadmill this morning and I am hooked.  I am only going to allow myself to watch that show while on the treadmill, so that will definitely motivate me.
4. Incorporate more vegetables into the family diet.

I’m working on it…I am.  In the last few weeks of the play and then with Tiny in the hospital, veggies took a backseat for awhile, but they are back.  Roast Beef in the crockpot for dinner tonight with green beans and raw, cut up red peppers.
5. Make $1,000 by selling on eBay.

We were cooking, there, for awhile, but again, life got in the way.  I plan to look around, this weekend, to find some more things to start selling again.  This is a doable goal.
6. Get blog readership to 200 per day average.

Interestingly, you’d think that I would have doubled my readers with the publicity that the book is getting.  I haven’t.  For awhile, when we would all give shout outs to the other authors, the format that the blogs were listed had me last, and I think people petered out about midway through the list.  They reorganized, and it still wasn’t helping.  However, I do have a few more Facebook followers on the My Real Life FB page, so that is something.  I’m still working on it, and with our first book signing coming up, I’m hopeful that will improve my numbers as well.
7. Make home office neat, organized, and functional.

That’s a project for next weekend.  I’ve already taken the “before” picture.
8. Read 50 books (and keep track!)

I got up to 11 before life exploded.  The play, Tiny, and now the book.  This whole book thing is like a second full-time job.  Keeping up with the emails and posts and press releases and events and publicity.  Seriously…like another full-time job.  It all leaves me completely wiped out at the end of the day and I can barely stay awake for the shows that we have DVR’d by the time I am able to relax, so reading isn’t in the picture.  However, Erin made a book recommendation, the other day, that I am going to check out.  Although, I have read this book.  Have you?
9. Get pictures hung. We’ve been here a year and a half and haven’t hung up our pictures yet. Drives me nuts.

Not yet.
10. Have family photo taken.

Not with these 11 pounds to lose.
11. Really go through my closet and be ruthless with getting rid of what I don’t wear.

I’m thinking about this for a Spring Break project, next week. 🙂
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.

I was doing well with this, and then it fell by the wayside.  I may sit down for a few minutes before my piano student comes, this afternoon, and play a piece of two.
13. Only eat out once a week, if at all.

I plead the fifth.  It’s been nuts around here, okay?  I did a good grocery shop yesterday, though, so I’m looking at homemade for some time to come.
14. Write in my journal more often. I only wrote in it twice in 2012, 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.

Next.
15. Really learn about self-publishing to see if it is an option for my novel.

I’ve learned a LOT about self-publishing through this whole I Just Want to Pee Alone experience.  I think it is definitely an option for my novel.  I just need to feel like it’s ready for the public eye, and after so long, I’m not sure.

Which leads me to #16.
16. Re-edit my novel.

I think the first book I need to read when I get a minute is my own.  It’s time to really go through it again and re-familiarize myself with the story. It’s definitely been long enough that I’m not too close to the material, any more.
17. Shred and pare down all of our files.

Not yet.
18. Sell the van.

This one makes me so weary, I don’t even want to talk about it.
19. Take more pictures.

January was the month of picture taking.

Then came February and I still took pictures, but not as many.

March…maybe one or two?

I’ll get back to it in April when Spring inspires me to pick up the camera again.

There are only so many pictures you can take with an icky, gray background.
20. Be outside more.

It snowed today.

We had a delayed opening.

Enough said.