Resolution Update: February and March

So it's April. How did that happen?  I'm going to blame the fact that I was in Hawaii during the February-March transition for my failure to post a resolution update then. As for March, well, I can't really post about March if I haven't posted about February, now can I? Reasons, excuses, whatever. The fact is I am behind. And so I'm going to pull a double shift here and provide both February and March updates in this post.


Resolution One: Write or Edit Creative Works for at Least One Hour Five Days a Week
February: Fail
March: Fail

I really did a poor job with this goal for both February and March. Thankfully, I'm a member of a writing group that expects me to submit a piece for critique once a month, so I did manage to produce two pieces, but I did not go above and beyond that. I blame the fact that I was traveling and working in an office for much of February and March, but again, excuses. I will do better this month (or what's left of it...).

Resolution Two: Get a Story Published
February: Fail
March: Fail

It's hard to get a story published if you don't submit it for consideration. I did enter one contest, which I apparently did not win, but I didn't submit my creative work anywhere else. Submission season for most literary journals is actually approaching a hiatus, since most run according to the academic calendar. So I'm probably going to have to wait until fall to have a chance at accomplishing this. In the interim, I need to write, polish, pick markets, and have multiple pieces ready to submit once the fall comes around.

Resolution Three: Submit Chapter Book to Agent/Publisher
February: Fail
March: Fail

I've really lost steam with this project. I honestly can't remember the last time I looked at it. Time to dig up the file and give it some love.

Resolution Four: Get Two New Freelance Clients
February: Success
March: Success

Finally, some success! All those fails at the beginning were feeling a big discouraging. But honestly, if I want to maintain my sanity and enjoy my life somewhat, I'm not going to be able to accomplish all my goals every month. They are goals for the year, that's what I have to remind myself, though monthly progress would be good. Anyhow, February and March were really great months for my freelancing business, so I'm pumped about that. I began getting a substantial amount of work from the Smithsonian, the one client I already had, and I added two new clients to my roster: Groupon, for whom I am writing daily deals; and Oxford University Press, for whom I am providing copy editing and production editing services. I also attended a social venture job fair, where I made contacts with three other businesses that could potentially use my services. Things are looking good on this front. Now just to maintain the momentum.

Resolution Five: Reenvision, Relaunch, and Maintain Blog
February: Success
March: Success

I've been posting fairly regularly to Lives of Wander, and I feel good about where it's at now. It's not ever going to be anything more than my personal travel blog, and I'm 100% okay with that. Now to launch the KY Blog...


Resolution Six: Ride a Century
February: Fail
March: Progress

I've made some progress on this goal in that I think I've chosen the event in which I would like to ride: the Habitat for Humanity Durham Century Ride at the end of October. I've also begun my quest to find the perfect road bike. I still have to buy the bike and most importantly, get riding!

Resolution Seven: Cook One New Thing Each Week
February: Success
March: Success

Aside from the weeks when we were traveling, we've done a good job of adding new meals to our menus. I need to compile a list of favorite new meals and share them.

Resolution Eight: Sew a Piece of Clothing to Wear
February: Fail
March: Fail

We did finally clean up the front bedroom and rearrange it so that my sewing machine has a place to live that is easy to access. I need to pick a pattern and some material now and get sewing. Though first I need Jeff to wrap me in duct tape...

Resolution Nine: Take a Class to Learn Something New
February: Success
March: Goal Accomplished

I'm not sure I have to call March a failure, because CHECK, I accomplished this goal. I wanted to learn something new this year and I did. I took a class and learned to surf while in Hawaii. Woohoo! Goal Accomplished! I'd like to maybe take another class to learn something else, but we'll see. Lots of other resolutions to tend to.

Resolution Ten: Read a Minimum of 25 Books
February: Fail
March: Fail

Wow. This is the most surprising fail for me, but both February and March were lean months for me in regards to reading. Things turned sour when I spent forever trying to read Lotus Eaters and just could not get into it. Then I took some books with me on vacation but never got to them. Then I was working in an office by day and at home by night. Reading in all forms took a major hit. I'm almost caught up on New Yorkers, and I just went to the library and got two books, one of which I'm 50 pages into, so I'm back in the game, but good thing I did so much reading in January!

Resolution Eleven: Have an Adventure Every Month
February: Success
March: Success

We headed to Hawaii at the end of February and stayed into the second week of March, and I'd say Hawaii was a pretty big adventure, so great success on this front. I also spent a weekend in Houston for Cristina's bachelorette party, so lots of adventure in February and March. The upcoming months look good on this front too!