Resolution Update: October, November, and December

Resolution One: Write or Edit Creative Works for at Least One Hour Five Days a Week
November was a very productive month for me writing-wise, as I really focused on writing every day. This fell off in December with the holidays and all the hub-bub that goes with them. I'm going to refocus on writing in the New Year and hopefully come up with some sort of "schedule" that works for me.

Resolution Two: Get a Story Published
I didn't succeed here. I did send one story out, however, to two different places, one a contest and one a very top journal. It was rejected by the top journal. It didn't win the contest, but it was a finalist.

Resolution Three: Submit Chapter Book to Agent/Publisher
As I noted before, I decided to call this one off. Maybe I'll revive it one day.

Resolution Four: Get Two New Freelance ClientsAlready accomplished. October was a very productive month for me, and November and December continued on that trend.

Resolution Five: Reenvision, Relaunch, and Maintain Blog
I'm still completely up in the air as to how I want to handle this. Some days I want to invest more in it; other days I want to say forget it.

Resolution Six: Ride a Century
Accomplished! On October 29, we completed the Durham Habitat for Humanity Century Ride. It was the nastiest day we've had all year, I think. Temperature in the low 40s, rain, and wind strong enough that I thought I might fall off my bike at points. Definitely not the day I would have picked, but we biked anyway and were 2 of only 15 people to finish the century. (All other people, being apparently saner than us, opted for the 31 mile or 62 mile routes.)

Resolution Seven: Cook One New Thing Each Week     
We continued adding new food to our repertoire, welcoming back fall favorites such as butternut squash and sweet potatoes. We also prepared a slew of new things for our holiday party: chorizo and manchego stuffed piquillo peppers, sundried tomato stuffed mushrooms, beef en croute with bernaise sauce, smoked salmon tartlets, two types of mini quiches, and more.

Resolution Eight: Sew a Piece of Clothing to Wear 
Fail! My sewing machine continued to be put to use for repairs but did not create anything new. I still might get a pillow sewn before the New Year. Maybe? Maybe? But using my sewing machine more will have to be a goal for next year.

Resolution Nine: Take a Class to Learn Something New 
Already accomplished.

Resolution Ten: Read a Minimum of 25 Books
Already accomplished. Over the past three months, I read an additional 10 books, and I'm halfway through one more, which I hope to finish before 2011 departs.

Resolution Eleven: Have an Adventure Every Month    
Our adventures continued through the end of the year, but they were much more low key. In October, we didn't actually leave North Carolina, but we spent a lot of time exploring parts of it we hadn't been to before--both on our bikes and during a visit from Jeff's parents. In November, we made our annual pilgrimage to Seattle for Thanksgiving, and in December, we traveled to Louisville for Christmas celebrations.