End of the Year, 2012

I supposed it's time to look back at the goals I posted for 2012 and see how well I did.

1) revise/edit HUNTED LYON, send it for copy edit/layout by June

This didn't happen.  I had fully intended to have it happen, but the copy editor I was going to use was displaced by the High Park fire and by the time everything settled down, I decided the book needed more work anyway.  The good news is that I really like the revision work being done.

2) revise/edit/publish (probably self-pub) TALES FROM THE TRAIL

Again, didn't happen.  I've reworked how I want to lay it out, now I just have to work on continuity/flow of the stories.

3) increase my riding ability; learn more leg cues

My riding has gotten better, but I'm not as far along with my leg cues as I would like.  I kind of got fixated on doing bridle-less riding, which requires good leg cues, but found that Estes and I have some major holes in our training.

4) continue to increase my fitness/lose weight

This went really well until after the Bolder Boulder.  That 10k kicked my ass.  Once I was healed up from it, the High Park fire started and the air advisories warned us away from exercising.  And then the summer disappeared and next thing I know, it's the end of the year and I am back to being fat and out of shape.

 

Back in February, my job changed drastically, which was a giant slap in the face and it broke my give-a-damn.  Unfortunately, it broke my give-a-damn in all aspects of my life, not just work.

 

Pretty much, my goal for 2013 is to repair my give-a-damn.

 

Wish me luck.

Resolution Check-in

I thought I'd look back at those pesky old resolutions I had for 2011 and see how well I did with them.  Should be interesting.

#1 Be healthier.  My goal was to lose 40# by my 40th birthday.  FAIL!
#2 Write, write, write.  Finish HUNTED LYON.  WIN!  Start on LYON'S ROAR.  FAIL!
#3 Spend more time with my little girl.  WIN! Never mind that some of that more time was 'round the clock care when she colicked, but it still counts.  And I *did* take exactly two riding lessons to learn how to cue better.
#4 Continue my Master's program.  FAIL!
#5 Be a better person. DRAW.  There were times when I had a handle on it, and there were times when I failed spectacularly.  Like when I told my big boss that he was screwing our students over by taking away a classroom for our free GED program.  What I said: "I think our tuition-paying students are getting screwed by losing that classroom."  What I should have said: "I'm concerned about how our tuition-paying students will react to the loss of a classroom, and subsequently, the decrease in the number of classes we can offer each mod."  However, that was the biggest foot-meet-mouth moment I had with my boss this year, so maybe I should call it a win.

I don't feel too badly about my 2011 resolutions.  Maybe when I look back at my 2012 "goals", I'll feel even better.

How's everyone else feel about their 2011 resolutions?  Did you meet them or not?  Was it a draw year, like mine?

2011 Comes to an End

Holy Cow!  Another year down.  How does it happen so fast?  Not quite as fast as the kids growing up, but still pretty fast.

All in all, 2011 was a pretty good year for me.  Heck, I actually finished - all the way to The End - my first novel.  I'll be flying high on that for a while.  I think that was probably my biggest accomplishment.

I lost 26# and gained back 5# over the holidays.  Oops.  I guess I should be glad it was only 5# I gained back; last year I gained a whole lot more than that.  When I started at the gym in February, I had a grandiose idea of losing 40# by my 40th birthday.  We all know that didn't happen.  In fact, I've been plateaued since my birthday (well, except for my very recent 5# gain), but I still feel a sense of accomplishment that I was able to lose 21#.  In 2012, I'll be working on losing the rest of the weight.

It was a tough year with the kids.  I've not posted about it, because they're at an age where I think they deserve their privacy about some of the things they're going through.  But let me tell you, the last three months have been so hard with (and for) them.  I hope we all get through it intact in 2012.

I don't really want to formalize my goals as "resolutions", since I rarely meet my resolutions.  But I will share a couple of goals:

• revise/edit HUNTED LYON, send it for copy edit/layout by June
• revise/edit/publish (probably self-pub) TALES FROM THE TRAIL
• increase my riding ability; learn more leg cues
• continue to increase my fitness/lose weight

Not a lot of goals, but I think they are attainable.

I'd add "win the PowerBall", but that's kind of out of my control.  But that would be one goal I'd love to meet. :)

Happy New Year, everyone.  I hope 2012 is better than you dreamed.

*Sigh* Another Year Dawns

It seems like I didn't have enough time in 2010 to get everything done.  I checked in with last year's resolutions and felt like it was a draw.  No surprise, I'm recycling all four of them for this year and adding one.

#1: Be healthier.  I semi-succeeded with this one, in that I ended the year weighing less than I started the year.  But I'm in worse shape, not better.  This year, I'll be turning the big four-oh.  I so want to hit my birthday forty pounds lighter than I am now.  Turning the big four-oh, forty pounds lighter.  Yep, sounds like a good omen to me :)  Going to check out a gym tomorrow; have to join one.  I'm too much of a wimp to 1) run and 2) run in the cold.  Screw that business.

#2: Write, write, write.  Re-query TALES FROM THE TRAIL.  Finish HUNTED LYON and begin editing it.  Get to work on the second book in the Lyon series, LYON'S ROAR.

#3: Spend more time with my little girl.  Because, let's face it, there's just never enough time to spend with the equine loves of our lives.  I'm even going to take riding lessons while she's at winter pasture so that I can utilize my seat better.  I ride okay and have lots of hours on the back of a horse, but I'd like to have better leg/seat control.  Estes is much better trained than I am; I'd like to be a worthy rider.

#4:  Continue my Master's program.  If I play my cards right and work my arse off, RockCrawlinChef and I will walk together at graduation in 2012.  How cool would that be?

#5: Be a better person.  I'm kind of a catty, snarky bitch.  I'm trying to learn to live and let live.  It's hard.  I've always spoken my mind, hurt feelings be damned.  I grew up believing that you say what needs to be said, when it needs to be said.  I still believe that, but I think I can learn a lot from my Southern friends who can tell someone to go right to hell, give them directions, and make them think it was their idea to begin with.  It's a skill I envy.  I want to be able to bless hearts with the best of them.

2010 Resolution Check-in

Before making my 2011 Resolutions, I thought it would be a bright idea to check in on my 2010 Resolutions to see how I did with them. 

Resolution #1: Be healthier.  I did well on this one for a little while, but overall failed miserably.  Guess what's going on the 2011 list?

Resoluction #2:  Continue writing.  Call this one a draw.  RCC and I did NOT manage to do weekly write-ins, but I did manage to get TALES FROM THE TRAIL queried.  I didn't even get a form rejection for that one, but in 2011, I'll research more publishers who I feel might fit my niche and query even more.  In addition to querying TALES, I'm going to finish HUNTED LYON and begin the edit process on that.

Resolution #3:  More time with my little girl.  Again, a draw.  I did make it up to spend time with her every week, but she got lamed up after HCR and I didn't get much riding done.  However, thanks to my followers, we managed to figure out what was causing her lameness and get her healed up enough that I could again get back up on her for the fall.

Resolution #4: Start my Master's program in Public Health.  Technically a fail, by one month.  I wanted to start by the May mod and didn't get started until June.  But I did get started and currently have a 4.0 (woo-hoo!).  Unfortunately, we ran into a snag getting my official transcripts from CSU (when I consolidated my student loans, my Perkins loans were not included, which I had no idea about), so until I get my officials I'm stalled out on my program. 

I suspect that my 2011 list will look pretty much like my 2010 list, since I didn't complete them.  No sense beating myself up over it; I'll just dust myself off and have another go.

Another Resolution Check-in!

So, I sort of met Resolution #2 by sending my query for TALES into the publisher on March 4 (they received it on March 9 - I cyber-stalked).  My goal was to get TALES sent off by the end of January, but that just didn't happen.  I am thrilled that I did summon the cajones to actually write the query and send off the query and sample pages.

Now it looks like I'm going to meet my Resolution #4, the one where I start my Master's degree by the May mod, which starts May 10th.  Just because it's free doesn't mean that I don't have a million hoops to jump through, including hoops from HR.  Today, my Executive Director had to fill out personnel evaluation to make sure I was worthy of the degree.  Hey, I'm not complaining, it sure beats taking a GRE to get into grad school.

I'm super excited and scared to death.  I'm going to have to take Biostatistics, which I all but failed in college.  I'm not quite sure how on earth I (barely) passed it to begin with.  The thought of taking a graduate-level Biostats class terrifies me.  Once I'm through with that, it'll be all go (or so I keep telling myself).

The only problem with going to school is that I see it potentially cutting into my blog time, but since I don't get paid to blog, I suppose I can sacrifice a little.  But I'm not really going any where, just slowing down (maybe).

2010 Resolution #4 - and That's It, No More

I've said it before, but I've got to actually do it this time...I'm going to start my Master's program in Public Health.  My boss wants me to get it in Nurse Education, but that doesn't interest me, which means that I won't put my all into it.  I understand his reasoning - I am, afterall, an Associate Dean dealing primarily with medical assisting students - so Nurse Education seems like the logical choice.  The difference is that I want to do Public Health, which will serve me well if my job at the college ever comes to an end.  I'd like to work for the CDC eventually and a Master's in Nurse Ed just won't get me there.

The great thing is that if I get my Master's through the college I work for, all tuition is paid; I just have to agree to work for two years after I complete my degree.  Trust me, I've been laid off once, which was plenty, and the agreeing to work for two additional years isn't any skin off my nose.  I look at it as guaranteed employment in a job I love.  It could be worse, really.

I will start my program no later than the May module.  That gives me time to get some new instructors hired and trained and get some of my crazy teaching schedule off of my plate.  It also gives me time to make sure that my Resolution #2 is met and I've got my submission to the publisher in and the contest for Resolution #1 should have just wound up.  Estes will appreciate me having lost some weight, I'm sure :)  Starting my program the same month as Estes comes home could make my Resolution #3 a bit more difficult, but still doable if I can get some of my work duties shuffled off to the appropriate people. 

I MISS MY BABY GIRL! and 2010 Resolution #3

*Warning: There are lots of links in this post to make up for the loss of pictures from the ITD my computer contracted.*

The four-legged one, not the teenaged one.  I had this whole year-in-review, decade-in-review thing planned for today, but then started my daily blog crawl and it dawned on me how many horse blogs I follow, just look at my profile for the list (note: Preachers and Horse Thieves is not a horse blog, though K. is a hoot and a half; everyone should read his blog).

Maybe it's because I'm sick yet again, which may be a year-end record for me.  Three illnesses in three months, WTH?  I'm never sick.  Maybe it's because she went down to winter pasture much earlier than the other horses and I haven't had nearly enough time with my baby.  Maybe it's all of the horse blogs I now follow.  Who knows?  What I do know is that I miss her so much it hurts.  I just want my baby girl.

I know that she's nearby - in Lyons - with the rest of the herd.  And I know that she's fine.  And I know that it's better for her to be out running with the herd than up at the Lodge where there's no wind cover and it's too cold and miserable to go for a ride anyway.  But damn it, I miss her terribly.  And I'm terribly envious of my horse blog friends who have their horses either home with them or boarded some place close, who can see their babies any time they want to.  And, if the weather's nice, they can just climb on up and away they go.

So, I guess my current year-in-review is going to involve my baby girl, Miss Estes.  She came home shortly before my wedding, and though she couldn't be in the wedding, I had to share our special day with her...

...yep, up and over the fence in wedding dress and boots!

She wouldn't have anything to do with the RockCrawlinChef being in the picture, but A-butt managed to get a nice shoot of me and Estee...We didn't get to the lodge in time for Estee to get a Spa Day, so she's a little rough around the edges in the picture, and still wooly from the cold.  For some reason, A-butt thought it more important for me to get the whole hair and makeup thing done for the wedding than Estes getting a good grooming.  Crazy kid!

We didn't get nearly enough ride time this summer, I'd blame it on a new husband, but that wasn't the case at all.  I'd gotten a big promotion at work, my counterpart quit as soon as we came back from our Honeymoon, and the librarian walked out without notice shortly thereafter.  The education department in a growing college does not run itself.  Thank God for the then-education department-assistant, Amanda.  Recently, she's been promoted to full-time Academic Advisor, but there wouldn't have been any way for me to keep the department running without her.  So, needless to say, my visions of spending a couple of days a week on the trail went by the wayside.  I did mange to get up the hill most Fridays and we got to go out...

We had good days; we had temper tantrums; and we slayed ghosties.  We rode, as usual, in the 4th of July Parade, but those pictures were lost when my computer crashed.  I think RockCrawlinChef has some pictures on his computer, but, honestly, his Mac scares the crap out of me.  They are not easy computers for us PC-types.

Our riding this summer got cut short by an accident in the pen.  We're not sure what happened to spook the horses, but something set them off and Estee ended up sliding off a short ridge and impaling herself on a tree stump that Missy Meeker and Washoe had chewed up a couple of years before.  Luckily, her injuries weren't too severe, but required time off to heal. 

Mom took great care of her and the good news is that the fall seemed to straighten up whatever was causing her to tighten up.  Let's hear it for natural chiropractic adjustments from falling off a ridge.

I didn't get to spend nearly enough time with her last summer, which leads us to Resolution #3...

More time with Miss Estes.  At least every Friday, but I'm going to make a point of adjusting my work schedule so that I can make it up at least one additional afternoon a week to spend with her.

2010 Resolution #2

Continue writing, which really isn't too hard, but I really need to get my act together and join a writing group or continue with the Loco FoCo Wrimos.  Jay and I have decided that we'll be staging our own write-ins once a week some place other than home.  We both have fabulous starts on our novels, and by God, we're going to finish.

We're going to shoot for 1,500 words a week each, and my blog words don't count.  It has to be 1,500 words per week on my novel until it's complete and then revisions start.

My other goal is to submit my query letter for Tales From The Trail by the end of January.  The publisher warns there's a four month turn around on queries, so I really don't have a whole heap of time to get my act together.

2010 Resolution #1

Be healthier.

I'm trying hard not to say "lose weight", 'cause that's what I say every year, and only one year I succeeded.  I managed to lose 28 pounds and keep it off for a good while, but then it snuck back up and then some.  So bye-bye 124 pounds, hello 60 pounds more than that.  Side note:  I just can't bring myself to type my actual weight, so you'll just have to do the math. 

Yet, despite not saying I'm going to lose weight, I joined the Lose It Bitch challenge, which runs from January 2 through April 30 (I think - rules and dates haven't been formalized yet), which means that every Wednesday I'm going to have to post a picture of what my scale says here on my blog.  God, the humiliation and torture.

How am I going to do this without torturing myself to death?  Well, I sure the hell don't intend on starving myself to death...that doesn't work any way.  I've tried, but I don't have the will power to do it.  So, I guess I'll have to start with cutting my Coke intake down.  And maybe my dining out at lunch intake down.  And absolutely no Chinese food on Tuesdays, the day before weigh in.  God, that salt swelling'll kill you when you get on the scale.

And *heavy sigh*, I'm going to have to start actually using my gym membership.  I don't really mind working out - it's not my favorite thing in the world - but it's not as fun as playing sports.  However, I'm in no shape to play sports, so the working out thing has to be my starting point.  I'm shooting for a minimum of three times a week for at least thirty minutes.  I really like (when I have time) thirty minutes of cardio and thirty minutes of lifting, but I'm not sure how I'll eek out an hour at the gym.

I think that RockCrawlinChef will even join me at the gym, so I'll have some on-hand support.  Heck, if this works out, I might even be in good enough shape to tackle an over-thirty soccer league this summer.  Man, I do miss me some soccer.

And, honestly, it'll feel good to let my inner Michelle Rodriguez out.

Now that's what a GunDiva's supposed to look like!