As a recap, this year I’m going to do things right and not lose sight of what I’m trying to accomplish. That means every month I sit down and go back over the list of 12 Things that I want to accomplish this year… So time for the monthly check-in!
Which, I’d like to point out, I actually got done on the 1st– even if it is well past my self-assigned bedtime. So, erm, victory? (Someday I will master this whole ‘Being An Adult‘ thing, but not quite yet.)
So, onwards!
Hit 100% completion on at least one Nerd Fitness – 6 Week Challenge.
Even though I thought I set the bar pretty low with the first attempt at this challenge, I’m not going to make a 100% completion this time around. That said, it’s my first time trying to set goals so I’ve got some notes on how to tweak my goals for the next one. I’m at least at a solid 33% on this one, so not too bad a start!
Win NaNoWriMo, preferably working from an outline instead of pantsing.
I haven’t made any progress on this at all. Considering NaNo isn’t until November, I’m not too worried (although it would be nice to have at least a general idea of what I’m going to be working on.)
Depending on schedule, do some short stories for Camp NaNoWriMo, but do not commit to anything beyond the minimum 10k wordcount.
It looks like the first Camp NaNoWriMo will be in April again (like it was in 2013 and 2014), so now isn’t a bad time to start hashing out some ideas for two 5k short stories.
Publish at least one more Short Story as an eBook.
I’ve printed out The Wolves We Are, but have made no forward progress beyond that. I need to start setting aside some dedicated writing time– which means giving up some of my guilty pleasures like Metapicture and Cracked (woe).
Paint at least 12 model horses this year.
Interestingly I haven’t posted any horse posts in a while, but I’ve finished quite a few of them. I think I may put that down as something I want to accomplish this month– getting caught up with photos and blog posts.
Stop drinking diet coke (again).
I’m making a little bit of progress on this. I’m down to only drinking Diet Coke when I eat out– but I’m still eating out a lot. I’m going to try and buckle down this week and stop eating lunch out. That’ll reduce the chances for a binge and hopefully help me to wean it off for good.
Then I need to kick the sweet tea habit, but I’m already reduced the sugar in it quite a bit, so that may also be doable this month. *crosses fingers*
Try out the Paleo diet and see if it is a good fit.
Zero movement on this, although I’m doing a LOT better on not eating pre-made foods and fast foods. Certainly nowhere near a real paleo diet, but easing my way into it.
If we get the new house, learn how to cook dinners.
I’ve tried my hand at making red curry, green curry, and beef stew with butternut squash so far and they’ve come out okay! I’m sort of puttering around looking for recipes at this point, but the kitchen in the current house is really small and not friendly to prep work.
If we don’t get the new house, learn how to pack lunches.
There’s no cooking involved with these, just a lot of veggie prep work… and I’m slowly getting better at it. I just need to get in the habit of making lunch the night before and I’ll be set!
Get financially organized again
I made a stab at this in early January and then lost track of it again. I’ve made plans to get caught back up again this week, so we’ll see how she rolls.
Make a profit from the microbusiness this year.
I’ve started rotating the older custom horses through eBay and they are starting to sell off, but at about 50% down from my normal prices (darnit). But I’m in the black! Sort of…
I need to stop buying art supplies and getting into new projects! But in fairness, I’ve got a few new items to list in the store and a few new nifty How-to articles to post to the website, so it’s not all bad.
Create at least one resin medallion that is good enough to sell 10 copies. Then sell 10 copies.
No movement on this, but the draft head is sitting there on the art desk waiting….
Make at least one how-to art video.
Zero movement on this as well. I think I’m going to wait until the new house before trying to figure this one out. The current art room is just too cramped to set things up properly. (Being cramped is sort of a theme for the current house. :P)
Off we go again!
So all in all, not too bad a start to the year! I need to buckle down and pay a bit more attention to the passage of days/time. I’ve gotten into the habit of losing myself during the week to a work/internet/sleep rut and that needs to stop… Here’s hoping the March check-in will bring a bit more progress! 🙂