New Year's...Somethings.

It's that time of year when I start thinking I ought to formulate some New Year's Resolutions. The problem is, I have trouble wording them just right. I don't want them to be so prosaic that they're merely goals rather than resolutions--e.g., it would be sort of a letdown to say that I resolve to finish revising my novel manuscript for The Latte Rebellion, since I plan to do that anyway and have for months. It's really not even a goal anymore, just an item on the to-do list.

Likewise, I don't want to make any unrealistic, pie-in-the-sky resolutions, like resolving that 2009 is the year that I'm going to land a literary agent and/or a book contract. It's a recipe for disappointment, since that's not something I really have full control over. I guess the aim is to land somewhere in between, with something that I can see as more than simply a goal but something to reach for, to strive for, that IS achievable.

I also tend to feel like a New Year's Resolution should have something to do with self-improvement, in a broad sense. Now, I'm looking at my post from last year about the subject and evidently I was all about the "sensible" goals. My main focus was on the laundry, and not letting baskets of clean laundry languish unfolded until the following weekend, when I needed the baskets for the new loads of dirty laundry. I was relatively successful in this, with only a few lapses--I've generally managed to get the clean laundry folded within a few days of having done it. Not too bad. However, my semi-secret ongoing resolution to lose five pounds (believe me, these are unimportant pounds, but still) remains unattained despite a few years of attempting it. I would still like to lose the five pounds, but there is a caveat--if I do not lose the pounds but convert them straight to solid muscle, that is also acceptable.

Clearly, I still need to think about this resolution thing, but I do already have one entry on the list: I resolve to make another valiant attempt at semi-regular meditation. I need all the non-pharmaceutical anxiety/depression reduction methods I can possibly incorporate into my life. So that's a big one. I'd also like to get back to drawing more regularly, which I evidently need to do judging by the quality of my work at the figure drawing session we attended last night. The writing resolutions I'll save for the other blog, maybe tomorrow.

Ow. Yum. Argh. Sigh.

The above title is the approximate sound of the inside of my head today. My back hurts from cleaning the house, but we ate some awesome food; also, my mom and stepdad are staying with us for a visit and the house is therefore a bit more action-packed than usual. I did manage to kick back a little over the past few days and play a video game--something completely and entirely and wonderfully unproductive. Sometimes it's difficult to begrudge myself the down time, but I really do need it, as proven by past episodes of hives that won't go away and other such fun stuff.

Anyway, speaking of begrudging, I haven't seemed to be able to justify the blogging time lately (except for the writing blog). It's been a very busy month, and I've been mentally and physically exhausted. A New Year's resolution for me is to do more quality blogging. If quality blogging means that I have to set a regular day and time and stick to it, then so be it. One part of that resolution is to ponder the desired purpose of this blog, and how best to achieve that. Right now, I just post whatever whenever, without much regard for structure/subject matter or potential interest level. And I suspect that the latter could be improved by addressing the former. So, we'll see.

Gluttony: My Favorite Deadly Sin

...though I'm also quite fond of Sloth and Lust. Anyway, I'm trying to give some love to my poor neglected blog here, so I've decided to post our menu for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner. It's just the two of us, plus Rob's mom and dad, so (believe it or not) we're trying to keep it relatively simple. ("Relatively" being the operative word, of course.) Rob's parents are bringing the wine, the bread, and the pumpkin cheesecake. We're making:

• Roast goose (which we've done a couple of times before in past years)--allegedly free-range--with bread stuffing, to which I'm adding water chestnuts and apple.
• Gravy. Of course.
• Mashed sweet potatoes with caramelized leeks and butter (this is sort of an experiment)
• Green salad.
• Brown rice mixed with wild rice.

I'm very excited, though I'm still attempting to thaw the goose, which is sitting in water in the sink. The goose requires day-before prepping--you have to dip it in boiling water for 1 minute to dry and tighten the skin and then let it sit in the fridge for a day. I realized earlier that I already passed the 24-hours-ahead mark for that, but oh well. I don't think a few hours will be critical in this case. I need to wait for Rob, though, who is a lot less grossed out by raw poultry than I am. I don't know what's worse--the moist and flabby texture, or the grease it leaves on my hands. Still, it's worth it for the sheer gluttony which we will gratefully exercise upon this meal's consumption.

And, of course, there's the thankfulness. That's there. I just hate sounding sentimental.

Behind on Life.

Ever feel like you're falling behind on life? That's me, right now. I just managed to post something on the YA blog and realized that was only the tip of the iceberg as far as blogging is concerned--I've been neglecting this one, my Welsh blog, and the reviews blog, mostly through the flimsiest of excuses. Too much work? Ah, c'mon. That's never stopped me before.

I do have too much work, though. I'm caught in another downward spiral of inferiority feelings and self-recrimination for a) failing to publish any fiction this year, b) failing to garner enough paid work to feel like I'm contributing adequately to the household, c) actually losing some paid work for various reasons, and d) still managing to have way too much on my plate to reasonably accomplish in the time available to me. How does this happen??!!?

Anyway, wallowing makes me even less likely to blog, as does the fact that at any given moment I'm actually either working or attempting to force relaxation upon myself by reading or watching TV (and I'm usually not able to do these very well when I'm worrying about what I'm not getting done). But for you, my wonderful and loyal posse of readers (all five of you), I will stop wallowing. I will get to work. And when I finish working, I will blog you into oblivion. (Whatever that means.)

NaNoWriMo Lives!

Just a quick note to say onward and upward! I added a NaNoWriMo widget to my sidebar so everybody in the world (well, all five who read my blog) can keep track of how far behind I'm slipping. I made an okay start, but I'm definitely about a day and a half behind where I ought to be in terms of average daily word count.

Today's not going to help, either, as it's Election Day and we're planning to hold a small party with a few friends. The party will involve a drinking game--we shall toast in celebration for each blue state won. Since this could incapacitate or even cripple the majority of humans if we were taking shots of hard alcohol, we decided we're going to take shots of sake instead. So before too long, I have to go procure said sake (after carefully calculating ounces required per person and so forth).

I still need to post about Halloween, too--as can reasonably be expected, I successfully added another entry to my list of confusing costumes, thus continuing what is evidently a personal tradition now. It's not intentional, I assure you.