Happy 2011!

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? I do - I always have. I don’t always follow them, though. I used to stick with the general ones, like I’m going to lose weight or I’m going to do better in school or at my job. But somehow, those vague ideas would be forgotten by the end of March at the latest. So now I stick with quantifiable goals, which gives me something specific to shoot for. And announcing them publicly seems to keep me on track.

I was going to call this the Big Scary List of 2011, but really, only the first two items on it are big and scary, and I completed them (mostly) in 2010. What’s left is a bunch of fun stuff. So here it is, the Exciting, Exhilarating, and Super Fun list of 2011.

Quit my job. (First Big Scary one.) I did it! I turned in my resignation in December, and am now officially unemployed. Or at least, I will be by the end of January. (I’ve agreed to work part time until they hire a replacement.) Why would I do such a crazy thing, give up perfectly sound paid employment, in an economy like this? You’ll find out below.

Register for and run a half marathon. (Second Big Scary one.) I am already registered for the Miami Half Marathon in January, so now I just have to make it to the race in one piece and finish it.

Now the fun ones!

Read 50 books. I mean, really, how fun will this be? That averages less than one book a week. Even not counting audio books, which I sometimes listen to while running, I predict that I’ll have this one done by the end of September.

Edit my novels, find an agent, and become a published novelist. This one is huge, and is the reason why I quit my job. It has long been my dream to be a published writer, and now I have no more excuses. (Well, I’ll always have excuses, but I can’t say that I don’t have the time!) Currently I have two novels in first draft. I need to work on revisions, and then start the arduous process of trying to get them published. I know it’s a long road, so I’ll be absolutely ecstatic if I can get my novels revised and find an agent before the end of the year.

Write another novel before 2012. This will definitely happen in November, with National Novel Writing Month. Maybe I can even eke out another during June Novel Writing Month, who knows?

Run a half marathon every month. That means running 13.1 miles (or more) at a time, once a month. Seriously, I’m totally addicted to my running now. And I’ve done this in training 3 times so far. I know that I can’t run an official race every month without major travel, which is a little out of the picture right now. (I quit my job, remember?) But I’m counting training runs. This one is definitely doable.

Train for and run a marathon. This is about taking my running to the next level. I love the process of training, and I adore my weekend long runs. I’m just not sure I’ll be strong enough by the end of the year – it’s taken almost a year of steady training to get to the point where I’m comfortable with a half marathon. 26.2 miles is a totally different animal. Luckily there are several marathons held locally at the end of the year, giving me plenty of options. That means I can take my time training, and hopefully avoid injury. And if I don’t make it this year, there’s always the Miami Marathon in 2012!

Travel to South America. Yeah, I know. No job, no money. But David and I really, really want to go to Ecuador. And where there’s a will, there’s a way. I feel good about this one.

Do something creative every week. Okay, this one is a little vague. To be more specific, I’m going to spend more time writing in my blogs, knitting, crocheting, and trying out some of the other crafty-type things I’ve not had time for. No excuses!

Okay, I think that’s enough to start with. Happy New Year, all!