The ten years is flying by. After my birthday this year, I'll only have two years left to complete as many of these goals as possible. It's been a while since I've written a post, so let's break things down and see where we're at.
First, what have I accomplished over the last eight years?
- I did lose 30 lbs (then I gained it all back
- Go to Scotland (I went to Ireland
- Publish Eleena's Story (2019, but now I want to rewrite it as a trilogy. Yeah, I'm never satisfied)
- Make a will
- Donate blood at least once a year 8/2014, 2/2015, 4/2015, 6/2015, 9/2015, 4/2016, 9/2016, 2/2017 9/2017, 9/2018, 12/2018, 9/2019, 3/2020, 5/2020, 9/2020, 1/2021, 3/2021, 6/2021, 8/2021, 12/2021
- Go to Yellowstone with the kids (September 2020)
- Set up a formal dining room--2013-15 and then we moved and went casual again
- Finish remodeling my home (2015-2021)
- Publish FADE INTO ME (2015)
- Visit the Grand Canyon (Jan 2021)
- Purchase bedroom furniture (2017)
- Become comfortable with some level of marketing. (Yes, but I still hate it all.)
- Have a professional looking author webpage
- Learn how to design webpages (thank goodness pages like WIX came along so you don't need to know code anymore.
- Learn how to not yell at my kids--This got really easy as they grew up. I haven't yelled in years!
- Take the family on a cruise and snorkeling--(September 2016, 2018, Dec 2019, Planned May 2023)
Convert front room into a guest room or a really kick butt craft room (depends on what we need the most)--Revised to update Master Bath--Check 2018 (I also have a nice craft room in my sunroom now, so double check!)- Create an email list that my readers can join to get insider information
- Start my own Science Fiction Short Story contest for High School students--ran it for 2 years
- Compile a yearly anthology from the SF/F contest--did it one year but there were only three entries the 2nd year.
- 10 day European cruise--postponed from June 2020 to April 2021 to May 2022
- Participate in at least one Skype bookgroup that read one of my books--I attended a local library book group that read The Magic Wakes instead.
What I am taking off the list and why:
- Learn how to scuba dive (I had the opportunity when my son got certified but didn't even try. Mostly, I doubt I can pressurize my ears. It takes me days to do it when I fly. Also, now my hubby can't do it because of lung scarring, and I don't want to do it without him.)
- Go to Disney World with my kids (They've all left for college and we're cruising now instead)
- Walk the Inca trail at Macchu Picchu (There's just not enough time. I'll move it to my goals to reach before turning 60!)
- Visit volcanoes in Hawaii (Same as above. We were going to hike up Mt. Vesuvius May 2022 but that tour was canceled)
- Return to the Smokeys with my hubby--just the two of us since this is where we honeymooned (not enough time. I'll add it to our 30th anniversary plans maybe?)
- Run in a Ragnar (I don't think I can get in shape fast enough, and I no longer feel the need to do it. Maybe running a half marathon again will replace this in the future though.)
- Write a short story that is accepted by a SFFWA venue (I no longer feel the need to be validated in this way and haven't submitted anything since 2013)
- Write and publish Last Christmas (I have too many other ideas I like better)
- Participate in a play at the local community theater (this could just be helping with costumes or sets--bonus if it's Into The Woods) This was because Adam was involved in theater but we never had time. Now he's gone so it would be silly to do it without him.
- Attend DragonCon as a vendor (Moving to the Before I'm 60 list!)
What I still hope to accomplish in the next two years:
- Publish the rest of Talia's story--3 novels and 1 novella (Book 2--8/2016, Book 3--2/2023)
- Visit the Sequoia National Forest
- Write a letter to all the people who have made a difference in my life
- 30 days of Random Acts of Kindness (big ones, like pay for someone's dinner, or grocery bill)
- Make the front landscaping awesome
- Take ballroom dance lessons--I took two back in 2015 before my hubby said never again. Does that count?
- Enter a ballroom dance competition with my hubby
- Take a hot air balloon ride
- Write and Publish the unnamed Contemporary YA (Addie's Song)
- Take my kids to see a play on Broadway (not picky about which one)
- Update my grandmother's genealogy book that I put together 10 years ago. (lots of births, deaths, marriages and divorces to record!)
- Take a physics class
- Take a self-defense class
- Learn to draw
- Turn The Magic Wakes into a graphic novel--as of Dec 2021 this is in the works!
- Build up our savings so we can serve a mission one day
- Donate to a local pet shelter (time or money)
- Pull off a "Homemade Only" Christmas (I think this would be a great experience in perspective for my family)
