“Okay,” you say, “What are these great goals we’ve been hearing about?” I have been ambitious this year and have a whole bunch of goals in a variety of categories. I plan to work at living my life “on purpose”. As I’ve already stated, I want to be more productive and feel better about how I spend my time. The older I get, the more precious each moment seems to me. So here are my goals for this year….hang onto your hat!

SPIRITUAL:
1) Finish reading the Bible (started last year and don’t want to start over, so I’m picking up where I left off….doing pretty good so far!)
2) Memorize the Books of I II and III John
3) Go through at least one whole Bible story book with Owen…twice.

HEALTH:
4) Exercise at least 200 days in 2012
5) Lose at least 50 pounds by November 1, 2012 (I have lost 2 lbs.)

ART:
6) Paint or draw 50 pictures, any size
7) Paint all the rocks I have
Start a creative project with Frank of some kind and sell a finished product

WRITING:
9) Edit first novel enough to try to publish
10) Finish first draft of second novel
11) Start next installment of Carly Boone on blog

MUSIC:
12) Keep practicing the Ukulele and be able to play 3 songs with more difficult chords next Xmas

FINANCIAL:
13) By the end of the year be able to make $100 per month (net), selling art and crafts on our Etsy website

Yes, it’s a lot, very ambitious. But I am positive that I can accomplish all of these if I learn how to budget my time better, and tackle a little bit every day. The way I am working to do that is actually very simple. I read my list of goals several times a week. I try to keep the list at the front of my mind (instead of waaaaay at the back). I make lists of things to accomplish and keep that list with me at home. I made myself a daily schedule that includes all the categories of things I want to work on. If I can develop the self-control to stick to the schedule during the week, I will be able to develop the good habits necessary to fulfill the goals! I CAN DO IT!

Now that Carly has wrapped up her first adventure, I will admit I’m anxious to start another right away. But I’m going to keep everyone (including myself) in suspense for a while. When I started a blog (again), I never intended it to be strictly a vehicle for Carly Boone. I wanted to write, but not just fiction. I’d like to share. I’d like to inform. I’d like to have a dialogue with people. So far, even though I know there are several people reading my Carly segments, my daughter is the only one who comments….so I’m not sure a dialogue will work. But I still want to give it a try. So, at least once or twice a week I plan to write whatever happens to be on my mind. You may like it, you may not, we’ll see. But please stay tuned…..at the very least, Carly will be back soon! Check in once in a while and see what’s going on in Annie’s head (hehehe…inside joke).

Due to circumstances partially within my control, I will not be posting a Carly segment today. Look for a new one on Wednesday. The title of today’s post suggests that I’m not a mindreader myself. This is a good point. It would be really nice to get some feedback occasionally on Carly’s journal. Do you like it, do you not? Do you like Carly? How do you feel about her friends? You give me this feedback in that little spot called “comments”. That would be wonderful, thank you. Happy Halloween, friends!

Carly is oh-so-tired this weekend (and I’m oh-so-busy), so she’ll be back to entertain you with her journal on Wednesday. Come see us!

I don’t want you to think that my blog is going to be ONLY blog story and silly comments. I plan to write thoughts here too, to share a part of me. It’s just that recent events in my life have been so traumatic and debilitating that I can’t put any thoughts down (at least none that I would want the public to read). I do have the occasional rant when I feel strongly about something, but my feelings go much deeper than that at the moment, so deep that I CAN express them, but really prefer not to. Just know that I plan to actually BE HERE soon…..count on it. For now, just enjoy my lighter moments!