“Bring it” is a phrase that I didn’t use growing up or as a teen or even as a young adult. As a matter of fact, it’s not really part of my vocabulary at all, but the phrase has attitude. That’s what I need right now is a little bit of that kind of ‘tude. It’s not that 2011 was a bad year or anything like that. As I entered 2011 I blogged about my 2011 resolutions, and then I blogged half-way through the year, and again after the third quarter was over. I met the writing goal and then some. The weight-loss at the end of the year was hampered by a medical issue that my husband describes as TMI for any day, including Friday. I’ll just say multiple doctors visits over the last ten weeks and several prescriptions later, I think my system is finding enough equilibrium to focus on weight loss again.

You can put down a bunch of goals, like I did last year and either meet them all, meet some of them, or just flail and stop trying. None of the goals I put forth last year were unrealistic for me, even though I did not meet them all. I didn’t ignore them or forget about them, but lived with them and evaluated them throughout the year.

Here’s where the attitude comes in. Just because I didn’t meet certain goals does not mean I am going to give up on them because the calendar is closing on another year. In spite of various obstacles I placed in my own path, I managed to step around or over most of them and get stories out the door, most of that F*(#*@(&# extra weight shed, and most of that reading done. I can’t, however, just sit back and look at it as an experiment for 2011 that is over. So, whatever obstacles come my way this year, I will need to figure out how to muscle up to them and overcome them. Goals need to be evaluated and adjusted with the realities of life. This year, I’m organizing things a bit differently.

Writing
One of my writing friends, Charlotte Morganti, blogged about sticking to writing resolutions. I like the way she approaches the goal setting in terms of “time spent.” Last year, I was specifically focused on product–three stories out the door. The things is…I think I could have done a lot more than that. I looked at the calendar and thought, “if I don’t submit a story soon, I’m never going to make that goal.” I would spend some minimal amount of time working on a story to get it ready. I am thinking ten hours per week on “writing related activities”–other than blogging–will be an interesting experiment. I plan on taking notes of how I spend my time–either doing research, actual writing or editing–and then revisit the ten hour a week scenario sometime after the first quarter.

Health
I’m going to continue on that “mostly vegan” health plan. It’s been working, my weight is down and my numbers are down. I’ll get to that goal weight before June, and maintain the healthy HA1c, cholesterol and blood pressure numbers that I’ve gotten to this year. I might even get to go off of the injections of lizard spit by summer time. That would be totally awesome.

Family
My daughter is going to be a senior in high school next year. I am not going to write her college applications for her, but I will support her in every way possible to achieve her hopes and dreams in this regard. Her school has a support system for this, but I know that, as her mom, I can take an active supportive role in the process. I will not dictate where she applies or attends or what she plans to major in. I’ll schlep her around to pre-Sat and pre-ACT prep courses, tutoring sessions, and whatever else a senior-who-doesn’t-drive-a-car needs to be schlepped around to in order to get her ready for the all-important application process.

I think that’s probably more than enough things to keep my mind occupied during the coming year. Okay, 2012…bring it.