Happy Birthday to Me!

The sun is shining, the weather is warming, and it's a bright day to mark the anniversary of my birth. Not that anyone is really doing much to mark it, there were no presents beyond hand-made cards from the kids. The agenda holds nothing auspicious - just hauling the kids to a pumpkin patch to get pumpkins and the resulting chaos of that trip.

But the one thing I do around my birthday is look back on the past year. I'm a goal-oriented person. In the past few years, I look on my goals sheet and am disappointed at how little I accomplished. This year is different. Unlike previous years, I actually lost the targeted amount of weight, finished the troublesome book on the docket, and marked off all but one item from the household section of the list. Of course, most of that portion involved a move to Japan that didn't happen, but still - it's progress!

So, now I'm optimistic. :) I've scribbled down a new list of goals. This year, there's not a weight goal. Yes, I heard that shocked gasp. Instead, I've started running again with the goal to finish the Disney Princess Half-Marathon in February. Anyone want to join me? A trip to Disney is always a motivating carrot. I was shocked at how easy it was to fall back into training runs. The body remembers some pretty amazing things.

I'm still waiting to hear about STEALING GRACE, that troublesome book, but am now wrapping up a St. George novella. I'd love to do another St. George book by the end of the year, so that's on the list with a question mark beside it. I've got some big plans for 2012, but those are waiting on the St. George outcomes.

Personally, now that we're not moving to Japan, we're slotted for North Carolina - the Cherry Point area. Although our transfer date isn't until August, the kids and I will most likely move over the summer to give them a chance to settle in and make friends before the school year starts. Since we've already done most of the pre-move purge, getting ready for the move is a simple process of staying on top of the clutter. I'm super-excited about the change of scenery and am really looking forward to house-hunting in the area. I think I'm most excited over the fact my children will go back to school leaving me time to write that isn't between nine and midnight!

What about you? Anyone have any great goals they'd like to share? *throws confetti*