New Year’s Resolutions

So, here we are, the fourth day of the new year, and I haven’t yet made so much as a single new year’s resolution. Why, you ask? Well, that’s simple to answer. It isn’t because I don’t think my life can’t be improved upon, or because I am lazy or unmotivated. It’s because I wanted to give it some serious thought, to choose specific goals that will give me the opportunity to succeed, and that will not make me feel like a constant failure. I’m not looking for things that are “easy” per se … I’m looking for things that I will actually do, and that will give me a sense of accomplishment when I look back to this day, when I’m ready to gauge my success. Nearly every year, I’ve made resolutions that were unattainable, or unrealistic, or just plain vague. This year, I’m going to try something different. And so, here they are, in no particular order.

1. Post something to my blog at least once a week. Even if it’s nothing more than a photo or a little blurb about what’s going on in my life, I want to post something each week. Fifty-two posts for the year. This is post number one.

2. Read at least one book a month. Not LISTEN to one book a month, but READ one book a month, preferably more if at all possible. But I know that I’m out of practice when it comes to reading for pleasure, so I need to train myself again. I used to read a book every day or two when I was younger, but then came responsibility – job, family, and other things that tore my attention away from reading. Now that I no longer have small children, and I have begun to reclaim some of my time for my own, it’s time to return to one of my favorite past times.

3. Get our financial house back in order. This is actually a joint venture with my husband, but it’s important to document it. We aren’t doing horribly, but after two years of him being out of work, you can bet we have work to do in this area.

4. Put more effort into eating more healthfully. Cut back on junk and fast food. This one is sort of a cheater resolution. For the most part, Chris and I have already started this. I need to make sure that I adhere to this when I return to work next week. Lunch has always been so difficult for me – I hate packing a lunch but I need to, both for this and because of finances.

5. Less time on the internet. I love the internet; I’m addicted. But it’s taking over my life and I need to back down from it. The time I waste here could be better spent elsewhere. Like …

6. Focus on the business that Chris and I are starting. We made the decision a couple of months ago to start a business producing handmade soaps and candles. So far, we’ve had a modicum of success and we’re really happy about that. But now we want to really get focused on it and work out the kinks in our operation. As is usually the case with me, I started to get carried away with it, and sort of got ahead of myself. We’ve reined back in now, and we’re going to proceed much more slowly, taking the time to perfect our soaps, to get all of our business plans made and solidified, and to work on packaging and marketing. By the end of the year, we would like to be in a position to start selling at craft fairs and such. Until then we will work on it from a “friends and family” viewpoint and maintain a website for sales.

So there you have it. Six resolutions that should be fairly easy to track and to measure at the end of the year. I’ll try to keep my progress updated here, so if you’re interested, check back often.

Until next time … See ya!

 

Just getting started

Well, I never thought I’d jump on the blogging bandwagon, but here I am. I guess this would be a good time to introduce myself. I’m JB and I’m engaged to a wonderful man. I have two children, a girl who’s 15, and a boy who is 14. They’re good kids. I work in the O&G industry, and have been with this company for nearly ten years. That’s the sort version; you’ll get to know me as we go along, I’m sure.

So, things that are on my mind today …

I’m getting married in five months, but we’ve made hardly any plans. My fiance, C, is currently unemployed, but we’re hoping he gets a job soon – it’s been a while, to be honest. I know things will work out for us; I just hope it’s sooner rather than later. You see, he did something very stupid when he was younger, and he’s paid the price for it. And even though the justice system says he’s “repaid his debt to society” there are some folks who are unwilling to give him a second chance at getting his life together. It’s really sad, too, because he was just a kid when he screwed up, and he hasn’t been in trouble for nearly seven years. He never really had any trouble finding a job in the past, but with the economy like it is right now … well, let’s just say that it hasn’t been easy for him lately. Or for me, either, frankly.

We’ve tossed around the idea of moving across town to a more industrial area than we currently live. I grew up there, and it’s not bad. Hopefully it would afford C more opportunities than he’s found where we currently live. It would seem that since we’re talking “just across town” that it wouldn’t affect a move, but the truth is, we live in a major city and it would take him an hour or more to get from where we currently live to the area where we think he’ll have better luck finding a job. Nothing definitive of course, but it’s out there for discussion.

We play an MMO – that’s Massive Multiplayer Online for the uninitiated – game called EverQuest 2. It’s a lot of fun, and we’ve been involved in raiding for some time now. Raiding is where 24 people get together and try to kill various creatures in the game. C is a member of one of the best guilds on our server, and has been for a few months. I am currently in the “recruitment” phase with the same guild, which means that I’ve been playing with them for a couple of weeks, and then they’ll vote on whether or not I’m good enough to stay in the guild. I’m not that good, to be honest, though C would disagree with me. He thinks I just need more practice/work, but then I think he could be prejudiced. LOL Anyway, my membership is up for vote right now, and I’m nervous. If they vote to “extend” me, meaning more trial time, I think I’m going to just drop raiding all together. It takes a LOT of time and I’ve busted my ass for them for three weeks already with no coin for repairs or anything. When you die in game, it costs in-game money, or coin, to get the damage repaired. I started out with a fairly decent amount of coin and now I’m down by half, even though I’ve made SOME money since I’ve been there through means other than raiding. I can’t afford to continue to do that, however, so if I don’t get in on my first vote, I’ll just deguild and go back to adventurer status. And I’m good with that.

Anyway, it’s about lunch time so I need to go find something to eat. Mmmmmm … food! See ya next time!