February's Flying Leap (year) [group chat]

Didn't see a group chat started yet, so, here it goes. If I just missed it...whoops... but the February Month of Letters sounds like a specific challenge, rather than a general goals and hopes thread.

I guess it might be good to check in with how we did with our January goals, and use that to focus on February.

One thing that's suddenly occurred to me is that I really ought to find a way to procure a functional laptop computer, so that's a goal for this month. I'd like to actually go to a NaNo Write-In this year. The past two years, the closest ones have been at my workplace, so it's not like getting there is a problem.

More goals to follow.

"A goal is a dream with a deadline"-- Napoleon Hill

Loving the thread title. :)

For this slightly shortened month, I want to:

1) Get rid of the bugs.

2) Exercise more. Once a day or more if I can help it.

3) Rewrite this short story and submit it. Seriously, what am I so afraid of?

4) Work on my super secret project and get it going before Leap Day.

5) Clear out all the recycling paper. Must enlist hubby's help, as he has the driver's license.

6) Keep the house clean. (You're all probably tired of seeing that goal, but I need it there as a stern reminder.)

7) Order my gardening supplies.

8) Make the hubby's Valentine's Day gift.

9) Write, write, write.

10) Read, read, read.

11) Start a new goodwill bag/box.

12) Get the ps3 fixed.

13) Fix mp3 playlist and back up computer

14) Get driver's guide and at least study for my permit.

That should be good for right now. I'll post more if anything comes up.

February goals:

1. Keep the progress with the yoga going, though at 5 days a week, rather than 7.
2. Write and submit two short stories.
3. Learn one new banjo tune
4. Learn one new slack key guitar tune
5. Complete the Superbowl Sunday 5k walk race
6. Walk 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week
7. Go for at least two donkey walks
8. Send in the entry form for the Topanga Banjo-Fiddle Contest
(This one's easy, since the form is already filled out and entry acceptance starts today)
9. Laptop computer acquisition

Whew. I have to say, I don't even remember what my Jan. goals, or if I had any, (yep, I could go back and look at them, but... not gonna, so... :)) But...

I'm starting off Feb. with a ginormous awesome. Yesterday (still Jan.) I submitted my taxes. I had all the paperwork finally, and was like, well, I could wait, or, I could just do it. Earliest I've ever gotten them in by like, a mile and a half. There have been some years when I was getting them in the day before practically.

So, definitely starting off Feb. positively. Plus, it's my favorite month as well (despite the wicked cold... :))

Mm... and for Feb I need to keep reading too, 'cause I'm about to fall behind in my 150 books in a year thing. I've been ahead so far, but I have to get finished the Grimms Fairy Tales and start in on Blood of the Fold or whatever the title is by Goodkind...

These were January's goals:

- Finish the first draft of this year's NaNo - done
- Begin edit of previous novel - done
- Write a specfic short story - nope
- Write 3 blog posts - done
- Read one Buddhist book - done
- Continue keeping a meditation diary - partly done, but not totally up to date
- Meditate at home once a week - nope, didn't manage that
- Fill a charity shop bag - technically done, just not taken to the shop yet!
- Finish clearing out/tidying - nope
- Submit an article to the BATOD magazine - done

Not too bad. So, goals for February:
- Continue editing novel
- Write a short story, any genre
- Do Zumba for the Wii at least 3 times a week
- Take a day just for me - go to the beach, walking, etc
- Finally get rid of this wrist splint (not really under my control but I want it gone soon!)
- Make some more cards to sell
- Lose 7lbs
- Write 3 blog posts
- Read one Buddhist book
- Meditate at home once a week
- Fill a charity shop bag
- Continue clearing out/tidying

Some are carried over, some are going to be goals every month and some are new. I've realised that the clearout will be an ongoing thing, as will the editing. This month was also going to be a month off alcohol, but right now there's too much going on for me to put it into practice - to clarify, I only drink once or twice a week at the moment so I'm not exactly reliant on it, but I just don't want to impose that on myself right now.

Well, I nailed my daily goals for January, but missed most of my weekly goals and my monthly goal. Here's to hoping I'm more on track in February. These are my generic, year long-goals:

1. Write at least 750 words of fiction every day.
2. Stretch every day.
3. Read at least one chapter of an un-read book every week.
4. Exercise for 2 hours every week, in addition to 30 minute lunchtime walks when the weather is nice.
5. Finish a knitting project every month.

Some February-specific goals:

1. Get my apartment in some sort of acceptable state for my birthday party on the 25th.
2. File my taxes.
3. Plan a vacation with college friends.
4. Start planning for Script Frenzy.
5. Continue assembling my Lego Millennium Falcon.

I've been good with the reading, the writing, and the stretching. I've even usually ended up reading more than just one chapter of a book, because once I get started, I'll keep going. I've just been struggling for the last few years with staying interested, and my reading list is about 50 books long at this point. I'm trying to get that number down. As for exercising, I've managed at least an hour a week, plus generally walking three or four days a week, so it's not that I'm sitting around being a fat, lazy lump.

I'm just trying to take everything in small steps and find some balance in my life.

I like the title, although with a little bit more alliteration...(cough!)...well, no, maybe not.

February goals:

1. Fix bathroom faucet
2. Finish first draft of Nano 2011
3. Finish next revision of Nano 2005
4. Clean kitchen
5. Get work
6. Read another 9 books
7. Clean bathrooms
8. Do feng shui space clearing
9. Bake bread
10. Do visualizations
11. Start some seeds
12. Vacuum bedroom and office
13. Donate or freecycle something

Oh I like this. Okay Feb goals!

1. Finish my nano2011 first draft, almost there.
2. If I finish I'd like to have at least the plot and structure edited, basically it all pans out in the end.
3. Keep up on my exercise routine. 40 mins of kinect dancing 4 times a week and 30 mins of strength exercise 4 times a week.
4. Keep up with Thursday family night, kids love it.
5. Re do my wardrobe, yuck
6. Send out a nice "just because card" to all my friends and family in my phone book. I live 2100 miles away from them all =(
7. Keep using my mycheele face products religiously until my skin is clear
8. get that dang root canal...cringe

Okay, lets see how I do!

Ambitious month, this.

Continuing projects:
Job search - Reading - Exercise - Hobby Writing (at least)

- Walk every day, 5 miles/day averaged over each week
- Meet 5 new people
- Network with the local beekeepers and see if anyone will take me on as an apprentice at their hive
- Practice piano once a week and try to relearn the ricercare and 23/5
- Attend 2 area social meet-ups
- Host people for evening tea 3 times
- Progress on text version of DP book project
- Search for giveaway patio furniture and garden supplies
- Attend the free student classical concerts whenever I can
- Attend 2 bird seminars and arrive at least 10m early to chat
- Bird weekly and do at least 2 half-hour birding sessions solely by ear to practice
- Assemble master list of things we need when we can afford them
- Put the house in good enough condition for guests to visit
- Find an optometrist

My February is not getting off to a wonderful start. Woke up in the middle of the night with a very sore throat. Delightful.

The Goals:
1. Read 10 books (7 on the TBR pile and finish the 3 currently in progress)
2. Walk as many days as possible
3. Buy my nephew's birthday present
4. Go to church
5. Do my taxes
6. Get a job
7. Do something nice for myself (to be determined - possibly a massage/spa day). This was a major month in my former relationship, I want to get through the month without being completely miserable. Pampering is in order.
8. Keep using chapstick

I haven’t been active in this forum but I’m just going to…flying leap right in. Hi everyone.
January was ok but I feel I didn't get much done. Well - it's partially because I had to move, and in between places I had to stay with a friend for a week, and then I got a cold, which made me a slacker.

February Goals:
1. work really hard on my rewrite of my nano novel (get to 40,000 words)
2. finish online course
3. take a yoga class at least 4 times
4. be biking to work at least 3 days a week by the end of the month
5. read 5+ books
6. find part time nanny position to supplement my part-time job
7. draw in sketchbook especially to unwind
8. Be social - have fun.

hmm, I feel that there’s more, but that’s a good start.

my hips are super sensative now. Going from sitting down work as a commision based artist to 32 hour weeks tromping around concrete floors... oy.

But this will effectively double my income and give me full medical coverage too. so that's a plus, add in a 20% discount (today I bought a sketch pad and 7 11x14 canvases for about $14, and they have glazed ceramoc pots of about gallon size or a bit bigger for around a dollar, potting soil and heirloom seeds).

My pay comes out to about $40 under my monthly university kitchen monthly income... per week. In two months I'll likely make half my former yearly income.

I hate dealing with money, but goodness when you've had to do without for so long it's amazing what can change when you get paid.

still I'm looking forward to settling into the new activity level and schedule, so that I can start working on things when I get home.

Where did January go? Can't believe it's Feb already!

Did I achieve my Jan goals?

1. Exercise every day - NO
2. Try to each a piece of fruit every day, as long as finances allow - SORT OF
3. Increase my water intake - GETTING THERE
4. Wash up every day - MOSTLY, NOT ALWAYS
5. Writing every day - whatever type it is - NO
6. Sort out my gardens - dig over the front one for veggie growing & perform some hair cuts in the back! - NO
7. Apply for teacher training - YES FOR ONE, NO FOR THE OTHER TWO
8. Finish tidying up around the house - SOME, NOT ALL

So I haven't really achieved that much then!

So, for Feb, I think my goals ought to stay the same. But also include:

9. Plant up my seeds when the weather allows
10. De-flea my bedroom again (wonderful cat I have!)
11. Revise English, Maths & Science in preparation for teacher training interviews
12. Complete my mortgage insurance & DSS mortgage forms!!!!!
13. Save £300 if possible to pay for the interest on Feb's mortgage
14. Buy another 6 months of car tax
15. Find some sort of "club" to attend to get some friendships going

Life sucks!

Had the most wonderful (not!) conversation with my mortgage bank last night - due to life getting in the way, I haven't yet applied for my mortgage insurance &, whilst Sep was covered by my month of lieu of notice & Oct - Dec were covered by credit that had built up (I wonder how!), Jan was not. Well, Jan didn't get paid. I kept expecting them to contact me to ask why not, but they didn't. So I phoned them yesterday, having tried to phone them on Tues & getting nowhere fast!

They reckon - of course! - that the £600 I have saved (after a lot of scrimping & saving & tearing hair out!) for other payments that need to go out this year, mostly car related, can be neatly diverted to paying two months of interest on the mortgage. They don't understand that, if I don't pay for car tax or car insurance, I'm not going to be able to get a job - they're just looking greedily at that pot of money that, at the moment, is not doing anything apart from accruing me about 10p of interest! So the upshot is that, after a lot of pressure, I agreed to pay half of it out at the end of this month to cover Feb's interest on the mortgage, but no more. Which means I have to find another £300 from somewhere to cover the savings that will have to be withdrawn!

Then, this morning, having prepared to go into school for a couple of extra hours to make a frieze for one of the teachers who asked yesterday, I discovered the power steering on my car has gone! Phoned the garage, who said they'd never known electronic power steering to go on a Micra before & didn't know how much it would cost to fix! They can't even look at it till Mon, so I booked it in for Mon & then phoned RAC to come look at it & take it over to the garage if they can't help - fortunately, the RAC bit is covered by my monthly subs!

So now I'm potentially looking at using my savings to fix my car & then I'll have to find the £300 to cover my mortgage insurance & then another £600 to cover my savings for the other things! Aaaagggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Life so sucks!

January's goals were, hmm, well more or less met since I didn't really set any. I did manage to stop drinking soda and to start cooking more at home (yay), which was a nice start. I cleaned a bit and painted some horses—all small things, but nice first steps on the path to where I'd like to be in 2013.

For February, I'm a little loath to set actual goals since I'm not sure what the month will be like. I joined in the 60k in 60 Days challenge over on the Life After NaNoWriMo forum, so I've got that in place already.

I dunno, I think I'd like to work on my 'walking more' and 'eating better' habits, but I do want to keep trying on the 'wake up earlier' one as well. Although I have a feeling it might be a lost cause. *sighs*

In terms of the micro-business I'm running on the side, I'd like to get some more horses painted and maybe an ebook in the store (Saturday Story Prompts collection). But for the moment I'll settle for more traffic to the store and the website—even if it doesn't result in sales at least they'll know I'm out there! :)

I'm also tempted to see how little I can spend on food and still be healthy and not hungry. I had no idea there was such a price difference between bone-in and bone-out chicken, so now I'm wondering how much other stuff (make vs. bake) I'm spending that I don’t have to. *pokes food budget*

Ah well, tis a gloriously gloomy gray overcast Thursday here in Virginia… here's hoping it's a bit sunnier where y'all are! :)

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Martha.net
-- Unquiet Bones (Writing)
-- Custom-Models.com (Model Horses)
-- Perish Twice (Warcraft)
... because you can never have enough hobbies.

January seems to go on forever (and not in a good way), which is why it never even occurred to me yesterday that we were starting a new monthly thread. My brain is addled in winter.

I am really happy for you, Jack, and sorry life is so tough for you, Hepatica. Zoo is already on the list of people whose lives we hope will turn around, and there are more of you struggling to find a way past current difficulties. It's all mixed with hope, though, that tomorrow will bring a better day, and manuscripts will get written or revised, or sent out, or even sold. We've all got that ace in the hole. We need it in February.

Good news re the car. :-) By the time the RAC man came out mid-afternoon, the sun had warmed up the car & it was quite ready to play. Nice RAC man started it up & no PS light stayed on. Nice RAC man then tested the battery, fiddled around a bit with the engine & restarted the car a few times. All good. He reckoned it was down to the poor little ickle car being cold this morning! Cue 'dying of embarressment' & many apologies for wasting his time! It *was* -3C this morning, but still ....!!!

He did say, too, that if it happens again when the weather gets warm, it could be connections in the battery, the alternator or the motor & could cost upto £1000 to fix! Trying not to think of that one, but I think I'll leave 10 mins early tomorrow & sit in the car, letting it warm up before I expect it to move! lol!

I've also started one of my Feb goals - got the anti-flea spray out after I'd stripped the beds & sprayed it round liberally. I'll get some drops for the cat from the vet after school tomorrow &, hopefully, that'll knock it on the head. If not, I'll have to get the hoover out, but hoovering a duvet is not my most favourite of occupations! :-(

Also remembered another Feb goal - to clean up the bird station & trim back the hedge behind it. The whole area's a mess! I want to see if I can get a cheap squirrel defender for the pole, too - one of those that looks like a clear, up-turned bowl - to catch all the seeds they drop & filter them down to one small area for the ground feeders. At the moment, they scatter all over the path & make it muddy when they sprout & then I walk on them! Not good! :-(

Ok, so maybe going for a short walk on a day I stayed home sick wasn't such a brilliant idea; but I didn't go yesterday when I was too sick to even contemplate it and was getting restless from sitting around so much. I've now gone and worn myself out. Oh well. Swilling tea, taking a hot shower and drinking lots of orange juice to compensate. I guess it was a somewhat productive day. I finished one of my books in progress, read a lot from a second, did some editing of my facebook account since their new timeline and the ramifications of their IPO are weirding me out, and contemplated what sort of jobs I should apply for. I need to get going and start applying for more since I haven't applied for a single job since November; but that requires knowing what sort of job and where I should apply to.

Just found out that I haven't got a place with my preferred teacher training provider. Although I probably shouldn't be, I'm a bit stunned. Somehow I thought I had a good chance.

They said it was due to the quantity of applications they had this year, but that's really a cop-out. I'll just have to get my skates on to apply to the other two providers now & hope that one of them can give me a place.

Car was ok this morning, though, even though it was actually colder this morning (-4C) than it was yesterday. The steering was even a bit looser than before, I thought.

Good luck with February's goals everyone.
My February goals:

1. Keep up with School work
2. Procure corset making supplies
3. Look at houses
4. Save for wedding
5. Send off 2 short stories
6. Start new story
7. Lose 5 pounds
8. Keep up with Recycles
9. Keep up with Blog
10. Walk (an average) 1.4 miles/day
11. 3 strength workouts/week