Happy New Year!

Wow, 2013! Seems like a year out of one of my childhood sci fi stories rather than an actual date but here it is....The wind is up today, blowing the light powdery snow that fell last night around the yard. Looking out the back window, I can see tracks of some animal that wandered through the fruit trees and berry bushes last night and I need to get outside before too long to identify the mystery visitor.
The month of December was a bit rough emotionally as I moved from daily mom to empty nester when my youngest son, Finn, joined his brothers out in Hawaii. My oldest, Yule, has had his own construction company out on Oahu for four years now and over time  has hired his two brothers and three other young men from the Jackman, Maine area to work for him. According to Facebook, they were all headed to the humongous party in Waikiki last night, with firework shows every hour from nine o'clock on until the grand finale at midnight. I can't wait to hear what it was like. I know Finn must have been thrilled as he is a little bit nuts about fireworks and has talked of wanting to become one of the men who detonate them.
With the new year, people set resolutions--I used to do this, then always felt like crap by February when I realized I was not able to fulfill the promises I had made. Now I set year-long goals and that feels better to me as it allows me more flexibility in my life and my work. Although I didn't achieve all my 2012 goals, I did meet some of them. I got a finished manuscript for a cookbook into the hands of a publisher and saw the book come to life and be for sale by the end of November. I reorganized my work space and made myself more of an office, so I feel more professional when I am writing. I vowed to increase my income and actually exceeded my daily goal for the past four months. That feels really good as I can see a potential light at the end of my debt tunnel--bills accrued while I went to school for several years to get my Bachelor's in Fine Arts. I applied for a prestigious writing grant and even though I know my chances of winning are very slim, the process of having to write essays on why writing is important to me helped me focus my intent. I am more determined than ever to get more of the stories in my head down on paper.
With that thought, I turn to my goals of 2013 and know I need to spend part of today writing the new list. Two things come to mind immediately--pay more attention to connecting with other writers and readers and finish writing the novel I started two years ago. Two writing lapses of six month's time each has delayed the completion of this story for long enough. 2013 is the year to finish it and find an agent for it. Not to mention the new cookbook idea(s) I have in my head--those need to come to light as well.
What goals do you plan to achieve this year?
Best wishes to all of you!