On: A Letter to a Long Ago Friend

I was thinking about you today, and then pictures of your kiddos popped up on my newsfeed. As a person who hasn't ever particularly thought people's kiddos were cute, I've got to say, you and Andrew have made some gorgeous little ones.

I've missed talking to you, and wish that we could have stayed in better touch. I often wonder how it is that we managed to remain close the whole time we lived on opposite coasts, yet as soon as we're on the same coast our lives seemed to have taken us in different directions.

I realized today I no longer know what you do in your spare time or what interests you. The person who was with me through some of my most difficult experiences in life, I don't know anymore.

I'm sure you're just as amazing as you were then, but I find at times it feels like a piece of me disappeared when we stopped talking. 

I'm happy and healthy, and I have a great life. A life so much better than I ever expected it would be after losing G.

I gave birth to my son just under seven hours before G's ninth birthday. I like to believe one brother helped the other into the world.

I hope your life is as happy as mine, and that your dreams and goals are everything you wished them to be all those years ago.

Maybe someday, we'll be able to catch up again, because even though I've made new friends, great friends, there is always a place in my heart where you belong.

R.S.

On: Reading, Re-evaluating, and Relaxing

As of tomorrow, Boy Wonder will be one month old. It's amazing how quickly they grow and change, and how quickly they grow and change us.

I'm reminded how important my goals, plans, and dreams are, because each and every one of them are for a better life for my little ones. I'm also reminded, daily, that things take time, and I need to be patient.

There are so many things I want to accomplish, and I'm anxious to get started.

 Anxious to get words on paper (or screen).

Anxious to get back to my pre-baby body, again. Hopefully this time it won't take me four years. It shouldn't since I'm only ten pounds shy of my pre-pregnancy weight and still have two weeks before the six week-get-off-my-butt-and-workout date of July 18. I've been doing what I can to start the process. Eating right, walking, and doing daily yoga.

Unfortunately, I'm still not getting as much sleep as I'd like, but that too will change in time.

So far, my routine doesn't involve as much of my goal oriented focus as I would like. Instead it is full of snuggling with my little man, catching up on all the reading I didn't have the mental focus for while I was pregnant, and taking it easy. These are all important things, and I cherish these little moments, because they won't last long. Boy Wonder won't always want to snuggle, or sleep curled up on me.

I have a tendency to stress myself out when I'm not moving toward a goal, so I spend a lot of time telling myself that each day, every snuggle, every nap, is getting me one step closer to where I want to be mentally, physically, and monetarily.

Not to mention, nothing makes me happier than snuggling with Boy Wonder and reading a good book while he softly snores.

Life isn't always simple, but when it is, it's important to enjoy the simplicity.

R.S.

ON: Getting on With Life

Again, I've been a horrible blogger, but I'm not going to apologize this time.

Instead, I'll try and do better.

Boy Wonder is three weeks old today, and we're still trying to get our routine down. Having a newborn is a huge change for me. It's been almost six years since we had a newborn in our home. Everyone has experienced a learning curve this time around.

For some reason, the first time seemed easier.

Maybe, because the first time, I had nothing to compare it to. I didn't know what to expect, and this time I did. Of course, knowing what to expect doesn't mean things are going to go as expected. Every child is different.

Boy Wonder is no exception.

He's gorgeous, and solid. There is no chub on him other than his cheeks, but he's got some serious weight behind him. If he keeps his body style, he'll be perfect for football. Something I don't even want to contemplate.

However, for the first two weeks he had his schedule backwards. Night was day, and day was night. It was miserable for me. In a house full of early birds, having a night owl proved to be complicated and difficult. When he puts his mind to it, BW can sleep like nobody's business.

He's finally figuring out a better schedule.

Now that things on the sleep schedule front are getting better, I have hopes that we'll get a routine down that will allow me to balance all the other responsibilities in my life. Like writing.

I've missed it.

I realized the other day that a novel I'd written two years ago, but never edited or published, has been niggling at my brain again. The characters want their story told. I hope soon, I can make that a reality for them.

There are also other writing projects I've been sitting on for a while. Some I actually made a little progress on during my maternity sabbatical.

My plan was to have them published before the new year. I'm honest enough with myself to say that is highly unlikely. Getting pregnant and having a baby tend to put a crimp in plans and New Years Goals. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to hit any of those goals mentioned here. Good thing, I'm flexible. That's the thing about goals. They don't go away just because the date changes.

What has been going on in your lives? I'd love to know.

R.S.

On: New Year, New Goals, New Plans

Everyone seems to make resolutions at the beginning of each new year. I've never been good with resolutions.

I'm much better with the word goals. Goals seem to be something solid. Something you can make legitimate plans for.

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm happiest when there is a plan of action in place.

Gone are the days when flying by the seat of my pants was the way to go. Anymore, the thought of that makes me a little queasy and ready to run for the hills.

I think I'm getting old.

Being pregnant doesn't help that either, especially when I have to hit the restroom every 45 minutes without fail. My bladder has shrunk to the size of a pea. Possibly a dehydrated baby pea.

Anyway, onto the Goals for the 2013 year.

• Blog at least once every week, on Fridays.
• Become more active in promoting my blog, and connecting with others through social media.
• Write one piece of Flash Fiction each month.
• Self-publish two more works. Either novels or short stories.
• Give birth to a happy and healthy baby.
• Return to my everyday yoga practice.
• Finish my yoga instructor training (the one that got postponed due to pregnancy)
• Keep positive reminders around me, so when I feel down or dark I can remember the good.
• Snuggle with my children as often as possible.
• Take time for myself.
• Make time for at least one date night a month (when the Marine is home).
• Be the best version of me I can be.

  Make 2013 your year. I know I will.

 What are your goals and plans for the New Year? I'd love to hear. 

R.S.

On Continual Improvement

Every day is a new day.

A day where I get to decide what's going to happen.

Some days I wake up, and the only thing I want to do is curl in a ball with a good book or two, and an endless supply of chocolate.

Granted, neither of those fit into my current plans.

I hop a plane to Maui in about 37 days, give or take a few hours on either side.

*Squee!*

Okay, I'm calm now, and I've got goals, people!

37 days may seem like a long time, or a short time depending on my current frame of mind. It's long because I haven't seen my best friend in far too long, but it's short because I've got a lot to do before I leave to bask (and quite probably burn) in the sand and sun of Hawaii.

Since the first day of 2012 I've had my eye focused on the prize.

What prize is that you ask?

No, no, it's not a lifetime supply of chocolate that my husband will feed me as I laze by the pool. Though, if you'd like you could send me a lifetime supply of the smooth, sweet goodness. Any chocolate shop owners out there?

*Sigh*

I don't even have a pool, but I've got a whole lot of sand if anyone is interested. If you squint just right it might even look like a beach.

Anyway, the prize is physical and mental fitness. I'm tired of the continual feeling of exhaustion that has plagued me for the last year and a half. I'm tired of not being the healthiest me I can be. Which actually means I haven't really been eating chocolate.

I know, I know, hard to believe, right?

I read everything I can get my hands onto about how to lose that last inch around my waist I want gone. I've done amazing things for my body in the last few years. I dropped over 30 pounds all before the calling in of 2012.

It wasn't enough.

So I gave myself a personal challenge to do 90 days of yoga. Which I mentioned here. I'm still doing amazing with that. Sometimes I even do yoga twice a day. Because of this new routine I feel happier than I have been in a long time, and my core is so much stronger than it's ever been. Plus I can finally do correct push ups.

How awesome is that?

This morning, however, at the beginning of the new day, when the sky was barely pink and the power was still shut off (grrr to the power people and their more and more frequent 'scheduled outages') I decided I needed to do something more to bring my body to the best place it can be, both mentally and physically.

I decided to start running.

*Eeeeek!*

I hate running.

In fact I'd rather do just about anything instead of running.

Oh, you need me to clean your septic tank using nothing more than a mop and bucket? I'm on it!

I'm going to love running.

I want to be able to do things without gasping for breath. I want to firm up my glutes and tighten up the last little bit of skin on my stomach.

I want to shock the running shoes off the Marine.

Today was the first day of my 'couch to 5k' running program.

Not that I'm actually planning to run a 5k, but I'd like to be able to run three miles with the Marine. I'd like to enjoy running like so many other people seem to.

I want to be the best me I can be.

I want to continually improve my mind and body.

Yes, I want a lot of things, I admit that.

The big thing is, I'm willing to work for them and not expect them to just happen.

Hard work never hurt anyone.

In fact, the harder I work for something the better I feel when it all comes together.

I've got about three months until the Marine returns to me again. I think 90 days is a decent amount of time, right?

Wish me luck.

And maybe if I run I can start eating chocolate again. :)

Do you have fitness goals, or any goals you'd like to share? Is there something you hated to do, but you forced yourself to do it? I'd love to hear from you.

R.S.

On Welcome to the Year 2012

It's the first day of 2012, and it's going to be a crazy, awesome, insane, year.

I woke up this morning and wondered where the last year had gone. I went to sleep in 2011 and woke up in 2012 (yes, I act like I'm far older than I really am and go to bed way before midnight).

The last year seemed to have just flown by. I remember the years that seemed to drag, the 365 days that felt twice as long. 2011 wasn't one of those years. So many things happened last year, and you can read about it here. 

Although, today is really no different than yesterday was, the first day of a new year is always filled with optimism. The first of January signifies new beginnings, a chance to fulfill goals (both insane and realistic), and a belief that the errors and misjudgments, the hurts and let downs from the previous year can be wiped clean.

I don't believe in creating New Year's Resolutions. Instead, I create goals.

For instance, in 2012 I've got a few goals.

1. 90 day yoga challenge (I began this first thing this morning).
2. Start running (have I mentioned how much I hate running, so this my fall under insane goals)
3. Edit and publish the short story I wrote in 2011
4. Edit and publish my YA novel.
5. Write and publish the six new short stories currently floating around in my head.

Sure, it's not a huge list, but it's mine, and it will get me through the next year.

What are your goals or resolutions? I'd love to hear.

Happy New Year.

R.S.

On Touch Base Tuesday

With the Munchkin in school today, and the Niece and Marine both at work, I have great plans for 'my' time.

I'm going to work on my YA novel.

Yesterday was the first time in the last month where I actually had time to do something on the computer other than homework and the daily blog.

It was a good day.

Words written on YAN: 1507

Goal for this week: Finish the remaining chapters and prep to do a hands on, paper and red pen editing/revision.

It was definitely nice to return to the little world I created, and can't wait to spend more time there today.

What are your goals for the week?


R.S.

On Touch Base Tuesday

I feel like this a lot...

I'll admit it...

I've been a bad little author this month.

Class began the end of August and I've been brain seepage deep in American Literature (oh the joys of Puritan writing--and don't get me started on Columbus' letters).

It hasn't left a whole lot of time for my creative muse to flex her muscles in the fictional worlds I've created. In fact, she's been flexing those muscles in the form of essays and research papers-- I have to write another research paper this week...and I'm not sure what I'm doing it on yet.

Oops.

Even though I haven't sat down and worked on any of my WIP, I've been running them through my brain every few hours, and I've done various kinds of brainstorming--generally while I'm supposed to be absorbing some bone dry literary 'work of art'.

There are approximately two more chapters until the end of the first book in my YA series, and then I need to do a few more revisions on my still untitled contemporary short story.

On top of that there are several other stories simmering in my head--just waiting their turn in the queue.

I've missed working, and look forward to getting back to it in a few weeks.

After my final.

I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday.

What are your goals for the week?

Updates?

R.S.