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Friday, January 8, 2010

The New Year

I am finally ready to think of this year as a new year. I toyed with resolutions, but only managed two that are kind of lame, but might help me in the big picture:

1. Give up the word "Dude". Yeah, I know. How am I going to manage this? Dude and I have become good friends over the past year. But when you find yourself calling your boss Dude and your three daughters inform you that they are not a Dude...well, maybe you are over using the word a tad. So, goodbye Dude...(I thought of switching to Doofus, but would like to keep said job and said children, so maybe the whole style of speaking needs to change a bit.

2. Eat more vegetables.

As for writing, I don't make yearly resolutions as much as monthly goals. Small bits are easier to tackle, so January's writing goals are:

1. Finish revising picturebook 10 Little Gingerbreads.
2. Finish new draft of Chicken Wizard (still not happy with the voice/style)
3. Revise Nix (Sooo afraid to open this file.)
4. Finish first draft of YA Wren Faire.
5. Finish draft of Surfiesta! (a silly poem book in which I am allowed to suspend my avoidance of Dude)
6. Write a few notes about something that is niggling in my brain.

Okay, so there they are. The January Goals!


hrh


P.S. As for my vegetable intake, I did eat some lettuce and tomato (okay, they were on a blt) and some fried green tomatoes yesterday, does that count?

20 comments:

Veronica and Thomas said...

Monthly goals are so much easier to get to. I'm a list maker too. Good luck!

Catherine Denton said...

Your January writing goals would take me a year! lol I LOVE the word niggling. Is that up for grabs? Can I use that?

Tamika: said...

Fried green tomatoes?! I thought that was just fiction! Lol.

You have quite a list for January, awesome!

Robin Mellom said...

Good luck with your goals! Yay for vegetables! (Pickles are a vegetable, right??)

:-)

Susan R. Mills said...

That definitely counts. I ate tomato soup with my grilled cheese yesterday. I'm counting that. Best of luck with your goals.

Myrna Foster said...

Dude! I think your writing goals are ambitious too. Let us know how it goes, 'kay?

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Maybe we should team up on the "dude" thing. My use of that word is out of control. Maybe it's a teacher thing. :)

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Whoa! That's a pile o' January goals. I'm impressed.
And any vege counts. My problem is I often need to smother them in butter, cheese or dressing, which probably negates their purpose.

Hayley Lovell said...

Great goals, I'm pretty sure the fried bit of fried tomatoes makes them less vegetable, more chip like. But you could always try drinking V8 fruit juice, that's how I get my daily dose of veggies.

Good luck with your goals!

lisa and laura said...

Dude, NO! You can't do it. It's too entertaining to start sentences with "dude." You write for kids, it's practically a law that you overuse the word.

Jackee said...

I can relate to the Dude thing. My oldest two had that and "Man!" as their top first six words. It can't be all that bad when you write for teens and tweens anyway, right?

And as far as the vegetables... a whole new world of possibilities! You might look into seeing if bountifulbaskets.org has a coop in your area. Ordering from them has definitely helped my veggie/fruit intake as well as saved me a ton of money.

Cheers to a new year!

Dawn Simon said...

Great goals!

I liked your comment over at Tamika's. You're very smart.

Anonymous said...
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storyqueen said...

Veronica-Hope your list is a little more reasonable than mine....ugh.

Catherine-I am sure I heard niggling somewhere else, I just don't remember where, so feel free.

Tamika-Fried green tomatoes are made of awesome!! You should try them sometime.

Robin-Yes, a pickle is a vegetable...and so is peanutbutter (hey, peanuts grow in the ground, right?)

Susan- I am dying for some tomato soup right now! It is on my weekly menu for sure.

Myrna-Already panicking because I read this morning instead of writing....yikes.

Shannon-Maybe it IS a teacher thing! So far, it has been an almost Dude-free couple of days. I don't have a replacement word, though...

Tricia-I think as long as the veggie gets into the body, it's all good. (My problem is that I only like salad, and I'm getting kind of sick of salad.)

Hayley-Sorry, I can't gag down the V-8...ick. (Even though, really, it's just like cold tomato soup, which I love...go figure.)

L and L-Nope, the Dude must die. (When your kids are in college, they, too, will thank you for giving up Dude.)

Jackee-That is a good idea. Will definitely look into it! Thanks.

Dawn-Thank you.

Spammer-Please don't come back if you are going to spam this blog. Spam and veggies don't mix.

Katie Anderson said...

I say dude a lot too! haha. And I think those writing goals are HUGE!!!!!!! What? Are you writing like 5 books this year? I hope to finish ONE. Wish me luck!

Hayley Lovell said...

Oh I an't down the real stuff eithr, no I mean the fruit flavored ones. They're pretty good, and its a serving of veggies and fruits.

MG Higgins said...

Yes, those veggies count. But I love dude and doofus! I think I'll continue using them ... sparingly. And maybe only in my writing. Have fun with your goals.

Kim said...

Your January goals are amazing! I think I'd have a heart attack if I was faced with that list.

I am working on the veggies too. I've had my extra special Grilled Veggie sammich two days in a row now. SOOO good, and full of veggies. Since you live in CA, you'd be able to do it right b/c I'm sure you can get your hands on some yummy, authentic torta rolls.

Clementine said...

I've got the cure for veggies...a vitamin. I love salads but I'm not so crazy about cooked greens. You would get along with my 10 yr. old son. He loves the word, Dude.

Stephanie Perkins said...

I am so distressed to hear that you're leaving the ranks of LWATWD (Ladies Who Abuse The Word Dude)! Our numbers are dwindling. So, so sad.

Someday, I'll be the last one left in the room.

"Dude," I'll sigh.