Happy New Year!

I'm sitting at my desk at work. I'm the only one in the building, and I'm only here to do some personal tasks. It's a new year! 2008 was pretty good to me, but I'm not sad to see it go.

Since I've started this blog, my life has, very simply, gotten better. I don't know if it's the blog itself or just a period of "growing up" but I've started to look at life a little more realistically. I'm halfway through a Masters (all A's, so far!). I've paid off my car/credit cards (over $12,000!). I have about $2,500 invested in the stock market right now (I bought $1,500 worth of stock in a couple of stable companies when they hit one of those really bad dips, so I'm up $1,000). I finished writing a 500 page book, and have started the arduous task of revising.

I have a few goals for this year.

- I want to have $10,000 of my own money in the stock market by the end of 2009. I have $8,500 to go.

- I want to get all my assignments in on time for my remaining classes in my Masters.

- I start Thesis I in the Fall of 2009--I want to have all substantial revisions complete in my novel by the end of Thesis I, so that the novel is ready for minor revisions by the start of Thesis II in the Spring of 2010.

- I want to send out 200 submissions for short-story publications. This hooks into a 2-year goal:

-- There are a few grants that I want to apply for in 2010. In order to qualify for these grants, I have to have 5 short stories published. Every quarter of this year, I want to send out 50 short-story submissions so that I can reach that goal of five publications.

- I just had my cholesterol checked and was roundly scolded by my doctor. If I don't lower my cholesterol myself in 6 months, I'm supposed to go on Lipitor. This leads me to a few very important goals (doctor's orders):

-- I need to exercise four days a week. I'm going to keep a calendar.
-- I have to stop eating out. My goal: only one "fast food" meal a month.

That's it. I'm also going to change the format of this blog. It's always been a little soft on the helpful financial information, and I'm fully embracing that lack. I'm going to use this as a sketchbook for ideas and how my life is going in general.

For the ten or twenty people who glance at this when I occasionally post, thanks for reading! It's good to know that a few people are glancing over my life--it keeps me on track.

Happy 2009 to all. I am, as always, Indebted2You.