New Year's Resolved

 I don't have a lot of complicated resolutions this year, just a desire to prioritize my health and my family, an urge to make a wish, hope for it and then believe it might really come true. And of course to write more books (and sell more too!)

Last year my goals were those shown above and I'd have to say I did pretty well with them the first half of the year, then some family issues slowed me down and bogged me in a lot of worry and the whole balance and health kind of flew out the window.  But Time to get back on track.

Happy 2014

Setting Goals for 2013

Here are my New Year's Resolutions for 2013

This year I chose things I know I will get better at, because they are important to me, and because I am already making progress on them, I have written 3 1/2 books, and I have lost 40 pounds and given up soda and started adding in lots of random acts of fitness thanks to Jonathan Roche and The No Excuses Workouts.

I do live in a beautiful place where getting outside is a Joy

I do Treasure my Family but the miles between us makes it a bit more effort to keep those connections alive now. 

Balance, Well, sometimes, but not so much in my bank balance, so that is the focus this year.

 Do I love New Year's and the Resolutions to do things differently and better?  Well, yes and no.  Rather than going out to a party, I love going inside with my journal and reading notes and essays and lists from previous years. But I see that a lot of the things stay the same from year to year without change.  That is good and bad.  It means I hold the same values but also that I have the same problems. A couple of times I have followed the suggestion I saw years ago in a "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine that suggests not writing what you want to do, but making a list of 100 things you tolerate, small things that sap your time and energy if you don't deal with them.  That has worked well for me, I can always go back and check off several that I did deal with and feel empowered even as I move some to the new list.  I have gotten rid of a lot of the specific piles of clutter I've written about and done some of the maintenance tasks on house and car and marriage, because, yep, even after 30 years together, there needs to be time and effort in maintaining that closeness, especially as out role changes from family with children, to couple with grown adults who sometimes visit.

 Last year I chose only one thing to focus on, one small three letter word that I wanted to have be at the heart of the first and last thoughts in my mind every day. JOY!  That was a wonderful change in attitude for me because I often tended to walk around with a cloud of worries and anger.  Now i habitually find the good before The bad thoughts even start. If I panic over the money, I start to breath and tell myself, "for today, you have everything you need, yesterday you did too, trust that you will Tomorrow as well."

 So I have found Joy and beauty all around me, even in the worn and abandoned house down the street.  It is lovely in a strange, mysterious way I think.

 This year I am looking with Wonder on the giant stumps on the former Redwood logging camp land where I live, and thinking of how things change over time, but how those changes can let in the sun and bring wonder and growth too.

I see my blind dog trusting that he is safe if one of us is near and realize that we are a lot like that dog, we don't see all the things that are in out world, but if we can trust that we will be Ok, we usually will be.

So a year of Joy, Wonder, Balance and Storytelling for me. Blessings to you,


Love,

 Dixie

Greeting 2012 with JOY

 It has been far too long since I have written a post, but I had an interesting December.  Mainly, it was interesting because my computer died and I was forced to revise my daily routines and interact more with the people in my home and my city, and less with the on-line community I normally surround myself with.

View of Castle Rock at Sunset

 I found my husband and I were talking more, and actually drug out the board games when I could not be on facebook or the 365 project and he could not play World Of Warcraft.

Granted, Christmas usually throws us into a different schedule anyway, and this year it was quite different.  It was my first year with my oldest son, old enough that he did not spend the holiday with me, and the family we have visited every ear for 6 years had a child away at college, a new house and a divorce under way, so it was a change, but still a great holiday, wonderful time with people I love, a lot.

Yes, Christmas

 Christmas here is not usually white, but it is also not usually as warm as it was this year.  it was delightfully sunny and New Years Day actually got to almost 70*

Watching historical slide show at town fountain and Christmas tree

 We went on the first history walk through our little Crescent City, CA and 200 people showed up.  It was hard to hear at times but everyone was in a great mood and it was fascinating to hear about the good and the horrible parts of the town history.  Yes, there was an Opera House but after it was thrice destroyed, by Water spout, fire and tsunami, it is no more.  Yes there was a China Town of 700 that overnight turned into 1 chinese man left in the county, yes there was a holocaust of the Native Americans, yes it is still a town of great beauty and tragedy.

All these are for me, and the ornaments too!

 Medford, Oregon has some large homes along a few streets where everyone decorates and then decorates some more, and they collect canned food and toys from the crowds that come to drive through.

The street looks different through fireworks glasses.

My youngest son is graduating with the class of 2012

 Then my return home after Christmas brought my brother-in-law and his wife to our coastal redwoods and gave us an excuse to get out and enjoy the area we live in.

two way road through Redwoods

My husband and I

So I did not get much done in the way of writing, but I did get my first novel, Duffy Barkley is Not a Dog,  into a free promotion on Kindle and that resulted in 230 downloads from Amazon and 40 more from Amazon UK and then I sold another few copies of the second Duffy Barkley book, Duffy Barkley: Seek Well, and I have reason to hope that at least a few of those copies will result in reviews and recommendation and good word of mouth.

I also found my book listed on a site as a 5-star recommendation for Tweens and older.  That made me smile.

So now, my sister-in-law warns me that the world will change a lot this year.  It can certainly change in many ways for the better, but I am greeting 2012 with joy, life is not easy, but it is worth it.