One little word on 1/1/11

Happy New Year!

I would apologize for not posting all the end-of-year ideas that have been swimming around in my brain for the last month, but honestly, I'm not sorry because I was enjoying a glorious vacation from all things "plugged" (with the exception of TV... hello, HBO was replaying season three of True Blood).

A relatively recent New Year's tradition for me is to come up with one little word that becomes a focus of sorts for the year. In 2009, it was relax, a word I'm still trying to incorporate into my daily life two years later. Fortunately, whether of my own accord or by mere circumstance, my word for 2010 was a bit easier for me: try. I didn't try everything I had hoped to, nor did I succeed in everything I tried, but the following highlights made for what I consider to be a rewarding word. In the past year, I've tried:

• my hand at Etsying (hey, if "googling" is now a word, "etsying" can be, too). I've only had 20 sales, but it's enough that I now have a fun little way to support my crafting habit.
• freelance writing, which I really love doing.
• becoming a paid published author, and I succeeded (yay!). This is by far my proudest accomplishment of 2010.
• devoting time to being crafty (in a good way) just for me. The result is finally having completed pages in our family scrapbooks.
• adding to my WIP. My manuscript is 17,779 words longer than it was this time last year, but I expected to have the novel's first draft completed by now.

It's this unrealized vision that ultimately led me to my one little word for 2011:

REALIZE

1.

to grasp or understand clearly.

2.

to make real; give reality to (a hope, fear, plan, etc.).

My friend Cheri described herself a few weeks ago as "Queen of Unfinished Projects." Over the last few years, this has become me as well. There's a lot of thinking about doing, but not enough actual doing. As I said in a Facebook status earlier last month, "Good intentions, bad follow-through. Story of my life." I think some of the problem is that I have too many good intentions, which leads me to the first part of my word: I need to realize what my priorities are, as well as what's getting in the way of them, and focus on those. Unfortunately, that is going to mean saying "no" to some - or a lot - of people and opportunities, but I'd rather dedicate myself to a few things and see them through than make a whole bunch of commitments I ultimately can't fulfill.

The second part of my word is probably obvious: I want to realize my goal of getting this novel written (and, much to my dismay, it's apparently not going to write itself). This time next year, I will have a draft that is ready for pre-readers to critique. Does someone have a brown paper bag I can hyperventilate into, please? I'm tired of thinking about it. I'm tried of talking about it (though that probably won't stop me from continuing to do so). It's time to DO IT.

Here's to 2011 and realizing all it has to offer!

Unanswered prayers

Thanks to everyone who weighed in on yesterday's post. I was happy to read what I wanted to hear, which was quality over quantity. And now back to our regularly scheduled program...

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A few weeks ago, the potential for a great opportunity, one that seemed practically perfect in every way (yep, just like Mary Poppins), presented itself to us. I hoped it would happen, I envisioned it happening, I prayed it would happen. We found out last week that it's not going to happen.

Having faith that there's a reason this opportunity passed us by doesn't mean that there's not disappointment. But in practicing my one little word, trying to pick up my spirits and move past my sadness, I was reminded of other prayers in my life that have gone unanswered. If any of them had been granted, I wouldn't be with my husband right now; for that reason alone, I'm glad they were never answered.

And for all I know, at some point in the future, I may feel grateful that this prayer has gone unanswered, too.

"Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs
That just because He doesn't answer doesn't mean He don't care
Some of G-d's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers"
-Garth Brooks, "Unanswered Prayers"


Because the eye roll Hubby will give me for including such a cliche on my blog post isn't enough, I must also include the video. *evil cackle*

Is this thing still on?

I'm coming out of my cave. No, that's nothing like coming out of the closet.

image source

A former colleague once observed that when an outside force causes a major shift in my best laid plans, I sit in a metaphorical corner for a few days and lick my wounds. This time the corner was a cave. And the days turned into weeks. And the wounds were too deep to lick.

I lost my job.

This may not seem significant enough to warrant such a dramatic response, but I quickly learned that losing what's been a large part of my life (and a constant amongst all the life changes), as well as part of my identity, for the past few years needed to be grieved before I could move forward. I hid in my antisocial cave and went through all the stages - denial, anger, bargaining, and depression - and am finally emerging with acceptance, a plan of action, and a desire to reconnect with the outside world.

My one little word "try" means more to me now than when I picked it earlier this year as I try to accept what I cannot change, try to make the best of the situation, and try to remember all I have to be grateful for in my life. Oh yeah, and try to get a new job. ☺

And so it begins

Happy New Year!

Like the tree? Yeah, it's not ours (the non-papered walls should have been a dead giveaway that it's not even our house). The Great Christmas Fail of 2009 resulted in us snapping pictures in front of everyone else's trees this year. Fortunately, we actually know the owner of this one.

Today, I did not take down the holiday decorations. Nor did I clean the mess that Wilton threw up all over my kitchen last night. And most importantly, I did not make any resolutions.

I will not promise to work out everyday, cut sweets out of my diet, keep the house clean, spend less money, or wash my car more often. Why set myself up for failure?

But what I will do is pick One Little Word (a dangerous exercise for a wordophile). My word for 2009 was relax. If I had to grade my success, I'd give myself a C+ (I'll probably have to ask Hubby to grade on a curve). I certainly still have a lot to learn about unwinding, but I did a much better job of "not sweating the small stuff." This year, the word is try.

My first action is to try to jumpstart my scrapbooking for the year, so I'm taking two Big Picture Scrapbooking classes (click on the icons below to learn more; registration is still open):

What is/would be your One Little Word for this year? (Yes, I realize I'm opening myself up for a whole lot of trouble with this question. ☺)

I hope 2010 is a happy and healthy one for you all!

iPhone Speak

It's taken a year, but my iPhone finally speaks my language. Admittedly, its vocabulary is not very sophisticated (but then again, neither am I).

• MBS: This stands for My Beautiful Stranger, and she is the one I text with several times a day, each and every day (except for Mondays when we are estranged by our competing television shows). How she came to earn that title deserves its own post. (Let's just say it has something to do with alcohol, the "next morning," and Madonna.)

• LOL and all its many variations (most notably LMAO and LMFAO): I laugh a lot. What can I say?

• NCIS, Gibbs, Ziva, DiNozzo: I often text and tweet about NCIS, one of my favorite shows, and my three favorite special agents.

• Jin, Hurley, Sayid: Uncommon names, you say? Not if you watch LOST. Because I text every LOST night with MBS and another girlfriend, these otherwise unusual names quickly became part of my iPhone's repertoire.

• Stephenie Meyer: This is the author of the book I tweeted about on Twitterific and TwitterFon for at least a solid month. It should be noted that my iPhone also knows the word Twihard (yes, because I am one).

• SVU: I always alert my mom to when a Law & Order SVU marathon is playing. I'm her personal television guide. Texting with my mom is also the reason my iPhone knows AMC, OLTL, and GH, the acronyms for our favorite soap operas (see post about being addicted to bad TV).

I'm not going to lie. My iPhone knows a few other words, but they're not suitable for blogging. 

Now excuse me while I watch an episode of NCIS and LOL with MBS.

My one little word

At the end of 2008, Ali Edwards challenged her readers to embrace One Little Word for 2009. In typical Cheryl fashion, I'm a bit behind schedule. Not rising to the occasion on time would normally cause me to berate myself, but I'm not going to do that.

Who am I and what have I done with Cheryl, you ask?

I'm the lady embracing the word RELAX this year.

Graphic created at Wordle.

So what is it going to take for me to live up to my one little word? Acting totally and completely against my nature.

Just kidding... Well, half kidding.

To truly relax this year, I need to create more realistic goals/expectations for myself, learn to say NO, and remember to make time for me.

Now to begin the celebration of my one little word, I'm going to push the stressors from my mind and go unwind with a good book. Here's to a relaxing year!