Happy New Year!

I know, this post is like a week late. I have an excuse, though. I was busy posting the Twelve Days of Stella and didn't want to interrupt with my obligatory New Year's post. So, now that the short story is over and I can get on with what I should have posted last week.


Part the 1st: My Holidays

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you know that I spent the holidays with my parents in Oklahoma City. It's a nice enough town and the people are (usually) friendly. But it was freezing and decidedly lacking in major attractions. Still, I had a lovely time. Here's what I did:

• Arrive the Monday before Christmas. Relatively eventless flight, considering proximity to holiday. Got almost no sleep the night before so I totally conked out.
• Cooked a delightful (and simple) Christmas Eve dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing/dressing, and green beans.
• Opened presents. Top gift: Roomba (robot vaccuum)
• Made my dear friend's Pecan Clusters using her family's pecans. I'm not really a nut person or a chocolate person, but I looooove these!
  
• Shared Christmas "dinner" (at 2:00) with parents' friends and about twenty other people. We made a delicious winter fruit salad (pineapple, oranges, grapefruit, pomegranate, black grapes, and--the crowning glory--star fruit). A delightful time was had by all.
• Started posting the Twelve Days of Stella.
  
• Basically crashed for a week between Christmas and New Year's.
• Went to the awesome New Year's Eve party hosted by the Pollard Theatre in Guthrie, Oklahoma. It was so much fun! They had an amazing band, an open bar, beautiful decorations, and a fun atmosphere. They announced their 2009-2010 season (with some amazingly awesome musicals, if you're in the area). This was pretty much one of my top two New Year's Eves of all time. (It's hard to top Vail, though.)
• Relaxed some more.
• Convinced my mom to organize the bookshelves by color. (I know it sounds OCD, but it looks awesome.)
• Finished posting the Twelve Days of Stella.
• Flew home. Slightly more eventful. Flight was delayed by over an hour (no plane). When I got on a woman was in my seat. As she changed to a different seat (which was still not hers) she stepped on my foot. (Not like an, "Oh, oops, let me unstep on your foot." No, she stepped on it and stayed there.) Arrively safely and without further incident.
  

Part the 2nd: My Resolutions Goals Intentions

I don't like resolutions. If I'm resolved to do something then I'm going to do it, I don't need to write it down or announce it to make it happen. Last year I set goals. Okay, one goal. To add a continent to my travel repertoire. (See, stating the goal didn't make a difference. I've still never been to Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica—why do so many continents start with A?—or South America.)

So, instead of resolutions or goals, this year I'm stating Intentions. These are things I intend to do, but will not feel guilty about not doing because, you know, I'm not resolved to do them. Here they are:

• Write more.
• Eat healthier.
• Buy less stuff.
• Do something other than writing. Like knitting or gardening or making miniature dioramas of scenes from my books. (Okay, none of those things. I'm too impatient for knitting, I don't have a yard, and dioramas verge on serial-killer behavior. But something.) I like writing a lot, but other stuff must be interesting, too. Right?
  
• Meet people other than writers. With no day job, child, or significant other, it is just too easy to go from apartment to Starbucks to grocery store and home. I like writers a lot, but other people must be interesting, too. Right?
  

Okay, so maybe those sound remarkably like resolutions, but they're not. Really.

Hugs,
TLC