What's this?! A new post to my blog? No, it can't be! I mean, I had all but given up on ever blogging again. And here I am writing some junk again. I'm glad, because it really seemed like The End for this blog for a little while now!

I just haven't felt like blogging. I know I have no one to answer to, and if I decide to not-blog, that is totally my own business. I think I sometimes expect myself to blog all the time. Shit on that. Truth be told, I don't always want to blog. Sometimes I don't even read the other blogs-- which feels like blasphemy because it's such a part of my standard routine for the past 3+ years-- because my brain just isn't pointed in that direction during those times. Anyway, this New Year I resolve to let go of guilt, obligation and mental clutter.

OK! So...that being said, maybe I should list some of this junk that has been eating up my brain. Maybe, by making it public, I will make myself accountable. I've spent a lot of time not acting, so here are the things I need to get up off my ass and figure out/ do this year:

1) Write more. When I get a story idea, I should jot down the basics as soon as I can, and then write it soon afterwards. Stop stalling and just WRITE.
2) Stop being critical of my writing. If I am constantly editing my own writing as I write, it kind of sucks the fun out of it. But I am one of those people who feels like every sentence I write sometimes is full of grammatical errors, cliches and overused adjectives. I feel sub-par. So that means I often just put off writing altogether. I am going to stop doing this. Write and then edit it later--simple, right?
3) Find magazines, journals, websites to submit my short stories to. I get overwhelmed easily by the mountains of publications out there, and need to just calm down and sort through it all to find a bunch of them that would fit my writing.
4) Re-submit the children's book to at least five more publishers this year.
5) Write query letters. Lots of them.
6) Find potential agents and begin to bug them. Don't panic over the sheer number of literary agencies out there-- just do my homework and find the best ones for my type of fiction.
7) Stop stressing myself out regarding writing! Just remember how much fun it always was to sit down and write when I was younger...and go with it. Don't do it for money, attention, competition or just to meet my own crazy expectations.

There are other things that I'd like to accomplish this year that do not revolve around writing-- it's just that the writing ones are the most crucial for me. I need to get serious about exercising and eating right (I just read an article about heart disease in women and freaked myself out); I want to throw out and get rid of all the extra junk I have (clothes, CDs, books, movies, and other miscellaneous crap) so our house feels more streamlined, comfortable and easy to live in; I want to be the best wife and friend to Greg that I can be; and I want to begin the job search in earnest.

Now that I have written this crap out here, I feel a little more organized. I think I'll come back and read this post whenever I forget or get sidetracked. It's so easy for me to get sidetracked. I am SO forgetful and so easily overwhelmed these days. It's weird. I feel older than I am. And I don't even have a kid yet. Oy vey.

Here's to a kick-ass 2007. :)