Resolution update: 2010 in review

2010 is about to become a thing of the past, and as such, it is time to review my successes and failures from the previous year. It’s wasn’t my best showing by resolution standards. I successfully completed 7 of my 16 resolutions and made considerable progress on two others.

Not great.

Here are the final results of each resolution, some of which will most assuredly make a repeat appearance on my 2011 list:

1.  Lose seventeen more pounds, bringing my weight down to 185 pounds, which was my high school pole vaulting weight.

I added a total of five pounds to my weight since January of 2010. Terrible.

2.  Complete CHICKEN SHACK by April 15.

Not only did I finish CHICKEN SHACK, but I am nearly finished MEMOIRS OF A IMAGINARY FRIEND, which my brilliant agent has already sold rights to in six different countries.

CHICKEN SHACK has yet to be sold, but with luck (and a little revision), it will end up being my third book written and fourth book published.

3.  Eat three servings of oatmeal a week in order to reduce my cholesterol.

I’m going to call this a success. Though there were weeks in which I ate less than three bowls of oatmeal, those were few and far between and were far outpaced by the weeks in which I ate decidedly more than three bowls.  I won’t know if my cholesterol is actually lower as a result until my physical late next year, but the goal of eating oatmeal was achieved. More importantly, eating oatmeal has become a routine that I will continue in 2011.

4.  Try liver.

I failed to eat liver in 2010. The easiest of my sixteen resolutions went undone.

5.  Publish an Op-Ed in a national newspaper.

I failed to publish an Op-Ed in any newspaper in 2010. I attempted to publish one piece in four separate papers and was rejected each time.

6.  Participate in The Moth as a storyteller, at a live show or on their radio broadcast.

I pitched one story for The Moth’s radio broadcast and was rejected. I attended one live Moth event, but it was a GrandSLAM, so I did not have the opportunity to participate. Another failure.

7.  Complete the rock opera.

While we continue to tweak the rock opera, it is complete. My partner and I listened to it last night, in fact, and took some notes on some possible revisions. We hope to see a staged reading and/or actual performance in 2011 at one of our local theaters.

8.  Read at least six novels that were published in 2010.

I finished reading fifteen novels published in 2010 and am in the midst of reading two more. A rousing success.

9.  Organize my basement.

Work on the basement is incomplete. My hopes of completing it during my December vacation evaporated with the deadline for my new book.

10.  Learn to use Dreamweaver with reasonable skill.

Success! I am able to edit my webpage at will using this software.   

11.  Land at least one paying client for my fledgling life coach business.

Not a single paying client in 2010 despite the glowing recommendations of my two pro-bono clients.

12. Go to at least twelve movies this year, continuing to debunk the myth that the parents of newborns are no longer able to go out to the movies.

I finished the year with exactly 12 movies, and that brings my two year total to 29. Almost thirty movies seen in a theater or at a drive-in since the birth of my daughter. Myth officially debunked.

13. Rid Elysha and myself of all education debt before the end of the year.

Incomplete. With the foreign sales already made for the new book, it’s likely that 2011 will be the year that Elysha and I become debt-free, but this year was a failure in this regard.

14. Replace the twelve ancient windows on the first and second floor of the house with more energy efficient ones.

Also incomplete due to lack of funding.

15. Make one mortgage payment from poker profits.

With a last minute surge in poker profits (from an especially profitable cash game last week), I came ever so close to this goal, falling about 22% shy of the mark. A failure, but one that I feel good about considered how little poker I played in 2010 in favor of writing.

16. Post my progress in terms of these resolutions on this blog on the first day of every month.

I missed one month in 2010 but am willing to call this a success.