Forgive me, IW readers, for I have sinned. It's been four days since my last blog post.

Rather than bore you with the details of what I've been up to for the past week (Work. And also, More Work), I've decided to capitalize on the last remaining hours of the 1st of February to review where I stand on the goals I set for myself for the month of January.

Let's begin, shall we?

Goal #1: Create a writing schedule.

Survey says...No dice. Almost every free minute I have had in January was spent chained to my laptop. Two large projects with almost exactly the same deadline, coupled with a few smaller projects sprinkled throughout the month have just about nearly caused my head to explode, and if I had managed to create a writing schedule at the beginning of the month, it probably would have done me no good, what with the schedule changes and project difficulties I experienced. (Although having a schedule really would have made my tiny little sressed-out, Type A brain feel so much better.)

Goal #2: Clean and organize my desk, and maintain it once I've finished.

I totally fulfilled this goal, right? I mean, how hard is it to spend 10 minutes shuffling and filing papers, and moving pencils and other sharp objects out of the reach of roaming 17-month-old hands? I thought I would offer photographic evidence for this one.




Uh, yeah. No success meeting this goal either.

Goal #3: Start running before Isabella wakes up.

Score! I have successfully made the transition from early-afternoon running to wee-hours-of-the-morning running. I cannot say I enjoy the change, and many, many mornings, my body is all, "Um, WTF are we doing on the treadmill at 6:20am?" but the added work time I get while Isabella is napping has been worth the switch. (And, may God help me, but I'm actually enjoying watching the election coverage on Morning Joe while I run, even though we are Keith fans through-and-through in my house.)

Goal #4: Write my first query.

This is the goal I am most disappointed about not meeting. The month of January was extremely busy for me in terms of freelance writing work. However, all of it was corporate writing, and I had not one free minute to turn my ideas for features and essays into pitches for magazines. I received this book and this one and also this one for Christmas. I haven't cracked the spine of any of them, even though they have sat 10 inches from my laptop, on top of my desk since late December.

Goal #5: Post more frequently on Mush

My last post on Mush was a very, very long time ago. I'm sorry, Pru!

So, if you're keeping score, that's 4 Big Fat Failures, and 1 Goal Successfully Completed for the month of January.

With such a pitiful record, it seems laughable for me to post goals for February. But I'm doing it anyway, because these are things I really want to achieve. My life feels a bit out-of-control at this point, and having goals, even if I can't meet them, makes it seem that reining in the chaos is at least within the relam of possibility.

As such, in addition to attempting once again to complete January Goals Numbers 1, 2, 4, and 5, an additional goal for February is:

Find a good relaxation technique.

Before Isabella was born, I used to take long baths at the end of almost every day to decompress before bed. I don't have that kind of time now, but I would love to find a quick and simple way to relax, if even for 5 minutes during the middle of the day. Suggestions?

My workload is finally lessening, so I should be posting more often now. I'm sure all four of you who read here regularly will sleep better tonight knowing this.