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Every year around this time, I sit and write out four to five resolutions for the next year. These usually include: lose weight, eat healthier, exercise more, better job, better apartment, ect. And, every year, I break all but one or two of these.

This year, I’m trying something a little different. A friend of mine let me in on the idea of 101 in 1001. The goal is to make a list of 101 things you want to accomplish in the next 1001 days (about 2.75 years.) The goals need to be concrete. So instead of “lose weight,” you would write “lose 15 lbs.” Your goals should all be things that you can realistically accomplish, and things that are meaningful to you.

I am still writing my list. It’s a lot harder than it sounds. I will officially start my 1001 days on January 1st, and I have until September 29th, 2011 to complete it. Some of my list is work oriented. Some of my goals are for things I would like to purchase (new bed, food processor). Other goals are for travel (Michigan) and date nights.

I will be posting my list as soon as it’s completed. The next few days are crazy busy, for everyone, so it won’t be until next week. It’s coming though. Promise.

On another topic, trying to shop at the Carousel Center (in Syracuse) on the Saturday before Christmas is a stupid idea. And I am blaming it on my husband. Because all I wanted to do was see the Lights on the Lake. He wanted to shop. Because he doesn’t understand how many other people have the same stupid idea. Now he knows…

It was a lot of fun, though.

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I am addicted to Twitter. I spend way more time on there than I should. But I’m learning a lot, I think. Or at least that is what I am telling myself to make up for the fact that I am really wasting time.

As I put more work into my career as a writer, I am beginning to realize how important Twitter really can be. I am meeting other writers, and I am learning a lot, not only about writing but also about marketing. Social networking was one of my “steps” to achieving my overall goals. As I am normally a shy person, this was a big and scary thing for me. Not so much any more. Why?? Because all of the big important people my little section of the writing world are people, too. They have all been really nice, and I feel like I kind of belong. (Thanks, guys!)

I have decided to put a lot of emphasis on my career in 2009. I want to build my own site, and get a few private clients. I want to work a lot on my writing and editing skills, and I want to work on earning some residual income. I am falling into a writer’s life quite easily.

It’s nice to finally have a career I am proud to tell people about. “I’m a writer” sounds so much cooler than “I cook for Applebees…”

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As of today, there are 21 days left until Christmas. Three weeks. Am I ready??

Hahahaha… Not even close.

I have everything planned.
I know what we are having for Christmas dinner (lasagna), what we are
giving everyone for gifts (home made goodies), and what we are getting
Becca (anything that is small and not likely to take up the few
remaining square feet of apartment space we have left.)
I know that
Santa is getting everyone pajamas. And a few family gifts. And I know
what Mark is getting, and what is going into everyone’s stockings.
Oh,
yes. It is all very well planned. Is anything bought and paid for?? No.
Except for a couple of Mark’s smaller things that I ordered this
morning.

And, so, we enter the CHRISTMAS RUSH!

This
has become an integral part of our holiday tradition around the Upson
household. Presents are bought almost last minute, and then we stare at
the Amazon shipping page multiple times a day, making sure that our
orders will get here on time. Christmas baking is done in the three or
four days before the holiday. With the amount of baking I do, this
means that I bake all day long. But I’ve kinda gotten good at it.

We’re
trying to not make everything last minute this year. I just think it’s
hard to have it feel like Christmas when you don’t get out much to see
the other signs of the holiday- like lights on house and store
displays. However, I have started my ordering for the holidays, and I
am working hard to get as much money earned as I can, as soon as
possible. Then I can order everything so that it shows up before the
week of Christmas. For once.

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So, I’ve decided to change things up a bit. This will still be a mommy-blog, but I’ll also begin adding in stuff about work. Seeing how no one reads this anyway, I didn’t figure anyone would mind…

Here’s where I am with work… I am writing for wiseGEEK and QualityGal. I have accounts with Associated Content, Textbroker, and Ehow. I am applying very soon for BrightHub. I don’t plan on doing mush with Ehow until after December, once the Christmas rush is over, and life is kinda back to normal. I hope to start building a decent residual income through that site over the next year or two.

I am getting ready to plan out my financial goals for 2009. And a budget, of some sorts, that maybe we can actually stick to.

On the mommy front- Becca has 4 more teeth coming in. She is now running all over the place. And she likes Big Bird.

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Hello, world!
It’s been a while since I have been able to post. Which is crazy, as I am on the internet all day it seems. So, what have I been up to, you ask? Well, let me tell you…

My day starts a little before 6:00am, sometimes sooner. I make myself some hot tea, and turn on the computer. The first order of the day is checking my email. I delete all of the junk, and see if I have anything from my employers. New articles reviewed? Payments? New stuff available? There is usually at least one important announcement. Then I check the news real quick. Then Becca wakes up, so I go in and nurse her back to sleep.
Then back to work. I log in to both of my main writing sites to see what I have in store for the day. I chose my own articles. So if I have a weird one, I have usually no one to blame but myself. I choose a good starting point, and start my research. Then I make a quick outline, to make writing easier. And then I begin writing. I aim for about 500 words per article, which isn’t bad. I also might be finishing up an article or two from the day before that I didn’t get a chance to complete.
This goes on for about 20 minutes, then I get bored. Time to look up Christmas ideas, recheck my email, and goof off for a few minutes. Then Becca might wake up again. Back in to her, back out a little bit later. I make myself breakfast, and then it’s back to work.
With my tendency to be easily distracted, I might get one and a half articles completed before Becca wakes up around 8:30. I play with her for a bit, change her diaper, then work for a little longer while she plays. Sometimes we browse you-tube for a bit together. It takes about half an hour for her to be ready for breakfast. She eats, and we play for a bit longer. Then I try to get a little more done between playing sessions with her.
Mark gets up about noon. We hang out for a bit, and have lunch. Then I get an hour uninterrupted to work while he plays with Becca. Then it is nap time. I put her down to sleep, and work a bit more, if I don’t fall asleep myself. I do a good bit of goofing around by this point in the day. I’ve gotten a couple articles written, and am feeling pretty good about myself. By this point, I am usually onto article number three, the last one for the day.
After nap is snack time, then some play. I finish up my article (hopefully) before supper. After supper we play a bit more, maybe have a bath, and then start thinking about bed. We snuggle, read some books, and fall asleep. The End.

During my time on the computer, I am also doing business-type stuff. Like keeping my paypal and bank account in order. Or posting on the wahm.com message board, where I found my jobs. Or browsing Amazon.com for books about freelance writing and business type stuff. Or looking up on time warner cable about the phone/internet/cable package. Seeing as internet is essential to work, as is a phone, I count this as work-related research.
Kinda.
Anyhow, time to play. And, yeah. The birthday post is coming…… sorry about that.

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Today is Becca’s Birthday. I’ll be doing a second post about that. By tonight. I swear.

As of two days ago, I have not worked in a year. At least, not in a job that earned any actual money. Mark has been our sole breadwinner, and he has been doing a great job. But this economy situation has been screwing us all up. He works in a lumber mill. So when people stop renovation and building houses because they are broke, there is less work for him. And when banks stop lending money to the business that buy lumber, there is a drastically reduced call for quality hardwoods. And, again, less work. In the past month, his hours have gone from 50+ to 40. If he’s lucky. So… Back to work I go. I’ve decided to go into freelance writing; writing articles and such for different companies. It’s an interesting job, and I think I’ll enjoy it. I’ve always been good at writing, so it should at least be a good match. I have also applied at ChaCha, the SMS answering service. I’ll hear back from them within the next few days. With Mark not working on Mondays anymore, I’ve claimed Monday as my work day. I get about 8 hours to do whatever I can. I also get time on Saturday and Sunday, along with whatever time I can claim during the week. I’m aiming for about 20 hours a week, more if I can.
Of course, I’m also working on getting a following for my blogs. There’s money to be made there, if I get good enough. And people reading my posted work through the other sites also helps me out, so I’ll be posting links to stuff on the right side of this page. Check them out, and let me know what you think.

All the extra work is going to be a pain in the butt. I realize this. But it’s going to be nice to be bringing in money again, even if it’s not as much as I used to bring in. There’s good money in this, though, from what I’ve been told. So, wish me luck. I have two more applications and about five articles to write before the end of the day….

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This saturday is Becca’s first birthday party.

WHA??? How did this happen? Didn’t we, like, just bring her home a couple of months ago? What has happened to my itsy-bitsy baby girl? Oh, I am so not ready for this. Stop everything. Rewind a bit, please.
She is on the verge of toddlerhood, and it shows. She has become very skilled at this ‘no’ business. “Kisses for mommy?” (shakes head.) “More carrots?” (nope.) “Honey, give mommy the paper, please.” (Shakes head, smiles, and crawls off at breakneck speeds..) What can I say? She gets lots of practice…
The stride-right lion toy we got her has done its job. She is becoming an accomplished walker. Becca can cross the room about half way before plopping back down. To say that she is proud of herself is an understatement. She has become quite the applause addict.
And, of course, part of walking is falling down and knocking your head. Usually on hard wooden objects. She went to bed tonight sporting her first good-sized goose egg. Right in the middle of her forehead. Hoorah! Bring on the birthday photography.
This is, of course, about two weeks after giving herself her first black eye. (Ran into the heating vent.) Oh, boy. Toddlerhood, here we come…

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It’s been a while- hectic week, but not much really happening. We got Becca a walking toy yesterday, to encourage her new skill. It’s a lion, and he plays music if you hit his nose. Becca was so excited, even before we got it home. I had to put her in the highchair to keep her off me while I was assembling it. Lots of screws, or else I wouldn’t have minded. I got him all set, then we stood her up behind him. She rolled him back and forth a bit, then she figured out the walking bit. Oh, my goodness. She squealed with delight, and off she went. Becca would crash into a wall, call for us to come turn it around, then go careening into the opposite wall. Back and forth, for almost an hour. She’d scream if we tried to take her away from it. After a bit, she started to figure out how to turn it around, but]it still takes her a while. She has to stop and figure it out each time. But she has gotten so much out of it already. She probably enjoys this toy more than any other one we’ve gotten for her.
We also got her a new car seat yesterday. I spent hours researching the best one, and, luckily, they had it at k-mart. This thing is nice. I want one in my size. She was getting way too big for her other seat, which is just one more reminder of how quickly she’s growing up.

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Yesterday was our family reunion for the Rogers side of my family, my mom’s side. We all met up at a local park for a picnic. My grandpa brought fishing poles and his canoe, mostly used by the younger kids. I wish I had a great story to share about this, but- sorry. Lots of fun, though. Becca and I, along with my sister, Shannon, went wading in the creek. Becca loved it. Bare toes all over the slimey rocks. Once she got used to it, she didn’t want back out.
Yesterday was also Shannon’s birthday. Hurray! Twenty years old. I made her a duck cake. She’s kind of obsessive about rubber ducks. But she’s also the coolest Aunt ever, probably due, in part, to the fact that Becca is also a little obsessive about ducks.
Later in the day, I ran into some friends from Life Before Baby. I used to work with Chad at Applebee’s, (we were both cooks,) and his girlfriend, Kayla, was a teller at my bank. They’re expecting a baby, in March, and I am beyond thrilled for them.
Which kind of brings me to the point of this post. (Boy, took me long enough, huh?) Hanging out with family, catching up with old friends… I realize how much having a baby changes you. Not just your lifestyle, or how you see yourself, but who you are. I like to believe I am a better person now- more understanding, easier going. Also a lot more aware of everything and everyone around me. I read the news more often. I care more about what’s going on in the world.
I wish I could have explained this to Chad and Kayla. But they wouldn’t believe it until it happens to them.
I know.

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Ten months, one week, and five days ago, I became a Mother. My doctor handed me a tiny, squalling, slimey bundle of joy. Mark and I laughed. We cried. We wore goofy grins on our faces for hours. (Well, he did. I was just plain too tired.) We were in awe of our little miracle. So small, so fragile, so helpless, so… immobile. Becca spent her days happily lolling around in our arms. There was no place she would rather be.
Fast forward to today. Nothing slows down our crazy, crawling creature. She is into everything. And she is fast. Holy cow. I read somewhere that from the time a baby begins to crawl until they reach the height of their crawling skills, their speed will increase 600 times. Think about that for a minute.
I’ll wait.
And as far as happily lolling in our arms? Not unless we are holding her captive. Very few places are less fun. Unless, of course she is bouncing, or being otherwise jostled around. But cuddling? Not likely.
Today, though.. Today she has taken the next step in her frantic journey to become a little girl. Quite literally.
We have been encouraging her to walk holding onto our hands, and to cruise the furniture. But, let’s face it- It is so much faster to crawl. She was really getting the hang of it though. Then, last night while playing on youtube, I decided to show her videos of other babies walking. Becca was pretty excited about this new development. You mean, she can walk too? Whoa- crazy, right? She had to practice before we could go to bed. It’s like a switch flipped on. Then, this evening, she took her first unassisted step. Just one, then back down she went. But with the way Mark and I responded, you’d have thought she just won the Nobel Prize. I swooped her up into the air, big hugs and kisses all around. It was fantastic. Amazing.
But isn’t she too young for this? Becca, please stay a baby for your Daddy and me, just a little longer. You’re growing up too fast.
*sigh*
So, next week we’re going out to buy a pushable walking toy. The lion one. Goodbye, little baby. Toddler years, here we come.

Yes, I’m crying… This just sucks.