All kinds of new things this year!

Last year, I neglected this poor blog entirely too much. And I apologize. Every year I write goals for myself, not resolutions, attainable goals. One of this year's goals is to update this page more often and find some awesome content for y'all!

As for the changes and goals for this year? Last year, I attended quite a few conventions and book signings. While I still intend on doing a few, I only plan on doing one that is not local and that will be CIL-Con in Mattoon, IL.Otherwise, I'm going to stick closer to home this year. Why, you ask?

My husband and I have decided to become foster parents. I'd done it in the past, but my license expired about two or three years ago. We'll be going through the classes starting this spring. We've chosen to do elevated needs, which can also be considered special needs. Since I've raised my own special needs kids, as well as worked with both special needs adults and kids, we feel extremely comfortable and confident. While previously I'd chosen to work with the teens, this time, we're focusing on newborns through six years old. Because I still have two teens, I didn't want the risk of any accusations or hardships on my own kids.

The only thing making me nervous is making sure I have everything we need. A lot of these kids come with little to nothing. I already found a toddler car seat, but I still need an infant seat, a booster seat, a crib, and some varying sizes of clothing in case they come with nothing. I'm extremely excited, and extremely nervous.

As far as my professional career, I still plan on writing. I figure I wrote when I watched four toddler boys, I can write with little ones living here. I put out my sixth book on December 30th and plan on putting out at least three more books this year. At least, that's my goal. I also plan on becoming better at marketing myself. I'm excellent at marketing for anyone else; time to work for myself just as hard. So, having said that, I'll be including links to my books on this blog, as well as my website, www.clparks.net.

That's all I have for you today, but keep your eyes open for new posts on cooking, cleaning, and being a housewife. After all, that is my primary job and I'm damn proud of it.

It's Time For Self Improvement!

I've never been one to subscribe to the New Year/New Me nonsense...but maybe it's not nonsense. Over the past couple of days I've been busy jotting down different goals for myself.

I've compiled the lists into three categories:

Business/Professional Goals - What I will do to grow my Damsel In Defense business
Personal Goals - Things I will do to improve my own life, health, mental, home life, etc
Writing Goals - My career as a writer has slowed down as of late due to health problems and good old fashioned life getting in the way. This will change this year.

I've seen others create dream boards, goal boards, etc.

I've seen some do actual posters, while others are using Pinterest or Tumbler for their boards. I really don't know if I can sum up all my goals on one piece of poster board, nor do I know where I'd post it without it being a total eyesore. lol Being as one of my major goals this year is to continue with the Great Purge of 2014 (guess it's now called the second great purge? Or maybe the Great Purge of 2015?) I really don't want to add more clutter to my home. The only place I truly allow any clutter on the walls is in my Cave - I write in here, do my crafting in here, and have all my goodies from Damsel In Defense in here so I definitely need the creative vibes I get from my The Walking Dead posters. lol

What I'm curious about is how do you keep track of your goals? Have you even listed your goals for 2015? I highly suggested having them written down somewhere, even if it's just a file on your laptop. You need to have something tangible to go back and refer to whenever you feel lost, or can't remember why the hell you work so hard every day.

After the New Year (probably on Friday) I'll share with you my goals for the coming year. They'll more than likely change and/or grow as time goes on. I mean, how vague is lose weight? Or how about get organized? lol Oh, and don't worry, I've been taking pictures of my projects before I get started and as I go along. See y'all next year!

I have a game plan!!!

Okay, so this is the second post of the day. I've done so much since my last post, and still have so much to do to get my home where I want it. I've heard of people doing just fifteen minutes a day to keep their homes up, but they don't live with my kids. They have dirtied the same room three times now, so I've put them to work.

I came across a website some time ago and revisited it today. It's called flylady.net. The way these women do it is by forming routines, or habits. They're big on "not being behind, but starting right where you are". Their program splits up the home into zones, and you work on these zones throughout the week, while doing your usual upkeep of the home. In other words, your home gets a deep clean every month, rather than just your typical spring cleaning.

Another huge focus is getting dressed to lace up shoes as soon as you get up. In other words, get up, get dressed all the way to your shoes (including hair and face) before starting anything else for the day. Now, I don't know about doing my hair and face first thing in the morning, but there's no reason I can't get dressed, brush my hair and teeth and have my shoes on before I start my coffee or wake up the kids. I mean, really, how long does it take to throw on some clothes and run a brush through your hair. Granted, we start our day at 6am, but that's no excuse for looking like a slob every day!

Okay, so there's my game plan. While I'm working the steps on Flylady.net, I will also tackle one project every day. I have so many projects that need to be done, anything from socks to be darned (yes, I do this. I see no reason to throw them out if the elastic is still good in them), to walls that still need to be painted. We've lived in this house for over a year and I still haven't finished painting.

Here's the deal: I will post a pic of what I'm wearing and what project I've tackled every day (or at least I will try to. I do work from home as a published author, and writing must be done in order to get paid). I will also post what I've accomplished on the Flybaby list for the day. I hope you will join me in reclaiming my life!

Have a great New Year's!