24 Days

Most times we don't keep track of all the things we do and changes that happen to us from day to day, and I thought it would be interesting to see how January went for me. Tonight I started compiling a list of things I've noted in my first 2011 personal journal, both good and bad, and so far this month I have:

Missed zero days working
Accomplished zero amount of sewing
Lost an old editor
Gained a new editor
Renovated a bathroom
Packed up and emptied a bedroom
Had a new release
Sent out a new proposal
Drove to an airport I've never been to
Tried two new-to-me foods (dried apricots aren't bad, but pickled ginger will blast out your sinuses)
Handled a mom visit of two days
Received two rejections
Agreed to do three things I never do
Ate four (small) bags of chips that are not on my diet
Okay, and one Lindor white chocolate truffle, too
Painted four watercolors
Had to cope with four-five days of the blues
Lost five pounds
Composed eight poems
Signed and donated ten books to charity
Posted twenty-four entries on PBW
Walked an extra twenty-four miles
Mailed thirty-eight packages
Read forty-one books + one Pulitzer-prize winning play
Answered ninety-seven e-mails
Written three hundred and thirty-six pages of new material
Proofed three-hundred and forty-five galley pages

Now that I read it, the list is scaring me a little. If I handled all that, why do I feel like I haven't done enough to get the new year off to a good headstart? Is this a woman thing, or a menopause thing? I wonder.

I do feel a bit more positive knowing I have juggled quite a bit over the last three weeks, and I still have seven more days to get some other stuff done. So I will focus on the 10K left to write on the schedule, one more read-through of the galley, two more poems I want to write, doing the third of the three things I never do, and reading nine more books. I think I can manage most of that. I also need to move my daughter from one room to the other this week, and make some time for sewing -- I need some sewing time -- by starting on my annual guild project.

How are you guys doing with 2011 so far? Have you stopped to think about what you've dealt with this month? Does a good start at the beginning of a new year set a tone for the next twelve months? Let us know in comments.